Geochemical Modeling of Hybrid Surfactant and Engineered Water Injections in Carbonate Reservoirs under Harsh Conditions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Adila ◽  
Emad W. Al-Shalabi ◽  
Waleed AlAmeri
Keyword(s):  
Oil Recovery ◽  
History Matching ◽  
Water Injection ◽  
Petroleum Industry ◽  
Wettability Alteration ◽  
Surfactant Flooding ◽  
Exchange Reactions ◽  
Concentration Data ◽  
Hybrid Surfactant ◽  
Harsh Conditions

Abstract Engineered water injection (EWI) has gained popularity as an effective technique for enhancing oil recovery. Surfactant flooding is also a well-established and commercially-available technique in the petroleum industry. In this study, a numerical simulation model is developed and used to investigate the hybrid effect of surfactant-EWI in carbonates. This developed model was validated by history-matching a recently conducted surfactant coreflood in the secondary mode of injection. Oil recovery, pressure drop, and surfactant concentration data were utilized. The surfactant flooding model was then coupled with a geochemical model that captures different reactions during engineered water injection. The geochemical reactions considered include: aqueous, dissolution/precipitation, and ion- exchange reactions. Also, different simulation scenarios were considered including waterflooding, surfactant flooding, engineered water injection, and the hybrid surfactant-EWI technique. For the case of EWI, wettability alteration was considered as the main mechanism underlying incremental oil recovery. However, both wettability alteration and interfacial tension reduction mechanisms were considered for surfactant flooding depending on the type of surfactant used. The results showed that for the hybrid surfactant-EWI, wettability alteration is considered as the controlling mechanism where surfactant boosts oil recovery rate through increasing oil relative permeability while EWI reduces residual oil. Moreover, the simulation runs showed that the hybrid surfactant-EWI is a promising technique for enhancing oil recovery from carbonates under harsh conditions. The hybrid surfactant-EWI outperformed other injection techniques followed by EWI, then surfactant flooding, and least waterflooding. This work gives more insight into the application of hybrid surfactant-EWI on enhancing oil recovery from carbonates.

Geochemical Modeling of Hybrid Surfactant and Engineered Water Injections in Carbonate Reservoirs under Harsh Conditions

SPE Journal ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Ahmed Adila ◽  
Emad W. Al-Shalabi ◽  
Waleed AlAmeri
Keyword(s):  
Oil Recovery ◽  
History Matching ◽  
Ion Concentration ◽  
Wettability Alteration ◽  
Surfactant Flooding ◽  
Exchange Reactions ◽  
Concentration Data ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Hybrid Surfactant ◽  
Harsh Conditions

Summary Engineered water injection (EWI) has gained popularity as an effective technique for enhancing oil recovery. Surfactant flooding is also a well-established chemical enhanced-oil-recovery (EOR) technique in the petroleum industry. The hybrid surfactant flooding/EWI (surfactant/EWI) technique has been studied experimentally and showed promising results. However, there are very limited numerical applications on the hybrid surfactant/EWI technique in carbonates in the literature. Also, the studies applied under harsh conditions of high temperature and high salinity are even fewer. In this study, a numerical-simulation model is developed and used to investigate the hybrid effect of surfactant/EWI in carbonates under harsh conditions. This developed model was validated by history matching a recently conducted surfactant coreflood in the secondary mode of injection. Oil recovery, pressure drop, and surfactant-concentration data were used. The surfactant-flooding model was then coupled with a geochemical model that captures different reactions involved during EWI. The geochemical reactions considered include aqueous, dissolution/precipitation, and ion-exchange reactions. The proposed model has been further validated by history matching another experimental data set. Furthermore, different simulation scenarios were considered, including waterflooding, surfactant flooding, EWI, and the hybrid surfactant/EWI technique. For the case of EWI, wettability alteration was considered as the main mechanism underlying incremental oil recovery. However, both wettability alteration and interfacial-tension (IFT) reduction mechanisms were considered for surfactant flooding depending on the type of surfactant used. The results showed that for the hybrid surfactant/EWI, wettability alteration is considered as the controlling mechanism where surfactant boosts oil-recovery rate through increasing oil relative permeability while EWI reduces residual oil. Moreover, the simulation runs showed that the hybrid surfactant/EWI is a promising technique for enhancing oil recovery from carbonates under harsh conditions. Also, hybrid surfactant/EWI results in a more water-wetting rock condition compared with that of EWI alone, which leads to lower injectivity, and hence, lower rate of propagation for ion-concentration waves. The hybrid surfactant/EWI outperformed other injection techniques followed by EWI, then surfactant flooding, and finally waterflooding. This work gives more insight into the application of hybrid surfactant/EWI on enhancing oil recovery from carbonates. The novelty is further highlighted through applying the hybrid surfactant/EWI technique under harsh conditions. In addition, the findings of this study can help in better understanding the mechanism behind enhancing oil recovery using the hybrid surfactant/EWI technique and the important parameters needed to model its effect on oil recovery.

A New Insight into Hybrid Surfactant and Low Salinity/Engineered Water Injections in Carbonates Through Geochemical Modeling

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed S. Adila ◽  
Emad W. Al-Shalabi ◽  
Waleed Alameri
Keyword(s):  
Sensitivity Analysis ◽  
Simulation Model ◽  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Surfactant Concentration ◽  
Wettability Alteration ◽  
Surfactant Flooding ◽  
Exchange Reactions ◽  
Concentration Data ◽  
Low Salinity ◽  
Hybrid Surfactant

Abstract Low salinity/engineered water injections (LSWI/EWI) have gained popularity as effective techniques for enhancing oil recovery. Surfactant flooding is also a well-established and commercially-available technique in the oil and gas industry. In this paper, a numerical 2D simulation model was developed to investigate the effect of hybrid surfactant-LSWI/EWI on oil recovery from carbonate cores under harsh conditions. The developed simulation model was validated by history-matching recently conducted surfactant corefloods in the secondary mode of injection. Oil recovery, pressure drop, and surfactant concentration data were utilized. The surfactant flooding model was then coupled with a geochemical model that captures different reactions during LSWI/EWI. The geochemical reactions considered include aqueous, dissolution/precipitation, and ion-exchange reactions. Different simulation scenarios were considered and compared including waterflooding, surfactant flooding, engineered water injection, hybrid surfactant-EWI, and hybrid surfactant-LSWI. Additionally, sensitivity analysis was performed on the hybrid surfactant-EWI process through capturing changes in surfactant injected concentration and adsorption. For the case of LSWI/EWI, wettability alteration was considered as the main mechanism underlying incremental oil recovery. However, both wettability alteration and interfacial tension reduction mechanisms were considered for surfactant flooding depending on the type of surfactant used. The results showed that the hybrid surfactant-EWI altered the wettability and achieved higher oil recovery than that of surfactant-LSWI and other techniques. This highlights the importance of selecting the right combinations of potential ions for a certain reservoir to maximize oil recovery rather than a simple water dilution. The results also highlight the importance of surfactant adsorption and surfactant concentration for the hybrid surfactant-EWI technique. This work provides insights into the application of hybrid surfactant-LSWI/EWI on oil recovery especially in carbonates. The novelty of this work is further expanded through comparing surfactant-LSWI with surfactant-EWI and understanding the controlling parameters of surfactant-EWI through sensitivity analysis.

A New Dynamic Wettability-Alteration Model for Oil-Wet Cores During Surfactant-Solution Imbibition

SPE Journal ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 18 (05) ◽  
pp. 818-828 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Hosein Kalaei ◽  
Don W. Green ◽  
G. Paul Willhite
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Data ◽  
Oil Recovery ◽  
History Matching ◽  
Mechanistic Model ◽  
Surfactant Solution ◽  
Experimental Tests ◽  
Quantitative Agreement ◽  
Wettability Alteration ◽  
Porous Rock ◽  
Surfactant Solutions

Summary Wettability modification of solid rocks with surfactants is an important process and has the potential to recover oil from reservoirs. When wettability is altered by use of surfactant solutions, capillary pressure, relative permeabilities, and residual oil saturations change wherever the porous rock is contacted by the surfactant. In this study, a mechanistic model is described in which wettability alteration is simulated by a new empirical correlation of the contact angle with surfactant concentration developed from experimental data. This model was tested against results from experimental tests in which oil was displaced from oil-wet cores by imbibition of surfactant solutions. Quantitative agreement between the simulation results of oil displacement and experimental data from the literature was obtained. Simulation of the imbibition of surfactant solution in laboratory-scale cores with the new model demonstrated that wettability alteration is a dynamic process, which plays a significant role in history matching and prediction of oil recovery from oil-wet porous media. In these simulations, the gravity force was the primary cause of the surfactant-solution invasion of the core that changed the rock wettability toward a less oil-wet state.

Carbonated Water Injection for Recovery of Oil and Wettability Analysis

2014 ◽  
Vol 695 ◽  
pp. 499-502 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamad Faizul Mat Ali ◽  
Radzuan Junin ◽  
Nor Hidayah Md Aziz ◽  
Adibah Salleh
Keyword(s):  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Promising Result ◽  
Water Injection ◽  
High Mobility ◽  
Wettability Alteration ◽  
Sweep Efficiency ◽  
Gas Flooding ◽  
Carbonated Water Injection ◽  
Carbonated Water

Malaysia oilfield especially in Malay basin has currently show sign of maturity phase which involving high water-cut and also pressure declining. In recent event, Malaysia through Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS) will be first implemented an enhanced oil recovery (EOR) project at the Tapis oilfield and is scheduled to start operations in 2014. In this project, techniques utilizing water-alternating-gas (WAG) injection which is a type of gas flooding method in EOR are expected to improve oil recovery to the field. However, application of gas flooding in EOR process has a few flaws which including poor sweep efficiency due to high mobility ratio of oil and gas that promotes an early breakthrough. Therefore, a concept of carbonated water injection (CWI) in which utilizing CO2, has ability to dissolve in water prior to injection was applied. This study is carried out to assess the suitability of CWI to be implemented in improving oil recovery in simulated sandstone reservoir. A series of displacement test to investigate the range of recovery improvement at different CO2 concentrations was carried out with different recovery mode stages. Wettability alteration properties of CWI also become one of the focuses of the study. The outcome of this study has shown a promising result in recovered residual oil by alternating the wettability characteristic of porous media becomes more water-wet.

A Numerical Investigation of Low Salinity Polymer Flooding Effects from a Geochemical Perspective

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Omar Chaabi ◽  
Emad W. Al-Shalabi ◽  
Waleed Alameri
Keyword(s):  
Aqueous Phase ◽  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Reactive Transport ◽  
History Matching ◽  
Solution Chemistry ◽  
Related Effect ◽  
Exchange Reactions ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Low Salinity ◽  
Geochemical Reactions

Abstract Low salinity polymer (LSP) flooding is getting more attention due to its potential of enhancing both displacement and sweep efficiencies. Modeling LSP flooding is challenging due to the complicated physical processes and the sensitivity of polymers to brine salinity. In this study, a coupled numerical model has been implemented to allow investigating the polymer-brine-rock geochemical interactions associated with LSP flooding along with the flow dynamics. MRST was coupled with the geochemical software IPhreeqc. The effects of polymer were captured by considering Todd-Longstaff mixing model, inaccessible pore volume, permeability reduction, polymer adsorption as well as salinity and shear rate effects on polymer viscosity. Regarding geochemistry, the presence of polymer in the aqueous phase was considered by adding a new solution specie and related chemical reactions to PHREEQC database files. Thus, allowing for modeling the geochemical interactions related to the presence of polymer. Coupling the two simulators was successfully performed, verified, and validated through several case studies. The coupled MRST-IPhreeqc simulator allows for modeling a wide variety of geochemical reactions including aqueous, mineral precipitation/dissolution, and ion exchange reactions. Capturing these reactions allows for real time tracking of the aqueous phase salinity and its effect on polymer rheological properties. The coupled simulator was verified against PHREEQC for a realistic reactive transport scenario. Furthermore, the coupled simulator was validated through history matching a single-phase LSP coreflood from the literature. This paper provides an insight into the geochemical interactions between partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM) and aqueous solution chemistry (salinity and hardness), and their related effect on polymer viscosity. This work is also considered as a base for future two-phase polymer solution and oil interactions, and their related effect on oil recovery.

scholarly journals Integrated Halo Model And Hydrodynamic Simulation For Optimization Oil Production In Crystalline Fractured Reservoirs

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hung Vo Thanh ◽  
Kang-Kun Lee
Keyword(s):  
Oil Recovery ◽  
History Matching ◽  
Fractured Reservoirs ◽  
Petroleum Industry ◽  
Oil Production ◽  
Modelling And Simulation ◽  
Development Plan ◽  
Sweep Efficiency ◽  
Field Development ◽  
The World

Abstract Basement formation is known as the unique reservoir in the world. The fractured basement reservoir was contributed a large amount of oil and gas for Vietnam petroleum industry. However, the geological modelling and optimization of oil production is still a challenge for fractured basement reservoirs. Thus, this study aims to introduce the efficient workflow construction reservoir models for proposing the field development plan in a fractured crystalline reservoir. First, the Halo method was adapted for building the petrophysical model. Then, Drill stem history matching is conducted for adjusting the simulation results and pressure measurement. Next, the history-matched models are used to conduct the simulation scenarios to predict future reservoir performance. The possible potential design has four producers and three injectors in the fracture reservoir system. The field prediction results indicate that this scenario increases approximately 8 % oil recovery factor compared to the natural depletion production. This finding suggests that a suitable field development plan is necessary to improve sweep efficiency in the fractured oil formation. The critical contribution of this research is the proposed modelling and simulation with less data for the field development plan in fractured crystalline reservoir. This research's modelling and simulation findings provide a new solution for optimizing oil production that can be applied in Vietnam and other reservoirs in the world.

scholarly journals Coupling Microfluidics Data with Core Flooding Experiments to Understand Sulfonated/Polymer Water Injection

Polymers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 1227 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Tahir ◽  
Rafael E. Hincapie ◽  
Nils Langanke ◽  
Leonhard Ganzer ◽  
Philip Jaeger
Keyword(s):  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Water Injection ◽  
Wettability Alteration ◽  
Core Flooding ◽  
Rheological Characterization ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Key Recovery ◽  
Low Salt ◽  
Polymer Flood ◽  
Recovery Mechanisms

The injection of sulfonated-modified water could be an attractive application as it results in the formation of a mechanically rigid oil-water interface, and hence, possible higher oil recovery in combination with polymer. Therefore, detailed experimental investigation and fluid-flow analysis into porous media are required to understand the possible recovery mechanisms taking place. This paper evaluates the potential influence of low-salt/sulfate-modified water injection in oil recovery using a cross-analyzed approach of coupled microfluidics data and core flooding experiments. Fluid characterization was achieved by detailed rheological characterization focusing on steady shear and in-situ viscosity. Moreover, single and two-phase micromodels and core floods experiments helped to define the behavior of different fluids. Overall, coupling microfluidics, with core flooding experiments, confirmed that fluid-fluid interfacial interaction and wettability alteration are both the key recovery mechanisms for modified-water/low-salt. Finally, a combination of sulfate-modified/low-salinity water, with polymer flood can lead to ~6% extra oil, compared to the combination of polymer flood with synthetic seawater (SSW). The results present an excellent way to make use of micromodels and core experiments as a supporting tool for EOR processes evaluations, assessing fluid-fluid and rock-fluid interactions.

scholarly journals Hybrid Engineered Water–Polymer Flooding in Carbonates: A Review of Mechanisms and Case Studies

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (17) ◽  
pp. 6087
Author(s):  
Mariam Shakeel ◽  
Peyman Pourafshary ◽  
Muhammad Rehan Hashmet
Keyword(s):  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Petroleum Industry ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Polymer Flooding ◽  
Driving Factors ◽  
Water Flooding ◽  
Wettability Alteration ◽  
Rock Surface ◽  
Hybrid Technique ◽  
High Salinity Water

The fast depletion of oil reserves has steered the petroleum industry towards developing novel and cost-effective enhanced oil recovery (EOR) techniques in order to get the most out of reservoirs. Engineered water–polymer flooding (EWPF) is an emerging hybrid EOR technology that uses the synergetic effects of engineered water (EW) and polymers to enhance both the microscopic and macroscopic sweep efficiencies, which mainly results from: (1) the low-salinity effect and the presence of active ions in EW, which help in detachment of carboxylic oil material from the rock surface, wettability alteration, and reduction in the residual oil saturation; (2) the favorable mobility ratio resulting from the use of a polymer; and (3) the improved thermal and salinity resistance of polymers in EW. Various underlying mechanisms have been proposed in the literature for EW EOR effects in carbonates, but the main driving factors still need to be understood properly. Both polymer flooding (PF) and EW have associated merits and demerits. However, the demerits of each can be overcome by combining the two methods, known as hybrid EWPF. This hybrid technique has been experimentally investigated for both sandstone and carbonate reservoirs by various researchers. Most of the studies have shown the synergistic benefits of the hybrid method in terms of two- to four-fold decreases in the polymer adsorption, leading to 30–50% reductions in polymer consumption, making the project economically viable for carbonates. EWPF has resulted in 20–30% extra oil recovery in various carbonate coreflood experiments compared to high-salinity water flooding. This review presents insights into the use of hybrid EWPF for carbonates, the main recovery driving factors in the hybrid process, the advantages and limitations of this method, and some areas requiring further work.

scholarly journals Effect of salinity on oil production: review on low salinity waterflooding mechanisms and exploratory study on pipeline scaling

2020 ◽  
Vol 75 ◽  
pp. 50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tao Zhang ◽  
Yiteng Li ◽  
Chenguang Li ◽  
Shuyu Sun
Keyword(s):  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Preliminary Investigation ◽  
Petroleum Industry ◽  
Phase Field Model ◽  
Scale Formation ◽  
Wettability Alteration ◽  
Reservoir Properties ◽  
Low Salinity ◽  
Low Salinity Waterflooding

The past decades have witnessed a rapid development of enhanced oil recovery techniques, among which the effect of salinity has become a very attractive topic due to its significant advantages on environmental protection and economical benefits. Numerous studies have been reported focusing on analysis of the mechanisms behind low salinity waterflooding in order to better design the injected salinity under various working conditions and reservoir properties. However, the effect of injection salinity on pipeline scaling has not been widely studied, but this mechanism is important to gathering, transportation and storage for petroleum industry. In this paper, an exhaustive literature review is conducted to summarize several well-recognized and widely accepted mechanisms, including fine migration, wettability alteration, double layer expansion, and multicomponent ion exchange. These mechanisms can be correlated with each other, and certain combined effects may be defined as other mechanisms. In order to mathematically model and numerically describe the fluid behaviors in injection pipelines considering injection salinity, an exploratory phase-field model is presented to simulate the multiphase flow in injection pipeline where scale formation may take place. The effect of injection salinity is represented by the scaling tendency to describe the possibility of scale formation when the scaling species are attached to the scaled structure. It can be easily referred from the simulation result that flow and scaling conditions are significantly affected if a salinity-dependent scaling tendency is considered. Thus, this mechanism should be taken into account in the design of injection process if a sustainable exploitation technique is applied by using purified production water as injection fluid. Finally, remarks and suggestions are provided based on our extensive review and preliminary investigation, to help inspire the future discussions.

scholarly journals Interfacial Phenomena Effect on Sand Production Due to Optimized Smart Water with/without the Presence of Nanoparticles

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 6652-6668
Keyword(s):  
Oil Recovery ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Water Injection ◽  
Water Flooding ◽  
Wettability Alteration ◽  
Rock Surface ◽  
Sand Production ◽  
Smart Water ◽  
Comparison Of The Results

Historically, smart water flooding is proved as one of the methods used to enhance oil recovery from hydrocarbon reservoirs. This method has been spread due to its low cost and ease of operation, with changing the composition and concentration of salts in the water, the smart water injection leads to more excellent compatibility with rock and fluids. However, due to a large number of sandstone reservoirs in the world and the increase of the recovery factor using this high-efficiency method, a problem occurs with the continued injection of smart water into these reservoirs a phenomenon happened in which called rock leaching. Indeed, sand production is the most common problem in these fields. Rock wettability alteration toward water wetting is considered as the main cause of sand production during the smart water injection mechanism. During this process, due to stresses on the rock surface as well as disturbance of equilibrium, the sand production in the porous media takes place. In this paper, the effect of wettability alteration of oil wetted sandstones (0.005,0.01,0.02 and 0.03 molar stearic acid in normal heptane) on sand production in the presence of smart water is fully investigated. The implementation of an effective chemical method, which is nanoparticles, have been executed to prevent sand production. By stabilizing silica nanoparticles (SiO2) at an optimum concentration of 2000 ppm in smart water (pH=8) according to the results of Zeta potential and DLS test, the effect of wettability alteration of oil wetted sandstones on sand production in the presence of smart water with nanoparticles is thoroughly reviewed. Ultimately, a comparison of the results showed that nanoparticles significantly reduced sand production.

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