Modeling the influence of acoustic impact on fluid mobility in porous media for oil production intensification

About the author:

Evgeny A. Marfin, Cand. Sci. (Tech.), Associate Professor, Leading Researcher, Laboratory of Thermal Physics and Wave Technologies, Institute of Power Engineering and Advanced Technologies, FRC Kazan Scientific Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, Kazan, Russia; Associate Professor, Department of Radio Electronics, Institute of Physics, Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University, Kazan, Russia; marfin_ea@mail.ru , https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8248-806X , https://www.webofscience.com/wos/author/record/C-3010-2015 , https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=12038897200 , https://elibrary.ru/author_profile.asp?authorid=42348

Abstract:

In light of the escalating proportion of oil reserves deemed to be uneconomical to recover, the utilisation of acoustic impact as a substitute for conventional techniques in enhancing oil recovery is being advocated as a more environmentally sustainable approach. The paper presents a mathematical model that establishes a correlation between acoustic field parameters (frequency, amplitude) and fluid mobility in a porous medium. The derivation of an equation for mobility increment is based on an energy approach. This equation takes into account sound energy absorption, oscillation amplitude, and pressure gradient. Through experimental verification on samples with permeability ranging from 0.1 to 7 mD, the dependence of efficiency on initial permeability was confirmed. This dependence was found to be characterised by a coefficient of efficiency, termed “η”, which exhibited a lognormal distribution. It has been established that the maximum increase in flow rate is achieved in low-permeability reservoirs (up to 30 mD) at amplitudes of approximately 1 atm and frequencies in the kilohertz range. Utilising the Romashkinskoye field as a case study, the model forecasts a substantial augmentation in oil flow rate. The results obtained from this study provide a scientific foundation for the optimisation of acoustic methods employed in the influence of oil reservoirs.

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