Simulation of pore-scale microscopic spontaneous imbibition of shale based on level-set method

Abstract

The core pore structure of the target shale oil block was finely characterized using scanning electron microscopy， and a microscopic numerical model of the pore-scale core was constructed to elucidate the intrinsic mechanisms and the main controlling factors of spontaneous imbibition of fracturing fluid within the complex pore space of shale. On this basis， research was conducted on spontaneous imbibition within the fracture-matrix system. The Navier-Stokes （N-S） equations were coupled with the level-set method to track changes in the oil and water interface， thus clarifying the oil and water two-phase flow characteristics and evaluating the efficiency of spontaneous imbibition under the influence of the wettability， viscosity ratio of oil and water， and interfacial tension. The research results revealed that large and small intercommunicating pores in shale form intricate microscopic displacement units under capillary action. When the rock wettability presents a water-wet state， water preferentially infiltrates from the fracture into the smaller pores， expelling oil from larger pores into the fracture， and the produced range of crude oil within the matrix pores is wider， resulting in higher spontaneous imbibition efficiency. When the rock wettability turns oil-wet， crude oil within the small pores cannot be produced during spontaneous imbibition， while the water invades from larger pores， causing crude oil to be displaced from other large pores. This results in a lower spontaneous imbibition efficiency and a small range of crude oil produced in the matrix pores. The spontaneous imbibition in the initial phase is faster but gradually slows over time. Stronger water wettability of shale indicates a lower viscosity ratio of oil and water and higher interfacial tension， resulting in a wider range of crude oil produced within the matrix pores and a cumulative efficiency of spontaneous imbibition of more than 15%.

Keywords

• shale reservoirs
• level-set method
• pore-scale
• spontaneous imbibition
• oil and water two phase flow
• imbibition efficiency