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Updated: May 30, 2026
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Microfluidic Devices for Characterizing Pore-scale Event Processes in Porous Media for Oil Recovery Applications
Published on: January 16, 2018
Oil displacement through a porous medium with a temperature gradient.
Cláudio L N Oliveira1, José S Andrade, Hans J Herrmann
1Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Caixa Postal 6030, Campus do Pici, BR-60451-970 Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil.
Summary
Temperature gradients enhance oil recovery, especially with inviscid injection fluids. Recovery is influenced by temperature changes and oil properties, with findings applicable to 3D models.
Area of Science:
- Petroleum Engineering
- Fluid Dynamics
- Thermodynamics
Background:
- Oil recovery processes are often influenced by fluid properties like viscosity.
- Temperature variations within porous media can significantly alter fluid behavior and recovery efficiency.
- Understanding the interplay between temperature gradients and fluid injection is crucial for optimizing oil extraction.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of temperature gradients on oil recovery in porous media.
- To analyze how oil viscosity, dependent on temperature, affects recovery under different injection strategies.
- To compare recovery performance in two-dimensional and three-dimensional pore-network models.
Main Methods:
- Simulations using a two-dimensional pore-network model.
- Modeling oil viscosity as a function of temperature: μ(o) = μ₀ * exp(B/T).
- Considering two injection scenarios: finite viscosity ratio and infinite viscosity ratio (inviscid invading fluid).
Main Results:
- For finite viscosity ratios, oil recovery increases with temperature difference (ΔT), irrespective of gradient direction.
- For infinite viscosity ratios, a positive temperature gradient (increasing temperature in flow direction) is required to enhance recovery.
- Oil recovery is inversely related to the physicochemical parameter B for ΔT>0 in finite viscosity ratio cases, and directly related in infinite viscosity ratio cases.
Conclusions:
- Temperature gradients can be effectively utilized to improve oil recovery, with the optimal strategy depending on the invading fluid's viscosity.
- The physicochemical properties of the oil (parameter B) and the temperature gradient sign critically influence recovery efficiency.
- The findings from 2D models for infinite viscosity ratio cases are extendable to three-dimensional porous media.
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