Rheological Properties of Pseudoplastic Fluids in Porous Media

Abstract

Abstract With flow of non-Newtonian fluids in porous media, effective viscosities are needed for use in the Darcy equation. These viscosities depend on the rock parameters and flowing conditions. In this investigation, rheological and flow results were correlated to develop an expression for calculating effective viscosities. Surfactant-stabilized dispersions of water in hydrocarbon were used with consolidated sandstone cores of different permeabilities. The average shear rate in a core was related to the permeability and porosity of the core and the frontal velocity through the core. By using the correlation obtained for determining effective viscosity, experimental and theoretical values were compared for each fluid system by determining average and maximum errors. For the fluid system showing the largest average error, the correlation fit 38 experimental points with an average and maximum percentage error of 4.3 and 14.8, respectively. For the fluid system showing the least error, average and maximum percentage errors of 1.8 and 4.3, respectively, were calculated using 29 experimental points. Introduction Use of non-Newtonian fluids in the petroleum industry is not new. Fluids of this type have been used for many years as fracturing agents and drilling muds. Recently, attention has focused on the use of high molecular weight polymer solutions for secondary recovery. Results have been reported on studies relating to the flow behavior of polymer solutions in porous media. Each study gives the viscosity in the Darcy equation as a function of the rheological properties of the fluid, the characteristics of the porous medium and the pressure gradient. The functional forms of the reported expressions differ somewhat in each study.