CO2 enhanced gas recovery and sequestration in depleted gas reservoirs: A review

Most natural gas reservoirs of Ukraine are depleted to some extent; still they contain significant tail gas reserves. A promising direction for increasing gas recovery from depleted gas reservoirs is the displacement of tail gas from the porous medium with nitrogen which is easily accessible and does not cause corrosion of the down-hole equipment. This article characterizes the technologies for increasing gas recovery from depleted gas reser-voirs by injecting nitrogen into them. The technology of replacing tail gas with nitrogen is tested on the example of the depleted reservoir of ND-9 horizon of Lyubeshivskyy gas field, the productive deposits of which are composed mainly of sandstones with interlayers of limestone and clay. The authors consider fifteen options of injecting ni-trogen into the reservoir, including options of treating the bottom-hole of low-production wells at the beginning of the process of further reservoir development and at the beginning of the injection of nitrogen into the reservoir. In all cases, the reservoir is first redeveloped in the depletion mode until the reservoir pressure decreases to 0,1 from the initial value. After that, nitrogen is injected into one of the producing wells which is transferred to the injection well. The injection of nitrogen into the reservoir continues until the nitrogen content in the last produc-ing well is less than 5 % vol. All options are characterized by high values of the gas recovery coefficient and close values of the dura-tion of the reservoir further development. The positions of the front of the displacement of natural gas by nitrogen at various time points are given. According to the research results, the gas recovery coefficient for tail gas for var-ious options varies from 14,12 to 34,58 %. With the introduction of the technology of injecting nitrogen into the reservoir, the overall gas recovery coefficient increases from 72,25 % (at present development system) to 80,28 % when the residual gas is displaced by nitrogen.

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Experimental Study on Feasibility of Enhanced Gas Recovery through CO2 Flooding in Tight Sandstone Gas Reservoirs

Processes ◽

10.3390/pr6110214 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 6 (11) ◽

pp. 214 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Fengjiao Wang ◽

Yikun Liu ◽

Chaoyang Hu ◽

Yongping Wang ◽

Anqi Shen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Injection Rate ◽

Co2 Flooding ◽

Geological Storage ◽

Co2 Geological Storage ◽

Gas Reservoirs ◽

Tight Sandstone ◽

Gas Reservoir ◽

Enhanced Gas Recovery ◽

Gas Recovery ◽

Dip Angle

The development of natural gas in tight sandstone gas reservoirs via CH4-CO2 replacement is promising for its advantages in enhanced gas recovery (EGR) and CO2 geologic sequestration. However, the degree of recovery and the influencing factors of CO2 flooding for enhanced gas recovery as well as the CO2 geological rate are not yet clear. In this study, the tight sandstone gas reservoir characteristics and the fluid properties of the Sulige Gasfield were chosen as the research platform. Tight sandstone gas long-core displacement experiments were performed to investigate (1) the extent to which CO2 injection enhanced gas recovery (CO2-EGR) and (2) the ability to achieve CO2 geological storage. Through modification of the injection rate, the water content of the core, and the formation dip angle, comparative studies were also carried out. The experimental results demonstrated that the gas recovery from CO2 flooding increased by 18.36% when compared to the depletion development method. At a lower injection rate, the diffusion of CO2 was dominant and the main seepage resistance was the viscous force, which resulted in an earlier CO2 breakthrough. The dissolution of CO2 in water postponed the breakthrough of CO2 while it was also favorable for improving the gas recovery and CO2 geological storage. However, the effects of these two factors were insignificant. A greater influence was observed from the presence of a dip angle in tight sandstone gas reservoirs. The effect of CO2 gravity separation and its higher viscosity were more conducive to stable displacement. Therefore, an additional gas recovery of 5% to 8% was obtained. Furthermore, the CO2 geological storage exceeded 60%. As a consequence, CO2-EGR was found to be feasible for a tight sandstone gas reservoir while also achieving the purpose of effective CO2 geological storage especially for a reservoir with a dip angle.

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