.

,
I

APPLICATION

OF ELECTRICAL

INCREASING

FLOW RATE
IN

CURRENT

OF OIL

,,

FOR

AND MATER

POROUS MEDIA

By

Saleh
George

A.
Y.

Amba,
~.
..

Chilingar,
and

Carrel

M.

Beeson

.,.

University

of

Southern

Cal~fornta

... .. .

...

..

.
.-..-.

., ,
,.
.

.,,

. .. ...

.- .-

.- .,.
,.

,.

,..

-,
.. . .. .... ., =

. ..

. .,, .

.....
b

3NIMMETICW
.
The increasing
hqxmtanm of eitherwaterfloodingor pkkary
prCxMtionof oil.frcnutight clayey formtions, and the diffieul.ties
encountereddus to clay swelling, #ug@stedthe possibilityof utilizing
.
eleatriealcurrent to augment reservoirenergy and reduce c~~ swellings

.,,

Tti writersbelieved that this will reduce Ghe

injection~essure and

wXLL inoreme

tik flow rate of bil and water. Thus, the researchwas

initiated
in the PetroleumEngineering
Laboratoriesof the Universityof
SouthernCkIi.farnia
during the pericx?.
of 1950-1954. Severaltypes of
chemi.oal
additives (ionizedcompoumis) were also tested for their effect
in conjunctionwith electricalctuwent,
Tk writers alsobelievethat the elsctrdinetic phenomenawill

,-

reoeivemore attentionand will have wider applicationi.noil production.

Sum United States patentswere issued in the last few gears dealing
with the applicationof these phenunena for bore~holetreatmentati oil

Review of Literature
Ruess (1808) (2) was the ftist to notice that L two electrodes

were placed in a liquid on oppositesides of a porous diaphragm,on

applicationof an electromotiveforoe the liquid would flow from one
cmnprtment to the other. An equilibriumwill be reached when the
hydraulichead, due to the differencein flui(ilevel, is balancedby the
foroe oaused by the fiposed eim.f
ii~idmfMknlS(1852)

(3)

,,

first and second laws stated that:

i~n an el~~ical field is applied to a liciuidin capillaries,

flow is proportionalto the eiidtrti. ctqp3@ or-ttw ,a~p~ed . potexiti.ali
~ti;-insteid;
thisfkw is-&even-&ed,
the electioosmotio
wessure is Hkewise ~oportional to the current.
.:,.. .
.
,.

..
. .

..

... .

,,

. . .,

..

.
,;

-.

Qui.mk (lMO) (h) recognizedelectroosmostsand streaming

potentials

inverse phenomenaand wplained thereby the assumptionthat

an electric doublehyw

exjstsat tileboundary wurface wtveen +,hs

fiquld and the solid wall, It can be assumed that the solid surface is
negativelyCharged and the positivelycharged part o: the i,J~nla,~r
is present i.nthe iiqaid -@asec Ihus, utcm d::ap]]licatior
c:>~r~e;ckrnai
electricalfiel~, the ::osj.LfveQ
charged ii.quidla;vr viiilmave %c:wmd
the cathode, L~awinp IWittit -x3termoleculec !LI..i]e
free

Hc::i.

ci

SIJf?%TC

because of t.k viscous drag. Jonvers@~;, ifa Iiqtii is iox?.: tjwnuu]l

liquidsand for porws plugs as well as for capilk~

tubes (6-X?),

A modern eonoept of the liquid-solidinterfacein%i%ducedby.

W

(S) m~~fedthe

pictwe,dra~rnW

earlier irnesti!y.turs,~f
the

electricaldouble layer (as a rigid condenwr) antilea to the concefi

of

the diffuse double layer. The solici-liquir.i

interface 5.sthe wat of a
double layer in which the ions of onekind(usuallythe anions) are
adsorbedand ti@tl.y held tothe surface, thus leavin~;an cxcesr of the
other bd of ions (cations)in solut~on. The ionc aran,qe t::e~m~.lves
in a diffuse J.zqier
in wilichthe excws W? concentrationo<sik secmd
kind over the first .ii.miniskes
toward the cea%r of the capillary,!rom,

a maxhum

at th? wall to zerb

at an outer hcmndary. .

conditions
~vailc
For a oapillarytube the electioosmoticvelooity is given by tlw
equation:

*x%:
~

is the current density, ~

the liquid vieeosity,

is the specificresisia~e,

$a the electricalPoterltial
a~Ithe sclidwal.1.
.

Later modificationsby SmoluchoV7ski

(7) lead to the famous
..
.

Hel.mholt~-Smoluchowski
equations:

u=

~D,E

4wy

where: A
&

ii=

and

47Ty

= tilecross-oecti,ondafw,,

= zeta potential,

A@hE

= dielectric:nonstant,

= ~]otential
difference,and

= el~ctr~~

osmotic
flow rate. .5m02.uc@mkiaiso proved the validit;:of these
equationsfor porous plugs where

was eliminated.
~; the application

by assuming no surface conductance:

,
where

is the

specific

c:mdilctivj.tj

capillaries..It I:ra3proved later

.

and ~

!1S

the

ckwnt

t;rollgh

that

.
. ..

. ..

. .-

i.

. .
.. .

.*. 4
-7

where:

C?ki

-7-F-y(-A+~

= cimxmj?erwce

of the ca~il.kryand

,.?(.)
?.
F,

i=

g
.-L

&

where

(1 - fj
=
4
~

g=

length

volurrefrac

s haps fac

of

tlw core,

ii on

ava:ila-ole

tmr

,.
.+.

;
.,

.. . :..
..

.
,.
.

..

,.

. .:
.,.
,.~:.

--

,,

,,<-

,.

it was poslwl.ated
by Mazur and Overbreek (l-l)and ?jyLor&Iz (12) that
the effects of simultaneouselectricaland hydrodynamicproces~::
on the
transportof liquid.and electriccharge could k

consideredadditive,

Tt, therefore,follows that?

V=c
where V

~.:

+:;21

= volume rate of fluid flow iromside 1

trical potentialdifference
~ = ~ssure
e~rtiental

to 2.
.- ;!,= ~:I.Ec-

pOS-T4iVC

differential

beiry at side 1.),

an.,i
Cl, 22 are

coefficients@

.,

Electroosmosisand 3a~QlL
From the existjnp laws and Lheories~;ovek:h!f
the electrcki.netic
phenanenaof fluicl flow W. porous media, it my.- tic s tateci that the
-~okmetricflow rate of water in e,porous media due LO the a],rklcatior?
a hydrodynamicpotential,togethcy :tit~:
an.elect?-;cxl;;otefitia~.
resultantaddition of i!w

where %

two Se;M?V&.t,P~t;ite~

of

:l~J7.j i,p

= :llcelec!troosnot,ic
~.E
r:~~ab
ilit,
ooelf icient

j ifi

of
the

h. ch\sec

;:er

volt/cm,

whit

electrical
----

h is cms%ant for a pmt fcular s-p.tms md

pote n-kid. .&dj,e-:]t

..

$. =

in; v .51i/cI!.
. ..

. -..

tile .

/,

.-,.

Darcy~s law, the hydrodyn.amic

flow rate

Fran

where

~h

hydrod-c

permeabil-W

$ and

4,
.

iqd-rdimrmic

gradient.

,,

ti..
iC J2.CW
Fr~flthe above discussionsit is cl-ar t;~tt;IeVOlii!l-.

..

, .:... .... ..
.
.. .

..

. .

,.

deep
sand,

tn a very thick stratum of clayey silt, interspersedby

h

the

pxnchi.tyof the sea wre docmd to failure

VBry aot%vw U@.ift phenmfm=.

The

applioati.on

seams of

bemuse of tha

of el.ectroosmmisto

cause water t? flow away from the excavationsite W

Wied next. W

siltdepositscmntatnadsalt,whichinoreasedthe e%wtri.cal
conduottvity

of the Sm12.,
Wmsiag Mgk$r
Ripewell
deep.

eleotmdes

BeXcm tb

mw3umptim

of

mlrrent

were usd 10 meters

appkiua$icm of cmrrent$ tk

from1.to 50 lita3 par hour per w6WL

tip%

and 7.5meters

flou rate of intervaried

After apply%ng the Current.$

the

..

flar rate hwmsed

@ to J2w479l.ftersper hour PEWwell. A cument cif

oonshkmble remaroh - the eleotrolsinetic,

phencmena of liquid fb-wing

in

capillaries,

and their8pplidii~e Althugh the ~P*~Wl

teohn%que
for these pmposea differs from M3boraimy flocdingexperiments

in petraleumteobmd.ogy,
yet the work is basically similar,
~tmet (~T},Mort.ada{28) x

others have -stig~ted

the ~ffeet
,C..i
of electmldnetios on the pern@&My,Ato the electrooamoticbaok pressure

et 82.(19) have wxodwed

m? the eleot?m-imus.effect. !l!itkov
.
ukafh &eo~@es

. .

koi fkkratiII&
tliiwall of drill holes W

..

new ald

tlwJ*6 W

,..,

.
$,.

elmtrdmnlfml

treatment.

imp??!?elll of altermting

polarity

iwiuratingprooess is aouom@4Aed
both during

drilling

by

and at the owl of

prooeas
$ withtM additimnaf Bpeuialsolutionsin plsae of
&ill.fng

fluid.

Aatwq
~

the

and *
S@hetic

rimentalRooedums
cores were preparedof different
grainsizenand paclm,

c retaining
differing

percentages

of clay. to test the effect

of the

appMoatiOnof direotourrentin add.ltion to M.fferential~essure on the

flcnrrate. Pure sfkka powder (200+mesh) was als~ used. Additional~

testsweremadein orderto find out the effectof sanechemicaladditivm

(i~abk

cmpmada

mn$moticm

) m

the

flou rate

of the water in wroua medk b

with applying electricaluurrent,

Coreswere saturated
wftha one peroen%(bymight)

NaClsolution,

kerosenewas usedas thenon-wetting

phase. Thepmssum gradient
Waa

heldcmstant at apprmdmatily 1.5 pei/ft. A tensim ranging fras

0,4

to

W vO~ts
\ Many

was applied. The resultsare prw!e,

A in Table 1.

dlffioulttes
were Lxitially
emountemd by the writers.

evolution
of gasesaroundthe elmtrodes$ bacterialplwgging,and
electrolytic
reaetionredwmd the aocuraoyof the tests, Theseproblems
mm

Mm

solvedon usingan improvedapparatus,

whichis shown in

Figs.1 and 2-

,,,

Variuuapercentages
of mmtmorillcmtte
claywereadsldxed
with

diameter

polyethylene
sleevehavinga l-imh al.undum
dim ami a rubber

stopper at eaoh end. The pac&d mixture col&ne (or sausage)uas next

.,

..

.
.,

,-

....

-. ..-. -.

....- .

! ..... . ----?-.

iL
w

U2

c)

I
,..

H
8

!!
w
W

4
f+
*
.

..-

l-i

l-i
,....-..
..
.-.

-J.

,.
H

..

..-. ,..,..-.

..
,-.-

-.
:
.

,7

--

LAJ

i!
0

C2

0
l-t-

Cj\
C3

LJJ
J
2?

..

0
tI

t-r

,_J +
--

.-. .

,,.

!
\, \
\

\\
w
\
u
c1
Id
c)
1cc
t-- LIJ
z
c)
b-l 1-1
-J
c)
Id
>

>
J-=--J=
Cj
c1

i-4-

.U9

,/

,*

(n

.,

..,
./.

,.

,,.

-1

//
.
--- F
4

-u--

+------6.

0-

1LA.J
l--

-u
~,.

Lid

,+: ..

c1-

Fig. 2 - a) Plwt@graph

of tk

apparatus

shwlng tlw ebotio-

osmotiocell and mnneotions.

b) Photograph
of a synthetic
Goreshcdmg presmm @pa,
t
,.

$uU5
& mom

mowmo

..-.

1
..

..

.
~-.~.
..

-. ..,.

.
.-

..----- -------

.. -

. -_......... :
,;.

. .
>i.... - .-:.

-,/ -...,,,

... .

,!

..

copper w4ainer arcmd the misrWrecoluwm.

b *

ua.stlaen~edjna

~SSUIW

The wmtatner

bcmb end tk! lWill was idluwed to set overmre was then clearedand the

l!b).The com was thendried

eighthours

After

the a%r

permeability
awl the porositywere obtdned$the carewas flmdedby the

dslqde were added to the solutionto prevent baoterial,growth and a 0.4~

mi3Mm10ropore filter was used. A regtkted electronic
used for the directcurrent

voltage w

power supply waa

measured by a wacuum tube

voltmter tlmn!ghspsoialmeaqringAg-A@3,electrodes,
plaoed at the
surfaoe of the cm.
famation
mrrent

JMs preoautt& UZU!J

taken in order to prevent the

of gas bubbles due to ebotrdlyticmaotdon. The plati.mm

ebohwdea uerekept outsidethe sntem

wqxwtments
formed aoidic

sad a continuous
solutiion

t&uskeepingW

uasbing

sy&mi

in special electrode

was used to wash out the

at the anodeand thebasicsolutionat the cathcxie,

solutionsin bathwmpartmnts neutral.

The currentis transferred

throughhighpressureAgar-pWgs aoting
as a salt bridge between the mrrent electrodeconqxmtmentand tlm main
body of the oore. The four ~essure taps are cwnnect$dto mercury

mananetsrs
for measwbg the pwmu?e gradientalcugthe coreIn cwder
of elecimmmmis
to c30neo*for. the erxleffeotand to testthe efteot

..

on the porepwmure.

!l?m
sohthns havingcliff
erentmight pe~ents of NaClwereused
..
as W
after
-,

..

flowingfluid. TIMhyimxiynamic
fhw ratewas firstIIMMWed

the systemhad attainedsteadystate. T@ mum presqureLdiffet?enti.al

..

Tim
(~.?:.9.3&ia) was held constant throughqxtthe e~er~nts.
.... ..._...-. . . . . -.,
.
..
,,.
s.

omrmnt was tbn

appliedwithtensionra@mg from10 to 200WJltsand

theflewratams neasurq3at%srthe systemattaiwd steadystateat

eaohvoltagesetting. tie of the resultsobtaimd are presented
in
l%bZesII and III,
Thble II

and

plottedh

Figs.

3, k, 5 ad

6.

EffectatElectrical
Potential.
Gradientand Current
on the FarePremmrs and Normalized Flow Rate
.,-.

[Average- - j
j.- Ipresaure
Potential :
Igradient,
\ gradient$
; Cuzm3nt,
sm H@rn
; m+unp.

! tiolt/om

0.0

, 4.65

0.0

I
j

h.lxl

L5

1
~

..-.

Current
densiy,
ma/emB

. ... . . . .- -.. . .. I

Normalized

s flowrata,

Q/Qi*

,
Loo

0.00

1
~k

0.08

2*MH

3.34

4.87

~
I

14.85

L5.

io*6:

0.12

3*O

069

OJ 8

1.52

0.0

0.03

1.22
1.75

,;

; 4*L6

0.0

4$

Z.&

O*28

0.0

0.0

0.00

4.8

I
/ 49.%

i
!
1.2.7 ;

I
*

*S

is

the

rateat a potential~, Qi is the hitid

flow

fl@urab.

Each

value repzwentaan aritlsnetia

averageof aboutfivereadings.
%bdden

krkse

fn the flow rate which3AwW@ fm 8 hoursbeforethe

..

systemreached a steadystate.
Tb data shown in TabZeH (Figs. 3, 4) wwe obtained frari a
syntheticowe (l@ 40&mesh Wyoqgel+ 90$ fiawa 29%mesh SiMowtl.
)

usinga O.1$%
by weightNaClsehxtiom The p?essuxwgradient valueswere
- aymged

fran mancmetew~madlngs a2&g the co=; tMs reflects

the

hmease in porepressuredue to eLw&osmosis.

Thedatapreswhwxiin
..
YableIIIami pltitedin F@s@ ~ ~d 6 WBZW b~figd-fy~ a -s@t~&
. , ----,,.
.
.,.

-.
.

-..

,,.
.... .

,.,

.: - -

,.

f,

. .-,
.,-.
.,.,---

$.

b2?

xl

0
*-

N
.!

,.

-.

..

,.

. .

.!

U7
. ...

v
,..

-,.,

-f

- .--+-.,....

c.

l.._. I...-

._.__.! _J

r
I
_
-.,_...,_~+__~__/
i
1
~
-1
\
I
xl -t----------p-

-t

,L

-.--i.-

QL.:

--------+__
_
F
t--l--l----j---2
/....~__/_____________
~

/ ;. ~ \ ~--..--.~._.
T
1
1._,

____

...-_._. -...+_.

-11
----..
-J...
.... . ..._- ..
-11-,
i
1
!
I

---f _-__ ........

-..
r
3
-4
fr
_
- -_..
_. ----It

._
L
~
c)
(i

(9
..

-!

w
-.

~
-

.0
0

were

mm

cd Imreasing

-= EffeJct

and/ur(hrrent
) --

---

. ..

191KiDwrking

m l?urmdklzed FlowRate

-------

-..
..
...--------

Current

II

0,00

O.fs

tlw Vfiubage

1.3.2

-.

--

Mrm3J.zed
flm rate,
Q/q%

current,

m=amp.

,0.0

0.00

1.00

9*4

1.88

1.13

!
I

23.0

ks60

1.2?

1.,23

den6ity,
ma.lcm2

6.00

30,(?

,, h48
,;
2.86

660

33.20

4.10

105.0

21.00

-4

Ll$?

~~

1*86

294,4

4*95

MO*O

30.00

%45

164.0

32,00

2.82

?h.o

LLao

4.78

} ,.

3.45

43*5 ;

2073

30.0

I-48

I
;

3.8.0

0.00

~
;

I
I

,4.75

i
I

0.0

?3.65

3.M

$5.00

3.97

I
~

3e613

2.37

:
!
i
t

3.714

(),00

*Rw tiues presentedbelowthe dottedltiewere

-ckddntd

by

,,,,
.. .,

6
!,

.,. ,
), 5

,,

.,

,.

.,

,.,

,:

, 4

%.
-_

,.

., ,,

,,

,.
;~..
,,

,
,,

,2

I I--n
t

,,,
,,
if

ELECTRICAL

.,

,2

.,

POTENTIAL

GRADIENT,

V/Cm

Y.,
.

,
t
.;,

,.

..

$.
,.
,!

rata

,,, ,

:,

:,

,,,.
,,

..!

~,,
.,,
,,>
,.. ,.

,0,~

:,,

Fig. ~ - Electz%!d pa%exltisil

@ad.ten*
TWsus XWmpbed

..
.,; !

...

Qj~

(95% CaC~ flow

flu(i7
-J

* % T&o-gel symtbetti

core).

,.,,

i,
,..

,,
.

CJ

.!
a

. . .. . .. .

.. .. . ...

,,.
,.
, . ~....-.

3.2

D$.mmmim of Results
m nmiltg Wme presented in the tam of a normli.zed
flowrate

Q/% (*
*otted

flow ata mltags ~ dividedby the initial

versus eMrbrif3al potential
gradient.JIMwe

imrease 5M the flawJ.%%with inorsasingeleclWicalpotential gradient.

1% was also noted th%t gmerdly

them i& a sudden iuoreasein the flow

rate on ceuneetlngend disconnectingthe current across the core

tight cores reversingthe current aomss the cores I&s a roclcLn&effact

WM3 imprO%73s
me fmw rate.
~
fmrease

in

the additionof
the

fhw

was

sodium

aoid pyrophoephatea sudcknmarhd

nobtoed. The subsequent

suddendwwease in the
~.

stream neutralizing
the Axed part of the diffw%d
,.

or to the grqat

imrease

the day particles

elect tic

M the water c mduc tivi ty.

double layer

mhiuiqprian

M the addition of thes9 complex phm~phatesis

carried too far~however, a flooculalzion

of the sqystemresults Wcawe

the excws infhx of Na+ ions

results

in

the

rm&iMzati.an

of negative

The effeot of eledmxxmosis on the pore pressurew

,/

established, T& abnormal inorease,tithe pare

CaC~, possibly

pres3we

in

clearly
the

uith

cum

codl.d
be attrihutad
to the evolwtcion
of C02 in the

min

body of the core due to the decanposj.tj.on

of carbonates
near th anode.

NM inmease

in

hylrcxiynamio

permeability~

afterthe treat-

ment appears to be an tirwptiible

changeand it possib~ dugto sw

majordmg&I and reamngements

in the POV

struoture i Russian scienktsts

t@taoture)

prdkged dieotmohmid.

after

Wther

thoseahasqges will

treatment~

imreaue

or deoreaseit, willbe

amoas theporous medk

of utilizingthis ekotrioal txeatient

to
m effestimlless
bream

tk flowrah ar fkid in WOUS

media$seemstO depend on

th

deotrolytio Aaraotelwiin
of th flowingfkid, th day c OKltent
of the

mmmtions and,as luentiamd

before,tlm ela@WxJsmottOpezmabilityq
as wa@@8d with tk byd2@W&SiWb perrwbil.tty Kh G
-

For field

applj.oation$
it would be advisableto set up a progr=

a fidd @lot test to Wnuw

optimum

results.

inmwasedby tbe apjxlioation

of eil.eohric
ourrmt

2.

permeability

!Rw

of cores Wwwning

lmtreaaed
by eleotroohsmiod treatment aaudng

Sun@day

Md!d be

an irreversible

phw~o-

dkemioal
dmnge in pore acmfigurat~m (or stmcture).
.-

3,
the

The applhationof current seems to

mmxluotivity
of the fcmattonwater is

clay are w@ent g @

low,

be met

effective
when

xneasurable
smounts of

permeabilityIs reasonablyIWO

4. After the el.ealawhetioal

treatment@ clay, t~ c3J3y
bydr-

-My
5.

It

was

is appreciably
20uXXi

that

deoreaiw%

oerfxdn tonSzab10
cben&41smay lmwease

.ulmn.
added.insmallamdakk (0.01~a:,00$ -,,.,~:---the effect d this promss,.

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peroent by weight) to Wb im$30ttcm

fluid.
6.
&

M fieldapplioat~m, it b mmmmied

to use dbotrochu

non=elaotr&yzabla
matewbilsuohas graphite,
aarbcq or nobh mtalE

platedover base material.

AdmWximent
T& senior uribr would M.&J to express his a~eoiaticm
Dr. R&l HiUsr,

to

Dr. Alhart Worthington,and Mr. JohnBc&elyfor their

mSMxluausInterestand help* He WMles Eil.19e

to mank California

Re8earoh Corpora*ion La H&m lkboratory~

far lendingM

saueof the

eq@pWrItwed In thulreammho
T& writerstih to thaxic
LuoasG- Adammm, tiy Hunnicutt,
awl
AhnmdZalm31 for theirhelpm

tld.s Imestigathth

The

urtters are also

greatlyimiebtedto De+ti Ha Ikrsen whose helpwas invaluable

?
out this2?emarOh0

.,

im mrrytmg

REFERENCES
4

(1)

W@mmn,

(7)
(8]

(13)

(I.&l
(15)

(16)

(17)

(18)

(i9)

G.,Ann. l%ysik(.lfis2
j, -?,,
??2.

(20)

(21}

,Studyof

13fspmdng Agentw, Ibid.,

Vdl.

22,

No. 4,

Pm -3*
!

(22)

Zhankiu,

p. 31.

-.

i?.

w.~ Kou.oid

z (J~-Fe-,

1950), vol. 22, No, 1,