Understanding the controls of fines migration in sandstones.

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

To maintain production of oil from sandstone reservoirs tertiary, or enhanced, oil recovery methods are employed. One method of enhanced oil recovery involves flushing with desalinated seawater. A number of mechanisms have been proposed for how low salinity enhanced oil recovery may occur, one of which, fines migration, is studied in detail in this project. Fines migration involves the mobilisation of small particles of minerals such as clay minerals during low salinity flooding, which act to both transport the adsorbed oil and to also change the reservoir sweep. Working with partners at BP we will work to understand factors that mobilise clay mineral fines, how they move once mobilised and how fine clay minerals are either transported through the sandstone, or become fixed again.