scholarly journals Asphaltene Deposition during CO2 Flooding in Ultralow Permeability Reservoirs: A Case Study from Changqing Oil Field

Geofluids ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Li Rong-tao ◽  
Liao Xin-wei ◽  
Zou Jian-dong ◽  
Gao Chang-wang ◽  
Zhao Dong-feng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Adverse Effects ◽  
Injection Rate ◽  
Oil Field ◽  
Formation Damage ◽  
Co2 Flooding ◽  
Asphaltene Precipitation ◽  
Asphaltene Content ◽  
Asphaltene Deposition ◽  
Ultralow Permeability

Asphaltene deposition is a common phenomenon during CO2 flooding in ultralow permeability reservoirs. The deposited asphaltene occupies the pore volume and decreases permeability, resulting in serious formation damage and pore well productivity. It is urgent to investigate the asphaltene deposition mechanisms, adverse effects, and preventive measures. However, few asphaltene deposition investigations have been systematically conducted by now. In this research, the asphaltene precipitation mechanisms and adverse effects were comprehensively investigated by using experimental and numerical methods. To study the effects of pressure, asphaltene content, and temperature on asphaltene precipitation qualitatively and quantitatively, the microscope visible detection experiment and the PVT cell static experiment were firstly conducted. The adverse effects on porosity and permeability resulted from asphaltene deposition were also studied by the core flooding experiment. Secondly, simulation models of asphaltene precipitation and deposition were developed and validated by experimental data. Finally, a case study from Changqing oil field was presented to analyze the asphaltene deposition characteristic and preventive measures. The experimental results showed that the asphaltene precipitation increases with the increased pressure before reaching the minimum miscible pressure (MMP) and gets the peak value around the MMP, while decreases slowly. The asphaltene precipitation increases with the increased temperature and asphaltene content. The variation trend of adverse effects on porosity and permeability resulted from asphaltene deposition is similar to that of asphaltene precipitation under the influence of pressure, asphaltene content, and temperature. The case study shows that the water-altering-gas (WAG) with high injection rate suffers more serious asphaltene deposition compared with the WAG with low injection rate, for the asphaltene precipitation increases as the increased pressure before reaching the MMP. The CO2 continuous injection with high injection rate is the worst choice, for low sweep efficiency and the most severe formation damage. Thus, the WAG with optimal injection rate was proposed to maintain well productivity and to reduce formation damage resulted from asphaltene deposition during developing ultralow permeability reservoirs.

Experimental Investigation of Asphaltene-Induced Formation Damage Caused by Pressure Depletion of Live Reservoir Fluids in Porous Media

SPE Journal ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (01) ◽  
pp. 01-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Omid Mohammadzadeh ◽  
Shawn David Taylor ◽  
Dmitry Eskin ◽  
John Ratulowski
Keyword(s):  
Porous Medium ◽  
Porous Media ◽  
Flow Rate ◽  
Formation Damage ◽  
Bulk Fluid ◽  
Asphaltene Content ◽  
Pressure Depletion ◽  
Asphaltene Deposition ◽  
Permeability Impairment ◽  
Live Oil

Summary One of the complex processes of permeability impairment in porous media, especially in the near-wellbore region, is asphaltene-induced formation damage. During production, asphaltene particles precipitate out of the bulk fluid phase because of pressure drop, which might result in permeability reduction caused by both deposition of asphaltene nanoparticles on porous-medium surfaces and clogging of pore throats by larger asphaltene agglomerates. Experimental data will be used to identify the parameters of an impairment model being developed. As part of a larger effort to identify key mechanisms of asphaltene deposition in porous media and develop a model for asphaltene impairment by pressure depletion, this paper focuses on a systematic design and execution of an experimental study of asphaltene-related permeability damage caused by live-oil depressurization along the length of a flow system. An experiment was performed using a custom-designed 60-ft slimtube-coil assembly packed with silica sands to a permeability of 55 md. The customized design included a number of pressure gauges at regular intervals along the coil length, which enabled real-time measurement of the fluid-pressure profile across the full length of the slimtube coil. The test was performed on a well-characterized recombined live oil from the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) that is a known problematic asphaltenic oil. Under a constant differential pressure, the injection flow rate of the live oil through the slimtube coil decreased over time as the porous medium became impaired. During the impairment stage, samples of the produced oil were collected on a regular basis for asphaltene-content measurement. After more than 1 month, the impairment test was terminated; the live oil was purged from the slimtube coil with helium at a pressure above the asphaltene-onset pressure (AOP); and the entire system was gently depressurized to bring the coil to atmospheric conditions while preserving the asphaltene-damaged zones of the coil. The permeability and porosity of the porous medium changed because of asphaltene impairment that was triggered by pressure depletion. Results indicated that the coil permeability was impaired by approximately 32% because of pressure depletion below the AOP, with most of the damage occurring in the latter section of the tube, which operated entirely below the AOP. Post-analytical studies indicated lower asphaltene content of the produced-oil samples compared with the injecting fluid. The distribution of asphaltene deposits along the length of the coil was determined by cutting the slimtube coil into 2- to 3-ft-long sections and using solvent extraction to collect the asphaltenes in each section. The extraction results confirmed that the observed permeability impairment was indeed caused by asphaltene deposition in the middle and latter sections of the coil, where the pressure was less than the AOP. With the success of this experiment, the same detailed analysis can be extended to a series of experiments to determine the effects of different key parameters on pressure-induced asphaltene impairment, including flow rate, wettability, and permeability.

Modeling Formation Damage by Asphaltene Deposition During Primary Oil Recovery

2005 ◽  
Vol 127 (4) ◽  
pp. 310-317 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaojun Wang ◽  
Faruk Civan
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Data ◽  
Mathematical Model ◽  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Oil Reservoirs ◽  
Formation Damage ◽  
Asphaltene Precipitation ◽  
Vertical Wells ◽  
Core Flow ◽  
Asphaltene Deposition

Asphaltene precipitation and deposition during primary oil recovery and resulting reservoir formation damage are described by a phenomenological mathematical model. This model is applied using experimental data from laboratory core flow tests. The effect of asphaltene deposition on porosity, permeability, and the productivity of vertical wells in asphaltenic-oil reservoirs are investigated by simulation.

scholarly journals Asphaltene Precipitation Modeling of Sadi Formation in Halfaya Iraqi Oil Field

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (8) ◽  
pp. 113-128
Author(s):  
Ali Anwar Ali ◽  
Mohammed S. Al-Jawad ◽  
Abdullah A. Ali
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Data ◽  
Equation Of State ◽  
Experimental Testing ◽  
Weight Percent ◽  
Oil Field ◽  
Flow Assurance ◽  
Asphaltene Precipitation ◽  
Pvt Data ◽  
Asphaltene Deposition ◽  
Reservoir Conditions

Asphaltene is a component class that may precipitate from petroleum as a highly viscous and sticky material that is likely to cause deposition problems in a reservoir, in production well, transportation, and in process plants. It is more important to locate the asphaltene precipitation conditions (precipitation pressure and temperature) before the occurring problem of asphaltene deposition to prevent it and eliminate the burden of high treatment costs of this problem if it happens. There are different models which are used in this flow assurance problem (asphaltene precipitation and deposition problem) and these models depend on experimental testing of asphaltene properties. In this study, the used model was equation of state (EOS) model and this model depends on PVT data and experimental data of asphaltene properties (AOP measurement) and its content (asphaltene weight percent). The report of PVT and flow assurance of the live oil from the well (HFx1) of the zone of case study (Sadi formation in Halfaya oil field) showed that there is a problem of asphaltene precipitation depending on asphaltene onset pressure (AOP) test from this report which showed high AOP greater than local reservoir pressure. Therefore this problem must be studied and the conditions of forming it determined. In the present work, the asphaltene precipitation of Halfaya oil field was modeled based on the equation of state (EOS) by using Soave-Redlich-Kwong (SRK) equation which gave the best matching with the experimental data. The main result of this study was that the reservoir conditions (pressure and temperature) were located in the asphaltene precipitation region which means that the asphaltene was precipitated from the oil and when the pressure of the reservoir decreases more with oil production or with time it will cause asphaltene deposition in the reservoir by plugging the pores and reducing the permeability of the formation.  

scholarly journals Formation damage due to asphaltene precipitation during CO2 flooding processes with NMR technique

2019 ◽  
Vol 74 ◽  
pp. 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kun Qian ◽  
Shenglai Yang ◽  
Hong-en Dou ◽  
Jieqiong Pang ◽  
Yu Huang
Keyword(s):  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Dominant Role ◽  
Injection Pressure ◽  
Recovery Process ◽  
Core Sample ◽  
Formation Damage ◽  
Co2 Flooding ◽  
Asphaltene Precipitation ◽  
The Core

In order to quantitatively evaluate the pore-scale formation damage of tight sandstones caused by asphaltene precipitation during CO2 flooding, the coreflood tests and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) relaxometry measurements have been designed and applied. Five CO2 coreflood tests at immiscible, near-miscible and miscible conditions were conducted and the characteristics of the produced oil and gas were analyzed. For each coreflood test, the T2 spectrum of the core sample was measured and compared before and after CO2 flooding to determine the asphaltene precipitation distribution in pores. It is found that, the solubility and extraction effect of the CO2 plays a more dominant role in the CO2-EOR (Enhanced Oil Recovery) process with higher injection pressure. And, more light components are extracted and recovered by the CO2 and more heavy components including asphaltene are left in the core sample. Thus, the severity of formation damage influenced by asphaltene precipitation increases as the injection pressure increases. In comparison to micro and small pores (0.1–10 ms), the asphaltene precipitation has a greater influence on the medium and large pores (10–1000 ms) due to the sufficient interaction between the CO2 and crude oil in the medium and large pores. Furthermore, the asphaltene precipitation not only causes pore clogging, but also induces rock wettability to alter towards oil-wet direction.

Waterflood Performance Evaluation with Simple Tools: A Case Study of Sirikit Oil Field

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Asawapayukkul ◽  
R. Laochamroonvorapongse ◽  
M. Pancharoen ◽  
Y. Rattanarujikorn ◽  
V. Tivayanonda ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Performance Evaluation ◽  
Oil Field
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