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Oil blob populations and mobilization of trapped oil in unconsolidated packs

1985; Wiley; Volume: 63; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1002/cjce.5450630401

1939-019X

N. C. Wardlaw, M. McKellar,

Electrowetting and Microfluidic Technologies

Abstract Residual oil was obtained by waterflooding, under water‐wet conditions, in unconsolidated packs of glass spheres at low capillary numbers. Trapped oil blobs were mobilized in a sequence of decreasing size with subsequent increases in capillary number. The larger blobs, which extend over many adjacent pores, fission repeatedly upon mobilization and the smaller daughter blobs are restranded. There is negligible oil production until the blob population has been reduced to single pore blobs (singlets). Thus, the critical capillary number for mobilization of significant amounts of oil in unconsolidated bead packs is not related to the original blob size population, but rather to the conditions necessary for mobilization of singlets.