Wilmington oil sand

FIGURE 10.11 Hydroxide-exchange isotherms for Wilmington oil sand. Source Somerton and Radke (1983). 

For this study flow (dynamic) and static (batch) tests were carried out on Wilmington oil field unconsolidated sands at reservoir temperatures and flow rates with polyacrylamide (Dow Pusher-500) polymers. Effluent concentration, viscosity, and pH were monitored as a function of time. Extensive characterization studies for the sand were also carried out. 

Static(batch) and dynamic(flow) tests were carried out on toluene - extracted and peroxide - treated Wilmington oil field unconsolidated sands with dilute solutions of polyacrylamide (Dow Pusher-500) polymer in 1 wt% NaCl at 50° C and 1.5 ft./day, simulating reservoir temperature and flow rates. In the static tests, Ottawa sand, with particle size distributions similar to the Wilmington sand, were also used for comparison purposes. 

Flow Tests. One foot long sand packs using Wilmington oil field unconsolidated sand were prepared for each of the flow tests. Porosity and permeability of all the sand packs were within 30-35% and 100-300 md, respectively. All core packs were evacuated to about 1 mm of mercury (Hg) before saturating them under gravity to assure complete water saturation. Table III gives the core and fluid properties for the flow tests. The properties of the cores were chosen so that they are close to the field conditions reported by Krebs(15). 

Figure 4. Effluent Profiles in residual oil-brine saturated Wilmington sand...

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