Permeability reduction factors calculation

Ye and Peng (1995) measured ASP solution/oil relative permeabilities based on the preceding principle. They first conducted a core flood test using an ASP solution and calculated the Darcy viscosity for the solution, which included the polymer permeability reduction factor. Then they conducted ASP/... 

Although excluded-volume effects are well-accepted in polymer chromatography, the preceding arguments are not without controversy in the petroleum literature because of the way that the apparent polymer viscosity in porous media was determined. In our work, we simply report the resistance factor (i.e., the brine mobility before polymer injection divided by the polymer-solution mobility). This is a well-defined parameter that derives directly from the Darcy equation and measurements of pressure drops and flow rates. Advocates of the depletion-layer effects use a different method to determine apparent polymer viscosity in porous media. Specifically, they flush water through the core after polymer injection to determine the permeability reduction or residual resistance factor. The resistance factor during polymer injection is then divided by the residual resistance factor to determine the apparent polymer viscosity in porous media. Unfortunately, several experimental factors can lead to incorrect measurement of high residual resistance factors, which, in turn, lead to calculation of unexpectedly low apparent polymer viscosities in porous media. 

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