Miscible Displacement in a Multiphase System

GENE H. THOMAS*
GARY R. COUNTRYMAN** U. OF CALIFORNIA
JUNIOR MEMBERS AIME BERKELEY, CALIF.
IRVING FATT
MEMBER AIME

ABSTRACT is as shown in Fig. lao Although there is not yet a

theory of miscible displacement which explains in
Miscible displacement in both the wetting and non- detail the effect of pore size distribution, one would
wetting phase has been studied in two-phase systems. expect the differences between Figs. la and lb to
Experimental data show that dispersion is a function influence the displacement efficiency.
of saturation and cannot be predicted from dispersion A second factor which may make a multiphase
theory developed for single-phase miscible displace- system different from a single-phase system is the
ment. Some of the effect of saturation on dispersion presence in the multiphase system of dead-end pores
is a result of the development of dead-end pores or a or dendritic structure. Experiments of various kinds
dendritic pore structure in multiphase systems. The on reservoir rock have led to the belief that all pores
presence of dead-end pores or dendritic structure is in the network structure of a porous rock take part
confirmed by pressure transient studies. in conducting fluid during single phase fluid flow.1 ,2
There are then no dead-end pores and no fingers or
INTRODUCTION
dendritic structures containing stagnant fluid. In a
Displacement by flooding with a miscible liquid multiphase system, however, the second phase may
is a possible means for recovering the estimated
two-thirds of the oil that remains behind after primary lReferences given at end of paper.
production. The immense economic importance of a
process that can recover such large quantities of oil
has led to extensive laboratory studies of miscible
(/)
displacement. As usual in production research, most w
laboratory studies of miscible displacement have not a:
oQ.
attempted to reproduce all of the conditions existing
l>...
in a petroleum reservoir. In the early stages of inves- o
tigation the need has been for information on the a:
w
broad, basic principles of the phenomena involved m
;::!;
in miscible displacement. The effects of overburden ::J
Z
pressure, reservoir temperature, and wettability have
Oll....----------~------l
been considered of secondary importance. However, o RADIUS-
one property of a petroleum re servoir which is expected
A.
to be of major importance and yet has been omitted
from many laboratory studies is the presence of inter- FIG. la - PORE SIZE DISTRIBUTIONS FOR FLUID IN
stitial water. A SINGLE PHASE SYSTEM.
Two possible effects of interstitial water on the
displacement mechanism in the hydrocarbon phase
immediately come to mind. First, from the generally
accepted theory that capillarity governs the distri- (/)
bution of oil and water in porous rock one would w
a:
expect that for water-wet rock the water will be in 0
Q.
the small pores and oil in the large pores. A miscible l>...
0
displacement of oil carried out in the presence of
water is operating in a pore size distribution shown a:
w
m
in Fig. lb, whereas if the same test had been performed ;::!;
::J
with only one phase present the pore size distribution Z
0
Original manuscript received in Society of Petroleum Engineers 0 RADIUS-
office Dec. 4, 1962. Revised manuscript received March 21, 1963.
B.
*Presently associated with California Research Corp.
FIG. Ib - PORE DISTRIBUTION OCCUPIED BY NON-
**Now associated with Continental Oil Co., Ponca City, Okla.
WETTING PHASE IN SAME SYSTEM.
189
trap single pores of the other phase or may even
isolate large fingers or dendrites containing the other
phase. These dead-end pores or dendrites are stagnant
peninsulas which communicate with the flowing fluid
only by molecular diffusion.
Reports of the effect of dead-end pores or dendritic
structures on flow in multiphase systems are not
frequent in the literature. Fatt 2 has used a network
model to estimate the effects of dead-end pores on
relative permeability. Orlob and Radhakrishna,3 and
Biggar and Nielsen 4 have studied the effect of trapped
air on the displacement of water by water in a sand
pack. Raimondi, et aI,5 have studied the effect of
water saturation on mixing during miscible displace-
ment in both water and oil phases. Goddard, et aI,6
have concluded from electrical conductivity and dif-
fusion studies that the non wetting phase has a den-
dritic structure and that a "considerable" fraction
of the non wetting phase volume contributes little or
nothing to its fluid conductivity.
We present in this paper results of miscible dis-
placement studies on porous rock containing water
and oil in which displacement efficiency was observed
independently in the water and oil. The observed
dependence of displacement efficiency on saturation
is interpreted to indicate presence of dead-end pores
or dendritic structure. Pressure build-up data for the
nonwetting phase fluid confirm the presence of dead-
end pores.
EXPERIMENT AL
WETTING PHASE
All displacement studies were carried out on Boise
sandstone. This is a relatively clean, uniform sand-
stone quarried in Boise, Idaho. The samples used in
this work had a permeability in the range 1 to 2 darcies
and porosity 23 to 26 per cent. Capillary pressure
and relative permeability curves are given in Refs.
7 and 8. The flow system was a bar of sandstone 5
ft long and 2 x 2 in. cross section. The bar was cast
in epoxy resin to give a Yrin. thick covering on all
sides. Details of the casting procedure and the ap-
pearance of the finished flow system are given in
Refs. 7 and 8.
For displacements in the water phase a Penn State
arrangement was used. Water and oil were flowed
through the core simultaneously from a pair of con-
stant flow rate piston pumps. The oil phase was a
commercial mixed hexane. The tagged water was a
solution of 156 gm sucrose and 165 gm methanol per
liter of solution. This solution had a density of
1.0364 gm/cc and a viscosity of 2.23 cp at room
temperature (about 72 F). Formaldehyde was added
as a bactericide to the sucrose-methanol solution
and to the distilled water which displaced it in the
flow tests. Formaldehyde concentration was about
0.5 per cent. The water solution and hexane were
equilibrated before use by mixing each with a small
quantity of the other.
The sucrose-methanol solution acts as double
tagged water, introduced by Handy,9 in which the
methanol is a fast diffusing tracer to indicate both
190
mixing and molecular diffusing while the slow diffusing
sucrose shows only the effect of mixing. Refractive
index and density of the effluent water were used as
a measure of sucrose and methanol concentration.
From known solutions it was found that sucrose
concentration in grams per liter was given by
S = 1, BOd + 4.59R - 1, 112. . . . . (1)
and methanol concentration in gm per liter by
M = -3, 767d + 14.4R + 3,781 . . . • (2)
All figures in the above coefficients are significant
and must be used for acceptable accuracy. The error
in concentration measurement using Eqs. 1 and 2
was estimated to be not greater than 3 or 4 per cent.
The water and hexane flow rates were adj usted to
give a water-oil ratio that would give the desired
water saturation as read from the kw1ko curve for the
flow system. Flow rates and saturations are given
in Table 1. When the effluent water-oil ratio was
constant the water in the input flow lines and in the
dead space at the input face of the sandstone bar
was replaced by sucrose-methanol solution. The input
water flow line was then switched to the pump con-
taining the sucrose-methanol solution and collection
of the effluent was started. Samples collected ranged
from 3 to 10 cc depending upon the rate of change of
concentration.
According to the kw1ko curve given in Fig. 1 of
Ref. 7 there will be a small change in water saturation
when water-hexane input is changed to a sucrose
solution-hexane input. This is because of change in
water-oil viscosity ratio from 3 for water-hexane to
6.7 for sucrose solution-hexane. This change in
water saturation will be greatest for the system
shown in Fig. 5, where Sw is 55 per cent, because
the kw1ko curve is changing more rapidly with satu-
ration than for the multiphase systems shown in Figs.
3 and 4. However, even this maximum change, at
Sw = 55 per cent, is only about 2 percentage units.
Water saturation may have been reduced to 53 per
cent from 55 per cent when water-hexane was switched
to sucrose solution-hexane. This uncertainty in water
saturation probably does not affect the conclusions
drawn from the experiment. The effect of the water
picked up at the front and moved ahead would be to
shift the curves of Fig. 5 to the right so that curves
"corrected" for this effect would be even further to
the left, thereby making even more distinctive the
differences between Figs. 4 and 5.
TABLE 1 - WATER-OIL FLOW RATES AND SATURATIONS
FOR BOISE SANDSTONE DURING WATER-WATER
MISCIBLE DISPLACEMENT TESTS
Water flow rate Oil flow rate Frontal advance
cc/sec cc/sec ft/day Sw per cent
0.00342 0.06158 3.2 55
0.01539 0.01539 12.5 64
0.06158 o 40.0 80*
0.01539 8.0 100
*Water saturation at residual oil, established by water flooding
after the tests at 55 and 64 per cent SIN" Order of tests was
64, 55, 80 per cent S .".
SOCIETY OF PETROLEUM ENGINEERS JOURNAL
NONWETTING PHASE not sensitive enough to measure accurately octane
in hexane.
During the water-water displacement studies de- F or studies in the non wetting phase an entirely
scribed above, attempts were made to tag the hexane new scheme was devised. A Boise sandstone bar of
so that displacement efficiency in the nonwetting
the same size as described above and similarly en-
phase could be observed simultaneously. Oil soluble cased in plastic was placed in an oven and heated
dyes were tried but found to be unsuitable because to 160 F. Liquid parafiin, from tanks in the same
of excessive adsorption in the sandstone flow system. oven, was then flowed through the bar at an input
A second hydrocarbon, such as octane, was also
pressure of 65 psig. When air bubbles no longer ap-
tested as a tagging material but was found unsatis-
p eared in the liquid paraffin effluent the bar was
factory. The analysis method, refractive index, was considered liquid saturated. Paraffin injection was
then stopped and air at an input pressure of about 1
100.------.-------.------.------, psig was injected until no more paraffin was displaced
by air. The oven heaters were then turned off and the
system allowed to cool for several days.
The above procedure was repeated except for higher
z air injection pressures to obtain the different paraffin
~ 80r-------+-------+-----~6-------4 saturations reported below.
<l There are several objections to the above procedure
a::
I- but they do not seem serious enough to invalidate
Z
W the results obtained. First, flooding the dry sandstone
~ 60r-------~------~~----+-----~ bar with liquid paraffin until no further air was pro-
o duced may leave a small, about 5 per cent, residual
u
...J
gas saturation. This gas is trapped and presumably
<l completely surrounded by paraffin. The gas bubble
Z
(!) 40 is then part of the wetting phase vol ume and is in-
a:: cluded as wetting phase in the non wetting phase
0 volume measurement. Second, displacing paraffin
lL.
0 by air to establish a nonwetting phase saturation
I- may give an end effect and therefore a nonuniform
z 20 Sw= 100 PERCENT saturation. This was tested by using a center tap
w
u on the bar as the input point for permeability tests.
a:: +-+ SUCROSE
w Both halves of the bar had the same permeability
a.. -0--0- METHANOL within 5 to 10 per cent.
OL-____ ~~ _____ L_ _ _ _ _ _ ~_ _ _ _ ~

0.800 0.900 1.000 1.100 1.200 When the flow system was at room temperature,
EFFECTIVE PORE VOLUMES PRODUCED 100 ,--------,-------,--------,--------,
FIG. 2 - CONCENTRATION IN EFFLUENT FOR
SUCROSE-METHANOL SOLUTION DISPLACING WATER z
IN SANDSTONE AT S w = 100 PER CENT. o
~ 80r-----~------+_--~L+----~

.'
100.------.------~----~-----,-_~.--~
a::
~ I-
z
r- ~ ..~~ W
c /~ 0 u
~ 80~--~---+_-,,~L----4---~ z
o 60r-----~----~~----+-----~

~ ~f
u
...J
<l
60r------r------~~--1-----~------- Z

~ ~
(!)
40r------r----~+_----_+------
a::
o
~ j
; J
lL.
~ 40~---4--~~---4-----+---~ o
I-
Z 20r-----or~~--+_-----L----~
W Sw = 64 PERCENT
§ 20r---~~~oL,~~-t----4~S~w-=-8~0~P~E=R~C~E~N=T~ U
a::
w
+-. SUCROSE
5
a.
~~ +-+ SUCROSE
-0-0- METHANOL
a..
OL-____
~ METHANOL
- L_ _ _ _ _ _L -_____ L_ _ _ _~
OL-____ ____- L_ _ _ _
~ ____
~L- ____
~ ~
0.800 0.900 1.000 1.100 1.200
0.800 0.900 1.000 1.100 1.200 1.400
EFFECTIVE PORE VOLUMES PRODUCED
EFFECTIVE PORE VOLUMES PRODUCED
FIG. 3 - CONCENTRATION IN EFFLUENT FOR FIG. 4 - - CONCENTRATION IN EFFLUENT FOR
SUCROSE-METHANOL SOLUTION DISPLACING WATER SUCROSE-METHANOL SOLUTION DISPLACING WATER
IN SANDSTONE AT S w = 80 PER CENT. IN SANDSTONE AT Sw = 64 PER CENT.

191
SEPTEMBER, 1963
 air permeability and air volume were measured. The plot, Fig. 8, was constructed from this curve. The
air permeability was obtained by applying a very semi-log plot was used in this way because of the
small air pressure (0.15 to 0.30 psig) to the upstream absence of data points in the range 40 to 80 per cent
end and then timing the travel of a slug of water gas saturation. No data could be obtained in this
moving through a calibrated tube at the downstream region because small changes in the air input pres-
end. The air volume was measured by collecting the sure during liquid paraffin displacement caused a
air produced by depleting the pressure in the bar large change in paraffin saturation. De spite the ab-
from 7.5 to 0 psig. A Boyle's Law calculation based sence of data in the center of the curve there appears
on the volume of air collected gives the total volume 100r------,------.-----~----~
of the bar available to air. This volume includes
dead-end pores and dendritic structures. z
0
After air permeability and volume were measured, l-
e::(
a pressure build-up curve in the air phase was ob-
a:: 80
tained as follows. At the upstream end a constant- I-
Z
pressure air source was connected. At the downstream W
(,)
end a quick-closing toggle valve and Wiancko pressure
Z
transducer were installed so that after the system 0
was flowing at steady state the valve could be closed (,) 60
and the pressure build-up recQrded from the Wiancko ...J
e::(
pick-up. The pressure build-up at the downstream
Z
end could also be recorded for the bar at uniform l!)
atmospheric pressure initially by applying the up- a:: 40 t-~-----1If_--__+---__J.------l
stream air pressure through a quick-opening toggle o
valve. The upstream air pressure was 0.30 psig. At I.L.

this low pressure differential and near-atmospheric

mean pressure the compressibility of air is almost o
I- ,"
zw 20 t-...-,''---t----+-----L---------l
independent of pressure. (,) Sw = 55 PERCENT
After the air flow measurements the upstream end a::
w +-+ SUCROSE
of the bar was connected to two stainless steel tanks, a..
METHANOL
one containing a solution of 1 gm/liter NaCI and O~--~ ___ _ L _ _ _ ~_ _~

5 cc/liter formaldehyde in distilled water, and the 0.700 0.800 0.900 LOOO 1.100
other a similar solution except with 10 gm/liter NaC!.
EFFECTIVE PORE VOLUMES PRODUCED
The 1 gm/liter NaC! solution was passed through the
bar until five pore volumes were collected at the FIG. 5 - CONCENTRATION IN EFFLUENT FOR
SUCROSE-METHANOL SOLUTION DISPLACING WATER
outlet. The input fittings were then drained and filled IN SANDSTONE AT Sw = 55 PER CENT.
with the 10 gm/liter NaC! solution and injection of
this solution was started. The effl uent was then 100.----.------.---,----.
collected in vials holding about 12 cc. The electrical
conductivity of the effl uent in each vial was measured z
with a portable AC Wheatstone bridge. o
Upon completion of the water-water displacement ~801-----+-...~--1-----+--------j
test the bar was flushed with distilled water and a::
I-
then dried by flowing dry air for several days. The z
W
bar was then returned to the oven and heated to 160F (,)
so that more paraffin could be displaced by the air Z
o 601----~--~~~--~--~
flow. All other operations were then repeated as (,)

described above. ...J

e::(
Z
RESULTS
l!)401-----+-----+---+r-"'u.t------i
WETTING PHASE a::
o
Displacement curves for sucrose-methanol solution I.L.
displacing water are shown for three water saturations o
in Figs. 2 through 5. In this system the viscosity ~201------'-------+----+---"<-----:~
ratio is favorable, that is, fingering is inhibited. In w Sw = 100 PERCENT
(,)
Fig. 6 is shown the effect of an unfavorable viscosity a:: +-+ SUCROSE o 0
ratio when water displaces the sucrose-methanol
w
a.. ~ METHANOL
solution. O~ __ ~ ___ _ L_ _ _~_ _~

0.800 0.900 1.000 1.100 1.200

NONWETTING PHASE
The relative gas permeability curve is shown in
Figs. 7 and 8. The semi-log plot in Fig. 7 has the
form typical of the non wetting phase. The arithmetic
EFFECTIVE PORE VOLUMES PRODUCED
FIG. 6 - CONCENTRATION IN EFFLUENT FOR WATER
DISPLACING SUCROSE-METHANOL SOLUTION IN SAND-
STONE AT Sw = 100 PER CENT.

192 SOCIETY OF PETROLEUM ENGINE£RS JOURNAL

 to be little doubt that the curve has the shape shown air volume (including dead-end pores if any are pres-
in Fig. 8. ent), f1 is air viscosity, c is air compressibility
The miscible displacement curves for NaClsolution (taken at the mean air pressure) and L is the length
as the nonwetting phase are shown in Fig. 9. The of the bar. On Figs. 10 and 11, P is the variable
double tracer sucrose-methanol solution could not be pressure at the closed end and Po is the constant
used in this system because it attacked the paraffin. upstream pressure.
The pressure build-up curves for the nonwetting
phase are shown for two initial conditions in Figs.
10 and 11. On these plots the dimensionless time is
1.00
given by
~
SNW, %
kt 0 ~ -dJ
T = -- •••• • • • • • • • • •• (3) 0.90 I--
36.9
/J. ~
0
cppcL2 A 27.9 PJ /
z
where k is air permeability, t is time, cp is the total

-~
00.80
!;t
:=z 0.70 v:: V /
~
100 IJ.J
o
z 0.60 / I t
~
o
~
z '\ o
<l IJ
\
~
0.50
a::
«
z
~
ii: 0.40 / 1/ /
0
I-
10
\
o
15 0.30 / / T
>-
!:: I-
1/ I /
\ '\
...J Z
iii ~ 0.20
«
IJ.J
0::
IJ.J
a..
~ II
::e 0.10
a::
IJ.J
a..
IJ.J
1.0
o
0.40
V 0.60 0.80 1.00
V 1.20
~ (.
PORE VOLUMES THROUGHPUT" QrVNW
~
...J
IJ.J
1\ FIG. 9 - CONCENTRATION IN EFFLUENT FOR A
a:: SALINE SOLUTION DISPLACING A LESS SALINE SOLU-
TION IN SANDSTONE AT SEVERAL NONWETTING
0.1 0 20 40 60 80 100 PHASE SATURATIONS.
Sp, % OF PORE VOLUME CONTAINING PARAFFIN
1.00
FIG. 7 - GAS RELATIVE PERMEABILITY FOR BOISE
SANDSTONE.
0.8
O~~ SNW,%

, -- f---
o \~ \..
0.6 100
~
100
.~ 0.4
---
........
78.3
I---
...... ,,~ 36.9
~
z .. \ --- 27.9
~

a:: 80
r\ 0.20
•....•.'\.
.•.•.• \.
-- 20.1

«
o
I-
>- 60
\ a..0
~O.IO
....\,
•.... \
'.
~
. ~,
-~,

\
I- a.. 0.08
...J I ....~., ",~,
In 006
'~...
"0. . .
<l
IJ.J 40
.... l'. ,~
~ 004
a:: BOUNDARY CONDITIONS
"'\:;,. '~... 1',
1\
IJ.J
a.. r.0 :~ .. I ALL X '
.:, ~'
~ 20 002 r >0 P .. I X"O .....\ ... ~

~
i= l' >0 .!L .. O X .. L ".
<l
...J I
1IX
I
..
'.' ~
IJ.J I
0:: ~ 0.0 0 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00 1.20 1.40 1.60
20 40 60 80 100 DIMENSIONLESS TIME, '(
Sp, % OF PORE VOLUME CONTAINING PARAFFIN
FIG. 10 - PRESSURE BUILD-UP IN NONWETTING
FIG. 8 - GAS RELATIVE PERMEABILITY FOR BOISE PHASE AT x = L FOR SANDSTONE AT VARIOUS NON-
SANDSTONE. WETTING PHASE SATURATIONS.

SEPTEMBER, 1963 193

 DISCUSSION OF RESULTS
WETTING PHASE
Tests in the wetting phase were designed primarily
to study the effect on dispersion at the displacement
front of change in water saturation and the resulting
change in pore size distribution. In addition, by using
two tracers, the experiments also gave a measure of
the difference between dispersion and diffusion in
causing mixing at the displacement front.
The results obtained in the wetting phase tests
are similar to those reported by Handy 9 for an all-
water system. The frontal advance for all displace-
ments, except Sw = 80 per cent, is in the range used
by Handy. At Sw = 80 per cent, the rate here is 40.0
ft/day compared to Handy's high rate of 16.5 ft/day.
However, since Handy reported no radical change in
behavior in the range 0.5 ft/day to 16.5 ft/day, it is
unlikely that behavior at 40 ft/ day is greatly different.
At water saturations of 100, 80, and 64 per cent
the displacement in the water phase, as shown in
Figs. 2 through 4, is not greatly affected by diffusion
at the mixing front. The direction of the separation
of the sucrose from the methanol curves is in the
direction to be expected from the effect of diffusion
into dead-end pores or dendritic branches, but the
magnitude of separation is too small to be easily
interpreted.
At water saturation of 55 per cent, Fig. 5, there
is increased separation and a shift of both curves to
the left. Table 1 shows that this displacement was
1.00
0.80 ~ I
~
~
SNW. %
- --
0.60
...~~
-- 100
--- 78.3
":\' l-~ .........
0.40 _.-
made at 3.2 ft/day, and is the lowest rate used.
There is therefore the question of whether the change
in behavior at Sw = 55 per cent is a result of the
low water saturation or low rate. However, at Sw =
100 per cent Handy observed no change of behavior
down to 0.5 ft/ day. We therefore conclude that the
change in behavior 'we have noted at S w = 55 per
cent is a result of the low water saturation. At low
water saturation we expect an increased number of
dead-end pores or dendrites which would cause dif-
fusional effects and give the separation of curves
shown in Fig. 5. The shift to the left of both sucrose
and methanol curves so that they no longer cross the
50 per cent concentration line at 1.0 effective pore
volumes produced is evidence for the existence of
water volume that does not contribute to the water
flow channels. Whether this water volume is in dead-
end pores or in dendrites cannot be stated with cer-
tainty at this point.
The main method of theoretically describing the
dispersion due to mixing during miscible displace-
ment is a statistical approach based on random walk
theory. This statistical treatment assumes single
component, single phase flow. Orlob and
Radhakrishna 3 suggest that a second component
merely changes the porosity. The data presented in
Figs. 2 through 5 can be used to determine if a simple
change in porosity will bring all displacement curves
into agreement with displacement theory for single
component, single phase flow.
The most convenient displacement parameter to
use in comparing displacements at different water
saturations is the index of dispersion f3 given by
Day and Forsythe: 10
f-----
f3 = 2D (4)
36.9 v
27.9 I----

.....\~~"\ 1',
-- 20.1 where v IS the frontal advance rate and D is
Lvi41rVI s2, where L is the length of system, VI

"" ~
'\~
"\
0.20 ., . ~
"
the pore vOolume, and So is the slope of the relative
concentration in the effluent vs volumetric output
evaluated at relative concentration equal to one-half.
\
cf
~ 0.10
\ " """ Inspection of Eq. 4 and the definition of D shows
that if So is calculated from Figs. 2 to 5 where vol-
Q. \
'. ~, 1'" umetric output is a dimensionless fraction of an ef-
I 0.08 rx; .. fective pore volume then
0.0 6
\'" "\ "-
"-
.
\'" '.

'"
f3 (5)
0.0 4
BOUNDARY CONDITIONS
\ ....
\:.... ,
7=0 P=O ALL X \ •....... Eq. 5 shows that if changes in water saturation do
7 >0 P= I x=o not change the statistics of mixing at the displace-
0.0 2 7 >0 ~~ = 0 X= L
\. ment front but merely change the porosity, then f3
\. '.
'. should be the same for displacements at all water
~. '. saturations. However, if a change in water saturations
\
\ causes a change in pore size distribution of effective
I pores and if pore size distribution is important in
0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00 1.20 1.40
DIMENSIONLESS TIME, '/ establishing the statistics of mixing then f3 will
change with change in water saturation.
FIG. 11 - PRESSURE BUILD-UP IN NONWETTING Table 2 shows the indices of dispersion relative
PHASE AT x = L FOR SANDSTONE AT VARIOUS NON-
WETTING PHASE SATURATIONS. to the index at S w = 100 per cent. For sucrose, the

194 SOCIETY OF PETROLEUM ENGINEERS JOURNAL

 TABLE 2 - RELATIVE INDEX OF DISPERSION
Sw (3Sj(3100 (3s ":(3100
Per cent Sucrose Methanol
----
100 1.00
80 1.00 2.35
64 1.00 2.35
55 1.96 5.2
slow diffusing tracer, there is no change in (3 until
S w is below 64 per cent and then there seems to be
a radical change. F or the fast diffusing tracer, meth-
anol, the index changes as soon as the water satura-
tion is less than 100 per cent. These results indicate
that during displac.ement in multiphase systems dif-
fusion effects are much different than in single
phase systems. However, mixing at the displacement
front is not changed radically until water saturation
is about 50 per cent.
NONWETTING PHASE
The non wetting phase displacement tests described
in this paper are not the first to be carried out in a
multiphase system. 5 However, they are unique in the
use of a flow system in which the wetting phase is
stationary within the porous medium at all saturations.
Other advantages of the solidified wetting phase
system are: (1) needs only one constant rate pump,
(2) change in viscosity of the nonwetting phase at
constant rate does not change saturation and(3) both
rate and viscosity effects can be studied by controlling
flow of the non wetting fluid alone.
The requirement in non wetting phase displacement
tests that the wetting phase remain motionless at all
saturations is mentioned by Raimondi, et al. 5 In
discussing the relation between wetting phase satur-
ation and index of dispersion, they state that the
increase in this index with increase in water content
above interstitial saturation is probably a result of
the water not being a "rigid phase". They also
present a graph to show the effect of rate on index
of dispersion. Their proposed explanation of this
graph is that the index should be decreasing with
decreasing rate at water saturation above interstitial
saturation because the water becomes "more quies-
cent" as the rate decreases.
The effect of saturation on index of dispersion for
the solidified wetting phase systems are given
Table 3.
Table 3 shows an increase in (3 with increasing
wetting phase saturation; but this effect cannot be
explained by simpl y postulating an increase in mixing
of the nonwetting fluids because of motion in the
wetting substance.
The breakthrough curves of Fig. 9 may be used to
explain qualitatively the effect of saturation on index
of dispersion shown in Table 3. In Fig. 9 the relative
concentration of tracer in the effluent is plotted
against the number of pore volumes injected where a
pore volume is taken as the total volume available
to the nonwetting, tracer-bearing fluid. When there
is no paraffin in the bar the break-through curve
SEPTEMBER, 1963
TABLE 3 - RELATIVE INDEX OF DISPERSION FOR
DISPLACEMENT IN NONWETTING PHASE
Nonwetting phase saturation, (3snj(3 100
per cent
100 1.00
36.9 6.13
27.9 9.35
follows the generally accepted theoretical curve for
miscible displacement in single phase flow. That is,
the curve is symmetrical and passes through CICo =
0.50 at one pore volume throughput.
When paraffin was added to the flow system as a
wetting phase, the displacement of water by an aque-
ous solution gave the two break-through curves shown
to the left in Fig. 9. These two curves are clearly
unsymmetrical and do not pass through the "ideal"
point of CICo = 0.5 at one pore volume throughput.
The translation to the left of these two curves is
probably a result of the change in pore size distri-
bution. When paraffin, as the wetting phase, is present
in the flow system, then by the capillarity concept,
the nonwetting fluid occupies only the larger pores.
The paraffin may then cause the nonwetting fluid
distribution to be dendritic or dead-ended. The curves
in Fig. 9 suggest a distribution in which a portion of
the nonwetting fluid contributes little to the conduc-
tivity of that fluid. During miscible displacement,
fluid in these nonconducting pores probably remains
motionless so that displacement from these pores
should be more dependent upon molecular diffusion
than upon hydrodynamic dispersion. Further displace-
ment tests in the non wetting phase should be made
at various floV'( rates to distinguish between the rela-
tive importance of diffusion and dispersion on the
total mixing process.
PRESSURE TRANSIENT TESTS
Several papers from this laboratory 8,11-14 have
shown that pressure transient tests can detect the
presence of dead-end pores or dendritic structure.
The system in which paraffin was the wetting phase
seemed ideal for applying these tests. Figs. 10 and
11 show a pressure parameter plotted against dimen-
sionless time T where
kt
T=--- (6)
cpp.cL2
k is permeability, t is real time, cp is porosity, p. is
viscosity, c is compressibility, and L is length of
the system. The porosity term is based on the total
volume available to the nonwetting phase as meas-
ured by the Boyle's Law test described in the Pro-
cedure section.
Curve 1 in Figs. 10 and 11 is for the flow system
at the single phase condition. This curve is in ex-
cellent agreement with theory for pressure transient
during nonsteady state flow of a slightly compressi-
ble fluid. In the absence of dead-end pores or dendrites
the other curves in Figs. 10 and 11 should be coin-
195
cident with Curve 1 if the effective permeability and
porosity in the nonwetting phase are used to calculate
T. The wide separation of the several curves in Figs.
10 and 11 is excellent evidence for the presence of
dead-end pores or dendritic nonwetting phase
structure.
CONCLUSIONS
The overall and most general conclusion from the
study presented here is that the miscible displace-
ment process in the multiphase system studied here
is different and more complex than in a single phase
system. The presence of a second phase probably
caused some of the displacing and displaced fluid
to be trapped in dead-end pores or dendritic structure.
Conclusions in detail for the system studied here
are:
1. Dispersion in the wetting component of a two
immiscible liquid system increased with decreasing
saturation of the wetting fluid.
2. Longitudinal diffusion phenomena in the wetting
component decreased with decreasing saturation of
that component.
3. The dispersion coefficient is not an adequate
measure of mixing for displacements in multiphase
systems.
4. Dispersion phenomena are dependent upon
component distribution in a two immiscible fluid
system.
5. The use of paraffin as a wetting material makes
possible a convenient model for studying mixing
between two miscible fluids acting as a non wetting
phase.
6. The efficiency of a miscible displacement
process performed in the nonwetting fluid is decreased
as the wetting phase saturation increases. This is
because all of the pore volume containing nonwetting
fluid does not conttibute to the conductance for this
fluid.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Acknowledgment is made to the donors of the
Petroleum Research Fund, administered by the
American Chemical Society, for support of the re-
196
search which led to this paper.
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