SPE 123994

Three-Phase Measurements of Non-Wetting Phase Trapping in

Unconsolidated Sand Packs

Saleh K. Al Mansoori, Christopher H. Pentland, Stefan Iglauer, and Martin J. Blunt, SPE, Imperial College London

Copyright 2009, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the 2009 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition held in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, 47 October 2009.
This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper have not been reviewed by
the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material does not necessarily reflect any position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its officers, or members.
Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper without the written consent of the Society of Petroleum Engineers is prohibited. Permission to reproduce in print is restricted to an
abstract of not more than 300 words; illustrations may not be copied. The abstract must contain conspicuous acknowledgment of SPE copyright.

Abstract
Weperformaseriesofexperimentsinwaterwetsandpackstomeasurethetrappedsaturationsofoilandgasasafunctionof
initialsaturation.Westartwithbrinesaturatedcolumnsandinjectoctane(oil)toreachirreduciblewatersaturationfollowed
bydisplacementbyair(gas)fromthetop,allowingoilandairtodrainundergravityfordifferentamountsoftime,then
finallybrineisinjectedfromthebottomtotrapbothoilandgas.Thecolumnsareslicedandasensitiveandaccurate
measurementofsaturationalongthecolumnismadeusinggaschromatography.Themaximumresidualgassaturationisover
20%,comparedto14%fortwophaseflow(AlMansoorietal.2009).Forlowerinitialgassaturation,theamountoftrapping
issimilartothatreachedinanequivalenttwophaseexperiment.Wealsofindthattheamountofoiltrappedisinsensitiveto
eithertheinitialgassaturationortheamountofgasthatistrapped.Moreoilistrappedthanwouldbepredictedfroman
equivalenttwophasesystem,althoughthetrappedsaturationisneverlargerthanthemaximumreachedintwophaseflow
(around11%)(Pentlandetal.2008).Theseinitiallysurprisingresultsareexplainedinthecontextofoillayerstabilityandthe
competition between snapoff and pistonlike advance. In unconsolidated twophase waterwet systems,displacement is
principally by cooperative pistonlike advance with relatively little trapping, whereas in consolidated media snapoff is
generallymoresignificant.However,duringthreephasewaterflooding,oillayercollapseeventsrapidlytraptheoilwhich
actsasabarriertodirectwatergasdisplacement,exceptbysnapoff,leadingtoenhancedgastrapping.
Introduction
ThemotivationofthisresearchistounderstandtrappingofCO 2incarboncaptureandstorageprojects,althoughthework
alsohasapplicationtoenhancedoilrecoveryprocesses.Capillarytrappingasbeenproposedasarapidandeffectivewayto
storeCO2securelyinsimulationstudies(Flettetal.2004;Kumaretal.2005;Hesseetal.2006;Juanesetal.2006;Obietal.
2006;Hesseetal.2008;Juanesetal.2008;Saadatpooretal.2008;Qietal.2009).Inthispaper,wefocusonCO 2capillary
trappinginaquifersandoilfieldsthroughanaloguelaboratoryexperimentsinwaterwetsystems.
Itisalreadywellestablishedthatindrainagedisplacements,wheregasdisplacesoilandwater,verylowresidualoil
saturationscanbeachievedinsandpackssimilartothosewestudyhere(see,forinstance,Sahnietal.1998;Dicarloetal.
2000a;b).Here,however,wewillstudysituationswherethefinaldisplacementisawaterflood,trappingbothoilandgas.
Previouswork(Holmgrenetal.1951;Kyteetal.1956;MacAllisteretal.1993;Skauge1996;Egermannetal.2000)has
shownthattheresidualoilsaturationinthreephaseflowisreducedfromitstwophasevalue(wherenotrappedgasis
present):
3p
2p
3p
S
or
Sor aSgr
(1)
where

3p

gr

istheresidualgassaturation

in thepresenceofoilandwater,
S

2p

3p

or

istheresidualoilsaturationafter

or
waterfloodinginthepresenceofgas,and
istheresidualoilsaturationaftertwophasewaterfloodingwithnogas
present.WaterwetdatafromHolmgrenandMorse(1951)andKyte etal. (1956)suggestthatthecoefficient a is0.45.
Egermannetal.(2000)reportedsimilarresults.Kyteetal.(1956)alsoreporteddataforAlundumrenderedoilwetbydri
filmthatindicatesthata=0.Skauge(1996)measuredvaluesof0.5to1forwaterwetsystems,1forweaklywaterwet,and0

foroilwetsystems.DatafromMacAllisteretal.(1993)forBakerdolomiteindicatethatais0.75,0.25and0.04forwater
wet,mixedwetandoilwetconditionsrespectively.Kraliketal.(2000)founda=0foroilwetmedia.Caubitetal.(2004)

SPE 123994

founda=0.2forwaterwet,0.27forweaklyoilwetand0.46foroilwetsystems.Maetal.(1994)showedthattheresidual
oil saturation after a tertiary waterflood in threephase flow is lower than the residual oil saturation obtained by
waterflooding,butdidnotquantifythevalueofa.Kortekassetal.(1991)confirmedsimilarbehavior.Fayers(1987)provided
empiricalrelationshipsfordifferentwettabilityandproposedthata=0.55forwaterwetsystemsanda=0forintermediate
wettability.
Forresidualgassaturation,Kraliketal.(2000)andSkaugeetal.(2002)showedexperimentallythatthethreephase
3p

2p

S
S
gr gr
residualgassaturationislowerthatthetwophaseresidualgassaturation
.Maloneyetal.(2003)andJerauld
(1997)insteadsuggestedthatthetwoandthreephaseresidualgassaturationsareequal.
3p
2p
S
gr Sgr
(2)
3p
Caubitetal.(2004)alsoshowedthatthevaluesofSgr areindependentofwettabilityandsimilartothetwophasevalues.

Wewillstudytrappinginunconsolidatedmedia,whichhasalsobeendiscussedinthesoilscienceliterature.Oostromand
Lenhard(1998)providedareviewofthisliteratureandcompareddifferentmodelsofcapillarytrappinginthreephaseflow.
We will not discuss the details here, but residual saturations in the range of around 10% and lower were typically
encountered.Theconclusionofallthesestudies,includingthoseonconsolidatedmedia,isthattheresidualsaturationofoil
orgasisgenerallythesameorlowerthanmeasuredinanequivalenttwophasedisplacement.Ourresultspresentedbelow
willsuggestotherwise.
In recent years, the fundamental physical understanding of threephase flow at the pore scale level has increased
significantly.Sincetheporeoccupancyinthreephaseflowisnotnecessarilyrepresentedbytwophaseexperiments,thereis
noguaranteethatanempiricalmodelwillbeabletopredictthethreephaserelativepermeabilityaccurately.Oilandgas
trapping in threephase flow has been predicted using porescale modeling (Piri et al. 2005a;b; Suicmez et al. 2008).
However, there is still considerable uncertainty in the assessment of oil and gas trapping and very little data for
unconsolidatedmedia.
Capillary trapping experiments
Apparatus.TheexperimentalsetupisshowninFig.1.

Figure 1. Schematic of the apparatus. The sand-packed column was placed vertically for first brine injection, horizontally for oil
injection and then vertically for gas injection and for the second brine injection.

analoguefluidsatambientconditions.Theoilphasewasn
Fluids.Ourexperimentsusedunconsolidatedsandpacksand octane colored red using Sudan Red 7B dye to observe its

movement during the experiments. The wetting phase was and5weight%sodiumchloride).Airwasthegasphase.The

brine(deionizedwaterwith1weight%potassiumchloride,

SPE 123994

ambienttemperatureinthelabwasrecordedasbeingconsistently293K(1K).Ambientpressurewasmeasuredtobe
0.101MPa(0.003MPa).Table1presentsthefluidviscositiesanddensities.
Property
o
w
o
w

Value
-4
5.1 10 Pa.s *
-3
1.085 10 Pa.s **
-3
709 kg.m
-3
1042 kg.m

Table 1. Octane and brine properties at ambient conditions of 0.101 MPa and 293.15 K unless stated
(density figures averaged over 15 experiments).

1*
Reference temperature 298.15 K (CRC Handbook, 2007)
2* 5 weight % NaCl Brine (no KCl present) (CRC Handbook, 2007)

Sandpacks. ThesandusedintheexperimentswasunconsolidatedLevenseat60(LV60)sand(WBBMinerals,UK).The
grainsizedistributionwasdeterminedbysievingfor80minutesusingBritishstandardmeshesonanelectricshaker.Nuclear
magneticresonance(NMR)scansandmicrocomputertomography(microCT)imaginghavebeenconductedforthissand.
Theseresultsarepresentedelsewhere(Talabietal.2008).
Column. ThesandpackwascontainedinacustommachinedPolymethylmethacrylatecolumn1mlongwithaninternal
radiusof1cm.Therearepremachinedgroovesaroundthecircumferenceevery5cmalongthecolumnlength.These
groovesallowedthecolumntobesliceduponcompletionoftheflowexperimentsuchthatdirectsamplescouldbetaken
fromthesandpackforanalysisusinggaschromatography(GC).Whenpackingthecolumnwithsand,acircularpieceofwire
mesh(brass)andtwocircularpiecesoffilterpaper(VWRInt.FilterPapers415)wereplacedbetweenthesandfaceandthe
endcaptopreventsandproduction.
Gaschromatography(GC). TheuseofGCfordirectsamplemeasurement(DiCarlo etal. 2000b)ismoreaccuratethan
massorvolumebalancefortheseexperiments.APerkinElmerAutosystemXLGCfittedwithaSGEfortecapillarycolumn
(30m x 0.25mm ID, BP20 0.5 m, polyethylene glycol) and a thermal conductivity detector was used to detect fluid
concentrations.TheGCsetupalloweddetectionofchangesofthemagnitudeof1ppmwithineachGCsamplevial.The
measurementprogrammeissummarizedinTable2.Ahighprecisionsyringepump(TeledynePump1000D)wasusedinall
floodingexperiments.Flowaccuracyaccordingtotechnicalspecificationsis0.5%.
Parameter
Run time
Sampling Rate
Oven Temperature
Injector Temperature
Detector Temperature
Carrier Gas
Detector Gas

Retention Time n-octane

Retention Time 2-Propanol
Retention Time Water
Table 2. GC measurement parameters.

Value
3 minutes
12 readings per second
Initial: 353.15 K, increase to 443.15 K
at a rate of 30 K per minute
473.15 K
513.15 K
Helium, 2mL/min flow rate
Helium, 18 mL/min; reference gas:
Helium 20 mL/min; split flow = 50
mL/min / total flow rate = 54 mL/min
1.344 minutes
1.496 minutes
1.734 minutes

Displacementsequence.Westartwithasystemfullofbrine,theninjectoctanefollowedbydisplacementbyair,thenfinally
brineisinjected.ThisdisplacementsequencemimicswhatwouldoccurinanoilfieldwhenCO 2isinjectedasasecondary
process,earlyinthefieldlife.Indepletedfields,thereisnormallyaperiodofwaterfloodingbeforegasinjection:tomimic
thesecasestheinjectionsequencewouldincludeawaterfloodingstepbetweenoilandairdisplacement.Forsimplicitywedid
notdothishere.
Thesandpackedcolumnsweresaturatedwith5porevolumes(PV)ofbrineandthendisplacedwith5PVofnoctane.
Thebottomvalvewasthenopenedandtheoctanedrainedoutundergravity.Airwasallowedtoenterthetopofthesystem
throughalong,narrowtubeconnectedtoasealedreservoircontainingairsaturatedwithoctane.Thesystemwasallowedto
drainforaspecifiedtime.ThisproducedaninitialconditionofSwi,Soi,andSgi.Finally,residualconditionsSw,Sor,andSgr
wereachievedbyanadditional5PVfloodingwithbrine.Foreachexperiment,anewsandpackcolumnwasprepared.
Table3summarizestheexperimentsperformedandtheirassociatedparameters.Table4showsthephaseinjectionrates,
Darcyvelocitiesandcapillarynumbersassociatedwiththeseexperiments.Weperformedoneexperimentatatenththefinal
brineinjectionflowrateoftheotherstoensurethatwewereinthecapillarycontrolledregime.

SPE 123994

Experiment
number
1
1
2
2
3
3
4

Experiment
Volumeofbrine
Volumeof
Drainage
name
andoctaneInjected
brineinjected
time
Sgi/Soi
500 mL
0 mL
17 hrs
Sgr/Sor
500 mL
500 mL
17 hrs
Sgi/Soi
500 ml
0 mL
2 hrs
Sgr/Sor
500 mL
500 mL
2 hrs
Sgi/Soi
500 mL
0 mL
30 min
Sgr/Sor
500 mL
500 mL
30 min
Sgr/Sor
500 mL
500 mL
2 hrs
Table 3. Three-phase experiments and associated parameters.

Flow
Rate
5 mL/min
5 mL/min
5 mL/min
5 mL/min
5 mL/min
5 mL/min
0.5 mL/min

Number
ofreplicates
3
3
3
3
2
2
1

Experiment
name

Phaseinjected

1to4

n-octane

5 ml/min

7.17 10 m/s

1 10

1to3

brine

5 ml/min

7.17 10 m/s

2 10

-5

2 10

-6

Injectionrate

Darcyvelocity
-4
-4
-5

brine
0.5 ml/min
7.17 10 m/s
4
Table 4. Injection conditions associated with the experiments.

Capillarynumber
-5

Procedure.Theproceduretoestablishandmeasureinitialandresidualsaturationswasasfollows:
1.
TwocolumnsdrypackedwithLV60sand.
2.
ColumnflushedwithCO2for45minutes.
3.
Columnorientedverticallyand5PVofdeairedbrinewereinjectedfromthebottomintothesandpacked
column;gascouldescapefromtheoutlet.Thisensuredfullsaturation.
4.
Columnorientedhorizontallyand5PVofdeairednoctanewereinjected(primarydrainage).

5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.

Columnorientedverticallyandairsaturatedwithnoctaneenteredfromthetop;thebottomvalveopenedto
allowgasandoiltodrainundergravity.
Columnlefttodrainfordifferentamountsoftime(17h,2h,and0.5h).
ColumnslicedintoeighteensectionsforsamplingperformedforSgi/Soimeasurements.
Slicedsectionsweighedwithsand,brineandairandsectionsflushedintoaglasscontainerusing0.01kgof
propan2ol.
Storedsamplesfiltratedtoremovesand.
Approximately1to2x106m3ofthefiltratesampleplacedinanumberedGCvialandanalyzedbyGC.
Sandcarefullyrecoveredandwashedwithdeionizedwateranddrymassofsandmeasured.
Weighedeachemptycleancolumnsectionandmeasurevolumeofeachcolumnsection.
Forcolumnsnotsliced,deairedbrineinjectedfromthebottomintotheverticalcolumnusingthesame
flowrateasbefore.
Repeatsteps813forSgr/Sormeasurements.

Packing. Eachindividualsandpackedcolumnwillyieldeitheran Sgi/Soi oran Sgr/Sor setofdata.Twocolumnsasa

minimumarerequiredtoproduceasingleplotofresidualsaturationasafunctionofinitialsaturation;weaddedadditional
replicatestoassessthereproducibilityoftheresults.Aknownmassofsandwasaddedtoacolumnwithaknownbulk
volume.Thesubsequentporosityofthesandpackwasdeterminedbymassbalance.Apackingdensityof1654kg/m 3was
usedthroughout.Thebulkvolumeofthecolumnswasfoundbyfillingthemwithwaterofaknowndensityandmeasuring
themassandcomparingwiththemassofthedrycolumn.Thepackingprocesswasperformedwithdrysandpouredintothe
columninonecontinuousmotionundervibration.Table5givestheaveragepropertiesofthepacks.
Porosity
Permeability
Pore Volume
Formation Factor
Table 5. Average properties of an LV60 sand pack.

Results

37% 0.2%
32 D 0.3 D
111.2 ml 2.7 ml
4.8

Fig.2showsexampleinitialandresidualsaturationprofiles
forexperiment1.Wewereabletoreproduceboththeinitial
andresidualconditionsinreplicateexperiments.

SPE 123994

Si (%)
20

Sr (%)

40

60

80

100

20

40

60

80

100

oi

20

20

Distance from base (cm)

Distance from base (cm)

40

60

40

60

80

80

gi

wi

Sw

gr

or

100

100

(a)

(b)

Figure 2. Experiment 1: 17 hour drainage time. (a) The lines to the left show three Swi replicates (blue) and three Soi replicates (red),
while the lines to the right show three Sgi replicates (brown) for the initial conditions. (b) The lines to the left show three Sor
replicates (red) and three Sgr replicates (brown), while the lines to the right show three Sw replicates (blue) for the conditions after
waterflooding.

Beforepresentingasummaryofresults,wefirstwantedtoensurethatwewereoperatinginthecapillarycontrolledlimit,
typicalofreservoirconditions.Weperformedanadditionalexperiment,4,withalowerflowrateof0.5mL/min(capillary
numberaround106)forthefinalinjectionofb.Weobservedthattherewasnoevidenceofareductiononresidualsaturation
asflowrateincreased(seeFig.3).Thissuggeststhatourexperimentswererunatasufficientlylowcapillarynumbertoavoid
rateeffects.
0 S (%)
r
0

Distance from base (cm)

2
0

2
0

14
12
10
8

6
0

1
0
0

experimenta
l values
comparedto
literature
results:
trapping
capacity is
defined as
the residual
saturation
times
porosityand
is the
fraction of
the rock
volume that
can contain
a trapped
phase; it is
useful for

Sgr (%)

(5
m
8 L/
0 m
in
)

ll
ii
t
(red) and two Sgr replicates (brown), while e
r
the lines to the right show two Sw
a
replicates (blue) for the residual
t
conditions. The dashed lines represent the
u
0.5 mL/min flow rate and the solid lines
r
represent the 5 mL/min flow rate. (b)
e
Residual gas saturation as a function of

initial saturation. The error bars indicate

f
the range of values obtained from the
o
replicates.
r

Fig. 4 summarizes our results and c

compares our measured trapped gaso
saturations with literature values. Ourn
results are lower than the most of thes
residual saturations studied in theo

16

(
a
)

4
0

gr

Figure 03. Experiments 2 and 4: 2 hour

drainage time at two different flow rates. (a)
The lines to the left show two Sor replicates

18

Sgr (0.5 mL/min)

Drainag

2
0

Drainag
20

25

30

35

40

S
gi

(
%
)

(b)

assessing CO2Longer drainage times lead to larger

storage potentialinitialgassaturationsandhenceahigher
(Iglauer et al.residual saturation. The residual gas
2009). Note thatsaturation in the presence of oil can be
now we reachhigher than the maximum observed for
trappingcapacitiestwophase gas/water systems (around
of up to nearly14%) (Al Mansoori et al. 2009). Fig. 7
8%, which isshows the residual oil saturation as a
considerablymorefunction of initial oil saturation: again,
favorablethanthat
achieved in twolongerdrainagetimesleadtolowerinitial
phaseflowandatoilsaturation,sincetheoilhaslongerto
the upper end ofbe displaced by gas. This graph is
surprising,sincethereislittlechangein
thedata.
Fig. 6 showsresidualsaturationastheinitialsaturation
the residual gasisaltered.Moreoilistrappedthanwould
saturation profilesbe predicted from an equivalent two
for differentphase system, although the trapped
drainage times.saturation is never larger than the

45

50

maximum reached in twophase flow( a

SPE 123994

5
20
15
4
0

Sgr (%)

3
5

10
5
0

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

3
0

gi

(
%
)

Ctrap (%)

Figure 4. Our results compared to literature

v
a

versus initial non-wetting phase

Caubit et al., 2004 - 3ph

Maloney et al., 2002 - 3ph
9
Skauge et al., 2002 - 3ph, Sgi < 0.40
Kyte et al., 1956 - 3ph
8
Holmgren et al., 1951, 3ph, GasExpansion

10

saturation Sgi.

Figure 5. Our results

4
3
2

6
compared to literature

v
a

1
0

0 10 20 30 40 50
60 70 80 90 100

SPE 123994

25

20

Sgr (%)

15

10
Drainage time 17 hours (5 mL/min)
5

Drainage time 2 hours (5 mL/min)

Drainage time 0.5 hour (5 mL/min)
Drainage time 2 hours (0.5 mL/min)

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Sgi (%)
Figure 6. Residual gas saturation as a function of initial saturation. The solid line is a fit to two-phase data for a gas/water system
measured by Al-Mansoori et al. (2009).

16
14
12

S or (%)

10
8
6

Drainage time 17 hours (5 mL/min)

Drainage time 2 hours (5 mL/min)

Drainage time 0.5 hour (5 mL/min)

Drainage time 2 hours (0.5 mL/min)

0
0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Soi (%)
Figure 7. Residual oil saturation as a function of initial saturation. The solid line is a fit to two-phase data for an oil/water system
measured by Pentland et al. (2008).

SPE 123994

Fig.8showsthetotalresidualoilandgassaturationasafunctionofinitialnonwettingphase(gas+oil)saturationfor
differentdrainagetimes.Thisfigurehasaverydifferentshapetothatobtainedfortwophaseflowandreacheshighervalues.
Thiswillbediscussedinmoredetaillater.
35
30

S nr (%)

25
20
15
10

Drainage time 17 hours (5 mL/min)

Drainage time 2 hours (5 mL/min)

5
0

Drainage time 0.5 hour (5 mL/min)

Drainage time 2 hours (0.5 mL/min)
40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Sni (%)

Figure 8. Total residual saturation as a function of initial non-wetting phase (oil+gas) saturation.

Figs.9and10showtheresidualoilsaturationasafunctionofinitialandresidualgassaturationsrespectivelyfordifferent
drainagetimes.Theamountofoiltrappedisinsensitivetotheinitialgassaturationortheamountofgasthatistrapped,again
incontrasttomeasurementsonconsolidatedmedia.FromFig.10,thevalueof a inEq.(1)isapproximatelyzero,and
certainlynolargerthan0.05:thisisincontrasttoexperimentsinconsolidatedwaterwetmedia,whereahasamuchlarger
value,asdiscussedpreviously.

SPE 123994

0
1
6

20
80

30
90

40
100

50

60

70

1
4

Sor (%)

1
2
1
0

8
6
4
2 0
0 1

Figure 9. Residual oil saturation profiles as a

Sor (%)

function of initial gas saturation.

2
8

Drainage
mL/min)

Drainage
mL/min)

6
1

F igure 10. Residual oil

saturation as a

function of residual gas

5
20

10
25
s aturation.

15
30

10

SPE 123994

Discussion and Conclusions

Wehavemeasuredresidualoilandgassaturationsfromaseriesofthreephasegravitydrainageandwaterfloodexperiments
incolumnscontainingunconsolidatedsands.Whilethevaluesofresidualsaturationarelowcomparedtoconsolidatedmedia,
thetrappingcapacity(porositytimesresidualsaturation)forgascanbeashighas8%,whichisattheupperrangeofprevious
experimentalmeasurements.Weinvestigatedtheeffectoftheflowrateonresidualsaturationandobservednoevidenceofa
changeinresidualsaturationforcapillarynumberslessthanapproximately105.
Wefindthatforhighinitialgassaturationsmoregascanbetrappedinthepresenceofoilthaninatwophase(gas/water)
system.Thisisunlikepreviousmeasurementsonconsolidatedmedia,wherethetrappedgassaturationiseithersimilaror
lowertothatreachedinanequivalenttwophaseexperiment.Themaximumresidualgassaturationisover20%,comparedto
14%fortwophaseflow.Forlowerinitialgassaturation,theamountoftrappingapproximatelyfollowstheinitialresidual
trendseenintwophaseexperiments,althoughsomevaluesliebelowthetwophasecorrelation.
Theamountofoiltrappedinathreephasedisplacementisinsensitivetotheinitialoilsaturation,theinitialgassaturation
ortheamountofgasthatistrapped,againincontrasttomeasurementsonconsolidatedmedia.Moreoilistrappedthanwould
bepredictedfromanequivalenttwophasesystemforlowinitialsaturation,althoughthetrappedsaturationfollowsthetwo
phasetrendforhigherinitialsaturationandisneverlargerthanthemaximumreachedintwophaseflow(around11%).
Theseinitiallysurprisingresultscanbeexplainedinthecontextofoillayerstabilityandthecompetitionbetweensnapoff
andpistonlikeadvanceinthreephaseflow.Inunconsolidatedtwophasewaterwetsystems,displacementisprincipallyby
cooperativepistonlikeadvancewithrelativelylittletrapping(Jerauld etal. 1990;Blunt2000),aswehaveshowninour
perviouswork(Pentland etal.2008;AlMansoori etal.2009).Consolidatedmediahaveawiderrangeofporeandthroat
sizes.Wherethethroatsaremuchsmallerthanconnectingpores,snapoffcanoccur(Jerauld etal.1990).Thisfillsnarrow
regionsthroughouttheporespacewithwater,surroundingandtrappingthenonwettingphaseinthelargerpores.Incontrast,
pistonlikeadvanceleadstoaconnectedfrontmovingthroughtheporousmedium,leavingverylittletrappednonwetting
phasebehind.Thispreferenceforsnapoffoverpistonlikeadvanceistheoriginofthehigherresidualsaturationsseenin
consolidatedmedia.
TrappinginthreephaseflowhasbeenstudiedusingporescalemodelingbySuicmez etal. (2008).Theysimulateda
similar displacement sequence to our experiments gas invasion into oil and water, followed by waterflooding. They
investigated the effects of wettability on displacement in a network representing consolidated Berea sandstone. They
demonstratedthatthetrappingofbothgasandoilwascontrolledbyoillayerstabilityandthecompetitionbetweensnapoff
andpistonlikeadvance.Inwaterwetmedia,gasisthemostnonwettingphaseandisalwaystrappedinthelargestpore
spacesbysnapoff.Thedegreeofoiltrappingisdeterminedbytheconnectivityofoillayersandwhentheycollapseduring
waterflooding.Theyfoundthatthetotalamountofgasandoiltrappedwaslargerthanthemaximumnonwettingphase
saturationfoundduringtwophaseflow,consistentwithourresults.However,theydidnotseeahighertrappedgassaturation
inthreephaseflowthisisbecausegasalreadyoccupiesthelargeporesandhasahighresidualtwophasesaturation(around
47%inthiscase).
For unconsolidated media, in twophase flow, there is relatively little trapping, since the pore and throat sizes are
comparableandtherearefewsnapoffevents,asmentionedbefore.Inthreephaseflow,duringgravitydrainage,oillayers
formbetweengasinthecentersoftheporespaceandwaterinthecorners.Inanydisplacement,thesequenceofporelevel
eventsisdeterminedbythelocalcapillarypressure.Wewillnotdiscussthisinanydetailhere,butsimplyquotetheresults
fromnetworkmodellingstudies(Pirietal.2005a;b;Suicmezetal.2008).Duringwaterfloodingaftergravitydrainage,water
preferentiallydisplacesgasbypistonlikeadvance(Suicmez etal.2008).However,thistypeofdisplacementisprevented
sinceoilsurroundsthegastheonlywayforwatertodisplacegasisthroughdoubledisplacement(waterdisplacesoilthat
displacesgas),whichislessfavored.Sincethewaterpressureisincreasing,waterlayersswellmakingoillayersthinner.
Someoillayersmaycollapsewhenthewaterhassufficientpressuretocontactthegas.Innetworkmodelingstudies,oillayer
collapse was the most common displacement process during threephase waterflooding. This has two effects. First, it
disconnectstheoilphase.Theoil,beingintermediatewet(lesswettingthanwater,whilegasisthemostnonwettingphase)
isconfinedtooillayersandporesandthroatsofaveragesize.Thecollapseofoillayersallowstheoiltobetrappedinthese
poresandthroats.Thedegreeoftrapping,sinceitiscontrolledbylayercollapse,isfairlyindependentoftheinitialoil
saturationortheamountofgaspresent.Thisiswhatweobserveanapproximatelyconstantresidualoilsaturationinthree
phaseflow,aslongastheinitialoilsaturationisnotverylow.Thedegreeoftrapping,sinceoilcannotoccupythelargest
pores,asitcanintwophasedisplacementswhereitisthemorenonwettingphase,is,onaverage,slightlylower(ataround
8%)thanintwophaseflow(around11%).
Thesecondeffectoflayercollapseisthatitallowsdirectcontactofgasbywater.Intwophaseflow,asmentioned
previously,itispistonlikeadvancewithlittleresultanttrappingthatisfavored.Inthreephaseflow,layercollapseallows
waterlayerstosnapoffgasinnarrowthroats,whilestillpreventingpistonlikeadvance,sinceoilwillremaininthecenters
oftheporespacebetweengasandwater:itactsasabarrierbetweenwaterandgas.Hence,theonlywayforwatertodisplace
gasisthroughsnapoff,resultinginmoretrappingthanintwophaseflow.Inconsolidatedmedia,thisincreaseinresidual
saturationisnotobservedsincewaterdisplacesgasprimarilybysnapoffintwophaseflowaswell.
Whilethisexplanationisconsistentwithnetworkmodelingstudiesandhelpsexplainoursurprisingresults,confirmation
isrequiredthroughporescalesimulationofunconsolidatedmediathispotentialtopicforfuturework.

SPE 123994

11

Nomenclature
GC:
gaschromatography/chromatograph
:
porosity
Sgi:
initialgassaturation
S :
gr
residualgassaturation
S :
oi
initialoilsaturation
Sor:
residualoilsaturation
3p
Sgr :
residualgassaturationinthepresenceofoilandwater.
3p

Sor :
2p

Sor :
a:

residualoilsaturationafterwaterfloodinginthepresenceofgas.
residualoilsaturationaftertwophasewaterfloodwithnogaspresent.
coefficienttorelatethereductioninresidualoilsaturationtothetrappedgassaturation.

Acknowledgements
We would like to acknowledge funding from the following agencies: ADNOC (Abu Dhabi), Shell under the Grand
ChallengeonCleanFossilFuels;QatarPetroleum,Shell andtheQatarScienceandTechnologyParkundertheQatar
CarbonatesandCarbonStorageResearchCentre;theEPSRC(grantnumberEP/C536754/1);andNERC(grantnumber
NE/C516401/1).
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