An experimental study of imbibition process and fluid distribution in tight oil reservoir under different pressures and temperatures

Abstract

Cited as: Liang, Y., Lai, F., Dai, Y., Shi, H., Shi, G. An experimental study of imbibition process and fluid distribution in tight oil reservoir under different pressures and temperatures. Capillarity, 2021, 4(4): 66-75, doi: 10.46690/capi.2021.04.02 Abstract: Tight reservoirs are a major focus of unconventional reservoir development. As a means to improve hydrocarbon recovery from tight reservoirs, imbibition has been received increasing attentions in recent years. This study evaluates how the changes in temperature and pressure affect imbibition through conducting experimental tests under various conditions on samples from the Yan Chang formation, a tight reservoir in Ordos Basin. The fluid distribution is compared before and after imbibition in core samples by nuclear magnetic resonance method. The results show that the imbibition recovery is significantly improved through increasing temperature and pressure. A high temperature facilitates molecular thermal movements, increasing oil-water exchange rate. The core samples are characterized with nano-mesopores, which is followed by nano-macropores, micropores, mesopores, and nano-micropores. Comparative analysis of nuclear magnetic resonance shows that the irreducible water saturation increases after imbibition and is mainly distributed in nanopores. Increasing pressure increases the amount of residual water in nano pores, with the relatively more significant increase in the amount of residual water in nanomacro-pores compared with other types of pores.