TY - JOUR
T1 - The effect of fracture characteristics on reduction of permeability by asphaltene precipitation in carbonate formation
AU - Zekri, Abdulrazag Y.
AU - Shedid, Shedid Ali
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support of Abu-Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC). Special thanks to Prof. Manfred Malzahn for reviewing the paper. We also thank Ibrahim El-Magrabi for performing the image analysis work and Ms. Einas Mokhtar for her help to perform the flooding experiments.
PY - 2004/4
Y1 - 2004/4
N2 - Crude oils produced in many parts of the world contain asphaltene. Asphaltene plugging is a known cause of near-wellbore formation damage. The deposition phenomenon of asphaltene has been extensively investigated in homogenous porous media. However, we have not found any reported experimental work on asphaltene plugging in naturally or artificially fractured reservoirs. The main objective of this study is to investigate the effect of fracture characteristics on reduction of permeability by asphaltene deposition in carbonate formation.A single fracture system is made with different fracture characteristics such as porosity, permeability, and fracture angle using saw-cut limestone core samples with metallic plate. The fracture aperture was kept constant for most of the studied systems. The effect of flow rate, fracture angle, matrix to fracture permeability, asphaltene concentration, and the state of stress on the retained permeability is presented. Different fracture angle orientations of 45°, 90°, and 180° relevant to the flow axis were investigated. A noninvasive imaging technique-scanning electron microscopy (SEM)-was employed to visualize changes on the surface of the fracture as a result of aspheltenic crude oil flow through the system.
AB - Crude oils produced in many parts of the world contain asphaltene. Asphaltene plugging is a known cause of near-wellbore formation damage. The deposition phenomenon of asphaltene has been extensively investigated in homogenous porous media. However, we have not found any reported experimental work on asphaltene plugging in naturally or artificially fractured reservoirs. The main objective of this study is to investigate the effect of fracture characteristics on reduction of permeability by asphaltene deposition in carbonate formation.A single fracture system is made with different fracture characteristics such as porosity, permeability, and fracture angle using saw-cut limestone core samples with metallic plate. The fracture aperture was kept constant for most of the studied systems. The effect of flow rate, fracture angle, matrix to fracture permeability, asphaltene concentration, and the state of stress on the retained permeability is presented. Different fracture angle orientations of 45°, 90°, and 180° relevant to the flow axis were investigated. A noninvasive imaging technique-scanning electron microscopy (SEM)-was employed to visualize changes on the surface of the fracture as a result of aspheltenic crude oil flow through the system.
KW - Asphaltene
KW - Carbonate formation
KW - Fracture
KW - Permeability
KW - Plugging
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U2 - 10.1016/j.petrol.2003.12.009
DO - 10.1016/j.petrol.2003.12.009
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:1642487626
SN - 0920-4105
VL - 42
SP - 171
EP - 182
JO - Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering
JF - Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering
IS - 2-4
ER -