SPE 143742

Modified Mathematical Model for Fines Migration in Oilfields

A. Zeinijahromi, The University of Adelaide; F. Machado, Petrobras; P.Bedrikovetsky, The University of Adelaide

Copyright 2011, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the Brasil Offshore Conference and Exhibition held in Maca, Brazil, 1417 June 2011.
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
Permeability decline during corefloods with varying water composition, especially with low salinity water, has been widely
reported in the literature. It has often been explained by the lifting, migration and subsequent plugging of pores by fine
particles, which has been observed in numerous core flood tests with altered water composition. In the present paper, we
derive a new system of governing equations describing fines mobilisation, migration and subsequent permeability decline for
1-phase and 2-phase flows. In large scale approximation, the mathematical model for 2-phase flow with induced fines
migration is equivalent to polymer flooding model. It allows taking advantage of the polymer flooding option for the Eclipse
black oil simulator in order to model waterflood with low salinity water, where the induced fines migration and permeability
damage can be considered to provide a relatively simple method for mobility control during waterflooding. The modelling
showed that permeability decline in the water swept zone, caused by the alteration of the injected water composition and
induced fines migration, may be able to improve waterflood performance by delaying water breakthrough and reducing the
water cut.
Introduction
Fines migration and subsequent reduction in permeability occurs during core flood experiments due to decreased water
salinity, increased flow velocity and altered water pH or temperature (Mungan, 1965; Bernard, 1967; Lever and Dawe, 1984;
Valdya and Fogler, 1992; Khilar and Fogler, 1998; Civan, 2010). The traditional view of fines migration is that it should be
avoided because of its detrimental effect on reservoir permeability. However, during waterflooding, an induced reduction in
the effective permeability to water in the water swept zone, caused by fines migration, may be used to provide mobility control
to improve the performance of the waterflood. This effect is similar to that of other EOR mobility control techniques such as
polymer flooding. Reducing the salinity of the injected water is the most practical method to implement mobility control by
induced fines migration as the other parameters that control the release of fines (pH, temperature, velocity) are not easily
changed. Low salinity water is also often readily available and inexpensive compared to other alternatives.
Low salinity waterflooding, which is presently considered as a very promising EOR method, has been extensively studied
(Yildiz and Morrow, 1996; Tang and Morrow, 1999; Pu et al., 2010). These investigations have largely focused on the effects
of water composition on wettability, relative permeability, capillary pressure and residual oil saturation (Tang and Morrow,
1999; Jerauld et al., 2008). These effects appear to be separate phenomena from fines migration but may occur simultaneously
with fines migration. Some low salinity core flood studies have reported the release of significant amounts of fines (Bernard,
1967; Tang and Morrow, 1999; Pu et al., 2010), while others have reported no evidence of fines migration (Lager et al., 2008;
Jerauld et al., 2008; Rivet et al., 2010) even though additional oil was recovered. Bernard, 1967 observed the residual oil
reduction during low salinity coreflooding and explained it by fines migration. This paper only considers the effects of fines
migration to provide mobility control and does not consider changes to the residual oil saturation or relative permeability
curves as a result of injecting low salinity water.
Several models describing the release and capture of particles were developed. Kinetics-based approaches describing particle
release (Shapiro and Stenby, 2000, 2002; Tufenkji, 2007; Rousseau et al., 2008) were found to exhibit a delayed response to an
abrupt velocity rise or salinity decrease, which did not agree with the near instantaneous response seen in laboratory

SPE 143742

experiments (Ochi and Vernoux, 1998). Hence the maximum retention function model (Bedrikovetsky et al, 2010), which
exhibits the core response without delay, was chosen for the current investigation.
In the present paper, we derive equations for two-phase flow with solute transport in aqueous phase and fines lifting, migration
and size exclusion. Introduction of the maximum retention function allowed the effects of fines migration and permeability
decline to be integrated into the black oil model for two-phase flow. The large scale approximation of the governing system
leads to instant capture of released fines particles. It allows presenting the system in the form, which is equivalent to the
polymer flooding model. The latter permits taking advantage of the Eclipse polymer flooding model for modelling the low
salinity waterflood with induced migration of fines.
The current paper extends the previous works (Lemon et al., 2011 and Zeinijahromi et al., 2011) addressing the problem of 3D
modelling a waterflood with fines migration, while the above papers consider 2D analytical Dietz-type models. An example
application of the 3D 5-layer cake 5-spot reservoir model is presented. The injection of low salinity water with fines lifting
under a given pressure drop between the injection and production wells was found to increase the time until water
breakthrough, decrease the water cut at the producing well and decrease the volume of injected water required while having a
negligible effect on oil recovery.
Basic equations for fines migration under 1-phase flow
Let us assume flow of incompressible suspension in undeformable rock. The densities of suspended and retained particles are
the same that leads to Amagats law for conservation of the mixture volume during particle capture by the rock. The effects of
cut-off pores due to particle retention are ignored, i.e. the additivity of the matrix and the retained particle volumes is assumed.
Two types of retained particles attached and strained are considered. The existence of the maximum retention
concentration as a function of the torque ratio between detaching and attaching forces is assumed for attached fines: if the
attached concentration is lower than the maximum, the attachment is going on; otherwise, the maximum retention
concentration holds. The linear retention rate is assumed for both particle attachment and straining. The advective-diffusive
transport of solute in porous media is assumed for the fines carrier brine. The permeability damage due to attached particles is
assumed to be negligibly small if compared with that due to the fines straining.
Finally, the system of governing equations for fines mobilisation due to decrease of water salinity and consequent reduction of
permeability consists of equations for incompressible flux of carrier water, for mass balance of suspended, attached and
strained particles, for either attachment retention rate or the maximum attachment function, for size exclusion retention rate,
for advective-diffusive mass transfer of salt in porous space with retained fines and for Darcys law accounting for
permeability reduction due to fines straining:

(U ) = 0

( a s ) c + a + s + ( cU ) = ( Dc c )
t
a
= a cU , a < a ( )
t
a = a ( ) , = ,U
a
s

s
= s cU ,
t

( a s ) + ( U ) = ( D )
t
k
U =
p
(1 + s )
Here the torque ratio depends on water salinity and physical (interstitial) flow velocity U/(-a-s).
Introduce dimensionless co-ordinates, time and concentrations

(1)

SPE 143742

x
1

c
q

D
xD = , t D =
q ( t ) dt , S =
, C = 0 ,U = 2 , D = L =
,
0

L
c
L
L LU
( a 0 ) c
( a 0 ) 0
t

kp

kpL
U
P=
,u =
=
U 0 L q0
U0

(2)

Here the case of fully saturated attached fines system is considered. It occurs during injection of low salinity water into
oilfield, where the attached fines with maximum concentration are in contact with water with continuously decreasing salinity.
System (1) becomes:

(u ) = 0

a s
C + S a + S s + uC = D ( u C )

t D a 0

S a = S a ( ) , = ,U

a
s

S s
= s LC u ,
t D
a s
+ u = D ( u )

t D a 0

1
P
u=
1 + ( a 0 ) c 0 S s
(3)
Here the diffusion (dispersion) coefficients are proportional to flow velocity, i.e. the molecular diffusion is neglected if
compared with the effective diffusion.
Consider the large scale case, where the free run of fine particle before being captured is significantly smaller than the
reservoir size

<< L

(4)

i.e. the dimensionless filtration coefficient for straining

s L >> 1

(5)

Tending sL to infinity in left hand side of the fourth eq. (3) under limited retention rate and flow velocity results in
dimensionless suspended concentration tending to zero, C<<1. Ignoring C in second eq (3) leads to

( Sa + S s ) = 0
t

(6)

which, accounting for initial condition for attached fines concentration, yields

S s = Sa 0 Sa ( )

(7)

Eq. (7) means that in large scale approximation, the lifted fines are immediately captured by size exclusion in porous media.
Finally, system (3) takes the form

SPE 143742

(u ) = 0

S s = Sa 0 Sa ( ) , = , U
a s

+ u = D ( u )
t D
u=

1
P
1 + ( a 0 ) c 0 S a 0 S a ( )

(8)

Under the instant size exclusion of mobilised fines, the change of water salinity or velocity results in instant permeability
reduction.
Basic equations for fines migration under 2-phase flow
Let us discuss system of two-phase flow in porous media with varying water salinity that lifts the fine particles. For simplicity
we assume that volumetric concentrations of attached and retained particles are negligibly small if compared with porous
space, i.e. the fine particles retention does not affect porosity. We also assume no diffusion and capillary pressure.
Finally, the system of governing equations for two-phase oil-water flow with fines mobilisation due to decrease of water
salinity and consequent reduction of relative permeability for water consists of equations for total incompressible flux of
carrier water and oil, for volumetric balance of incompressible water, for mass balance of suspended, attached and strained
particles, for either attachment retention rate or the maximum attachment function, for size exclusion retention rate, for
advective-diffusive mass transfer of salt in porous space with retained fines and for modified Darcys law accounting for
permeability reduction due to fines straining:

(U ) = 0
k ( s ) w (1 + s )
s
+ U f ( s, s ) = 0, f ( s, s ) = 1 + ro

t
krw ( s ) o

[ sc + a + s ] + U ( cf ) = 0
t
a = a ( ) , = ,U
a
s

s
f
= s cU ,
s
t

[ ] + ( U ) = 0
t
krw ( s )
k (s)
U = k
+ ro
p
o
w (1 + s )

(9)

In dimensionless co-ordinates (2), system (9) becomes:

(u ) = 0

kro ( s ) w (1 + c 0 S s )
s

+ uf ( s, S s ) = 0, f ( s, S s ) = 1 +
t D
k rw ( s ) o

[ sC + Sa + S s ] + u ( Cf ) = 0
t D

SPE 143742

S a = S a ( ) , = ,U

S s
f
= ( s L ) C u ,
t D
s
( s )
t D

(10)

+ u ( f ) = 0

k rw ( s )
k ro ( s )
p
+
U = k
0
o
w (1 + c S s )
Consider the large scale case, where the free run of fine particle before being captured is significantly smaller than the
reservoir size, i.e. the dimensionless filtration coefficient for straining

s L >> 1

(11)

Tending sL to infinity in left hand side of the fourth eq. (3) under limited retention rate and flow velocity results in
dimensionless suspended concentration tending to zero, C<<1. Ignoring C in third eq (10) leads to

S s = Sa 0 Sa ( )

(12)

System (10) becomes

( u ) = 0,

S s = Sa 0 Sa ( ) ,

kro ( s ) w 1 + c 0 ( Sa 0 Sa ( ) )
s
+ uf ( s, Sa 0 Sa ( ) ) = 0, f ( s, Sa 0 Sa ( ) ) = 1 +
krw ( s ) o
tD

Sa = Sa ( ) , = ,U

( s )
+ u ( f ) = 0
tD

krw ( s )
kro ( s )
p
U = k
+
o
w 1 + c 0 ( Sa 0 Sa ( ) )

(13)

System (13) describes low salinity waterflooding with fines lifting, migration, capture and subsequent permeability damage.
Using polymer flooding model
Alteration of water salinity affects the attached concentration stronger than the velocity alteration. Therefore, we neglect the
velocity dependency of the maximum concentration of attached fines.
Introduce small adsorption ca() into equation (13):

( u ) = 0,

Ss = Sa 0 Sa ( ) ,

kro ( s ) w 1 + c 0 ( Sa 0 Sa ( ) )
s
+ uf ( s, S a 0 Sa ( ) ) = 0, f ( s, Sa 0 Sa ( ) ) = 1 +
krw ( s ) o
tD

SPE 143742

Sa = Sa ( )

( s + ca ( ) )
t D

+ u ( f ) = 0, ca ( ) = Sa 0 Sa ( )

(14)

krw ( s )
kro ( s )

U = k
+
p, RRF = 1 + Sao

Sa 0 Sa ( )
o
w 1 + ( RRF 1)

Sa 0

Here is small parameter. The resistance factor is presented as

1 + ( RRF 1)

Sa 0 Sa ( )
Sa 0

(15)

leading to the following expression for the maximum resistance factor RRF:

RRF = 1 + S ao

(16)

Finally, the system of equations for 2-phase flow with varying water salinity and fines mobilisation can be translated into the
polymer flooding model with the dictionary given by formulae (15) and (16).
Simulation results
The performance of the normal waterflood and that with induced fines migration were compared, for a given pressure drop,
using the previously derived black oil model for polymer flooding. The retained concentration in each layer was calculated
using the model =cr () adjusted from the experimental data by Lever and Dawe (1984).
The results of Eclipse modelling during low salinity waterflooding with induced formation damage due to lifted fines and
during normal waterflooding are presented in Figs. 6-9.
The symmetry element of 5-spot pattern of five layers cake reservoir with layer permeabilities 10 mD, 200 mD , 500 mD, 800
mD and 1000 mD and thicknesses 47.8 ft, 87.8 ft, 77.8 ft, 37.7 ft and 27.8 ft was taken as an example to evaluate the order of
magnitude of production and water cut histories for both cases of the normal and improved waterflooding. The reservoir length
is 1850 ft and width is 1850 ft. The water injection is carried out under constant pressure drop: the injection pressure is
maintained at the level of 6000 psi; the pressure at the producer is 2000 psi.
Fig. 6 shows the increased sweep in upper low permeability layer during injection of low salinity water and induction of
permeability damage due to lifting, migration and straining of fines (Fig. 6b) if compared with normal waterflooding (Fig. 6a).
The recovery factor versus PVI is shown in Fig. 7a. The induced formation damage in swept zone slows the injected water
down resulting in the increase of water flux via unswept zone and, finally, in the increase of sweep efficiency. Nevertheless,
the induced permeability damage causes reduction of injection and production rates; oil production must decrease also. Fig. 7a
shows that the recovery factor versus real time are almost the same for the normal and the low salinity waterfloods, i.e. the
competitive effects of improved sweep and decreased rates almost compensate each other in the simulated example. So, the
oil production versus real time is almost not affected by the induced fines.
Figs. 8 and 9 show that the main effect of the induced fines is reduced volume of produced and injected water. Water cut
reduction versus real time is quite significant (Fig. 8b). The reduction of injected and produced water volumes under the same
amount of produced oil is about 2-3 times.
Nomenclature
Latin letters
c
concentration of suspended particles
C
normalized concentration of suspended particles
initial concentration of suspended particles
co
D
diffusion coefficient
Dc
diffusion coefficient for suspended particles
diffusion coefficient for brine
D

SPE 143742

f
k
kro
krw
L
P
p
q
S
s
Sa
Sao
Ss
t
tD
U
u
x
xD

fractional flow of water

absolute permeability, L2 ,mD
oil relative permeability
water relative permeability
reservoir size, L, m
dimensionless pressure
pressure, ML-1T-2 , Pa
volumetric flow rate, L3T-1, m3/s
dimensionless concentration of deposited particles
water saturation
dimensionless concentration of attached particles
initial dimensionless concentration of attached particles
dimensionless concentration of strained particles
time, T, s
dimensionless time, PVI
physical (interstitial) flow velocity, LT-1, m/s
dimensionless physical (interstitial) flow velocity
position of oil-water interface, L, m
dimensionless coordinate

Greek letters

brine ionic strength, molL-3, mol/lit

dynamic viscosity, ML-1T-1,CP

porosity
o
oil dynamic viscosity, ML-1T-1,CP
w
water dynamic viscosity, ML-1T-1,CP

formation damage coefficient

torque ratio
filtration coefficient for attachment, L-1, 1/m
a
s
filtration coefficient for straining, L-1, 1/m

volumetric concentration of captured particles, L-3, 1/m3

a
volumetric concentration of attached particles, L-3, 1/m3
initial volumetric concentration of attached particles, L-3, 1/m3
ao
volumetric concentration of strained particles, L-3, 1/m3
s
Abbreviations
RRF
maximum resistance factor
WF
waterflooding
References
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J. Transport in Porous Media: 1-31. doi:10.1007/s11242-010-9626-4.
Bernard, G.G. 1967. Effect of Floodwater Salinity on Recovery of Oil from Cores Containing Clays. Paper SPE 1725 presented at the SPE
California Regional Meeting, Los Angeles, California,USA, 26-27 October.
Civan, F. 2010. Non-Isothermal Permeability Impairment by Fines Migration and Deposition in Porous Media Including Dispersive
Transport. J. Transport in Porous Media 85 (1): 233-258. doi:10.1007/s11242-010-9557-0.
Jerauld, G., Webb, K., Lin, C., Seccombe, J. 2008. Modeling Low-Salinity Waterflooding. SPEREE 11 (6): 1000-1012. SPE-102239-PA.
doi: 10.2118/102239-PA.
Khilar, K., Fogler, H., 1998. Migrations of Fines in Porous Media. Dordrecht/London/Boston:Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Lager, A., Webb, K., J. Black, C., Singleton, M., Sorbie, K. 2008. Low Salinity Oil Recovery-an Experimental Investigation1. Petrophysics
49 (1): 28-35. doi: 2008-v49n1a2.
Lemon, P., Zeinijahromi, A., Bedrikovetsky, P., Shahin, I. 2011. Effects of Injected Water Chemistry on Waterflood Sweep Efficiency via
Induced Fines Migration. SPE-140141, SPE International Symposium on Oilfield Chemistry, Woodlands, Texas, USA, 11- 13 April.
Lever, A., Dawe, R. 1984. Water-Sensitivity and Migration of Fines in the Hopeman Sandstone. Journal of Petroleum Geology 7 (1): 97107. doi:10.1111/j.1747-5457.1984.tb00165.x.
Mungan, N. 1965. Permeability Reduction through Changes in Ph and Salinity. Journal of Petroleum Technology 17 (12): 1449-1453. SPE1283-PA.doi:10.2118/1283-PA.

SPE 143742

Ochi, J., Vernoux, J.-F. 1998. Permeability Decrease in Sandstone Reservoirs by Fluid Injection,Hydrodynamic and Chemical Effects. J. of
Hydrology 208 (3): 237-248. doi:10.1016/S0022-1694(98)00169-3.
Pu, H., Xie, X., Yin, P., Morrow, N. 2010. Low-Salinity Waterflooding and Mineral Dissolution.Paper SPE 134042 presented at the SPE
Annual Technical Confrence and Exhibition, Florence, Italy, 19-22 September. doi: 10.2118/134042-MS.
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SPE Annual Technical Confrence and Exhibition, Florence, Italy, 19-22 September. doi: 10.2118/134297-MS.
Rousseau, D., Latifa, H., Nabzar, L. 2008. Injectivity Decline from Produced-Water Reinjection: New Insights on in-Depth ParticleDeposition Mechanisms. SPE Prod & Oper 23 (4): 525-531. SPE-107666-PA.
Shapiro, A., Stenby, E. 2000. Factorization of Transport Coefficients in Macroporous Media. Transport in Porous Media 41 (3): 305-323.
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Zeinijahromi, A., Lemon, P., Bedrikovetsky, P. 2011. Effects of Induced Migration of Fines on Water Cut during Waterflooding. SPE139239, SPE Middle East Oil and Gas Show and Conference, Manama, Bahrain, 2023 March.

Fig. 1- Forces acting on attached particle during flow in porous media (torque balance on a single particle)

c
s

Fig. 2- Straining of detached particles in a single pore

SPE 143742

Fig. 3- Permeability change with salinity (data from Lever and Dawe, 1984), velocity scale calculated

Fig. 4- Dependency of retained particle concentration on erosion number matched to experimental data

10

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Fig. 5- Vertical distribution of permeability and WOC position in a layer cake reservoir after 1 PVI with and without induced fines

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11

a)

b)
Fig. 6- Eclipse simulation of water flooding in 4-layer-cake reservoir: (a) Oil saturation after 0.5 PVI (Normal WF), (b) Oil
saturation after 0.5 PVI (Low salinity WF with induced fines migration)

12

SPE 143742

a)

b)
Fig. 7- Recovery factor during normal and low-salinity-with-fines-lifting waterflooding: (a) versus PVI, (b) versus real time

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13

a)

b)
Fig. 8- Water cut during normal and low-salinity-with-fines-lifting waterflooding: (a) versus PVI, (b) versus real time

14

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Fig. 9- The volume of injected/produced water during normal and low salinity waterflooding