scholarly journals Recovery Method and Parameter Optimization of a Pilot Test for Conformance Control Flooding and Thermal Recovery in the Offshore Heavy Oilfield

Geofluids ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Yanxia Zhou ◽  
Xiangguo Lu ◽  
Bao Cao ◽  
Yigang Liu ◽  
Yunbao Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Simulation ◽  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Thermal Recovery ◽  
Water Flooding ◽  
Target Area ◽  
Mechanism Analysis ◽  
Polymer Gel ◽  
Conformance Control ◽  
Recovery Method ◽  
Geophysical Model

NB35-2 oilfield is a typical offshore sandstone reservoir with viscous crude oil and high permeability. Due to the inherent severe heterogeneity, the efficiency of conventional water flooding is pretty low and usually accompanied with early water breakthrough. In order to recover the residual oil and better realize its potential, applications of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technology are necessary. However, the selection of EOR method and related parameters may directly impact the final results and can be noticeably different for different reservoirs; therefore, to optimize the oil production rate and final oil recovery, systematical optimization of every detail based on the condition of a specific reservoir is of key importance. In this paper, physical simulations were first conducted to select the best recovery methods for the target area based on the static geophysical model under the guidance of reservoir engineering theory. Then, detailed development variants for each method were determined by numerical simulation with the support of data obtained from previous pilot tests (polymer gel flooding and thermal fluid huff and puff) conducted in this area. Three exploitation methods were developed for the target well group, including polymer gel flooding (conformance control, Pattern 1), steam huff and puff (thermal recovery method, Pattern 2), and a combination of polymer gel flooding and steam huff and puff (conformance control and thermal recovery, Pattern 3). The numerical simulation result also showed that Pattern 3 yielded the highest oil recovery. Moreover, the amount of additional oil being recovered by applying Pattern 3 was even higher than the total additional oil being extracted by Patterns 1 and 2. In addition, sensitivity analysis was conducted to rank the most important parameters based on the three Patterns. At last, it is thought that the synergistic effect between conformance control and thermal recovery made more oil recovered, which was intuitively clarified in the mechanism analysis.

Research Status and Prospect of Heavy Oil Recovery Technology

2021 ◽  
Vol 888 ◽  
pp. 111-117
Author(s):  
Yi Zhao ◽  
De Yin Zhao ◽  
Rong Qiang Zhong ◽  
Li Rong Yao ◽  
Ke Ke Li
Keyword(s):  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Heavy Oil ◽  
Development Trend ◽  
Thermal Recovery ◽  
Hot Water ◽  
Water Flooding ◽  
Oil Reservoir ◽  
Heavy Oil Recovery ◽  
Steam Flooding ◽  
Heavy Oil Reservoir

With the continuous exploitation of most reservoirs in China, the proportion of heavy oil reservoirs increases, and the development difficulty is greater than that of conventional reservoirs. In view of the important subject of how to improve the recovery factor of heavy oil reservoir, the thermal recovery technology (hot water flooding, steam flooding, steam assisted gravity drainage SAGD and steam huff and puff) and cold recovery technology (chemical flooding, electromagnetic wave physical flooding and microbial flooding) used in the development of heavy oil reservoir are summarized. The principle of action is analyzed, and the main problems restricting heavy oil recovery are analyzed The main technologies of heavy oil recovery are introduced from the aspects of cold recovery and hot recovery. Based on the study of a large number of literatures, and according to the development trend of heavy oil development, suggestions and prospects for the future development direction are put forward.

scholarly journals Insights into the Effects of Pore Size Distribution on the Flowing Behavior of Carbonate Rocks: Linking a Nano-Based Enhanced Oil Recovery Method to Rock Typing

Nanomaterials ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 972 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amin Rezaei ◽  
Hadi Abdollahi ◽  
Zeinab Derikvand ◽  
Abdolhossein Hemmati-Sarapardeh ◽  
Amir Mosavi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Size Distribution ◽  
Enhanced Oil Recovery ◽  
Relative Permeability ◽  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Reservoir Rock ◽  
Water Flooding ◽  
Alpha Olefin Sulfonate ◽  
Core Flooding ◽  
Recovery Method ◽  
Fluid Saturation

As a fixed reservoir rock property, pore throat size distribution (PSD) is known to affect the distribution of reservoir fluid saturation strongly. This study aims to investigate the relations between the PSD and the oil–water relative permeabilities of reservoir rock with a focus on the efficiency of surfactant–nanofluid flooding as an enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technique. For this purpose, mercury injection capillary pressure (MICP) tests were conducted on two core plugs with similar rock types (in respect to their flow zone index (FZI) values), which were selected among more than 20 core plugs, to examine the effectiveness of a surfactant–nanoparticle EOR method for reducing the amount of oil left behind after secondary core flooding experiments. Thus, interfacial tension (IFT) and contact angle measurements were carried out to determine the optimum concentrations of an anionic surfactant and silica nanoparticles (NPs) for core flooding experiments. Results of relative permeability tests showed that the PSDs could significantly affect the endpoints of the relative permeability curves, and a large amount of unswept oil could be recovered by flooding a mixture of the alpha olefin sulfonate (AOS) surfactant + silica NPs as an EOR solution. Results of core flooding tests indicated that the injection of AOS + NPs solution in tertiary mode could increase the post-water flooding oil recovery by up to 2.5% and 8.6% for the carbonate core plugs with homogeneous and heterogeneous PSDs, respectively.

scholarly journals Numerical Simulation Study of Tracking the Displacement Fronts and Enhancing Oil Recovery Based on Ferrofluid Flooding

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tao Huang ◽  
Fuquan Song ◽  
Renyi Wang ◽  
Xiaohe Huang
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Numerical Simulation ◽  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Water Flooding ◽  
Oil Saturation ◽  
Reservoir Heterogeneity ◽  
Displacement Front ◽  
Injection Process ◽  
Volume Method ◽  
Reservoir Identification

Water flooding is crucial means to improve oil recovery after primary production. However, the utilization ratio of injected water is often seriously affected by heterogeneities in the reservoir. Identification of the location of the displacement fronts and the associated reservoir heterogeneity is important for the management and improvement of water flooding. In recent years, ferrofluids have generated much interest from the oil industry owning to its unique properties. First, saturation of ferrofluids alters the magnetic permeability of the porous medium, which means that the presence of ferrofluids should produce magnetic anomalies in an externally imposed magnetic field or the local geomagnetic field. Second, with a strong external magnetic field, ferrofluids can be guided into regions that were bypassed and with high residual oil saturation. In view of these properties, a potential dual-application of ferrofluid as both a tracer to locate the displacement front and a displacing fluid to improve recovery in a heterogeneous reservoir is examined in this paper. Throughout the injection process, the magnetic field generated by electromagnets and altered by the distribution of ferrofluids was calculated dynamically by applying a finite element method, and a finite volume method was used to solve the multiphase flow. Numerical simulation results indicate that the displacement fronts in reservoirs can indeed be detected, through which the major features of reservoir heterogeneity can be inferred. After the locations of the displacement fronts and reservoir heterogeneities are identified, strong magnetic fields were applied to direct ferrofluids into poorly swept regions and the efficiency of the flooding was significantly improved.

scholarly journals Numerical simulation on ferrofluid flow in fractured porous media based on discrete-fracture model

Open Physics ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 370-378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tao Huang ◽  
Jun Yao ◽  
Zhaoqin Huang ◽  
Xiaolong Yin ◽  
Haojun Xie ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Numerical Simulation ◽  
Porous Media ◽  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Body Force ◽  
Fractured Porous Media ◽  
Water Flooding ◽  
Discrete Fracture Model ◽  
Discrete Fracture ◽  
Magnetic Body Force

AbstractWater flooding is an efficient approach to maintain reservoir pressure and has been widely used to enhance oil recovery. However, preferential water pathways such as fractures can significantly decrease the sweep efficiency. Therefore, the utilization ratio of injected water is seriously affected. How to develop new flooding technology to further improve the oil recovery in this situation is a pressing problem. For the past few years, controllable ferrofluid has caused the extensive concern in oil industry as a new functional material. In the presence of a gradient in the magnetic field strength, a magnetic body force is produced on the ferrofluid so that the attractive magnetic forces allow the ferrofluid to be manipulated to flow in any desired direction through the control of the external magnetic field. In view of these properties, the potential application of using the ferrofluid as a new kind of displacing fluid for flooding in fractured porous media is been studied in this paper for the first time. Considering the physical process of the mobilization of ferrofluid through porous media by arrangement of strong external magnetic fields, the magnetic body force was introduced into the Darcy equation and deals with fractures based on the discrete-fracture model. The fully implicit finite volume method is used to solve mathematical model and the validity and accuracy of numerical simulation, which is demonstrated through an experiment with ferrofluid flowing in a single fractured oil-saturated sand in a 2-D horizontal cell.At last, the water flooding and ferrofluid flooding in a complex fractured porous media have been studied. The results showed that the ferrofluid can be manipulated to flow in desired direction through control of the external magnetic field, so that using ferrofluid for flooding can raise the scope of the whole displacement. As a consequence, the oil recovery has been greatly improved in comparison to water flooding. Thus, the ferrofluid flooding is a large potential method for enhanced oil recovery in the future.

scholarly journals Mechanisms of Microscopic Displacement During Enhanced Oil Recovery in Mixed-Wet Rocks Revealed Using Direct Numerical Simulation

2019 ◽  
Vol 130 (3) ◽  
pp. 731-749 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takashi Akai ◽  
Amer M. Alhammadi ◽  
Martin J. Blunt ◽  
Branko Bijeljic
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Simulation ◽  
Enhanced Oil Recovery ◽  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Water Flooding ◽  
Surfactant Flooding ◽  
Displacement Efficiency ◽  
Low Salinity ◽  
Low Salinity Water ◽  
Salinity Water ◽  
The Impact

Abstract We demonstrate how to use numerical simulation models directly on micro-CT images to understand the impact of several enhanced oil recovery (EOR) methods on microscopic displacement efficiency. To describe the physics with high-fidelity, we calibrate the model to match a water-flooding experiment conducted on the same rock sample (Akai et al. in Transp Porous Media 127(2):393–414, 2019. 10.1007/s11242-018-1198-8). First we show comparisons of water-flooding processes between the experiment and simulation, focusing on the characteristics of remaining oil after water-flooding in a mixed-wet state. In both the experiment and simulation, oil is mainly present as thin oil layers confined to pore walls. Then, taking this calibrated simulation model as a base case, we examine the application of three EOR processes: low salinity water-flooding, surfactant flooding and polymer flooding. In low salinity water-flooding, the increase in oil recovery was caused by displacement of oil from the centers of pores without leaving oil layers behind. Surfactant flooding gave the best improvement in the recovery factor of 16% by reducing the amount of oil trapped by capillary forces. Polymer flooding indicated improvement in microscopic sweep efficiency at a higher capillary number, while it did not show an improvement at a low capillary number. Overall, this work quantifies the impact of different EOR processes on local displacement efficiency and establishes a workflow based on combining experiment and modeling to design optimal recovery processes.

Experimental Study of Polymer Flooding in Fractured Systems Using Five-Spot Glass Micromodel: The Role of Fracture Geometrical Properties

2012 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 689-705 ◽  
Author(s):  
Behbood Abedi ◽  
Mohammad Hossein Ghazanfari ◽  
Riyaz Kharrat
Keyword(s):  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Polymer Flooding ◽  
Recovery Factor ◽  
Reservoir Rock ◽  
Water Flooding ◽  
Recovery Method ◽  
Geometrical Properties ◽  
Fracture Orientation ◽  
Glass Micromodel

Water flooding is being widely used in the petroleum industry and has been considered as a simple inexpensive secondary recovery method. But in fractured formations, existence of fracture system in reservoir rock induces an adverse effect on oil recovery by water flooding. Polymer flooding has been successfully applied as an alternative enhanced oil recovery method in fractured formations. But, the role of fracture geometrical properties on macroscopic efficiency of polymer flooding is not yet well-understood, especially in fractured five-spot systems. In this work five-spot glass micromodel, because of micro-visibility, ease of multiple experimentations and also presence of the unexplored issues, was used to experimentally investigate the influence of fracture geometrical characteristics such as fracture orientation, fracture spacing, fracture overlap and etc on the macroscopic efficiency of polymer flooding. The tests were performed on the fractured models which are initially saturated with the crude oil at fixed flow rate conditions and in a horizontally mounting. The results revealed that the macroscopic efficiency of polymer flooding depends on fracture geometrical properties. Fracture orientation showed more imposing effect than other fracture geometrical properties, and fracture with 45 degree inclination to the mean flow direction, gives greatest oil recovery factor. Large spacing fractures give more recovery than small spacing ones and in case of overlapping, fractures with less overlapping help polymer to better propagate which could be related to their greater effective fracture length. This pre-called effect could be responsible to show how continuity and width to length ratio of fractures affect recovery factor, less fracture discontinuity as well as more length to width ratio of fracture give more swept zone. Also, increasing number of fractures decreases oil recovery factor. The results of this work can be helpful to better understanding the role of fracture geometrical properties on macroscopic efficiency of polymer flooding in five-spot fractured systems.

scholarly journals The Key Parameter Effect Analysis Of Polymer Flooding On Oil Recovery Using Reservoir Simulation

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 49
Author(s):  
Tomi Erfando ◽  
Novia Rita ◽  
Romal Ramadhan
Keyword(s):  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Reservoir Simulation ◽  
Polymer Concentration ◽  
Polymer Flooding ◽  
Recovery Factor ◽  
Water Flooding ◽  
Base Case ◽  
Driving Mechanism ◽  
Geological Condition ◽  
Recovery Method

As time goes by, there will be decreasing of production rates of a field along with decreasing pressure. This led to the necessity for further efforts to increase oil production. Therefore, pressure support is required to improve the recovery factor. Supportable pressure that can be used can be either water flooding and polymer flooding. This study aims to compare recovery factor to scenarios carried out, such as polymer flooding with different concentrations modeled in the same reservoir model to see the most favorable scenario. The method used in this research is reservoir simulation method with Computer Modeling Group (CMG) STARS simulator. The study was carried out by observing at the pressure, injection rate, and polymer concentration on increasing field recovery factor. This study used cartesian grid with the assumption of homogeneous reservoir, there are no faults or other geological condition in the reservoir, and driving mechanism is only solution gas drive. This reservoir, oil type is light oil with API gravity 40.3˚API and layer of conglomerate rock. The simulation result performed with various scenarios provides a good result. Where the conditions case base case field recovery factor of 6.7%, and after water flooding produced 25.5% of oil, whereas with tertiary recovery method is polymer flooding was carried out with four concentrations of 640 ppm, 1,500 ppm, 3,000 ppm, and 4,000 ppm obtained optimum values at 4,000 ppm polymer concentration with recovery factor 28.9%, SOR reduction final value 0,5255, polymer adsorption of 818,700 ppm, reservoir final pressure 1,707 psi, and an increase in water viscosity to 0.94 cP.

Experimental Investigation of Microscopic/Macroscopic Efficiency of Polymer Flooding in Fractured Heavy Oil Five-Spot Systems

2013 ◽  
Vol 135 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Hossein Sedaghat ◽  
Mohammad Hossein Ghazanfari ◽  
Mohammad Parvazdavani ◽  
Saeid Morshedi
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Investigation ◽  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Polymer Concentration ◽  
Synthetic Polymers ◽  
Polymer Flooding ◽  
Water Flooding ◽  
Recovery Efficiency ◽  
Recovery Method ◽  
Geometrical Properties ◽  
Glass Type

This paper concerns on experimental investigation of biopolymer/polymer flooding in fractured five-spot systems. In this study, a series of polymer injection processes were performed on five-spot glass type micromodels saturated with heavy crude oil. Seven fractured glass type micromodels were used to illustrate the effects of polymer type/concentration on oil recovery efficiency in presence of fractures with different geometrical properties (i.e., fractures orientation, length and number of fractures). Four synthetic polymers as well as a biopolymer at different levels of concentration were tested. Also a micromodel constituted from dead-end pores with various geometrical properties was designed to investigate microscopic displacement mechanisms during polymer/water flooding. The results showed that polymer flooding is more efficient by using hydrolyzed synthetic polymers with high molecular weight as well as locating injection well in a proper position respect to the fracture geometrical properties. In addition, by monitoring of microscopic efficiency, pulling, stripping, and oil thread flow mechanisms were detected and discussed. The results showed that flow rate, fluid type, polymer concentration, and geometrical properties of pores influence the efficiency of mentioned mechanisms. Furthermore, it was detected that polymer's velocity profile play a significant role on oil recovery efficiency by influencing both macroscopic and microscopic mechanisms. This study demonstrates different physical and chemical conditions that affect the efficiency of this enhanced oil recovery method.

scholarly journals NEW AQUEOUS POLYMER FOR HIGH-TEMPERATURE RESERVOIRS

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (30) ◽  
pp. 380-386
Author(s):  
Y. V. SAVINYKH ◽  
L. D. LANG
Keyword(s):  
High Temperature ◽  
Oil Recovery ◽  
High Salinity ◽  
Sea Water ◽  
Polymer Flooding ◽  
Water Soluble ◽  
Water Flooding ◽  
Polymer Gel ◽  
Sweep Efficiency ◽  
Water Soluble Polymer

Polymer flooding is technologically simple and highly effective method of enhanced oil recovery. The method is based on adding a small amount of polymer in conventional water flooding of oil reservoirs. The increase in viscosity and the reduction of the mobility of injected water are to equalize the displacement front by slowing the moving of water in the highly permeable zones and restricting the formation of water finger. These factors help to increase the sweep efficiency and oil-water displacement efficiency during flooding. Polymer flooding has been used successfully in clastic and carbonate reservoirs, as well as in low-permeability reservoirs such as a fractured basement. However, most of the current polymer gel used for control water flows are decayed by a high content of ions Ca2+ and Mg2+ in formation water or in injected water. Similarly, polymer gels lose their stability at high reservoir temperature (above 70°C). Developing water-soluble polymer, which does not change their rheological properties under high salinity and high temperature (over 100°C), is very important when producing offshore, where sea water is commonly used for flooding (high salinity of 30-40 g/L).

scholarly journals Steam injection in porous media: Case study WadiRajil, Jordan

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 57-63
Author(s):  
Mehaysen Mahasneh
Keyword(s):  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Heavy Oil ◽  
Cold Water ◽  
Steam Injection ◽  
Core Sample ◽  
Thermal Recovery ◽  
Hot Water ◽  
Influx Rate ◽  
Recovery Method ◽  
Total Oil

Hot fluid injection, the preferred method used in the recovery of heavy oil and in various mechanisms such as steam drive, cyclic steam injection, steam stimulation, has become the industrial method for increasing recovery. These methods were used to promote heavy oil recovery by reducing the viscosity of asphalt and heavy oil and increasing the mobility of oil in reservoirs. The experimental test was carried out on a core sample obtained from the Ghareb Formation in the Wadi-Rajil area using cold water, hot water, and steam injection. The maximum recovery of oil in the sample using cold and hot water was 9.75% and 27.3 % respectively. On the other hand, the recovery of oil using steam injection was 42.5%. Thus, steam injection yielded more oil than cold and hot water injections in this experiment; the steam injection influx rate was approximately 15 mL/min. The total oil recovery of the sample using these three mechanisms was around 80%. The steam injection can, thus, be considered a promising thermal recovery method for asphalt and heavy oil in the Wadi-Rajil area.

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