Investigating the Role of Ultrasonic Wave on Two-Phase Relative Permeability in Free Gravity Drainage Process

In this work, the process of free gravity drainage under the influence of ultrasonic waves was investigated. A glass bead pack porous medium was used to perform the free fall gravity drainage experiments. The tests were performed in presence and absence of ultrasonic waves and the data of recovery were recorded versus time in both conditions. The wetting phases relative permeability curve were obtained using the data of recovery versus time based on the Hagoort backward methodology and afterward, using the wetting phase relative permeability curve, the relative permeability of non-wetting phases were calculated by performing history matching to the experimental production data. The results revealed that ultrasound considerably increases the recovery factor of the free gravity drainage process. It was also observed that the relative permeability of both wetting and non-wetting phases increases under exposure to ultrasonic waves. The results of this work can be helpful to better understanding/evaluating the behavior of relative permeability curves of both wetting and non-wetting phases during free gravity drainage process under the exposure to ultrasonic wave.