A Measured Method for In Situ Viscosity of Fluid in Porous Media by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance

Abstract

At present, the existing measuring methods for viscosity of fluid can only obtain the viscosity of bulk fluid, while the in situ viscosity of fluid in porous media cannot be acquired. In this paper, with the combination of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and physical simulation experiment, a testing method for in situ viscosity of fluid in porous media is established, and the in situ viscosity spectra of water in tight cores under different displacement conditions is obtained. The experimental results show that the in situ viscosity distribution of water in porous media is inhomogeneous, and it is not a constant but is related to the distance between water and rock walls. When the distance between fluid and rock walls is close enough (e.g., T2 relaxation time is less than 1 ms), the viscosity of fluid increases rapidly, and the in situ viscosity is greater than the bulk viscosity. Moreover, after the rock samples are saturated with water, the in situ viscosity of water is distributed as a double-peak structure. The left peak is characterized mainly by the in situ viscosity distribution of movable fluid, whose in situ viscosity is smaller, and the right peak mainly represents the in situ viscosity distribution characteristics of immovable fluid, whose in situ viscosity is larger and increases gradually. Under a relatively large driving force, the in situ viscosity amplitude of movable fluid decreases greatly, and the average in situ viscosity of residual water in the core is much higher than that of saturated water in initial state.