Abstract
Within the last few years the injection of hot fluids into an oil reservoir has become an important oil recovery process. Two definitive studies[superscript 1,8] have been published in the literature providing information about the displacement mechanism occurring during hot water flooding. Neither study considered the possibility of an effect of temperature on relative permeability and irreducible water saturation. The present investigation is the termination of a portion of a general program of study on the thermal recovery of oil by hot fluid injection planned by the Department of Petroleum Engineering. The purpose of this work was to investigate the effect of temperature on relative permeabilities to oil and water in immiscible, isothermal flow in unconsolidated porous media. Isothermal displacement tests were carried out on natural, unconsolidated sands and on clean, quartz sands. The oils used during the displacement tests were refined and had viscosities of 80.3 cp, 99.0 cp, and 600.0 cp at room temperature. Temperature change had the greatest effect on the 600.0 cp oil. It was found that the irreducible water saturation increased with an increase in temperature; while the residual oil saturation decreased as the temperature increased. ...
Poston, Steven Wallace (1967). Effect of temperature on relative permeability of unconsolidated sands. Texas A&M University. Texas A&M University. Libraries. Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /DISSERTATIONS -170854.