Particle plugging in porous media under stress dependence by Monte Carlo simulations

Accurate prediction of particle plugging behavior in porous media under stress conditions is crucial for characterizing particle flow in porous media. Specifically, due to particle plugging in porous media, rock deforms and permeability changes in the particle-fluid system. Therefore, it's significant to study particle plugging behavior in porous media under stress conditions. In this work, in view of the fractal character of pore structure and Hertz theory, probability models for stress dependent pore size and particle plugging strength (i.e., drag force exerting on the unit area of the particle) are developed using Monte carlo simulations. Compared with the existing models, our derived model considers more factors, such as pore structural parameters, particle size, lithology parameters of particles and rocks, and effective stress. The reliability of the derived model has been significantly improved due to the consideration of the more comprehensive influencing factors. Several case studies have been performed to validate the accraucy of the developed model. Eventually, the derived model has been applied to analyze a real case in Changqing reservoir in China and the analysis results show that our derived model can provide the theoretical basis to design the reasonable quantity of profile control agent (preformed particle gel) in oilfield. •A new probability model is developed for stress dependent pore size using Hertz theory.•A theoretical model is proposed for particle plugging strength of porous media using Monte Carlo simulations.•The fractal model is verified by the experimental results and the sensitivity analysis is performed.