Measurement of dynamic saturation profiles

Accurate relative permeability data are essential for predicting the perfor mance of two-phase flow through porous media. Many factors, such as the roc k and fluid properties, may affect the measurement of relative permeability . However, the saturation levels of the fluids flowing through a porous med ium have the largest impact on the shape of the relative permeability curve s. Because relative permeability is a strong function of saturation, an acc urate measurement of saturation levels in various types of two-phase flow e xperiments is required. In addition to many non-invasive methods, weighing and volumetric methods are frequently used to estimate the average saturati on during steady-stare experiments. However, for unsteady-state flow experi ments, material balance methods to determine the saturation levels are rela tively difficult to use. This article presents a relatively new non-invasiv e saturation measurement method and the equipment used to obtain dynamic sa turation profiles as a function of time and distance along the core-holder. The new saturation measurement system has been found to be equally good fo r steady-state and unsteady-state experiments. Typical dynamic saturation p rofiles, the equipment calibration method, and a set of typical relative pe rmeability curves for a co-current flow experiment are presented. Based on the presented experimental results, it has been found that the new saturati on measurement method and the equipment is reliable and can reproduce stabl e dynamic saturation profiles with a minimum level of uncertainty.