Effect of Heterogeneity on Propagation, Placement, and Conformance Control of Preformed Particle Gel Treatment in Fractures

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdulmhsin Imqam ◽  
Ze Wang ◽  
Baojun Bai ◽  
Mojdeh Delshad
Keyword(s):  
Conformance Control ◽  
Preformed Particle Gel ◽  
Gel Treatment

Understanding the Plugging Performance of HPAM-Cr (III) Polymer Gel for CO2 Conformance Control

SPE Journal ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xindi Sun ◽  
Baojun Bai ◽  
Ali Khayoon Alhuraishawy ◽  
Daoyi Zhu
Keyword(s):  
Pressure Gradient ◽  
Low Permeability ◽  
Far Field ◽  
Polymer Gel ◽  
Co2 Flooding ◽  
High Permeability ◽  
Conformance Control ◽  
Gel Treatment ◽  
Plugging Performance ◽  
Breakthrough Pressure

Summary With the demand for conformance control in carbon dioxide (CO2) flooding fields, hydrolyzed polyacrylamide-chromium [HPAM-Cr (III)] polymer gel has been applied in fields for CO2 conformance control. However, the field application results are mixed with success and failure. This paper is intended to understand the HPAM-Cr (III) polymer gel plugging performance in CO2 flooding reservoirs through laboratory experiments and numerical analysis. We conducted core flooding tests to understand how the cycles of CO2 and water affect the HPAM-Cr (III) polymer gel plugging efficiency to CO2 and water during a water-alternating-gas (WAG) process. Berea Sandstone cores with the permeability range of 107 to 1225 md were used to evaluate the plugging performance in terms of residual resistance factor and breakthrough pressure, which is the minimum pressure required for CO2 to enter the gel-treated cores.We compared the pressure gradient from the near-wellbore to far-field with the gel breakthrough pressure, from which we analyzed under which conditions the gel treatment could be more successful. Results show that HPAM-Cr (III) polymer gel has higher breakthrough pressure in the low-permeability cores. The polymer gel can reduce the permeability to water much more than that to CO2. The disproportionate permeability reduction performance was more prominent in low-permeability cores than in high-permeability cores. The gel resistance to both CO2 and brine significantly decreased in later cycles. In high-permeability cores, the gel resistance to CO2 became negligible only after two cycles of water and CO2 injection. Because of the significant reduction of pressure gradient from near-wellbore to far-field in a radial flow condition and the dependence of breakthrough pressure on permeability and polymer concentration, we examined hypothetical reservoirs with no fractures, in which impermeable barriers separated high- and low-permeability zones and in which the gel was only placed in the high-permeability zone. We considered two scenarios: CO2 breaking through the gel and no CO2 breakthrough. No breakthrough represents the best condition in which the gel has no direct contact and can be stable in reservoirs for long. In contrast, the breakthrough scenario will result in the gel’s significant degradation and dehydration resulting from CO2 flowing through the gel, which will cause the gel treatment to fail.

A Novel Re-Crosslinkable Preformed Particle Gel for Conformance Control in Extreme Heterogeneous Reservoirs

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jingyang Pu ◽  
Baojun Bai ◽  
Ali Alhuraishawy ◽  
Thomas Schuman ◽  
Yashu Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Conformance Control ◽  
Heterogeneous Reservoirs ◽  
Preformed Particle Gel

An Investigation of CO2-Responsive Preformed Particle Gel for Conformance Control of CO2 Flooding in Reservoirs With Fractures or Fracture-Like Channels

SPE Journal ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (05) ◽  
pp. 2398-2408 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ze Wang ◽  
Baojun Bai ◽  
Yifu Long ◽  
Lizhu Wang
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Resistance Factor ◽  
Real Field ◽  
Swelling Ratio ◽  
Co2 Flooding ◽  
Conformance Control ◽  
Residual Resistance ◽  
Preformed Particle Gel ◽  
Plugging Performance ◽  
Residual Resistance Factor

Summary Gel treatment is an important technique to solve early CO2 breakthrough and excess–CO2–production problems, caused by the low viscosity and low density of CO2, as well as the heterogeneity of reservoirs with fractures or fracture–like channels. However, there is no reported work on gel that increases its volume after reacting with CO2 (termed CO2–responsive gel) for the conformance control of CO2 flooding. In this paper, the intrinsic properties of a CO2–responsive preformed particle gel (CR–PPG) were evaluated in a water/supercritical–CO2 (scCO2) environment in high–pressure vessels. Continuous scCO2 injection and CR–PPG treatment were conducted in fractured sandstone cores, to probe their plugging performance to scCO2 flow in a high–permeability–contrast system. The volumetric swelling ratio (VSR) of the CR–PPG increased by approximately two times in the presence of scCO2, compared with a sample under similar conditions in the absence of scCO2. The CR–PPG swelling ratio decreased with increasing NaCl concentration. Under the same conditions, the temperature did not have an apparent effect on the swelling ratio after 31 days of swelling. In coreflooding experiments, the placed CR–PPG resisted a considerable pressure up to 617.0 psi before breakthrough. After a shut–in process, CO2–breakthrough pressure was detected at 437.2 psi. It is observed that the shut–in process improved the plugging performance of CR–PPG to CO2 as revealed by the increase in the residual resistance factor. Controlling the shut–in time was found to be effective in augmenting the increase in the residual resistance factor, by increasing the VSR of placed CR–PPG. Resistance of CR–PPG to some real field challenges, including a high pressure gradient and long–term exposure to CO2, was also reported for field–applicability concerns.

Adaptability Evaluation of Conformance Control Agents in Low Permeability Reservoirs with Fractures

2014 ◽  
Vol 960-961 ◽  
pp. 170-175
Author(s):  
Feng Lan Zhao ◽  
Shu Jun Cao ◽  
Ji Rui Hou
Keyword(s):  
Graft Copolymer ◽  
Polymer Concentration ◽  
Gelation Time ◽  
Injection Pressure ◽  
Low Permeability ◽  
Particle Type ◽  
Conformance Control ◽  
Fracture Width ◽  
Preformed Particle Gel ◽  
Low Permeability Reservoirs

Several conformance control agents, including preformed particle gel, emulsion microspheres, continuous chromium gel and underground starch graft copolymer gel were evaluated. The properties such as gelation time and gel strength of gel, and expansion of particles and microspheres were tested at high temperature. Also, the injection pressure, plugging strength and resistance factor were measured using the artificial low permeability cores with fractures. It was shown that, for particle type conformance control agents, the particle size should be adaptable with the fracture width. Also, for continuous chromium gel, the added polymer concentration higher, the viscosity is higher, with higher plugging strength. The plugging and strength should be coordinated. The starch graft copolymer gel is easy to be injected into formation and has good plugging property. The results show that underground starch graft gel is more suitable for conformance control in low permeability formation with fractures.

Preformed Particle Gel for Conformance Control: Factors Affecting Its Properties and Applications

2007 ◽  
Vol 10 (04) ◽  
pp. 415-422 ◽  
Author(s):  
Baojun Bai ◽  
Liangxiong Li ◽  
Yuzhang Liu ◽  
He Liu ◽  
Zhongguo Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Conformance Control ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Preformed Particle Gel ◽  
Control Factors

Use of Hydrochloric Acid To Remove Filter-Cake Damage From Preformed Particle Gel During Conformance-Control Treatments

2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (03) ◽  
pp. 247-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdulmohsin Imqam ◽  
Baojun Bai ◽  
Mingzhen Wei ◽  
Hilary Elue ◽  
Farag A. Muhammed
Keyword(s):  
Hydrochloric Acid ◽  
Filter Cake ◽  
Conformance Control ◽  
Preformed Particle Gel
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