SPE 63000
Visualisation of Oil Recovery by Water Alternating Gas (WAG) Injection Using High
Pressure Micromodels - Water-Wet System
M. Sohrabi, G.D. Henderson, D.H. Tehrani and A. Danesh, Department of Petroleum Engineering, Heriot-Watt University
Copyright 2000, Society of Petroleum Engineers Inc.
This paper was prepared for presentation at the 2000 SPE Annual Technical Conference and
Exhibition held in Dallas, Texas, 1–4 October 2000.
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Abstract
The use of WAG (water alternating gas) injection can
potentially lead to improved oil recovery compared to
injection of either gas or water alone, however the physical
process is not well understood. Using high pressure glass
micromodels, a series of WAG tests have been conducted
using equilibrated fluids, with high quality images of the oil
recovery processes operating during alternate WAG cycles
being recorded. The tests were conducted using both water-
wet and oil-wet micromodels. In this paper results of a typical
water-wet test is presented (results of the oil-wet and mixed
wet tests will be presented in a subsequent paper).
Water-wet micromodels were initially fully saturated with
water and then displaced with oil to establish the connate
water saturation. The micromodels were then flooded with
water to observe the process of establishing the waterflood
residual oil saturation (Sorw). Alternate cycles of gas and water
injection were then conducted to observe three-phase flow and
its associated oil recovery. The experiments were performed
within the capillary dominated flow regime.
The results highlighted the importance of corner filament
flow of water in the recovery process, with the initial
waterflood residual oil saturation being trapped mainly in the
centre of the majority of pore space surrounded by layers of
water, and not in only large pores. The successive WAG
cycles redistributed the oil in a way which resulted in
improved oil recovery, hence, the oil which otherwise would
not have been mobile under either gas or water injection alone
was mobilised and produced.
It was identified that a limited number of WAG cycles were
required to approach maximum oil recovery, after which
additional recovery was minimal. All recovery processes were
filmed and electronically stored using high resolution imaging,
with oil recovery at the end of each flooding cycle being
measured using image analysis techniques.
Introduction
Waterflooding, gas injection and water-alternating-gas
injection (WAG) are well-established methods for improving
oil recovery. In reservoirs that have been waterflooded, it is
still possible to recover a significant part of the remaining oil
by injecting gas alternately with water. Gas can occupy part
of the pore space that otherwise would be occupied by oil, in
the form of trapped gas saturation, thereby mobilising the
remaining oil. Water, injected subsequently, will displace
some of the remaining hydrocarbons (oil and gas), further
reducing the residual oil saturation. Repetition of the WAG
injection process can further improve the recovery of oil.
Christensen, Stenby and Skauge1 recently reported an
excellent review of some sixty field-applications of WAG.
Several field trials have been reported as being successful,
e.g., in Kuparuk2, Snorre3 and Gulfaks fields4. Both
immiscible4-6 and miscible gases7 have been used. A very
large number of coreflood experiments8-12 and analytical and
numerical simulations11,14 have been carried out. A recent
study has considered the WAG process for improving the
hydrocarbon recovery in gas/condensate reservoirs13. Most of
the research work, conducted so far, has been on either core
flooding8,9,10 or numerical simulation11,12, sometimes alongside
field trials. The relationship between the injection gas/water
ratio (GWR) and oil recovery has been empirically
investigated using core displacement experiments, often at low
pressure and generally with water wet cores8,10. Micromodels
were used as early as 1960 for fluid displacement studies15.
Some low-pressure micromodel studies of three-phase
displacement have also been performed16,17. However, as far
as we know, no micromodel visualisation of the WAG
injection has been carried out to directly observe the physical
processes taking place in the porous media, using live oil, live
water in equilibrium with injection gas and models with
different wettability. Larsen et al.18 reported some limited
results of their WAG micromodel studies.
To do reservoir development planning, for possible
implementation of a WAG scheme, the operator needs reliable
2 M. SOHRABI, G.D. HENDERSON, D.H. TEHRANI, A. DANESH
performance and hydrocarbon recovery prediction, needed for
accurate economic evaluation. To achieve this, good
simulation incorporating proper reservoir fluid and rock
description is needed. This requires accurate sets of relative
permeability functions for each fluid phase and capillary
pressures, in a three-phase fluid flow regime. But it is
impractical to measure these for all the different rock types
and fluids present in a reservoir and describe them in terms of
IFT which, itself is a function of fluid composition and
pressure. The approach we have adopted at Heriot-Watt U. is
to develop a 3-phase 3-D mathematical network simulator,
which has in it all the significant physical flow processes
involved in WAG injection, formulated as accurately as
possible. But to gain confidence that such a simulator can
indeed reflect physics of the flow realistically, we need to test
it against some actual physical experiments that involve the
flow of all the three phases in a process that closely mimics
the WAG injection in porous media. We have designed a
micromodel system in which we can perform the actual WAG
injection, observe and record the flow processes and measure
the model wettabilities, fluid saturations and recoveries. To
enable us to magnify and view the pore scale images and to
analyse the fluid flow, we have had to use 2-D glass
micromodels and to use model fluids with precisely known
properties. Although the results will not be directly applicable
to real reservoirs, they can be used to verify the accuracy of
the predictions made by our network model simulator. We
will run the pore scale simulator to predict the fluid
distributions and the recoveries for a given set of pore
geometry, wettability and fluid properties. If these agree with
those observed and measured in the micromodel, we shall then
have enough confidence, to operate it with real reservoir fluids
and rock properties in 3-D mode, to calculate the required pore
scale relative permeability and capillary pressure functions.
These will later be upscaled for use in the numerical reservoir
scale simulation. We have performed a series of WAG
experiments with water-wet, oil-wet and mixed-wet systems.
This paper presents only the results of our experiments with
water-wet models. The results for other wettabilities and the
description of the network model simulator will be presented
in separate papers.
Objective
The objective of the current micromodel studies is to improve
our understanding of the physical principles underlying such
processes in the reservoir and to develop a network model
simulator that can produce complex three-phase relative
permeability and capillary pressure functions. Observing and
recording the fluid flow behaviour within the micromodel
during the WAG injection process will help to achieve this.
The video record of the fluid displacements will be used to
obtain qualitative and quantitative information on three phase
fluid flow during WAG injection. These will then be used to
compare with the results of the network model, which will
attempt to simulate the same processes, using the micromodel
fluids and geometrical data. If the simulated results match the
SPE 63000
pictures and the recovery data obtained by the experiments
reasonably well, then it can be confidently used to simulate
and obtain the three-phase relative permeability and capillary
pressure functions, using realistic reservoir rock and fluid data
in three-dimensional space.
Experimental Facilities
A high pressure micromodel rig is being used to perform the
WAG experiments at pressures of up to 6000 psia and at a
temperature of 100 °F. It is shown schematically in Fig. 1.
The rig consists of the following major parts:
High Pressure Fluid Storage Vessels. Three high-pressure
stainless steel vessels are used to store the injection fluids and
one to collect produced fluids from the micromodel. All the
vessels are pressure rated to 6000 psia.
Constant Temperature Fluid Storage Chamber. This
chamber is used as a constant temperature oil bath to maintain
the fluids in the fluid storage vessels, and all the necessary
fluid path lines and fittings, at the constant test temperature of
100 °F.
Constant Temperature Micromodel Housing Chamber.
This is similar to that of the fluid storage chamber and is used
to maintain the micromodel at constant temperature equal to
the temperature of the test fluids.
Low Rate Pumps. Two accurate low rate pumps are used to
control fluid flow through the micromodel. The rates of
injection and production range from a low of 0.01 cm3/h to a
maximum of 100 cm3/h. With the micromodel that was used
in the set of experiments reported here, 0.01cm3/h is
equivalent to an estimated velocity of about 1.2 m/d for single-
phase flow.
Computer Controlled Linear Drive System. A computer
controlled linear drive system is used in the tests, which
allows a magnifying camera to be positioned automatically at
any part of the micromodel, and sequentially or continuously
sweep the micromodel for video recording. The camera is
capable of working at a magnification of up to 400 times. Fig.
2 shows the optical system of the rig.
Glass Micromodels
A two-dimensional pore structure is etched onto the surface of
a glass plate, which is otherwise completely flat. A second
glass plate is then placed over the first, covering the etched
pattern and thus creating an enclosed pore space. This second
plate, the cover plate, has an inlet hole and an outlet hole
drilled at either end, allowing fluids to be displaced through
the network of pores (Fig. 3). Because the structure is only
one pore deep, and the containing solid walls are all glass, it is
possible to observe the fluids as they flow along the pore
channels and interact with each other. It is also possible to
observe how the geometry of the pore network affects the
patterns of flow and trapping.
Test Fluid
The equilibrated fluids used in the experiments consisted of
distilled water, n-decane and methane. To distinguish between
the liquid hydrocarbon and the aqueous phase, the colour of
 VISUALISATION OF OIL RECOVERY BY WATER ALTERNATING GAS (WAG) INJECTION USING HIGH
SPE 63000 PRESSURE MICROMODELS - WATER-WET SYSTEM
the n-decane was changed to red using a hydrocarbon soluble
dye (Sudan Red), and similarly, the colour of the water was
changed to blue using a water soluble dye (Methyl Blue).
Both the blue water and the red n-decane were filtered using
fine filter papers to remove any undesolved dye particles.
Fluid Preparation. Filtered blue water and methane were
brought into equilibrium at the desired pressure and
temperature. The same procedure was followed for the
equilibration of gas and oil. The solubility of oil in water was
considered to be negligible (at 500 psia and 100 oF).
Fluid Properties. The equilibrium properties of the water, n-
decane, methane system at 500 psia and 100 °F and the effect
of dye, where shown, are estimated as follows:
Density/ g.cm-3
2 19,20
Water (H O+C1+dye) 1.0026
Oil (nC10+C1+dye) 21 0.7062
Gas (C1+nC10) 21 0.0209
Viscosity/ mPa.s
Water (H2O +C1+ dye) 19 0.658
Oil (nC10+C1+dye) 23,21 0.597
Gas (C1+nC10) 21,23 0.010
Interfacial Tension/mNm-1
22
Gas/Oil 15
Gas/Water26 65
Oil/Water26 41
So/w.g = Spreading Coefficient of oil over water = + 9 mNm-1.
The effect of dye on density and viscosity of the liquids at
micromodel conditions of 100 oF and 500 psia has been
calculated20. The positive value of the spreading coefficient
indicates that there will always be a visible layer or a film of
oil spread between gas and water. The resolution of the
images does not permit the viewing of the thin oil films, which
can be on the order of one nanometer across25.
Test Procedure
The following procedure was followed for all the tests
reported. Initially, the micromodel was saturated with clear
distilled water and pressurised to 500 psia and subsequently
displaced with blue live water, equilibrated with gas at 500
psia and 100 oF. To simulate the primary drainage (initial
migration of oil into the water bearing porous medium),
equilibrated oil (red n-decane), was injected from the top of
the vertical micromodel, and continued until oil reached the
base of the micromodel. To avoid oil getting into the lower
pipes containing the water and gas phases, the oil flood was
stopped at the bottom of the micromodel. Fig. 4 shows an
example of a section of the micromodel when 100% saturated
with equilibrated blue water, with Fig. 5 showing the connate
water saturation, established after oil injection. In both cases
the micromodel was scanned vertically in 10 separate sections.
In these Figures, and throughout this report, only the image of
the middle section is presented, although the entire
3
micromodel was used for saturation and recovery calculations.
As soon as oil injection was stopped at the bottom triangle of
the micromodel, a spontaneous imbibition of water into the
micromodel was observed. The volume of the imbibed water
was, however, very small. The model was then waterflooded
at a low rate of 0.01 cm3/h from the base to establish the
waterflood residual oil saturation (Sorw). This rate corresponds
to a capillary number of 2.52E-7, using single-phase flow area,
and 5.04E-7 for two-phase flow area. The magnitude of
capillary number indicates a capillary dominated flow regime,
which is consistent with the observations. Water was
observed to flow mostly through the sharp corners of the pores
(as can be visualised in the corners of a square tube). This will
be referred to as ‘corner filament flow’. The water filaments
were seen to thicken progressively leaving oil filaments in the
middle of pore bodies and finally causing oil snap off at some
pore throats. The fluid distribution in the micromodel at the
end of water flooding is shown in Fig. 6. The whole flow
process was recorded on video, and still pictures of the final
fluid distributions were taken digitally and stored in computer.
Fig. 7 is a magnified image of a section of the micromodel at
the end of primary drainage of water (oil injection through
water saturated micromodel), which demonstrates the relative
position of the wetting phase (blue water) and non-wetting
phase (red oil), in a strongly water-wet micromodel. The
small pores and the dead-end pores are mostly occupied by
water. The direction and the shape of the water-oil interfaces
are good indication of strongly water-wet conditions. Also
some relatively large pores in Fig. 8 are filled with water, as
these pores are surrounded by smaller pore throats from which
water could not be displaced by the oil, because its pressure
did not exceed the oil-water capillary pressure. Fig. 8 shows a
magnified image of the same section of the micromodel at the
end of the waterflood.
Comparison of Figs 7 and 8 highlights that during
waterflooding oil was displaced by corner filament flow of
water rather than by a piston-like displacement. The slow
thickening of water filaments at the sides and corners of oil
filled pores during water flooding was a consequence of a
capillary dominated flow regime.
Each WAG cycle begins with gas injection and ends with
water injection. Five cycles of WAG injection were
conducted. In each cycle, the injection of gas or water
continued until no further oil production or change in fluid
distribution occurred. To distinguish the colourless gas from
the colourless glass (resembling grains in a natural porous
medium), gas was digitally coloured in yellow, using an image
analysis computer program. Fig. 9 shows the fluid
distribution in the micromodel after the first cycle of gas
injection, with the blue, red and yellow colours representing
water, oil and gas respectively. Due to the relatively low
interfacial tension between gas and oil (15 mNm-1) and
adverse viscosity ratio (0.017), gas has channelled mainly
through the oil occupied pores of the micromodel. At the end
of gas injection, water injection commenced again at the same
rate of 0.01 cm3/h (~ 1.2 m/d). During water injection, corner
4 M. SOHRABI, G.D. HENDERSON, D.H. TEHRANI, A. DANESH
flow of water resulted in water filaments surrounding the gas
occupied pores and thickening until the gas blobs became
unstable and finally collapsed. The snap-off of the gas phase
occurs as a result of capillary competition between the
different phases. Fig. 10 shows the fluid distribution in the
micromodel after the water injection period of the first cycle.
The fragmentation of the gas blobs is clearly observed.
Fig. 11 shows the fluid distribution in the model after the
second gas injection, and comparison with Fig. 9, reveals that
more pores have been invaded by gas. Fig. 12 shows the
micromodel after water injection period of the second cycle,
and water has again resulted in further gas snap-off and fluid
redistribution. Alternating gas and water injection continued
until five cycles were completed.
Figs. 13 and 14, show the results of the fifth WAG cycle. A
sequence of events similar to the previous WAG cycles
occurred. Comparison of Fig. 14 with Fig. 9 shows that more
gas has been trapped and more oil has been recovered.
Fig. 15 depicts the recovery of oil during the test with the
vertical axis showing the percentage of oil recovered, at each
stage of the experiment, as percentage of the initial waterflood
residual oil. This Figure shows that the majority of the
additional oil (some 14%) is recovered during the first two
cycles and as the result of five cycles of alternating injection
of gas and water a total of 15% of the remaining oil, after
water flooding, has been produced.
Discussion
During the initial waterflood, as water was the wetting phase
and the rate of water injection was well within capillary
dominated regime, water flowed in the corners of the pores in
the form of filaments surrounding the oil present in the larger
pore bodies. These water filaments were seen to thicken
progressively leaving oil filaments in the middle of pores and
finally causing oil snap off at some pore throats27. Fig. 16
shows how the wetting phase can imbibe in the sharp corners
of a square tube. The micromodel pores, etched by
hydrofluoric acid on a glass, are not exactly in square shape,
but they do have some sharp corners in which the wetting
phase can advance. The oil recovery by waterflood occurred
as the result of this corner filament flow of water rather than
by piston-like displacement.
As the IFT between gas and oil is less than that between gas
and water, when faced with pores of equal radius, gas prefers
to enter those pores filled with oil. The invasion of oil filled
pores by gas causes a small bank of oil to move ahead of gas
front. The oil flowing ahead of the gas is added to the oil
already present in those pores, resulting in an improvement in
the oil mobility. The oil recovery by gas injection alone,
however, is very small, in the order of 6% of the water flood
residual oil. During the subsequent water injection, water
invades the gas filled pores. Consequently, the gas channels
are observed to become narrower as the water filaments grow,
and finally the gas becomes fragmented due to snap off which
takes place at some pore throats. After switching from water
injection to gas injection, some more pores are invaded by gas.
Thus the fluid distribution in the micromodel for this second
SPE 63000
cycle of gas injection is different from that of the first cycle.
This was also observed for the first and second cycles of water
injection. Comparison of Figs. 9 to 14 shows that the fluid
distribution within the micromodel changed each time a new
fluid was injected. However, further change in fluid
distribution diminishes as the WAG injection proceeds. After
the third WAG cycle no significant change of fluid
distribution is observed to take place within the micromodel.
Fig. 15 depicts the recovery of additional oil after
waterflooding, attributable to WAG injection. The initial oil
saturation, Soi was 47% of the pore volume and the residual oil
saturation (Sorw) at the end of initial waterflood in this
experiment was 25% PV, i.e., 53% of the initial oil in place.
Five cycles of WAG injection produced 21.7% of that
remaining oil, which is 11.5% of initial oil in place. The extra
oil recovered after two cycles of WAG was 18.8% of Sorw,
which is 10% of initial oil in place. This shows that the
majority of the benefit of WAG injection has come after the
first two cycles. It should, however, be remembered that these
are the results of an experiment carried out with a 2-D water-
wet micromodel. The figures are not directly applicable to
real field conditions, but can be used to verify the validity of
the network simulator, when it is also run with a 2-D water-
wet system. Relative permeability functions applicable to real
field conditions will be obtained later, using the network
simulator in 3-D and 3-Phase mode with realistic rock and
fluid data.
Conclusions
The results of the reported experiment, which was performed
in strongly water-wet glass micromodel, can be summarised as
follows:
1. During the initial waterflood, water advances in pores by
the process of ‘corner filament flow’. The water filaments,
that surround the oil present in the larger pore bodies, thicken
progressively and leave oil filaments in the middle of pores
and finally cause oil snap off at the pore throats.
Consequently, during water flooding oil production is
controlled by filament flow rather than by piston-like
displacement at the pore level.
2. The positive spreading coefficient, in the reported
experiment, results in a layer and or a film of oil to be always
present between gas and water, in pores that contain all three
phases. During gas injection, when gas is faced with pores of
equal radii, it preferentially enters the oil filled pores, because
gas has lower IFT with oil than it has with water. The invasion
of oil filled pores by gas causes a small bank of oil to move
ahead of gas front causing some redistribution by thickening
of the waterflood residual oil. This increases the mobility of
oil in presence of water, in those pores, resulting in improved
oil recovery.
3. During the subsequent water injection, gas channels
become narrower as the water filaments grow in thickness, and
finally due to the interplay of capillary forces and local gas
pressure fluctuations, gas blobs snap off at many of the pore
throats and become fragmented.
4. By injecting gas and water alternately more oil can be
 VISUALISATION OF OIL RECOVERY BY WATER ALTERNATING GAS (WAG) INJECTION USING HIGH
SPE 63000 PRESSURE MICROMODELS - WATER-WET SYSTEM
produced than would otherwise be produced by water or gas
injection alone.
5. The major portion of the improved oil recovery is
obtained only after a few cycles of WAG injection. In the
reported experiment (water-wet system) this occurred after the
second cycle.(Fig. 15)
Nomenclature
IFT = interfacial tension
Sorw = residual oil saturation to waterflood
Sori = residual oil saturation after cycle ‘i’.
So/w.g = spreading coefficient of oil over water
for a water wet solid surface.
Acknowledgements
The WAG project at Heriot-Watt U. is equally sponsored by:
The UK Department of Trade and Industry, BP Amoco plc,
Marathon International (GB) Ltd, Mobil (North Sea) Ltd,
Norsk Hydro a.s.a, SAGA Petroleum a.s.a, and Total Oil
Marine plc, and this support is gratefully acknowledged.
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6 M. SOHRABI, G.D. HENDERSON, D.H. TEHRANI, A. DANESH SPE 63000

PT 3 15
gas
14 charging
16
13 12
PT 4

micro
model return
retract
vesel water oil gas
fluid
PT 5

Micromodel tank

PT 1
Pressure transducers
8 7 4 3 2
PT1 inj. pump 6 5 1
PT2 ret. pump
PT3 MM outlet Fluid Storage Tank
PT4 MM inlet
PT5 Overburden
9 injection pump
pump
pump charging
lines
PT 2
10
11 retract pump

Fig. 1-Schematic diagram of the high pressure micromodel rig

Moving
Directions

Light source

Camera

Monitor Monitor

Micromodel

Macintosh Video recorder

Linear drive

Fig. 2-Schematic diagram of Optical System

Inlet Outlet

Cover plate

Two-dimensional etched pore structure

Fig. 3: The etched plate and the cover plate are brought together to form an enclosed
pore space through which fluids can be displaced.
 VISUALISATION OF OIL RECOVERY BY WATER ALTERNATING GAS (WAG) INJECTION USING HIGH
SPE 63000 PRESSURE MICROMODELS - WATER-WET SYSTEM 7

Fig. 4-100% water saturation Fig. 5-Primary drainage of water Fig. 6-Initial waterflood

Fig. 7-Water/oil distribution before waterflood Fig. 8-Water/oil distribution after waterflood

Fig. 9-First cycle gas injection Fig. 10-First cycle water injection Fig. 11-Second cycle gas injection

Fig. 12- 2nd cycle water injection Fig. 13-Fifth cycle gas injection Fig. 14-Fifth cycle water injection
8 M. SOHRABI, G.D. HENDERSON, D.H. TEHRANI, A. DANESH SPE 63000

25

20
Oil Recovery, %Sorw

15

10

0
waterflood

2 gas

3 gas

5 gas
1 water

2 water

3 water

4 water

5 water
1 gas

4 gas

Fig. 15-Oil recovery at each stage of the experiment as percentage of initial waterflood trapped oil

(c)

(d)

(a) (b)
Fig. 16 - Corner Filament Flow in a Square
Water-Wet Tube. (a) – Profile along the
diagonal line. (b) – Profile along the middle
of the tube parallel with sides. (c) – Water in
the corners on top of the tube. (d) – Water in
the corners on top of the water column.