Investigating Low Salinity Waterflooding Recovery Mechanisms in Carbonate Reservoirs

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmad Al-adasani ◽  
Baojun Bai ◽  
Yu-Shu Wu
Keyword(s):  
Carbonate Reservoirs ◽  
Low Salinity ◽  
Low Salinity Waterflooding ◽  
Recovery Mechanisms

scholarly journals Bulk and Surface Aqueous Speciation of Calcite: Implications for Low-Salinity Waterflooding of Carbonate Reservoirs

SPE Journal ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (01) ◽  
pp. 84-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maxim P. Yutkin ◽  
Himanshu Mishra ◽  
Tadeusz W. Patzek ◽  
John Lee ◽  
Clayton J. Radke
Keyword(s):  
Ionic Strength ◽  
Ion Exchange ◽  
Crude Oil ◽  
Surface Charge ◽  
Double Layer ◽  
Carbonate Reservoir ◽  
Carbonate Reservoirs ◽  
Diffuse Double Layer ◽  
Low Salinity ◽  
Low Salinity Waterflooding

Summary Low-salinity waterflooding (LSW) is ineffective when reservoir rock is strongly water-wet or when crude oil is not asphaltenic. Success of LSW relies heavily on the ability of injected brine to alter surface chemistry of reservoir crude-oil brine/rock (COBR) interfaces. Implementation of LSW in carbonate reservoirs is especially challenging because of high reservoir-brine salinity and, more importantly, because of high reactivity of the rock minerals. Both features complicate understanding of the COBR surface chemistries pertinent to successful LSW. Here, we tackle the complex physicochemical processes in chemically active carbonates flooded with diluted brine that is saturated with atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and possibly supplemented with additional ionic species, such as sulfates or phosphates. When waterflooding carbonate reservoirs, rock equilibrates with the injected brine over short distances. Injected-brine ion speciation is shifted substantially in the presence of reactive carbonate rock. Our new calculations demonstrate that rock-equilibrated aqueous pH is slightly alkaline quite independent of injected-brine pH. We establish, for the first time, that CO2 content of a carbonate reservoir, originating from CO2-rich crude oil and gas, plays a dominant role in setting aqueous pH and rock-surface speciation. A simple ion-complexing model predicts the calcite-surface charge as a function of composition of reservoir brine. The surface charge of calcite may be positive or negative, depending on speciation of reservoir brine in contact with the calcite. There is no single point of zero charge; all dissolved aqueous species are charge determining. Rock-equilibrated aqueous composition controls the calcite-surface ion-exchange behavior, not the injected-brine composition. At high ionic strength, the electrical double layer collapses and is no longer diffuse. All surface charges are located directly in the inner and outer Helmholtz planes. Our evaluation of calcite bulk and surface equilibria draws several important inferences about the proposed LSW oil-recovery mechanisms. Diffuse double-layer expansion (DLE) is impossible for brine ionic strength greater than 0.1 molar. Because of rapid rock/brine equilibration, the dissolution mechanism for releasing adhered oil is eliminated. Also, fines mobilization and concomitant oil release cannot occur because there are few loose fines and clays in a majority of carbonates. LSW cannot be a low-interfacial-tension alkaline flood because carbonate dissolution exhausts all injected base near the wellbore and lowers pH to that set by the rock and by formation CO2. In spite of diffuse double-layer collapse in carbonate reservoirs, surface ion-exchange oil release remains feasible, but unproved.

scholarly journals Bulk and Surface Aqueous Speciation of Calcite: Implications for Low-Salinity Waterflooding of Carbonate Reservoirs

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maxim P. Yutkin ◽  
John Y. Lee ◽  
Himanshu Mishra ◽  
Clayton J. Radke ◽  
Tadeusz W. Patzek
Keyword(s):  
Carbonate Reservoirs ◽  
Low Salinity ◽  
Low Salinity Waterflooding

scholarly journals Comprehensive investigation of low salinity waterflooding in carbonate reservoirs

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Fouad Snosy ◽  
Mahmoud Abu El Ela ◽  
Ahmed El-Banbi ◽  
Helmy Sayyouh
Keyword(s):  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Carbonate Reservoirs ◽  
Rock Properties ◽  
Recovery Stage ◽  
Low Salinity ◽  
Water Composition ◽  
Secondary Recovery ◽  
Low Salinity Waterflooding ◽  
Tertiary Recovery ◽  
Incremental Oil Recovery

AbstractWaterflooding has been practiced as a secondary recovery mechanism for many years with no regard to the composition of the injected brine. However, in the last decade, there has been an interest to understand the impact of the injected water composition and the low salinity waterflooding (LSWF) in oil recovery. LSWF has been investigated through various laboratory tests as a promising method for improving oil recovery in carbonate reservoirs. These experiments showed diverse mechanisms and results. In this study, a comprehensive review and analysis for results of more than 300 carbonate core flood experiments from published work were performed to investigate the effects of several parameters (injected water, oil, and rock properties along with the temperature) on oil recovery from carbonate rock. The analysis of the results showed that the water composition is the key parameter for successful waterflooding (WF) projects in the carbonate rocks. However, the salinity value of the injected water seems to have a negligible effect on oil recovery in both secondary and tertiary recovery stages. The study indicated that waterflooding with optimum water composition can improve oil recovery up to 30% of the original oil in place. In addition, the investigation showed that changing water salinity from LSWF to high salinity waterflooding can lead to an incremental oil recovery of up to 18% in the tertiary recovery stage. It was evident that applying the optimum composition in the secondary recovery stage is more effective than applying it in the tertiary recovery stage. Furthermore, the key parameters of the injected water and rock properties in secondary and tertiary recovery stages were studied using Fractional Factorial Design. The results revealed that the concentrations of Mg2+, Na+, K+, and Cl− in the injected water are the greatest influence parameters in the secondary recovery stage. However, the most dominant parameters in the tertiary recovery stage are the rock minerals and the concentration of K+, HCO3−, and SO42− in the injected water. In addition, it appears that the anhydrite percentage in the carbonate reservoirs may be an effective parameter in the tertiary WF. Also, there are no clear relations between the incremental oil recovery and the oil properties (total acid number or total base number) in both secondary and tertiary recovery stages. In addition, the results of the analysis showed an incremental oil recovery in all ranges of the studied flooding temperatures. The findings of this study can help to establish guidelines for screening and designing optimum salinity and composition for WF projects in carbonate reservoirs.

Surfactant-Aided Low-Salinity Waterflooding for Low-Temperature Carbonate Reservoirs

SPE Journal ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Yue Shi ◽  
Chammi Miller ◽  
Kishore Mohanty
Keyword(s):  
Low Temperature ◽  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Anionic Surfactants ◽  
Surfactant Solution ◽  
Carbonate Reservoirs ◽  
Spontaneous Imbibition ◽  
Wettability Alteration ◽  
Low Salinity ◽  
Low Salinity Waterflooding ◽  
Original Oil In Place

Summary Carbonate reservoirs tend to be oil-wet/mixed-wet and heterogeneous because of mineralogy and diagenesis. The objective of this study is to improve oil recovery in low-temperature dolomite reservoirs using low-salinity and surfactant-aided spontaneous imbibition. The low-salinity brine composition was optimized using ζ-potential measurements, contact-angle (CA) experiments, and a novel wettability-alteration measure. Significant wettability alteration was observed on dolomite rocks at a salinity of 2,500 ppm. We evaluated 37 surfactants by performing CA, interfacial-tension (IFT), and spontaneous-imbibition experiments. Three (quaternary ammonium) cationic and one (sulfonate) anionic surfactants showed significant wettability alteration and produced 43–63% of original oil in place (OOIP) by spontaneous imbibition. At a low temperature (35°C), oil recovery by low-salinity effect is small compared with that by wettability-altering surfactants. Coreflood tests were performed with a selected low-salinity cationic surfactant solution. A novel coreflood was proposed that modeled heterogeneity and dynamic imbibition into low-permeability regions. The results of the “heterogeneous” coreflood were consistent with that of spontaneous-imbibition tests. These experiments demonstrated that a combination of low-salinity brine and surfactants can make originally oil-wet dolomite rocks more water-wet and improve oil recovery from regions bypassed by waterflood at a low temperature of 35°C.

scholarly journals Low Salinity Waterflooding in Carbonate Reservoirs: Review of Interfacial Mechanisms

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maryam Derkani ◽  
Ashleigh Fletcher ◽  
Wael Abdallah ◽  
Bastian Sauerer ◽  
James Anderson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbonate Reservoirs ◽  
Low Salinity ◽  
Low Salinity Waterflooding
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