X-Ray Computed Microtomography: Accurate Liquid Volume Metering
Aqueous gels have often been used to reduce excess salt water production from oil and gas wells. An ability of gels to reduce permeability to water much more than to oil is critical for successful applications of gel treat- ments in oil production wells if hydrocarbon strata are not protected during gel placement.1,2 If gelant pene- trates into an oil zone and gel forms, some time will be required before the oil penetrates through the gel bank and significant restoration of permeability to oil can occur.3,4 The dependence of oil permeability on oil throughput (i.e., fluid volume injected per flow area) determines how long it takes for a production well to “clean up” or restore productivity after a gel treatment. This report uses a Teledyne Isco Model 500D Syringe Pump with X-ray computed microtomography (XMT) to understand the throughput dependence of recovery in oil permeability.
Figure 1: Diagram of experimental setup
