Effect of Interfacial Tension on Water/Oil

Relative Permeability on the Basis of

History Matching to Coreflood Data
Edwin Andrew Chukwudeme* SPE, Ingebret Fjelde, SPE,
Kumuduni Abeysinghe**, and Arild Lohne, SPE, IRIS

Summary
The effect of interfacial tension (IFT) on the displacement of the
nonwetting and wetting phases has been investigated by the use of
simulations/history matching of flooding experiments. In surfactant flooding, a conventional assumption is to neglect the effect of
capillary pressure (Pc) on measured two-phase properties. The
methodology applied in this paper allows improved interpretation
of experimental results by correcting for the influence of capillary
end effects on the measured capillary desaturation curve (CDC)
and on the estimated relative permeability (kr).
Three fluid systems of different IFTs were prepared by use of a
solvent system (CaCl2 brine/iso-octane/isopropanol) rather than a
surfactant system with the assumption that both systems have similar flood behavior at reduced IFT. Three coreflood cycles, including
multirate oil injection (drainage) followed by multirate water injection (imbibition), were carried out at each IFT in water-wet Berea
cores. The kr functions corrected for capillary end effects were
derived by numerically history matching the experimental production and pressure-drop (PD) history.
A typical CDC is observed for the nonwetting phase oil, with a
roughly constant plateau in residual oil saturation (ROS), Sor, below
a critical capillary number (Ncc) and a declining slope above Ncc toward zero Sor. No influence of Pc was found for the nonwettingphase CDC.
The results from the displacement of the wetting phase formed
an apparent CDC with a declining slope and no Ncc. Analyzing
the wetting-phase results, we find that the wetting-phase CDC is
not a true CDC. First, it is a plot of the average remaining water
saturation (Sw) in the core which, in all the experiments, is higher
than residual water saturation, Swr, obtained from Pc measurements. Second, we find that the remaining Sw is only partly a function of Nc. At low Nc, the water production (WP) is limited by
capillary end effects. Rate-dependent WP observed with the highIFT system is fully reproduced in simulations by use of constant
kr and Pc. The remaining wetting-phase saturation at a low capillary number (Nc) is a result of the core-scale balance between viscous and capillary forces and would, for example, depend on the
core length. At a higher Nc, the WP is found to be limited by the
low kr tail, typical for wetting phases. However, we find that the
kr functions become rate dependent at a higher Nc, and we assume
that this rate dependency can be modeled as a function of Nc. The
remaining wetting-phase saturation at a higher Nc would then be a
function of Nc and the number of pore volumes (PVs) injected.
The observed Nc dependency in the flow functions indicates a
potential for the accelerated production of the wetting phase by
use of surfactant.
Assuming that the results obtained here for the wetting phase
also apply to oil in a mixed-wet system, it is strongly recommended to evaluate the effect of both Pc and Ncc when designing
a surfactant model for a mixed-wet field.

* Now with Husky Energy; **now with Agility Group.

C 2014 Society of Petroleum Engineers
Copyright V

This paper (SPE 143028) was accepted for presentation at the 73rd EAGE Conference and
Exhibition/SPE EUROPEC 2011, Vienna, Austria, 2326 May 2011, and revised for
publication. Original manuscript received for review 19 November 2012. Revised manuscript
received for review 11 November 2013. Paper peer approved 25 November 2013.

February 2014 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering

Introduction
After waterflooding of water-wet sandstone reservoirs, the residual nonwetting phase (oil) is trapped as discontinuous droplets.
On a core scale, viscous and capillary forces are the two main
forces acting on residual oil drops (Marle 1991). As a result, microscopic displacement efficiency depends on the relative influence of these two forces.
The mobilization of capillary-trapped oil depends on the ratio
of viscous to capillary forces that is defined as Nc. Several expressions have been used in literature to define Nc, and the following
expression was used in this study:
Nc

kDP
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
rL

where Nc is the capillary number, k is the absolute permeability,

DP is the PD across the core, r is the IFT, and L is the length of the
core. Eq. 1 denotes the pore-scale ratio of viscous over capillary
forces, and a derivation of the expression is described in, for example, Chatzis and Morrow 1984. The term capillary forces used
here should be distinguished from the macroscopic Pc. When residual oil is trapped by snap-off in a water-wet medium, the continuity
in the oil phase throughout the pore network is lost, and the macroscopic Pc ceases to exist. However, when the pore-scale ratio of
viscous over capillary forces expressed by Nc is sufficiently
increased, the trapped oil droplets can be remobilized. This can be
achieved by increasing the pressure gradient or reducing r.
Pressure continuity at no-flow conditions (away from the residual saturations and ignoring gravity) requires constancy in Pc
and that the interfacial curvature between oil and water must be
everywhere constant within the pore space. The resulting capillary
restriction on the fluid distribution within the pores is the reason
that the sum of the phase kr is less than unity and typically goes
through a minimum at some intermediate saturation. After
increasing Nc so that the viscous PD over a pore becomes comparable to the pore-scale capillary forces, the fluid distributions
within the pores will be disturbed, and this intuitively results in an
increased total mobility.
The PC is assumed to scale with r according to the expression
r
/
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Pc rJSw
k
where / is the porosity and J is the saturation-dependent dimensionless Pc (Leverett 1941). In corefloods, discontinuity in capillarity at the core boundaries (inlet and outlet) may distort the fluid
production (Rapoport and Leas 1953; Mohanty and Miller 1991).
When both phases are produced simultaneously, Pc at the outlet
boundary will be zero, whereas, inside the core, the two phases
will have different pressure. This is termed as capillary end
effects. In general, capillary end effects are small when a nonwetting phase is displaced. However, when a wetting phase is displaced, the production of the wetting phase will be reduced
because of its lower phase pressure inside the core. Such capillary
end effects should, in general, be corrected for when kr functions
are estimated from experiment. Capillary end effects can be suppressed by increasing the flow rate or the core length or by reducing r to achieve DP  Pc.
37

Residual non-wetting or
wetting saturation, %

Normal range
waterfloods

Wetting phase

30

20
Non-wetting
phase

10

Non-wetting
critical Nc
Wetting
critical Nc

0 7
10

10

10

10

10

10

Capillary number Nc
Fig. 1CDCs (Lake 1989).

The CDC is a measure of the ROS as a function of Nc. See

Fig. 1. Typically, CDC for water-wet sandstone rocks has a plateau in ROS of the displaced phase at a low Nc (Lake 1989). Residual saturations begin to decrease at Nc above Ncc. Complete
desaturation (zero residual phase saturations) occurs at the totaldesaturation capillary number (Nct). A similar shape for the wetting-phase CDC, but placed at approximately one order of magnitude higher than Nc, is reported by Delshad et al. (1986) and
Gupta and Trushenski (1979). Some research studies reported no
Ncc or a very low value of Ncc (Abrams 1975; Garnes et al. 1990;
Kamath et al. 2001). Many experimental studies reported in literature question the validity of the CDC concept for wettability conditions other than strongly water-wet. Today, most sandstone
reservoirs are characterized as mixed-wet or less water-wet, and
many studies still assume that the typical CDC shape derived for
a water-wet medium is generally correct.
Saturation-dependent functions such as the kr and the Pc are
key factors for the assessment and production of the oil and gas
from a petroleum reservoir (Heaviside and Black 1983). Representative functions are preferentially obtained in the laboratory
through special-core-analysis tests, which generally are used to
represent reservoir conditions.
In reservoir engineering, Pc is an important parameter for simulation studies. The capillary end effects distort the production data
obtained from laboratory measurements, thereby introducing errors
to the calculated kr used as input data into simulation models (Huang
and Honarpour 1996). Obtaining accurate kr for the wetting and nonwetting phases from a coreflood experiment is imperative for characterizing a reservoir and for estimating its production capability.
Many investigations have shown that water/oil kr for twophase systems is a function of saturation, rock properties such as
pore-size distribution and wettability, temperature, IFT, and a
capillary number (Nc) with conflicting conclusions. Some studies
have shown that the kr for the nonwetting phase is more affected
than the wetting phase (Harbert 1983; Kalaydjian 1992; Blom
et al. 2000; Bartley and Ruth 2001; Al-Wahaibi et al. 2006). On
the other hand, others observed more effect on the wetting-phase
kr than on the nonwetting phase kr (Gilliland and Conley 1975;
Fulcher et al. 1985). Gilliland and Conley (1975) hypothesized
that, in a low-tension flood, the oil kr curve increases, whereas the
aqueous-wetting-phase kr is not affected.
Amaefule and Handy (1982) investigated the effect of IFT on
water/oil kr in consolidated Berea sandstone cores by use of both
steady state (SS) and unsteady-state methods, with IFT ranging
from 103 to 34 mN/m. They found that oil (nonwetting-phase) kr
showed no significant change over the range of IFT studied,
whereas the water kr increased with decreasing IFT. Harbert
(1983) conducted laboratory core tests by use of the alcohol,
brine, and oil fluid system in outcrop and reservoir rock samples
for low-IFT water/oil systems in the range of 0.14 to 2.11 mN/m.
He found a significant effect of IFT on nonwetting-phase kr compared with the wetting-phase kr.
Kalaydjian (1992) studied the effects of flow rates in the range
of 0.017 to 0.25 cm3/min (1 to 15 cm3/hr) on water/oil kr. He
38

reported that the change in flow rates allowed him to investigate

three different regimes: the 0.017-cm3/min test that corresponding
to a capillary-driven displacement, the 0.083-cm3/min test corresponding to balance between capillary and viscous forces, and the
0.25-cm3/min test corresponding to the dominant viscous forces.
He concluded that kr and dynamic Pc depend on flow rate; that
is, the higher the flow rate, the higher the kr and Pc. Bartley and
Ruth (2001) studied the effects of absolute permeability, viscosities, and PD on kr. They found that the absolute permeability of
the porous medium has a dominating influence on the kr for both
oil and water compared with PD and fluid viscosity.
Considering previous work in literature on the relationship
between kr and Nc, Lefebvre du Prey (1973) found that both the wetting- and nonwetting-phase kr significantly increased with increasing
Nc in oil-wet media. Bardon and Longeron (1980), Amaefule and
Handy (1982), and Harbert (1983) support the view that kr changes
as a function of Nc. This means that kr depends on the fluid viscosity
and flow rate as well as on the IFT. On the other hand, Fulcher et al.
(1985) performed a series of SS kr tests at 25 C on Berea sandstone
cores with water/oil systems at IFT ranging between 0.0389 and
37.9 mN/m. They observed that as Nc increased, the water kr also
increased, whereas the oil kr trend appeared unclear. They concluded that both water and oil kr are functions of IFT and viscosity
variables individually rather than the Nc.
The purpose of the work presented in this paper is to examine
the effects of reducing IFT on the production and remaining saturation of the nonwetting and wetting phases. The influence of Pc on
the displacement of the wetting phase is demonstrated experimentally by designing multirate floods and further examined by simulations. Low IFT was obtained with a solvent system made up of
CaCl2 brine/iso-octane/isopropanol. The advantage of using such a
system rather than a surfactant is that problems related to adsorption and macroemulsion are avoided. In particular, emulsion problems can be difficult to avoid in experiments with a cyclic injection
of both oil and water at high injection rates. Experimental data
from oil (nonwetting phase) displacement floods were used in the
simulation studies, and kr functions were estimated from the experiments conducted at different Nc values. This is undertaken to investigate how the remaining saturation at a different Nc can depend on
production rate and capillary end effects that are prevalent when
displacing wetting phase. This is relevant for oil production in
mixed-wet or oil-wet systems. The measured CDC for water is
used as representative for oil CDC when oil is the wetting phase.
The kr is computed by history matching production data and PD
with consideration of Pc. The primary drainage Pc curve used was
measured separately. Experimental results were validated by SENDRA (SENDRA 2009), ECLIPSE (Schlumberger 2009), and
STARS (Computer Modelling Group 2009) simulators.
Experimental Method
Experimental Setup. Fig. 2 shows a sketch of the experimental
setup. Water-saturated core was inserted into the horizontally
placed core holder, and a confining pressure of 50 bar was applied
over the core. The experimental setup can be divided into three
partsthe injection system, core assembly, and production system. In the injection system (piston cells with fluids and pump),
the water (imbibition process) or oil (drainage process) was
injected into the core at predetermined rates. A backpressure (10
bar) regulator at the outlet end of the core was used to control the
pressure of the system during the displacement process. The produced fluid from the core was collected in a graduated water/oil
separator and recorded. The PD across the core was monitored
with a pressure transducer.
Fluid System. Three solvent systems, made up of CaCl2 brine/
iso-octane /isopropanol (Morrow et al. 1988), were used to investigate the effect of varying IFT (38.50, 1.12, and 0.09 mN/m for
Systems 1, 2, and 3, respectively). Detailed descriptions of the
properties of the systems are listed in Table 1.
The density and viscosity of the fluids were measured with the
Paar densitometer Model DM A45 and Anton Paar MCR 301
February 2014 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering

To separator
(drainage)

Piston cells

DP

Brine
10 bar

50 bar
oil

DW

Pump

To separator
(imbibition)
Fig. 2Experimental setup.

TABLE 1FLUID COMPOSITIONS AND PROPERTIES FOR SYSTEMS 1 THROUGH 3

System

2 wt%
CaCl2 brine (vol%)

Iso-Octane
(vol%)

Isopropanol
(vol %)

Volume
Ratio (Vw/Vo)

row
(mN/m)

lW
(cp)

lO
(cp)

qW
(g/ml)

qO
(g/ml)

1
2
3

50
23
12

50
44
44

0
33
44

1:1
1:1
11:9

38.50
1.12
0.09

1.0
3.8
3.0

0.46
0.56
0.70

1.013
0.917
0.840

0.701
0.706
0.718

viscosimeter, respectively. Low IFT was measured with a spinning-drop interfacial tensiometer (Texas Model 500), whereas
higher IFT was measured with the Kruss K8 interfacial-ring
tensiometer.

same rate (Step 3b). The main reason for stepwise increasing the
flow rate is to increase the Nc. An increase in the Nc by an
increase in flow rate and a decrease IFT allows the measurement
of CDC in a broader range of Nc.

Porous Media. Berea core samples (500 md) with a length of

30.0 cm and a 3.7-cm diameter were used for the displacement
studies. The properties of the cores are listed in Table 2.

Simulation Methods
The effect of varying IFT and the correction of capillary end
effect on kr have been studied with the SENDRA simulator. SENDRA uses a fully implicit black-oil formulation that is based on
Darcys law and a continuity equation (SENDRA Simulator
2009) with an automated history-matching routine (estimation
mode) and a forward simulation of an experimental performance
(simulation mode).
The simulation was carried out on a block-centered grid,
describing drainage displacement under the following conditions.
A two-phase flooding experiment in a horizontal core orientation

Flooding Steps. Three flooding steps were applied in this work,

as illustrated in Table 3. In Flooding Step 1a, the displacement of
100% water-saturated cores by oil (drainage process) began at 0.1
cm3/min until no WP was obtained from the cores. Then, the rate
was increased to 0.3 cm3/min, and displacement was continued
until no water was produced. This process was repeated at higher
injection rates of 1.0, 3.0, and 10.0 cm3/min. The volume of the
effluents and PD were monitored at each flow rate. These cores
were then waterflooded (imbibition process, Step 1b) with the
same rate increment (from 0.1 cm3/min to 10.0 cm3/min) as mentioned previously to ROS. At ROS, Flooding Step 2a was started
by displacing the water by oil at an injection rate of 3.0 cm3/min
until no WP was seen, and then the rate increased to 10.0 cm3/
min. This was followed by the imbibition process (Step 2b) at 3.0
cm3/min, and to ROS at 10.0 cm3/min. In Flooding Step 3a, oil
was first injected at 10.0 cm3/min before water was injected at the

TABLE 2SUMMARY OF CORE PROPERTIES

Core L (cm) D (cm) Porosity (%) k (md) PV (cm3) System
1
2

30
30

3.77
3.77

23
25

675
866

76.89
83.30

February 2014 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering

1
2 and 3

TABLE 3EXPERIMENTAL FLOODING STEPS FOR THE

DISPLACEMENT PROCESS FOR SYSTEMS 1, 2, AND 3
Rate (cm3/min)

Step

1a
1b
2a
2b
3a
3b

0.1

0.3

1.0

3.0

10.0

X
X

X
X

X
X

X
X
X
X

X
X
X
X
X
X

Note: The a and b represent the drainage and imbibition process, respectively. X
indicates the injection rate(s) used.

39

(a)

(b)

System 1(IFT = 38.5 mN/m)

System 2 (IFT = 1.12 mN/m)

4

90

Sys 1_Step 1a

80

Sys 1_Step 2a

70

Sys 1_Step 3a

Sys 2_Step 1a
Sys 2_Step 2a

60

Pc (kPa)

Pc (kPa)

100

50
40
30

Sys 2_Step 3a

20
10

0
0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

0.0

1.0

0.2

0.4

Sw

0.6

0.8

1.0

Sw

System 3 (IFT = 0.09 mN/m)

(c)
0.4

Sys 3_Step 1a
Sys 3_Step 2a

Pc (kPa)

0.3

Sys 3_Step 3a

0.2

0.1

0.0
0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

Sw

Fig. 3Capillary pressure curve for the systems (Steps 1 through 3): (a) System 1, (b) System 2, and (c) System 3. (a), System 1
(IFT 5 38.5 mN/m). (b), System 2 (IFT 5 1.12 mN/m). (c), System 3 (IFT 5 0.09 mN/m).

(oil/water system) was simulated. Flooding rates used were in the

range of 0.1 to 10.0 cm3/min. At the inlet, multiple injection rates
(Step 1a with changing rates from 0.1 to 10.0 cm3/min) or two
injection rates (Step 2a with 3.0 and 10.0 cm3/min) were imposed;
or a constant injection rate (Step 3a with 10.0 cm3/min) was
imposed.
The effects of Pc were included in the model that takes into
account the capillary end effects. The Pc used was based on measured primary-drainage Pc curves obtained by mercury injection
and the porous-plate technique on other Berea core samples,
scaled by the difference in r  (//K)0.5 according to Eq. 2.
Water/oil kr curves were obtained by parameter estimation
with the Lomeland-Ebeltoft-Thomas (LET) correlation (Lomeland et al. 2005)
krw krwe

kro kroe
Swn

Swn LW
Swn LW Ew 1  Swn TW
1  Swn Lo

1  Swn Lo Eo Swn To

Sw  Swr
1  Sor  Swr

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
.

where Swn is the normalized water saturation; krwe and kroe represent the water and oil endpoint relative permeability, respectively;
and L, E, and T are empirical constants. The parameter L
describes the lower part of the curve, T describes the top part of
the curve, and E describes the elevation of the curves. The LET
correlation was applied in this work because it is more flexible
than the traditional Corey-type equation, yet it tends to produce
smooth kr curves with a satisfactory matching of the experimental
production and PD history.
A fixed Swr 0.1 was used in all simulations to capture fluidflow behavior at lower water saturation. Additional key input pa40

rameters in the model include an externally measured Pc curve,

IFT used for the scaling of the Pc, and the oil and water viscosities. Fig. 3 shows the experimental Pc curves scaled for Systems
1 through 3 (Steps 1 through 3), respectively. These were used as
input in the numerical models.
We also validated the experimental results with both the
ECLIPSE 100 (Schlumberger 2009) and STARS (Computer Modelling Group 2009) reservoir simulators. So, kr matched by SENDRA to the three systems at Steps 1 through 3 was used as input
data. ECLIPSE and STARS do not include Pc in their well-connection factors. Then, to capture potential capillary end effects,
we used two rock types: Rock 1 for the interior of the core and
Rock 2 for the outlet boundary blocks. The kr for the two rock
types is the same, but Rock 2 was set to have zero Pc. In addition,
SS simulator CoreFlow (Virnovsky et al. 1998) was used for the
quantification of capillary end effects in terms of final remaining
saturation at different Nc values. In the SS simulations, the final
SS solution (dS/dt 0) that balances capillary and viscous forces
is found directly skipping the transient-production period. The solution with CoreFlow corresponds to the solution obtained in
dynamic simulation after injection of an infinite volume.
Results and Discussion
History Matching. Piston-like displacement was observed in all
the imbibition displacements when water is displacing the nonwetting oil phase (i.e., no oil production was observed after the
breakthrough of water). It is therefore not possible to extract kr
functions from these displacements, only the endpoint kr to water,
krw(Sor). In the drainage displacements, significant two-phase production was observed after the breakthrough of oil, allowing the
computation of the drainage kr functions. Figs. 4 through 6 show
the measured WP and PD from the drainage displacements and
the corresponding history-matched profiles reported by the SENDRA simulator for Systems 1 through 3 (Steps 1 through 3),
February 2014 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering

Step 1a (IFT = 38.5 mN/m)

0.1 0.3

10

Step 2a (IFT = 38.5 mN/m)

(b)

ml/min
60

80
70

30

30

DP, kPa

Sim:DP
Exp:WP
Sim:WP

20

20

60

Exp:DP
Sim:DP
Exp:WP
Sim:WP

50
40

15
10

30

20

20

10

10

25

70

WP, ml

DP, kPa

Exp:DP

40

ml/min

80

50

50

10

90

60
40

WP, ml

(a)

10
0

0
0

10

30

20

40

0
0

50

10

PV Injected

15

20

25

30

PV Injected
Step 3a (IFT = 38.5 mN/m)
10 ml/min

200

25

180
160

20

140
120

15

100
80

10

60
40

Exp:DP
Sim:DP
Exp:WP
Sim:WP

20

WP, ml

DP, kPa

(c)

5
0

0
0

10

15

20

25

PV Injected
Fig. 4History match of WP and PD for System 1 (oil/water): (a) Step 1a, (b) Step 2a, and (c) Step 3a. (a), Step 1a (IFT 5 38.5 mN/m).
(b), Step 2a (IFT 5 38.5 mN/m). (c), Step 3a (IFT 5 38.5 mN/m).

respectively. The estimated drainage kr functions are plotted in

Fig. 7. As seen in Figs. 4 through 6, the simulated and experimental WPs are reasonably in agreement, except for Step 1a in Systems 2 and 3. The PD history is also reasonably well-matched,
except for an increasing trend observed toward the end of Step 2a
and Step 3a with System 1. This pressure increase is associated
with a decline in absolute permeability for Core 1 (possibly
because of some fines plugging), and a new Core 2 was used for
Systems 2 and 3.
The plotting of production vs. PV injected is a convenient
method for detecting rate dependency in the production. The rate
dependency is seen as an increase in the slope of the cumulative
production each time the rate is increased, which implies that the
fractional flow of water is increased when the flow rate is
increased. Rate-dependent production is observed for all three
systemsin particular, in Step 1a in which the injection starts at a
low rate (0.1 cm3/min), but also in Step 2a when the rate is
increased from 3 to 10 cm3/min. The Step-3a floods are singlerate displacements (10 cm3/min), and obviously no rate effect can
be detected in these floods.
There are three possible explanations for the observed rate-dependent production. The first is the traditional capillary end effect
that makes the production of a wetting-phase rate dependent when
the core-scale viscous PD is of a similar size as the Pc. In this
case, the production rate of the wetting phase is reduced by an
opposing gradient in the Pc. Ultimately, the wetting-phase production will stop when the Pc at the inlet boundary becomes equal to
the PD over the core (DP) (Mohanty and Miller 1991). This is a
laboratory effect, which, for example, is reduced if the core length
is increased. Another other possible explanation is that the kr
functions themselves are rate dependent, which may happen if the
core is heterogeneous (Virnovsky et al. 2004) and the flood direction is across heterogeneities. The Berea cores typically have
some fine laminations, but as we carry out the flood in the alonglayer direction, we do not expect any heterogeneity effects resultFebruary 2014 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering

ing in rate-dependent effective properties. Third, rate-dependent

kr is expected when the microscale (pore-scale) ratio of viscous
forces to capillary forces becomes significant. This microscale ratio of forces is conveniently represented by the Nc, and the kr can
then be taken to be a function of Nc.
For the high-IFT case (System 1, IFT 38.5 mN/m), the ratedependent production observed in Step 1a and Step 2a (Figs. 4a
and 4b, respectively) is fully reproduced in the simulations with
rate-independent kr and Pc. This indicates that the reason for the
rate-dependent production is capillary end effects.
In Systems 1 and 2, IFT is reduced to 1.12 and 0.09 mN/m,
respectively. A corresponding reduction in Pc is used in the simulations, as expressed by Eq. 2. Consequently, less influence of
capillary end effects is expected. The history-matched production
profiles are plotted in Figs. 5a and 5b and Figs. 6a and 6b. Visual
inspection of the results shows no sign of rate dependency in the
simulated production curves. The kr representation in SENDRA is
limited to rate-independent functions. Accordingly, the only ratedependent production that can be simulated with SENDRA is that
caused by capillary end effects. The simulation results indicate
that capillary end effects are too small to be responsible for the
experimental rate dependency. The reason for the rate-dependent
production must then be that the kr functions themselves are rate
dependent at the applied production conditions. The maximal Nc
with System 1 is approximately 4  106. For System 2, Step 1a,
no rate dependency is seen for the first rate increment from 0.1 to
0.3 cm3/min (Nc increased from 1.2  106 to 4.7  106). In all
the remaining steps (1.0 to 10 cm3/min), an increased fractional
flow of water is observed each time the rate is increased. The corresponding Nc range taken from the end of each step is 1.1  105
to 9.4  105. For System 3, Nc is approximately one order of
magnitude higher than with System 2. These results indicate a
critical Nc of approximately 105 for the onset of rate-sensitive kr
. System 1 is well below this limit, whereas System 3 and most of
the rates in System 2 have Nc above this limit.
41

Step 1a (IFT = 1.12 mN/m)

10

Step 2a (IFT = 1.12 mN/m)

3

40

70

60

35

60

50

30

40

20

Exp:DP
Sim:DP
Exp:WP
Sim:WP

15
10

20

40

60

80

45
40

30
25

30

20

20

Exp:DP
Sim:DP
Exp:WP
Sim:WP

20

15
10

10

10

5
0

30

ml/min

40

DP, kPa

25

10

35

50

WP, ml

DP, kPa

(b)

ml/min

WP, ml

0
100

PV injected

10

15

20

PV injected
Step 3a (IFT = 1.12 mN/m)
10 ml/min

(c)
120

45
40

DP, kPa

100

35

Exp:DP
Sim:DP
Exp:WP
Sim:WP

80
60

30
25
20

WP, ml

(a) 0.1+0.3+1.0

15

40

10

20

5
0

0
0

10

15

20

25

PV Injected
Fig. 5History match of WP and PD for System 2: (a) Step 1a, (b) Step 2a, and (c) Step 3a. (a), Step 1a (IFT 5 1.12 mN/m). (b), Step
2a (IFT 5 1.12 mN/m). (c), Step 3a (IFT 5 1.12 mN/m).

The kr Curves. The estimated kr curves from all the drainage displacements are shown in Fig. 7. One should keep in mind that the
experimental support for the curves is limited to the saturation
range in which there is two-phase production. Below remaining
Sw, the curves are an extrapolation of the experimental data,
whereas at a higher Sw, the curves are interpolations between the
endpoint values and the breakthrough saturations obtained by history matching production and PD for the drainage process. The
saturation regions with a high density of points in Fig. 7c illustrate
the region of experimental support for the computed curves. The
points represent an analytical computation of the kr with the
method described by Virnovsky (1984) (the method is similar to
the one described by Johnson et al. 1959). Such analytical methods are appropriate when there is no rate dependency and when
capillary end effects can be ignored, and we see that, for the single-high-rate floods in Step 3a, the analytical results are close to
the curves estimated with SENDRA.
The difference in the computed kr functions for the three systems observed in Fig. 7 and the difference in computed functions
between the three steps clearly indicate that the kr changes at
higher Nc, which is in line with the observations of rate dependency made from the production profiles in the preceding subsection. Although the multirate design is a good technique for an
experimental detection of rate dependency, the calculation of kr
from the experiment becomes more involved when the kr functions themselves are rate dependent. In the first drainage cycle
(Step 1a), the rate is varied by two orders of magnitude, from 0.1
to 10 cm3/min. For System 2, the two first rates are below the
assumed onset of rate dependency at Nc 105, whereas the
remaining rate steps are in the rate-dependent region. For System
3, all rate steps are in the rate-dependent region. Correct history
matching of these experiments would require a rate-dependent kr
model that is not available in SENDRA. The curves in Fig. 7a are
42

matched with a rate-independent model and may be viewed as

representing an average behavior of the experiment. The interpretation of the curves is therefore not straightforward. The estimated
curves from the second drainage cycle (Step 2a) plotted in Fig. 7b
are somewhat more representative because only two rates were
used. The kr functions in Fig. 7c from the final cycle (Step 3a)
are, however, more well-defined because they are matched to single-rate displacements (10 cm3/min). Fig. 7c shows a significant
increase in kr to water at reduced IFT; however, the change
appears nonmonotonic with respect to Nc because the System-2
curve (Nc 1.2  104) is above the System-3 curve (Nc
1.5  103). Nonmonotonic change in effective kr with Nc is also
known from the upscaling of heterogeneous formations (Virnovsky et al. 2004). For the nonwetting oil phase, the kr seems to
increase with increasing Nc; however, a major part of this change
is because of different initial saturation.
A convenient method for detecting the combined effect
when kr to both phases is changing is to plot the kr ratio. The
krw/kro ratio corresponding to Figs. 7a, 7b, and 7c is shown in
Fig. 8. The curves representing Systems 2 and 3 (reduced IFT)
are above the high-IFT curve (System 1) in the left part of the
figures (at low Sw), indicating that the relative increase in the
displaced-wetting-phase krw is larger than for the nonwettingphase kro. The increase in the krw/kro ratio indicates an accelerated production of the wetting phase. The change is larger for
System 2 (IFT 1.12 mN/m) than for System 3 (IFT 0.09
mN/m). This partly may be a result of the lower initial So in System 3.
Simulations of Drainage Experiments. The experiments are
simulated by various simulators (SENDRA, ECLIPSE, and
STARS). The different simulators give a reasonable match with
the experimental results, except for Step 1a with Systems 2 and 3.
February 2014 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering

Step 1a (IFT = 0.09 mN/m)

Step 2a (IFT = 0.09 mN/m)

(b)

ml/min

50
45
40

60

35
30
25

40
30

Sim: DP
WP:Exp

DP, kPa

Exp:DP

0
0

10

12

14

ml/min
60
50

35
30
25

20

20
15

10

10
5

WP:Sim

10
5

10

50
45
40

50

20
15

40
Exp:DP
Sim: DP
Exp:WP
Sim:WP

20
10
0

16

30

WP, ml

10

0.3

WP, ml

DP, kPa

(a)

PV Injected

PV Injected
Step 3a (IFT = 0.09 mN/m)
10 ml/min

(c)
120

50

DP, kPa

40
35
30
25

Exp:DP
Sim: DP
Exp:WP
Sim:WP

80
60

20
40

WP, ml

45
100

15
10
5
0

20
0
0

PV Injected
Fig. 6History match of WP and PD for System 3: (a) Step 1a, (b) Step 2a, and (c) Step 3a. (a), Step 1a (IFT 5 0.09 mN/m). (b), Step
2a (IFT 5 0.09 mN/m). (c), Step 3a (IFT50.09 mN/m).

Comparison between the experimental remaining Sw and simulated

results by ECLIPSE is shown in Fig. 9. The remaining water saturation is close for the three systems. For System 1, the production
is restricted by capillary end effectsin particular, at the lower
rates. For Systems 2 and 3, compared with System 1, the production of water is delayed by a less-favorable viscosity ratio and
accelerated because of an increased water kr. At reduced IFT (when
capillary end effects are negligible), the displacement of water
appears to be more efficient in the intermediate-Nc case (System 2)
than in the higher-Nc case (System 3) at Steps 2a and 3a.
For System 1 (Step 1a), the experimental remaining Sw is wellreproduced in the simulations, whereas for Systems 2 and 3 (Step
1a), the decrease in remaining Sw is not well-reproduced. The
stepwise reduction in remaining Sw observed when the rate is
increased in these cases (see Figs. 5a and 5b and Figs. 6a and 6b)
is, as previously stated, an indication of rate-dependent kr functions. Obviously, this rate dependency cannot be reproduced in
simulations with rate-independent functions.
Remaining Phase Saturation Vs. Nc (CDC). The experimental
remaining saturations from all the corefloods have been plotted as
CDCs (residual saturation vs. Nc) in Fig. 10.
Nonwetting Phase. The CDC for the oil phase in Fig. 10a has
the characteristic shape expected for a nonwetting phase, with a
roughly constant plateau below an Ncc, and a declining slope
above Ncc represented by Systems 2 and 3. This is similar to typical CDC for the nonwetting phase reported by Mohanty and Salter
(1983), Delshad et al. (1986), Lake (1989), and Garnes et al.
(1990) at water-wet condition in which the Ncc is in the 105 to
104 range and Nct is usually between 102 and 101. Simulations
of the experiments (not shown here) indicated a small effect of Pc
on the PD before water breakthrough, but no effect on the remaining oil saturations. This leads to the conclusion that measured
February 2014 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering

CDC for the nonwetting phase is not affected by capillary end

effects. The remaining oil saturation in Fig. 10a is taken to be a
true residual saturation that depends on Nc as described by the
CDC plot. Typical for a water-wet medium is that kro has a low
curvature, resulting in piston-like displacement unless the oil has
a high viscosity, and additional oil resulting from increasing Nc is
readily produced. To summarize, the main experimental input to a
surfactant-simulation model for a water-wet medium is the reduction in Sor described by the CDC, whereas the change in the kro
curvature is of secondary importance.
Wetting Phase. The first thing to observe from Fig. 10b is that
the remaining Sw plotted vs. Nc falls into separate groups for the
three systems. This alone indicates a lack of functional relationship between the two parameters (remaining Sw and Nc). We also
see in Fig. 10b that the measured CDC for the wetting phase deviates from what is considered a typical CDC shape. A declining
slope was observed, and no Ncc was seen. The atypical CDC
observed for the wetting phase is similar to the atypical CDC
measured by Garnes et al. (1990) on some North Sea reservoir
cores. However, our simulation results strongly suggest that the
wetting-phase CDC in Fig. 10b is not a true CDC. First, it is a plot
of average remaining Sw in the core that, in all the experiments, is
higher than Swr obtained from Pc measurements. Second, we find
that the remaining Sw is only partly a function of Nc. At low Nc,
the WP is limited by capillary end effects. Rate-dependent WP
observed with the high-IFT system is fully reproduced in simulations with constant kr and Pc. The remaining wetting-phase saturation at low Nc is a result of the core-scale balance between
viscous and capillary forces and would, for example, depend on
the core length. At higher Nc, the WP is found to be limited by the
low kr tail, typical for wetting phases. However, we find that the
kr functions become rate dependent at a higher Nc, and we assume
that this rate dependency can be modeled as a function of Nc. The
43

Step 1a (multirate primary drainage)

Step 2a (second drainage)

(b)

krw_sys 1

kro_sys 1

krw_sys 2

krw_sys 1

kro_sys 2

krw_sys 3

kro_sys 3

kro_sys 2

1.E+00

1.E+00

1.E01

1.E01

Kr

Kr

(a)

1.E02

1.E03

kro_sys 1

krw_sys 2

krw_sys 3

kro_sys 3

1.E02

1.E03

1.E04

1.E04
0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

Sw

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

Sw

Step 3a (single-rate tertiary drainage)

Lines: SENDRA, Markers: Analytical solution.

(c)

krw_sys 1

kro_sys 1

krw S1-an

kro S1-an

krw_sys 2

kro_sys 2

krw S2-an

kro S2-an

krw_sys 3

kro_sys 3

krw S3-an

kro S3-an

1.E+00

Kr

1.E01

1.E02

1.E03

1.E04
0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

Sw
Fig. 7Water/oil kr for Systems 1 through 3: (a) Step 1a (krw overlap for all the systems), (b) Step 2a, and (c) Step 3a. (a), Step 1a
(multirate primary drainage). (b), Step 2a (second drainage). (c) Step 3a (single-rate tertiary drainage). Lines represent SENDRA;
markers denote analytical solution.

remaining wetting-phase saturation at a higher Nc would then be a

function of Nc and the number of PVs injected.
Compared with what is observed for the nonwetting phase, the
residual saturation of a wetting phase is less well-defined. Residual saturation obtained from displacement experiments will typically represent a practical cutoff limit rather than be the final true
residual saturation. Remaining wetting-phase saturation obtained
from porous plate or centrifuge experiments can be quite low. It
seems that the main mechanism in the displacement of a wetting
phase by surfactant will be the acceleration of the production,
whereas reduction in residual saturation is less important or not
important at all. The main experimental input to a surfactant-simulation model for a mixed-wet or oil-wet formation would be the
change in the kr curve above Sor.
Capillary End effects. To better illustrate the role of capillary
end effects, the results from the primary drainage cycle (Step 1a)
are plotted in Fig. 11 along with the remaining Sw from the SS solution at different Nc values. The SS solution obtained with CoreFlow corresponds to the final remaining Sw trapped in the core
when the pressure gradient in the injected oil phase is exactly balanced by an opposite gradient in Pc so that the internal pressure
gradient in the water phase is zero. The corresponding saturation
profiles computed at different injection rates for the high-IFT case
(System 1) are plotted in Fig. 12.
44

Note that the SS curve plotted vs. Nc in Fig. 11 is only valid

for the present core. The influence of capillary end effects is a
function of DP/Pc (or Dp/r) rather than a function of the pressure
gradient divided by r (DP/Lr), as indicated when plotting vs. Nc.
Increasing the core length by a factor of ten would move the computed SS curve in Fig. 11 one logarithmic unit to the left.
The experimental data from the high-IFT case (System 1)
coincide with the SS solution at low Nc with a small increasing
deviation for the two last rates, indicating that the WP becomes
increasingly limited by the low krw tail. The closeness to the SS
curve indicates the strong influence of capillary end effects and
rate-sensitive production of water in line with the observation
made from Fig. 4a. For Systems 2 and 3, in which capillary end
effects are reduced by lowering the IFT, the experimental remaining Sw values are far above the computed SS curve. The distance
to the SS curve indicates that these floods are not influenced by
capillary end effects, which is in line with the absence of the rate
effect in the simulated WP profiles presented earlier in Figs. 5 and
6. The remaining Sw in these floods is determined by the low krw
tail, and a very high throughput of oil is required to reach the SS
solution.
It is commonly recommended that coreflood experiments be
carried out with flow rates representative for field conditions. The
lowest flow rate used in the present experiments (0.1 cm3/min) is
close enough in the order of magnitude for a direct field
February 2014 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering

Step 1a (primary drainage)

(b)

Step 2a (secondary drainage)

1.0E+03

1.0E+03

1.0E+02

1.0E+02

1.0E+01

1.0E+01

krw/kro

krw/kro

(a)

1.0E+00
sys 1

1.0E01

sys 2
sys 3

1.0E02

1.0E+00
sys 1

1.0E01

sys 2
sys 3

1.0E02

1.0E03

1.0E03

1.0E04

1.0E04
0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

0.2

0.4

Sw

0.6

0.8

Sw
Step 3a (tertiary drainage)

(c)
1.0E+03
1.0E+02

krw/kro

1.0E+01
1.0E+00
sys 1

1.0E01

sys 2
sys 3

1.0E02
1.0E03
1.0E04
0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

Sw
Fig. 8The kr ratio krw/kro in the three drainage cycles for Systems 1 through 3: (a) Step 1a, (b) Step 2a, and (c) Step 3a. (a), Step 1a
(primary drainage). (b), Step 2a (secondary drainage). (c), Step 3a (tertiary drainage).

(a)

Step 1a (primary drainage)

(b)

Step 2a (secondary drainage)

1.0

0.9

EXP_sys 1

0.9

S1-2a exp.

0.8

ECLIPSE_sys 1

0.8

ECLIPSE_sys 1

EXP_sys 2

0.7

Remaining Sw

Remaining Sw

1.0

ECLIPSE_sys 2

0.6

EXP_sys 3

0.5

ECLIPSE_sys 3

0.4
0.3

ECLIPSE_sys 2

0.6

S3-2a exp.

0.5

ECLIPSE_sys 3

0.4
0.3

0.2

0.2

0.1

0.1

0.0

S2-2a exp.

0.7

0.0
0

20

40

60

80

100

10

PV injected

15

20

25

30

PV injected
Step 3a (tertiary drainage)

(c)

Remaining Sw

1.0
0.9

S1-3a exp.

0.8

ECLIPSE_sys 1
S2-3a exp.

0.7

ECLIPSE_sys 2

0.6

S3-3a exp.

0.5

ECLIPSE_sys 3

0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.0

10

15

20

25

PV injected
Fig. 9Remaining Sw for Systems 1 through 3: (a) Step 1a, (b) Step 2a, and (c) Step 3a. (a), Step 1a (primary drainage). (b), Step 2a
(secondary drainage). (c), Step 3a (tertiary drainage).
February 2014 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering

45

(a)

non-wetting phase

0.6

SS

Residual oil, Sor

S1-1b
S2-1b

0.4

S3-1b
S1-2b
S2-2b

0.2

Remaining Sw

0.8

S3-2b

S1
S2

0.6

S3

0.4
0.2

S1-3b

0
1.E07

S2-3b

0
1.E07

S3-3b

1.E06

1.E05

1.E04

1.E03

1.E05

1.E04

1.E03

1.E02

Nc = kP/IFT

1.E02

Nc = kP/IFT
(b)

1.E06

Fig. 11Remaining Sw obtained at different Nc. The points are

experimental results (S1: System 1; S2: System 2; and S3: System 3), and the line (SS) is the SS solution (CoreFlow), indicating Sw trapped by capillary end effects.

wetting phase
0.8
S1-1a
S2-1a

Remaining Sw

0.6

S3-1a
S1-2a

0.4

S2-2a
S3-2a
S1-3a

0.2

S2-3a
S3-3a

0
1.E07

1.E06

1.E05

1.E04

1.E03

1.E02

Nc = kP/IFT
Fig. 10Measured CDC at water-wet condition for (a) nonwetting
phase and (b) wetting phase. The blue solid lines are drawn to
represent continuous CDC for the three systems: S1 5 System 1,
S2 5 System 2, and S3 5 System 3.

comparison. The results indicate that end effects dominate the experimental data at the lowest rate. If such a coreflood is used as a
reference in, for example, the evaluation of surfactant-flooding
potential, it is vital that the additional recovery resulting from the
removal of capillary end effects not be included as part of the surfactant potential. The reference case at high IFT should be carried
out with a sufficient suppression of the capillary end effects, or
alternatively, the end effects should be corrected for in the interpretation of the experiment.
Fig. 13 demonstrates estimated capillary end effects and possible experimental remaining-oil-saturation history predicted with
mixed saturation functions (kr and Pc) typical for North Sea fields.
The effect of the oil/water viscosity ratio is also demonstrated.
Increasing the viscosity ratio in a mixed-wet formation will significantly delay the oil production and increase the remaining So.

Recommendations for Future Research. Flooding experiments

with the brine/crude-oil/surfactant system on mixed-wet or oilwet sandstone rock should be carried out to confirm that the
results with the solvent systems are valid in oil reservoirs. The
rate-dependent production at reduced IFT (Systems 2 and 3)
should be attributed to rate-dependent kr that cannot be modeled
with a single set of kr. Further work is needed in this direction in
considering rate-dependent kr functions for the simulations.
Conclusions
This paper presents the results with three fluid systems (Systems 1
through 3) of different IFTs. System 1 represents the typical
water/oil IFT. Systems 2 and 3, which have low IFTs, are
assumed to have similar flooding behavior of surfactant/oil. The
simulations with SENDRA were performed to fit the experimental
data. Water-displacement behavior by oil is used to model the
flooding characteristics of the wetting phase. This is relevant for
oil production in mixed-wet or oil-wet systems. The main findings
from this study are:
The rate-dependent production of the wetting phase observed in
the experimental results at high IFT (System 1) was reproduced
by the simulations with constant kr functions and Pc. The simulation results indicate that the reason for the observed rate dependency is capillary end effects.
Observed rate effects on the experimental wetting-phase production at low IFT (Systems 2 and 3) were interpreted as a
result of rate dependency in the kr functions. The simulation
results indicate that there was no influence of capillary end
effects in these experiments.
The experimental outcome supported by simulation results
shows that the remaining wetting-phase saturation depends on
0.8

0.6

Visc ratio 0.1

0.6

Remaining So

Water saturation, Sw

0.8

0.4

Visc ratio 1.0

0.5

Visc ratio 10

0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1

0.2

0
1.E08

Increasing rate decreases capillary end effects

0
0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

Core position x/L

Fig. 12Analytical final-saturation profiles computed for increasing oil-injection rates.
46

SS

0.7

0.1 ml/min
0.3 ml/min
1 ml/min
3 ml/min
10 ml/min

1.E07

1.E06

1.E05

1.E04

1.E03

1.E02

Nc = kP/IFT

Fig. 13Remaining So simulated at increasing Nc steps for a

mixed-wet core (ECLIPSE 100). 100 PV of water injected at each
step. SS curve indicates remaining So trapped by capillary end
effects. Oil/water viscosity ratio is indicated in the legend.
February 2014 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering

capillary end effects at lower Nc (high-IFT flood). At higher Nc

(low-IFT floods), the remaining wetting-phase saturation was
found to depend on Nc and on the number of PVs injected.
The kr in the drainage displacements was found to change with
Nc when Nc was higher than approximately 105. The change in
kr was more significant for the displaced wetting phase in the relevant saturation region (lower-Sw region) and resulted in an
increased krw/kro ratio and accelerated wetting-phase production.
A typical CDC is observed for the nonwetting phase with a
characteristic shape with a saturation plateau below a critical Nc
(represented by System 1) and a declining slope above the critical Nc (represented by Systems 2 and 3). Capillary end effects
were found to have no influence on the nonwetting-phase CDC
measurement. The reduction in Sor vs. Nc represented by the
CDC is the main experimental input needed in a surfactant-simulation model for a water-wet formation.
On the basis of the finding of this study, it is recommended to
evaluate the influence of both Pc and Nc when performing experimental work for surfactant flooding in a mixed-wet or an oil-wet
field. The reference water displacement at high IFT must be
properly corrected for capillary end effects so that additional oil
ascribed to the removal of capillary end effect is not counted as
part of the surfactant potential. The change in kr curves at
increased Nc should be measured and not only the reduction in
remaining So. With increasing oil-wetness, an increasing part of
the kr curves is needed for correct predictions at the field scale.
Nomenclature
D diameter
Eo LET empirical elevation constant for oil phase
Ew LET empirical elevation constant for water phase
K permeability
kr relative permeability
kroe endpoint oil relative permeability
krwe endpoint water relative permeability
L length
Lo LET empirical lower-curve constant for oil phase
Lw LET empirical lower-curve constant for water phase
Nc capillary number
Ncc critical capillary number
Nct total capillary number
P pressure
Pc capillary pressure for oil/water
So oil saturation at SS
Sor residual oil saturation
Sw water saturation
Swn normalized water saturation
To LET empirical curve constant for the oil phase
Tw LET empirical curve constant for the water phase
Vo oil-phase volume
Vw water-phase volume
D increment
DP pressure drop across the core
l viscosity
q density
r interfacial tension
/ porosity

Acknowledgments
The authors want to thank Wintershall Holding GmbH and the
Norwegian Research Council for supporting this work.

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48

Ingebret Fjelde is chief scientist in the improved oil recovery

(IOR) group at the International Research Institute of Stavanger
(IRIS). He also has an adjunct professor position in IOR at the University of Stavanger, Norway. Fjeldes main research interests
are enhanced-oil-recovery (EOR) methods (e.g., surfactant
flooding, polymer flooding, low-salinity-waterflooding, wettability
alteration, and carbon dioxide flooding) in sandstone reservoirs
and carbonate reservoirs (with different fracture characteristics).
He holds MSc and PhD degrees in chemistry from the University
of Bergen, Norway. Fjelde is a member of SPE.
Edwin Andrew Chukwudeme is an EDR specialist with Husky
Energy in Calgary. He worked as a senior reservoir engineer
with Statoil ASA Norway from October 2011 to May 2013 and
worked with IRIS as a post-doctoral researcher from March
2010 to September 2011. Chukwudeme also worked with Filco
Drilling and Completion Services in Nigeria as a filtration specialist; he also is a member of the SPE. Chukwudeme holds
MSc and PhD degrees in petroleum engineering from the University of Stavanger.
Kumuduni P. Abeysinghe currently works as a safety and environmental design engineer for offshore oil and gas projects at
Agility Group in Sandefjord, Norway. Since 2003, she has
worked as a professional engineer in chemical and process
engineering and environmental engineering. Abeysinghes
research interests are environmental engineering and EOR.
She holds an MSc degree in energy and environmental technology from Telemark University College, Norway. From 2009
through 2012, Abeysinghe worked as a doctoral research fellow at IRIS, and in 2013 she obtained her PhD degree in petroleum engineering at the University of Stavanger.
Arild Lohne is a senior research engineer in the IOR group at
IRIS. His research interests include water-based IOR methods
and multiphase upscaling. Lohne holds a BSc degree in environmental engineering and an MS degree in petroleum technology, both from the University of Stavanger. He is also a
member of SPE.

February 2014 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering