TECHNICAL NOTE

Investigations on Capillary and Viscous

Displacement Under Ultrasonic Waves
T. HAMIDA, T. BABADAGLI
University of Alberta

Abstract
In this paper, the influence of ultrasonic waves on capillary and
viscous displacement of oil in porous media was investigated.
Capillary (spontaneous) imbibition experiments were conducted
using various fluid pairs such as air-water, mineral oil-brine,
mineral oil-surfactant solution, kerosene-surfactant solution, and
mineral oil-polymer solution. Berea sandstone and Indiana limestone cores were used as the matrix. Oil saturated cores were immersed into the aqueous phase and subjected to high intensity
ultrasound from a specially designed ultrasonic chamber. The resulting recovery was recorded against time, and compared to a
control experiment without ultrasound. A substantial increase in
ultimate recovery was observed for most of the fluid pairs, with
some improvements in recovery rate.
To further investigate whether ultrasound induces a perturbation at the liquid-liquid interface of immiscible fluids, a series of
Hele-Shaw type experiments were run. The resulting fingering
pattern was strongly dependent on the interfacial tension of the
fluid pair, and the injection rate. Ultrasound stabilized the fluidfluid front of high interfacial tension fluid pairs, but generated
larger instabilities when interfacial tension was low.

Introduction
For the past four decades, researchers have explored the use
of acoustic energy to improve oil recovery that could potentially
be an economic and environmentally-friendly alternative to current IOR methods. Beresnev and Johnson(1) provide an extensive
review of the major developments of acoustic stimulation and its
limitations. Guo et al.(2) discuss recent field results of seismic stimulation in China.
Despite numerous promising field trials and patents, the exact
mechanism behind ultrasonic stimulations is poorly understood.
Most of the findings have been speculative with little experimental
verification. The reason is two-fold. Firstly, the problem is very
complex, involving a superposition of several different mechanisms. Secondly, it is not certain how far an acoustic wave propagates into the reservoir, or how such propagation occurs. Ultrasonic
applications are limited to the near-wellbore area due to the high
attenuation through the rock or fluids. As a consequence, most research in recent years has shifted to low energy, low frequency
waves that can propagate several kilometres into the reservoir.
However, because low frequency waves disperse into high-frequency harmonics as they travel through a porous medium, one
would still expect ultrasonic waves to be present in the reservoir.
An analytical treatment of compression and shear wave propagation in saturated porous media was first developed in two classic
papers by Biot.(3, 4).

Acoustic waves are usually applied in three ways: pressure

pulsing, down-hole vibration, and surface vibration. Applications
range from enhanced oil recovery (EOR) to well stimulation, in
situ upgrading, wellbore cleaning, and soil remediation.
Acoustic stimulation is believed to positively contribute to the
flow of oil in porous media by:
Increasing the relative permeability of the phases(5);
Reducing the adherence of wetting films onto the rock matrix, due to non-linear acoustic effects such as in-pore turbulence, acoustic streaming, cavitation, and perturbation in
local pressures(5);
Reducing surface tension, density, and viscosity as a consequence of heating by ultrasonic radiation(6);
Altering of rheological properties of non-Newtonian fluids;
Enhancing mobilization of oil blobs due to mechanical vibration of pore walls (peristaltic fluid transport) by which fluid
is squeezed into adjacent pores(7);
Micro-emulsification of oil in the presence of natural or introduced surfactants(8);
Coalescence and dispersion of oil drops due to the Bjerknes
forces(9, 10); and,
Increasing in rock permeability and porosity due to deformation of pores, and removal of fines, clays, paraffin wax, and
asphaltenes(11, 12).
Most of the above mechanisms are controlled by capillary and
viscous forces, and may depend on additional factors such as frequency range, intensity, rock elasticity, fluid properties, porosity,
cementation, and clay content. Gaining insight into the governing
mechanism(s) is vital for optimizing any field application, and for
assessing limitations and feasibility.
In previous works, we investigated the influence of ultrasonic
radiation on spontaneous (capillary) imbibition of various aqueous
phases into oil-saturated Berea sandstone and limestone cores(1315). Further analysis, and additional experimental results, will be
presented in this paper. Additionally, immiscible Hele-Shaw experiments were performed to demonstrate how ultrasound affects
the liquid-liquid interface between the oil and aqueous phase. The
objective of this study was to identify the influence of the capillary
forces on the incremental oil recovery under ultrasonic energy.

Spontaneous (Capillary) Imbibition

Experiments
Experimental Procedure
To study the effect of ultrasonic radiation on the capillary
imbibition, a series of experiments were run on Berea sandstone and Indiana limestone samples with one side and all sides
open to flow. This geometry corresponds to counter-current and

THIS PAPER IS BEING PUBLISHED AS A TECHNICAL NOTE AND HAS NOT BEEN PEER REVIEWED.
16

Journal of Canadian Petroleum Technology

Results
Coated:
Epoxy coating
(sealing)

Ultrasonic Horn

Scale
Core

Imbibition cell

Uncoated:

core

FIGURE 1: Experimental set-up for the capillary imbibition

experiments and the configuration of the core samples yielding
counter-current (coated) and co-current (uncoated) capillary
imbibition.

co-current flow, respectively. Fluid pairs, such as mineral oilbrine, mineral oil-anionic surfactant, mineral oil-nonionic surfactant, mineral oil-polymer solution, and air-water, were used to
isolate the effects of viscosity, interfacial tension, and density. The
cores were saturated with the oleic phase using a vacuum desiccating chamber. Once fully saturated, they were immersed into the
aqueous phase and subjected to high intensity ultrasound (20 kHz,
25 W/cm2, and 48 W/cm2) within a specially designed ultrasonic
chamber (Figure 1). Ultrasound (US) was applied via two methods:
a concentrated beam from an ultrasonic horn, and ambient ultrasonic irradiation generated by an ultrasonic cleaner (bath). The observed recovery was recorded vs. time, and compared to a control
with no ultrasound (NUS).

A plot of recovery under ultrasound vs. no ultrasound for all

cases is shown in Figure 2. The dashed lines indicate the percent
deviation from equality. In most cases, a substantial increase in ultimate recovery, ranging between 10% 30%, was observed. To
illustrate the statistical validity of this observation, data from previous experiments(13) are included as well. It must be noted that the
repeatability of imbibition experiments varies by approximately
5% 10% (grey shaded zone), and strongly depends on clay content. This is especially true when water is used as aqueous phase.
Experiments that exhibit 5% deviation in ultimate recovery should
be considered unaffected by ultrasound.
Counter-current imbibition of both water and anionic surfactant (DOWFAX 2A1) into mineral oil and kerosene saturated cores
under ultrasound showed a decline in both recovery rate and ultimate recovery. However, when ultrasonic treatment was discontinued, production reinitiated and stabilized at around the control
value. The same was also observed with the co-current recovery
of kerosene by nonionic surfactant (Tergitol). Co-current imbibition of water, surfactant, and polymer (Xanthan Gum) into Berea
yielded improvements of 10 30% in recovery.
Counter-current air-water imbibition into Berea sandstone
(Figure 3) was enhanced under ultrasound, yielding an additional
recovery of 24%, and a dramatic increase in imbibition rate. For
uncoated Berea sandstone in an ambient ultrasonic field, no significant change in recovery rate and ultimate recovery was observed.
However, the ultimate recovery under an ultrasonic horn was reduced by 12%.
A similar, but less substantial change in recovery was observed
with air-water imbibition into limestone (Figure 4). Ultrasonic
treatment via a horn (45 W/cm2) reduced the recovery in uncoated
limestone by approximately 9%, but increased the recovery in
coated limestone by 11%.

80%
50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

DOWFAX 2A1 - Mineral Oil

DOWFAX 2A1 - Kerosene

10%

70%

Recovery of OIIP, PV (Ultrasound)

Air - Water (UC)

Air - Water (C)

20%
60%
Water - Mineral Oil (UC)

30%

Water - Mineral Oil (C)

50%

Water - Kerosene (UC)

40%
Water - Kerosene (C)

40%

Tergitol - Mineral Oil

50%

Tergitol - Kerosene

30%
30%

Xanthan Gum - Mineral Oil

35%

40%

45%

50%

55%

60%

65%

70%

75%

80%

Recovery of OIIP, PV (No Ultrasound)

FIGURE 2: Summary of all imbibition experiments. Dashed lines indicate per cent deviation from equality. The shaded area represents the
5% and 10% deviation zone which falls within average variability of our experiments. UC = uncoated, C = coated.
February 2006, Volume 45, No. 2

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PC based image
processing system
Ultrasonic
generator

Digital
camera
Illumination

Ultrasonic
horn

spacers
Spacers

Microannular
gear pump

Acrylic plates

Power
supply

Ultrasonic bath
Feed

FIGURE 5: The elements of the experimental set-up for studying

viscous fingering in a Hele-Shaw cell [adapted from Reference (15)].

FIGURE 3: Air-water imbibition in Berea sandstone under

ultrasonic irradiation with an ultrasonic horn (20 kHz, 48 W/cm2)
and an ultrasonic bath (2kW).

FIGURE 6: Hele-Shaw patterns for water and anionic surfactant

into mineral oil. US = ultrasound, NUS = no ultrasound.
FIGURE 4: Air-water imbibition in Indiana limestone under
ultrasonic irradiation with an ultrasonic horn (20 kHz, 48 W/cm2)
and an ultrasonic bath (2kW).

Viscous Displacement Experiments

Since the imbibition process is a gentle, non-intrusive transport
mechanism that depends primarily on wettability and interfacial
tension, there is strong evidence that ultrasound has a profound
influence on capillary pressure, and therefore, the fluid-fluid interface. To investigate the effect of ultrasound on the fluid-fluid
interface, we ran a series of Hele-Shaw type experiments with the
same fluid pairs used during the imbibition experiments. A pair of
parallel acrylic sheets, 20 28 cm2 wide and 0.5 cm thick, and separated by eight vinyl spacers approximately 0.3 mm high, were saturated with mineral oil. The aqueous phase was then injected into
the centre at a constant rate and the resulting pattern was filmed
using a CCD camera. The set-up is shown in Figure 5.
When a low viscosity fluid is injected into a high viscosity fluid,
interfacial instabilities give rise to viscous fingering. The formation and distribution of such fingers depend on interfacial tension,
plate spacing, viscosity, and injection rate. If a change in pattern
is observed under ultrasound (in comparison to no ultrasound),
we can infer that ultrasonic waves altered the degree of frontal
instability, and therefore affected one of the above mentioned
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parameters. Plate spacing, viscosity, and injection rate were held

constant, and thus, the only degree of freedom is the interfacial
tension.
Figure 6 shows frontal patterns for water injected into mineral
oil at 1 cc/min and 5 cc/min, and anionic surfactant into mineral
oil at 5 cc/min. At high water rates, we observe more fine fingers
and higher sweep efficiency close to the injector when ultrasound
was applied. At a lower water rate, the frontal fingers were wider,
shorter, and tended to branch out from larger fingers. The opposite
was observed for the surfactant. Therefore, the degree of instability
at the front depends on the interfacial tension between the aqueous
and oleic phase. Ultrasound stabilizes the instability front of high
interfacial tension fluids, but destabilizes the interface when interfacial tension is low.

Concluding Remarks
Imbibition experiments were performed to test the influence of
ultrasound on capillary forces. Two boundary conditions were used
in this study: all sides closed to flow except one (counter-current),
and all sides open (co-current/counter-current). Recovery due to
counter-current flow of liquids in porous media does not always
react favourably to ultrasonic stimulation. This is not true with airwater, mainly due to the large difference in density. In most cases,
Journal of Canadian Petroleum Technology

ultrasound considerably improves recovery of oil through spontaneous capillary imbibition.

Capillary forces play an important role in flow through porous media under ultrasound, even in conditions where viscous
forces are dominant. Hele-Shaw experiments were used to demonstrate the growth of instabilities at the liquid-liquid front when
ultrasound is applied. Ultrasound stabilizes the fluid-fluid front of
high interfacial tension fluid pairs, but generates larger instabilities
when interfacial tension is low.

ProvenanceOriginal Petroleum Society manuscript, Investigations

on Capillary and Viscous Displacement Under Ultrasonic Waves
(2005-132TN), first presented at the 6th Canadian International Petroleum
Conference (the 56th Annual Technical Meeting of the Petroleum Society),
June 7 - 9, 2005, in Calgary, Alberta. Abstract submitted for review December 16, 2004; editorial comments sent to the author(s) August 30, 2005;
revised manuscript received October 31, 2005; paper approved for prepress October 31, 2005; final approval January 24, 2006.

Authors Biographies
Acknowledgements
This study was partly funded by an NSERC Grant (No:
G121210595). The funds for the equipment used in the experiments were obtained from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation
(CFI) (Project # 7566) and the University of Alberta. We gratefully
acknowledge this support.

REFERENCES
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Oil Production: A Review of Methods and Results; Geophysics, Vol.
59, No. 6, pp. 1000-1017, June 1994.
2. GUO, X., DU, Z., LI, G., and SHU, Z., High Frequency Vibration Recovery Enhancement Technology in the Heavy Oil Fields of China;
paper SPE 86956, presented at the SPE International Thermal Operations and Heavy Oil Symposium and Western Regional Meeting,
Bakersfield, CA, March 16 18, 2004.
3. BIOT, M.A., Theory of Propagation of Elastic Waves in a Fluid-Saturated Porous Solid: I Low Frequency Range; The Journal of the
Acoustical Society of America, Vol. 28, pp. 168-178, 1956.
4. BIOT, M.A., Theory of Propagation of Elastic Waves in a Fluid-Saturated Porous Solid: II Higher Frequency Range; The Journal of the
Acoustical Society of America, Vol. 28, pp. 179-191, 1956.
5. NIKOLAEVSKIY, V.N., Mechanism and Dominant Frequencies of
Vibrational Enhancement of Yield of Oil Pools; Transactions (Doklady) of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Earth Science Sections, Vol.
307, pp. 570-575, 1989.
6. FAIRBANKS, H.V. and CHEN, W.I., Ultrasonic Acceleration of
Liquid Flow Through Porous Media; Chemical Engineering Progress,
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Radiation; Society of Petroleum Engineers Journal, pp.321-327, December 1999.
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H., and GOURDON, C., Emulsification by Ultrasound: Drop Size
Distribution and Stability; Ultrasonics Sonochemistry, Vol. 6, Nos. 12, pp. 75-83, March 1999.
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University Press, New York, 1906.
10. METTING, R., AKHATOV, I., PARLITZ, U., OHL, C.D., and LAUTERBORN, W., Bjerknes Forces Between Small Cavitation Bubbles
in a Strong Acoustic Field; Physical Review E, Vol. 56, pp. 29242931, September 1997.
11. CHAMPION, B., VAN DER BAS, F., and NITTERS, G., The Application of High-Power Sound Waves for Wellbore Cleaning; SPE
Production & Facilities, Vol. 19, No. 3, pp.113-121, August 2004.
12. ROBERTS, P.M., VENKITARAMAN, A., and SHARMA, M.M.,
Ultrasonic Removal of Organic Deposits and Polymer-Induced Formation Damage; SPE Drilling & Completion, Vol. 15, No. 1, pp.
19-24, March 2000.
13. HAMIDA, T. and BABADAGLI, T., Effect of Ultrasonic Waves
on the Capillary Imbibition Recovery of Oil; paper SPE 92124,
presented at the SPE Asia Pacific Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition, Jakarta, Indonesia, April 5 7, 2005.
14. HAMIDA, T. and BABADAGLI, T., Capillary Interaction of Different Oleic and Aqueous Phases Between Matrix and Fracture Under
Ultrasonic Waves; paper SPE 94105, presented at SPE Europec/
EAGE Annual Conference, Madrid, Spain, June 13 16, 2005.
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95327, presented at SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, Dallas, TX, October 9 12, 2005.
February 2006, Volume 45, No. 2

Tarek Hamida received his B.Sc. in

physics and astronomy from the University of British Columbia. Currently, he is
working on completing his M.Sc. degree in
petroleum engineering at the University of
Alberta. His research focuses on identifying
the fundamental mechanisms behind ultrasonic stimulation, with an emphasis on capillary effects. He is a student member of the
Petroleum Society and the Society of Petroleum Engineers.
Tayfun Babadagli is a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, School of Mining and Petroleum
Engineering, at the University of Alberta.
He previously served on the faculty at Istanbul Technical University, Turkey, and
Sultan Qaboos University, Oman. His areas
of interest include modelling fluid and heat
flow in heterogeneous and fractured reservoirs, reservoir characterization through
stochastic and fractal methods, optimization
of oil/heavy-oil recovery by EOR methods, and CO2 sequestration.
He holds B.S. and M.S. degrees from Istanbul Technical University and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Southern
California, all in petroleum engineering. Babadagli is currently
a technical editor for SPE Reservoir Engineering. He is also a
member of the SPE Education and Professionalism Committee and
the SPE Career Guidance and Student Development Committee.
In addition, he was a member of the Steering Committee for the
2003 SPE Forum Series in the Middle East, the Technical Program
Committees for the 2003 and 2005 SPE Asia Pacific Improved Oil
Recovery Conference, 2005 SPE Asia Pacific Oil & Gas Conference and Exhibition, and 2006 Eighth SPE International Oil & Gas
Conference and Exhibition.

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