Interfacial Effects in the Recovery of Residual Oil by Displacement. Final Report

摘要

The primary goal of this work has been to determine the relative effects of the interfacial viscosities, of interfacial tension, of wetting, and of contact angle hysteresis upon the recovery of residual oil by displacement. We have had three intermediate objectives consistent with this goal. Our first objective has been to determine the relative effects of the interfacial viscosities, of interfacial tension, of wetting, and of contact angle hysteresis upon displacement within single pores. When the interfacial tension is less than the critical value required for displacement and the interfacial viscosities are large, it is equally important to reduce both the interfacial tension and the interfacial viscosities. Of the two interfacial viscosities, the interfacial dilatational viscosity is the more important. Our second objective has been to extend our work in single pores to permeable media. We have used an idealized structural model for the local pore space in defining the influence of interfacial effects in single pores upon the relative permeabilities and capillary pressure appropriate to steady-state displacements in porous media. We are currently extending this work to unsteady-state displacements. It is only in unsteady-state displacements that the effect of the interfacial viscosities upon capillary pressure and the relative permeabilities will be seen. Our third objective.