Conformance Control Using Gels – 2003

R.S. Seright – 2003

Abstract

Second year of the conformance improvement project. X-ray CT data from previous work is re-analyzed using indicator kriging fluid segmentation, addressing critic concerns about pore size distributions. Core findings are confirmed and refined. A field gel treatment in an Arbuckle production well is analyzed, demonstrating laboratory-to-field translation of gel permeability reduction predictions. DPR in fractures is quantified: water/oil permeability ratios exceeding 89 are measured for fracture-resident gels. Partially formed gels and gels with mixed-molecular-weight polymers in fractures are characterized. Gel volume reduction in oil-wet porous polyethylene is driven by a dehydration mechanism rather than a gel-ripping mechanism.

Key Takeaways

  • Re-analysis with indicator kriging confirms the core finding: oil trapping drives DPR in water-wet Berea sandstone; a dehydration mechanism (not oil trapping or gel ripping) drives DPR in oil-wet polyethylene.
  • Fracture-resident gels can provide DPR water/oil permeability ratios exceeding 89 — a result that substantially extends DPR technology to fracture-dominated production well applications.
  • An Arbuckle production well field case confirms that laboratory gel propagation model predictions translate successfully to field-scale productivity and pressure changes.
  • Gel volume reduction in oil-wet polyethylene pores is driven by a gel dehydration mechanism, not gel ripping — an important mechanistic clarification based on pore-size-resolved analysis.
  • Gels with mixed high- and low-molecular-weight HPAM show different extrusion and dehydration behaviors, offering new design flexibility for fracture treatment applications.
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