Theses and Dissertations

Date of Award

5-2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Engineering (MSE)

Department

Mechanical Engineering

First Advisor

Maysam Pournik

Second Advisor

Victoria M. Padilla

Third Advisor

Arturo A. Fuentes

Abstract

Reservoir rocks are porous materials that are an important area of study since they are present in reservoir sites rich in crude oil. It is important to understand the spreading phenomena on the rock surface and through the porous structure during fluid flow through these porous materials. For a complex system like reservoir rocks, factors such as spatially varying chemical composition and topography, multidimensional porosity, temperature, humidity, and existing oil/water in the pores can affect wettability and be a detriment to oil recovery.

The interaction of core samples with different porosity and permeability with water after proper cleaning procedures and oil imbibition and at various temperature and humidity conditions was investigated using the microscale thermography (MIRT) technique. This MIRT method incorporates the thermal radiation emitted by the rocks to provide detailed images and data on temperature variations/evolution across the rock surface.

Analysis shows that this non-destructive data has the potential to show surface and through pore wettability at the micro-scale and can capture surface heterogeneous composition through measurement of thermal diffusivity. The MIRT results are compared with macroscale water contact angle data to provide a comparison and identify the accuracy of the MIRT method when predicting contact angle data from droplet spreading.

To further quantify data and identify underlying characteristics in porous media not typically seen in reservoir analysis, many tests need to be performed utilizing core samples that are 3D printed with varying pore throat sizes, porosities, and tortuosity. Through the gathering of such data with different variables affecting fluid flow in these networks, comprehensive permeability relationships were developed as the main goals of such tests.

Analysis through the use of a core flooding apparatus provides a deeper analysis of fluid flow interactions within petroleum reservoirs not easily seen through droplet testing. Core flooding performed consists of fluid flow testing in a controlled environment with varying materials at different volumetric flow rates and pressures.

Findings captured key relationships between permeability and a number of controllable factors. Such factors are porosity, pore size, number of pores, and tortuosity. A Kozeny-Carman equation was then obtained from permeability and porosity data, and trendlines showed correlations comparable to literature. The use of additive manufacturing facilitated findings not typically found in traditional porous media, and new relationships and interactions were analyzed. The largest factor that influenced permeability is said to be porosity, as it incorporates and considers all other factors analyzed, including pore size, pore count, and tortuosity.

Comments

Copyright 2025 Alan Petrovich-Mar. https://proquest.com/docview/3240629636

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