Core-scale modelling and numerical simulation of zwitterionic surfactant flooding: Designing of chemical slug for enhanced oil recovery

2020 ◽  
Vol 192 ◽  
pp. 107333 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amit Kumar ◽  
Ajay Mandal
2019 ◽  
Vol 130 (3) ◽  
pp. 731-749 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takashi Akai ◽  
Amer M. Alhammadi ◽  
Martin J. Blunt ◽  
Branko Bijeljic

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.


2021 ◽  
pp. 014459872098020
Author(s):  
Ruizhi Hu ◽  
Shanfa Tang ◽  
Musa Mpelwa ◽  
Zhaowen Jiang ◽  
Shuyun Feng

Although new energy has been widely used in our lives, oil is still one of the main energy sources in the world. After the application of traditional oil recovery methods, there are still a large number of oil layers that have not been exploited, and there is still a need to further increase oil recovery to meet the urgent need for oil in the world economic development. Chemically enhanced oil recovery (CEOR) is considered to be a kind of effective enhanced oil recovery technology, which has achieved good results in the field, but these technologies cannot simultaneously effectively improve oil sweep efficiency, oil washing efficiency, good injectability, and reservoir environment adaptability. Viscoelastic surfactants (VES) have unique micelle structure and aggregation behavior, high efficiency in reducing the interfacial tension of oil and water, and the most important and unique viscoelasticity, etc., which has attracted the attention of academics and field experts and introduced into the technical research of enhanced oil recovery. In this paper, the mechanism and research status of viscoelastic surfactant flooding are discussed in detail and focused, and the results of viscoelastic surfactant flooding experiments under different conditions are summarized. Finally, the problems to be solved by viscoelastic surfactant flooding are introduced, and the countermeasures to solve the problems are put forward. This overview presents extensive information about viscoelastic surfactant flooding used for EOR, and is intended to help researchers and professionals in this field understand the current situation.


2014 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 1829-1837 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yingrui Bai ◽  
Chunming Xiong ◽  
Xiaosen Shang ◽  
Yanyong Xin

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
M. P. Amaya-Gómez ◽  
L. M. Sanabria-Rivas ◽  
A. M. Díaz-Lasprilla ◽  
C. Ardila-Suárez ◽  
R. H. Castro-García ◽  
...  

Polymer and surfactant flooding are widely applied processes in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) in which viscous polymers or surfactants aqueous solutions are introduced in oil reservoirs to rise the recovery of the remaining oil. In this regard, one of the challenges of EOR practices is the use of efficient but low-cost viscosifier and surfactant polymers. This work is aimed at synthesizing a polyglycerol derived from the biodegradable and nontoxic monomer, glycerol, and evaluating the effect of its copolymerization on rheological and interfacial properties, which were tested in water and brine for the former and in the water/oil system for the last properties. The copolymers were synthesized using a polyglycerol backbone, acrylic acid, lactic acid, and oleic acid. The chemical structure of copolymers was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), thermogravimetry (TG), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The viscosity and the interfacial tension (IFT) of polymeric solutions were tested. Thus, the viscosity and surface performance of the prepared polymer solutions in distilled water and brine were analyzed according to the structure of the synthesized polymers. The results showed that the synthesized polymers modified water viscosity and surface tension between water and oil. The developed polymers could be candidates for applications in enhanced oil recovery and related applications.


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