Experimental studies on influence of temperature on relative permeability curves in sandstone reservoirs

It is crucial to obtain the representative relative permeability curves for related numerical simulation and oilfield development. The influence of temperature on the relative permeability curve remains unclear. An unsteady method was adopted to investigate the influence of temperature (range from 25–130 °C) on the oil–water relative permeability curve of sandstone reservoirs in different blocks. Then, the experimental data was analyzed by using an improved Johnson–Bossler–Naumann method. Results reveal that with the increase in temperature within a certain temperature range: (1) the relative permeability of the oil and water phases increases; (2) the irreducible water saturation increases linearly, whereas the residual oil saturation decreases nonlinearly, and the oil recovery factor increases; and (3) the saturation of two equal permeability points moves to the right, and hydrophilicity becomes stronger. The findings will aid future numerical simulation studies, thus leading to the improvement of oil displacement efficiency.