Effect of temperature on wave velocities in sands and sandstones with heavy hydrocarbons

Conference · Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1986

OSTI ID:7159635

Wang, Z; Nur, A M

A laboratory investigation was made of the effects of temperature on wave velocities in well cemented Massillon and Boise sandstones and unconsolidated Ottawa sand saturated with heavy hydrocarbons, as well as the dependence of compressional velocities in the hydrocarbons themselves as a function of temperature. The hydrocarbons selected as pore saturants were a commercial paraffin wax, 1-Eicosene, natural heavy crude, and natural tar. The experimental results show that the compressional wave velocities in the hydrocarbons decrease markedly with increasing temperature. In contrast wave velocities in the Massillon and Boise sandstones and unconsolidated Ottawa sand saturated with air or water decrease only little with increasing temperatures. The main reason for the large decreases in rocks with hydrocarbons is the melting of solid hydrocarbons, and high pore pressure. Thermal expansion of the saturants, and possibly thermal cracking of the heavy fractions and vaporization of the light fractions of the hydrocarbons may also contribute. The large decreases of the compressional and shear wave velocities in the hydrocarbon-saturated rocks and sands with temperature, suggest that seismic measurements such as used in seismology or borehole tomography may be very useful in detecting steam fronts in heavy hydrocarbon reservoirs undergoing steam flooding.

• Research Organization: Stanford Univ.
• OSTI ID: 7159635
• Report Number(s): CONF-861080-
• Resource Relation: Conference: Society of Petroleum Engineers annual technical conference and exhibition, New Orleans, LA, USA, 5 Oct 1986
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
OIL WELLS
SONIC LOGGING
STEAM INJECTION
RESERVOIR ROCK
OIL SATURATION
WAVE PROPAGATION
SANDSTONES
SOUND WAVES
TEMPERATURE EFFECTS
ALKANES
BENCH-SCALE EXPERIMENTS
CEMENTING
COMPRESSIBLE FLOW
EVAPORATION
HYDRAULICS
HYDROCARBONS
MICROSTRUCTURE
PETROLEUM
PETROLEUM FRACTIONS
POROSITY
ROCK-FLUID INTERACTIONS
SHEAR
TAR
THERMAL CRACKING
THERMAL EXPANSION
THERMAL RECOVERY
VISCOSITY
WAXES
WELL STIMULATION
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CRACKING
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE
DECOMPOSITION
ENERGY SOURCES
ENHANCED RECOVERY
EXPANSION
FLUID FLOW
FLUID INJECTION
FLUID MECHANICS
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
MECHANICS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OTHER ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
PYROLYSIS
RECOVERY
ROCKS
SATURATION
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
STIMULATION
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
WELL LOGGING
WELLS
020300* - Petroleum- Drilling & Production
020200 - Petroleum- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration