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The Effect of Clays on the Permeability of Reservoir Sands to Waters of Different Saline Contents

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2024

Oren C. Baptist  and
S. A. Sweeney
Oren C. Baptist
Affiliation:
U.S. Bureau of Mines, USA
S. A. Sweeney
Affiliation:
U.S. Bureau of Mines, USA
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Abstract

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The average results of air- and water-permeability determinations are given for petroleum-reservoir sands in three Wyoming fields. The average amounts of materials of clay size in the sands and the types of clays present, as identified by X-ray diffraction methods, are also presented and discussed.

The sands are shown to be more permeable to air than to brines and more permeable to brines than to fresh water. Each of the sands exhibited different behavior when wetted by waters, and the percentage loss of permeability to waters, as compared to air, varied from sand to sand. The sand containing kaolins, illites, and mixed-layer clay (illite-montmorillonite) was found to be the most sensitive to water, and the sand containing only small amounts of kaolins and illites was the least sensitive. The sand that contained the most kaolins and illites was intermediate in water sensitivity. The water-permeability behavior of the sands and the dependence of this behavior on the clays present and the salinity of the water are discussed.

Type
Article
Information
Clays and Clay Minerals (National Conference on Clays and Clay Minerals) , Volume 3 , February 1954 , pp. 505 - 515
Copyright
Copyright © The Clay Minerals Society 1954

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