| Produced water re-injection (PWRI) is seen as an effective technique to manage the large amount of water produced during oil recovery operations. Permeability reduction caused by the particles being retained within porous formations is a major problem that reduces the effectiveness of this process. This thesis presents an investigation carried out to investigate the mechanisms of clogging, and to estimate mathematical model parameters in relation to the water injection operations in Qishn sandstone formation, Masila block, Yemen.; During the experimental investigation, a laboratory-synthesized particle suspension was injected into Qishn sandstone specimens at different flow rates and concentrations. Results indicated the existence of three retention mechanisms, namely, deposition, bridging and external cake formation. Permeability damage was distributed over the entire specimen.; A phenomenological mathematical model was used to simulate the experimental results, and back calculate the model parameters. The model reasonably predicted the observations, but the variations of each parameter with flow velocity and injection concentration suggested the need to account for different retention mechanisms using different constitutive relationships. |
