Hysteresis in Relative Permeability From Cyclic Water-Oil Corefloods
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Water injection is a long-standing method for secondary oil recovery, benefiting from favorable water/oil mobility. However, ultimate recovery can be limited by gravity segregation in thick reservoirs, snap-off trapping in water-wet rocks, and low mobility in viscous oil systems. This study investigates relative permeability (kr) hysteresis using six cyclic coreflooding experiments (W/O/W/O; water-oil-water-oil) on turbidite sandstones with diverse porosity and permeability. Water/oil tests used formation brine and dead oil at reservoir temperature and 10 bar pore pressure. Two-dimensional (2D) X-ray imaging enabled visualization of fluid fronts and capillary end effects. The goal is to derive drainage and imbibition kr curves from the history match of an extensive coreflood data set acquired under high interfacial tension conditions to evaluate hysteresis in kr and saturation path effects. The drainage and imbibition kr curves are then compared with the classical Killough kr hysteresis model to put a spotlight on some limitations of the model. Results revealed phase-dependent hysteresis: W/O/W/O tests exhibited cycle-dependent hysteresis, leading to fluid trapping, reduced mobility, evolving wettability over cycles, and deviations in the behavior of kr and capillary pressure (Pc) from conventional simulator models.
Authors: Victor Fernandes, TotalEnergies, Halidi Abdoulghafour, Akkodis, Amin Rezaei, Akkodis, Fabrice Pairoys, SLB, Marcel Bourgeois, TotalEnergies, Franck Nono, TotalEnergies, Cyril Caubit, TotalEnergies
Language: English
Subfield: Ocean Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W6893559589
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