Formation Damage
Enhanced Oil Recovery
Routine Core Analysis
Special
Core
Analysis
Reservoir Description Services
Routine Core Analysis
Texas Experiment Lab offers a wide range of routine core analysis services including basic petrophysical properties measurements for cores drilled from reservoir formations, core handling and storage, and detailed petrographical analysis. Routine core analysis testing services include:​
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Dean Stark extraction to measure fluid saturations
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Batch extraction and flow-through cleaning of samples with alternating cycles of standard solvents (toluene, methanol, and chloroform/methanol azeotrope)
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Basic petrophysical properties measurements including helium porosity, Klinkenberg corrected permeability, and grain density
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Geological and lithology Description, computed tomography imaging, and thin section preparation and analysis
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Tracer survey and tracer core invasion studies
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X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), and X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF)
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Contact angle measurements
Special Core Analysis
Beyond routine core analysis, Texas Experiment Lab provides a full range of special core analysis testing services to measure advanced rock properties, characterize the reservoir formations, and provide the required information to reservoir engineers to build reservoir simulation models​. Special core analysis measurements include:
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Capillary pressure measurements by porous plate method, centrifuge and MICP
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Electrical properties measurements including formation factor, resistivity index, with/without capillary pressure
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Archie exponents - a, m, n
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Cation exchange capacity
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Wettability determination including Amott and USBM indices measurements
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Nuclear Magnetic Resonance measurements
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Unconventional tight gas sand & shale analysis
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Rock mechanics testing including uniaxial compressibility test (UCS), triaxial compressibility test (drained and undrained), Young's modulus, Poisson's ratio, compressive strength, and Mohr Failure Envelope
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Relative Permeability Measurements
― Water/Oil, Gas/Oil, Water/Gas relative permeability measurements by centrifuge
method
― Unsteady State relative permeability measurements at live conditions with in-situ
saturation monitoring
― Steady-State relative permeability measurements at live conditions with in-situ
saturation monitoring
Includes plug samples, composites, and whole core samples
Includes water/oil, gas/oil, water/Gas
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Coreflooding testing for waterfloods, formation damage evaluation studies, acid injection, and chemical treatments performance evaluation.
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Enhanced Oil Recovery testing services
Formation Damage and Stimulation
Diagnosis of the formation damage mechanism is the first step to achieve a successful formation damage remediation treatment. Formation damage is caused by one or a combination of several mechanisms:
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Fines mobilization
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Asphaltene precipitation
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Drilling and completion fluids damage
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Rock-fluid interactions
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Fluid-fluid incompatibility
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Gas condensate or water blockage
TEL experts identify the formation damage mechanisms and provide solutions to the most difficult formation damage problems. We evaluate a wide variety of remedial treatments including but not limited to acid stimulation, chemical treatments, dissolvers injection as well as treatment sequence and protocol
Improved/Enhanced Oil Recovery
Texas Experiment Lab comprehensive package of simulation and world-class testing capabilities provides oil and gas operators the required information to determine the best enhanced oil recovery technique and predict more accurately the reservoir response. Our EOR experts design the testing program to suit customers needs and their specific field scenarios. Enhanced oil recovery techniques include:
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Waterflooding
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Low salinity waterflooding in secondary and tertiary mood
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Gas flooding including miscible, immiscible, and water alternating gas (WAG) injection
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Carbon dioxide (CO2) injection including PVT studies, EOS modelling, and corefloods at live conditions
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Alkaline-Surfactant-Polymer flooding
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Steam flooding and Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) with fluid front visualization
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In-situ Combustion with fluid front visualization
