INVESTIGATION OF THE EFFECT OF ASPHALTENE DEPOSITION ON RELATIVE PERMEABILITY CHARACTERISTICS DURING WAG PROCESS

Pressure depletion, temperature changes, and injection of CO2 or solvents into
reservoirs can induce asphaltene precipitation and deposition in porous media. The
dynamic displacement efficiency of a water alternating gas (WAG) process is
controlled by relative permeability. Asphaltene deposition may alter the original
characteristics of the relative permeability curves. To the best of the author's
knowledge, the effects of asphaltene deposition on three-phase relative permeability
data have not been investigated in detail in the literature. In this study the effects of
asphaltene deposition on the three-phase relative permeability using dynamic
displacement experiments are investigated. A synthetic experimental approach is used
to simulate the effect of in-situ asphaltene deposition on three-phase relative
permeability for a water-wet system. This approach uses a chemical solvent as the
precipitating agent to create in-situ asphaltene deposition.