Effect of different injection fluids scenarios on swelling and migration of common clays in case of permeability variations: a micromodel study

Swelling and migration of present clays make damage to the oil reservoirs due to low salinity waterflooding (LSWF) can induce serious problems in the case of oil recovery improvement and researchers are trying to solve this problem. The purpose of this work is to investigate the mechanism of two phenomena of swelling and migration clays in the porous media of a reservoir rock by injecting a different composition of LSWF using a glass micromodel and providing the appropriate composition and pattern of injection with the removal of damage. Proper water flooding design, application of efficient swelling inhibitors, and migration control are among the most important methods to overcome the problem of formation damage due to swelling and migration of clays. A series of static (bulk or bottle test) and dynamic tests were carried out using a micromodel with a coating of kaolinite and montmorillonite clays in the vicinity and injection of different low salt water compositions. The type and amount of these clays were selected based on the results of XRD and SEM mineralogical tests on real reservoir rock, FW and diluted FW, SW and diluted SW, solution of 1% zirconium oxychloride in 20 times diluted seawater (SI), and composition of nanofluid MgO, SiO2, and Al2O3 in 20 times diluted. In the studies conducted by the micromodel, only the images taken were used in the analysis of the mechanisms, but here, the input and output pressures of the micromodel were recorded with high-precision pressure transmitters, and by using the differential pressure, the permeability was calculated and the formation damage index was introduced. The overlap of the interpretation of the captured images and the changes of the numerical parameter of the damage index in all stages of injection of smart water composition was considered to evaluate the simultaneous and separate mechanisms of swelling and migration of clays. The results of the experiments in this research show that clay swelling has destructive effects on permeability, and migration due to the transfer of clays from the porous medium can have promising effects on reducing the damage index in some conditions. And it is necessary to use the swelling control compound during the flooding process, but the migration inhibitor compound is not always suitable. Gradual reduction of salinity is also introduced as a pattern to prevent swelling damage or clay migration.In general, in this study, the best design and fluid engineering for smart water injection with the least damage in the micromodel scale was presented.

Automated summary

This study investigates the mechanism of clay swelling and migration in the porous media of oil reservoirs and aims to provide the appropriate composition and pattern of low salinity waterflooding to prevent damage. Proper water flooding design, application of efficient swelling inhibitors, and migration control are crucial to overcome the problem of formation damage caused by clay swelling and migration.