The Effect of Fracture Characteristics on Reduction of Permeability by Asphaltene Precipitation in Carbonate Formation

Abdulrazag Y. Zekri, Shedid Ali Shedid

Research output: Contribution to conferencePaperpeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

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 fractures characteristics such as porosity, permeability, and fracture angel 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 angel, 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 axis of the flow were investigated. A non-invasive 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.

Original languageEnglish
Pages583-597
Number of pages15
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2003
EventSPE Asia Pacific Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition - Jakarta, Indonesia
Duration: Apr 15 2003Apr 17 2003

Other

OtherSPE Asia Pacific Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition
Country/TerritoryIndonesia
CityJakarta
Period4/15/034/17/03

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Fuel Technology
  • Energy Engineering and Power Technology

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