The Mechanism of Reservoir Damage by Water Injection in Ultra-Low-Permeability Reservoirs and Optimization of Water Quality Index

Yong Tang, Tong Mu, Jiazheng Qin (), Rong Peng, Mengyun Liu and Yixiang Xie
Additional contact information
Yong Tang: State Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500, China
Tong Mu: State Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500, China
Jiazheng Qin: State Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500, China
Rong Peng: State Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500, China
Mengyun Liu: State Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500, China
Yixiang Xie: State Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500, China

Energies, 2025, vol. 18, issue 6, 1-18

Abstract: Injecting liquid into the formation has an impact on the microstructure of the reservoir and formation fluids, and negative effects often lead to the failure of oil well stimulation measures to achieve the expected results. It is crucial to clarify the reasons for the decrease in the injection capability of low-permeability reservoirs in China and the mechanisms of the impact of on-site injection water quality. This study first conducted injection experiments with different water qualities. To study the micro factors that cause damage, clay mineral X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, high-pressure mercury injection experiments before and after damage, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) during the damage process, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) after damage, and energy dispersive spectroscopy elemental spectrum analysis (EDS) of incompatible sediment were carried out on the experimental core. In injection experiments with different water qualities, the permeability decreased by up to 65.35% when the injection volume reached 60 PV. The main causes of the decrease in injection capability are poor reservoir porosity and permeability and formation particle blockage. The particles mainly come from suspended particles, emulsified oil, migration of formation particles, and sediment formed by the injected water. This paper also proposes a reference for water quality index optimization in similar reservoirs. The new water quality index reduced permeability damage by at least 3.22%.

Keywords: low-permeability reservoirs; porous media; physical experiments; formation damage mechanism; injection capability; water injection index (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/6/1455/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/6/1455/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:18:y:2025:i:6:p:1455-:d:1613529

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().