A Study of the Reduction of Brine Permeability in Berea Sandstone With the Aluminum Citrate Process

Summary A systematic study of permeability modification of Berea sandstone by the injection of alternate slugs of polymer and aluminum citrate is described. The research included brine permeabilities from 10 to 300 md. Results of treatments with Pusher 700™ showed that permeability reduction was limited to the front end of the core (0 to 4 in. [0 to 10 cm]). The effective mobility of the treated region was so low that in-depth treatment of the remainder of the core was prevented. The amount and distribution of permeability reduction is related to both polymer and aluminum retention. The retention of aluminum was found to be a nonequilibrium process, varying with flow rate and thus residence time in the core. Aluminum was retained in large quantities in Berea core in the absence of polymer. Changing the treatment sequence to aluminum citrate/brine/polymer/brine yielded in-depth treatment of cores 12 to 48 in. [30 to 121 cm] in length. Both magnitude and persistence of permeability reduction were comparable to or better than those obtained with the combination process. Permeability increased with distance from the core inlet in most runs. This is believed to be caused by nonuniform distribution of retained aluminum.