An Integrated Simulation Approach to Predict Permeability Impairment under Simultaneous Aggregation and Deposition of Asphaltene Particles

SPE Journal ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Xin Su ◽  
Rouzbeh G. Moghanloo ◽  
Minhui Qi ◽  
Xiang-an Yue
Keyword(s):  
Porous Media ◽  
Particle Aggregation ◽  
Formation Damage ◽  
Permeability Reduction ◽  
Simulation Approach ◽  
Pore Connectivity ◽  
Integrated Simulation ◽  
Asphaltene Deposition ◽  
Simulation Results ◽  
Permeability Impairment

Summary Formation damage mechanisms in general lower the quality of the near wellbore, often manifested in the form of permeability reduction, and thus reducing the productivity of production wells and injectivity of injection wells. Asphaltene deposition, as one of the important causes, can trigger serious formation damage issues and significantly restrict the production capacity of oil wells. Several mechanisms acting simultaneously contribute to the complexity associated with prediction of permeability impairment owing to asphaltene deposition; thus, integration of modeling efforts for asphaltene aggregation and deposition mechanisms seems inevitable for improved predictability. In this work, an integrated simulation approach is proposed to predict permeability impairment in porous medium. The proposed approach is novel because it integrates various mathematical models to study permeability impairment considering porosity reduction, particle aggregation, and pore connectivity loss caused by asphaltene deposition. To improve the accuracy of simulation results, porous media is considered as a bundle (different size) of capillary tubes with dynamic interconnectivity. The total volume change of interconnected tubes will directly represent permeability reduction realized in porous media. The prediction of asphaltene deposition in porous media is improved in this paper via integration of the particle aggregation model into calculation. The simulation results were verified by comparing with existing experimental data sets. After that, a sensitivity analysis was performed to study parameters that affect permeability impairment. The simulation results show that our permeability impairment model—considering asphaltene deposition, aggregation, and pore connectivity loss—can accurately reproduce the experimental results with fewer fitting or empirical parameters needed. The sensitivity analysis shows that longer aggregation time, higher flow velocity, and bigger precipitation concentration will lead to a faster permeability reduction. The findings of this study can help provide better understanding of the permeability impairment caused by asphaltene deposition and pore blockage, which provides useful insights for prediction of production performance of oil wells.

Experimental Investigation of Asphaltene-Induced Formation Damage Caused by Pressure Depletion of Live Reservoir Fluids in Porous Media

SPE Journal ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (01) ◽  
pp. 01-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Omid Mohammadzadeh ◽  
Shawn David Taylor ◽  
Dmitry Eskin ◽  
John Ratulowski
Keyword(s):  
Porous Medium ◽  
Porous Media ◽  
Flow Rate ◽  
Formation Damage ◽  
Bulk Fluid ◽  
Asphaltene Content ◽  
Pressure Depletion ◽  
Asphaltene Deposition ◽  
Permeability Impairment ◽  
Live Oil

Summary One of the complex processes of permeability impairment in porous media, especially in the near-wellbore region, is asphaltene-induced formation damage. During production, asphaltene particles precipitate out of the bulk fluid phase because of pressure drop, which might result in permeability reduction caused by both deposition of asphaltene nanoparticles on porous-medium surfaces and clogging of pore throats by larger asphaltene agglomerates. Experimental data will be used to identify the parameters of an impairment model being developed. As part of a larger effort to identify key mechanisms of asphaltene deposition in porous media and develop a model for asphaltene impairment by pressure depletion, this paper focuses on a systematic design and execution of an experimental study of asphaltene-related permeability damage caused by live-oil depressurization along the length of a flow system. An experiment was performed using a custom-designed 60-ft slimtube-coil assembly packed with silica sands to a permeability of 55 md. The customized design included a number of pressure gauges at regular intervals along the coil length, which enabled real-time measurement of the fluid-pressure profile across the full length of the slimtube coil. The test was performed on a well-characterized recombined live oil from the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) that is a known problematic asphaltenic oil. Under a constant differential pressure, the injection flow rate of the live oil through the slimtube coil decreased over time as the porous medium became impaired. During the impairment stage, samples of the produced oil were collected on a regular basis for asphaltene-content measurement. After more than 1 month, the impairment test was terminated; the live oil was purged from the slimtube coil with helium at a pressure above the asphaltene-onset pressure (AOP); and the entire system was gently depressurized to bring the coil to atmospheric conditions while preserving the asphaltene-damaged zones of the coil. The permeability and porosity of the porous medium changed because of asphaltene impairment that was triggered by pressure depletion. Results indicated that the coil permeability was impaired by approximately 32% because of pressure depletion below the AOP, with most of the damage occurring in the latter section of the tube, which operated entirely below the AOP. Post-analytical studies indicated lower asphaltene content of the produced-oil samples compared with the injecting fluid. The distribution of asphaltene deposits along the length of the coil was determined by cutting the slimtube coil into 2- to 3-ft-long sections and using solvent extraction to collect the asphaltenes in each section. The extraction results confirmed that the observed permeability impairment was indeed caused by asphaltene deposition in the middle and latter sections of the coil, where the pressure was less than the AOP. With the success of this experiment, the same detailed analysis can be extended to a series of experiments to determine the effects of different key parameters on pressure-induced asphaltene impairment, including flow rate, wettability, and permeability.

Investigation of Effective Mechanisms in Permeability Reduction Due to Asphaltene Deposition through Porous Media

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Khederzadeh ◽  
S. Ostadrezaei ◽  
Iran R. Kharrat ◽  
H. Bagherzadeh ◽  
S. Mahdavi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Porous Media ◽  
Permeability Reduction ◽  
Asphaltene Deposition

Monte Carlo Risk Assessment of Formation Damage Caused by Asphaltene Deposition

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Arley S. Carvalhal ◽  
Gloria M. N. Costa ◽  
Silvio A. B. Vieira de Melo
Keyword(s):  
Monte Carlo ◽  
Probability Distribution ◽  
Oil Production ◽  
Rock Properties ◽  
Formation Damage ◽  
Permeability Reduction ◽  
Prevention Policy ◽  
Oil Composition ◽  
Hypothetical Scenario ◽  
Asphaltene Deposition

Summary Uncertainties regarding the factors that influence asphaltene deposition in porous media (e.g., those resulting from oil composition, rock properties, and rock/fluid interaction) strongly affect the prediction of important variables, such as oil production. Besides, some aspects of these predictions are stochastic processes, such as the aggregation phenomenon of asphaltene precipitates. For this reason, a well-defined output from an asphaltene-deposition model might not be feasible. Instead of this, obtaining the probability distribution of important outputs (e.g., permeability reduction and oil production) should be the objective of rigorous modeling of this phenomenon. This probability distribution would support the design of a risk-based policy for the prevention and mitigation of asphaltene deposition. In this paper we aim to present a new approach to assessing the risk of formation damage caused by asphaltene deposition using Monte Carlo simulations. Using this approach, the probability-distribution function of the permeability reduction was obtained. To connect this information to a parameter more related to economic concepts, the probability distribution of the damage ratio (DR) was also calculated, which is the fraction of production loss caused by formation damage. A hypothetical scenario involving a decision in the asphaltene-prevention policy is presented as an application of the method. A novel approach to model the prevention of asphaltene aggregation using inhibitors has been proposed and successfully applied in this scenario.

Laboratory Investigation of Permeability Impairment Caused by Asphaltene Precipitation during Screening for Gas-Injection Enhanced Oil Recovery and Pressure Change in a Major Gulf of Mexico Field

SPE Journal ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
M. R. Fassihi ◽  
E. Turek ◽  
M. Matt Honarpour ◽  
D. Peck ◽  
R. Fyfe
Keyword(s):  
Gulf Of Mexico ◽  
Gas Injection ◽  
Rock Surface ◽  
Permeability Reduction ◽  
Test Results ◽  
Asphaltene Precipitation ◽  
The Core ◽  
Asphaltene Deposition ◽  
Core Permeability ◽  
Permeability Impairment

Summary As part of studying miscible gas injection (GI) in a major field within the Green Canyon protraction area in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), asphaltene-formation risk was identified as a key factor affecting a potential GI project. The industry has not conducted many experiments to quantify the effect of asphaltenes on reservoir and well performance under GI conditions. In this paper we discuss a novel laboratory test for evaluating the asphaltene effect on permeability. The goals of the study were to define the asphaltene-precipitation envelope using blends of reservoir fluid and injection gas, and measure permeability reduction caused by asphaltene precipitation in a core under GI. To properly analyze the effect of GI, a suite of fluid-characterization studies was conducted, including restored-oil samples, compositional analysis, constant composition expansion (CCE), and differential vaporization. Miscibility conditions were defined through slimtube-displacement tests. Gas solubility was determined through swelling tests complemented by asphaltene-onset-pressure (AOP) testing. The unique procedure was developed to estimate the effect of asphaltene deposition on core permeability. The 1-ft-long core was saturated with the live-oil and GI mixture at a pressure greater than the AOP, and then pressure was depleted to a pressure slightly greater than the bubblepoint. Several cycles of charging and depletion were conducted to mimic continuous flow of oil along the path of injected gas and thereby to observe the accumulation of asphaltene on the rock surface. The test results indicated that during this cyclic asphaltene-deposition process, the core permeability to the live mixture decreased in the first few cycles but appeared to stabilize after Cycle 5. The deposited asphaltenes were analyzed further through environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM), and their deposition was confirmed by mass balance before and after the tests. Finally, a relationship was established between permeability reduction and asphaltene precipitation. The results from the asphaltene-deposition experiment show that for the sample, fluids, and conditions used, permeability is impaired as asphaltene flocculates and begins to coat the grain surfaces. This impairment reaches a plateau at approximately 40% of the initial permeability. Distribution of asphaltene along the core was measured at the end by segmenting the core and conducting solvent extraction on each segment. Our recommendation is numerical modeling of these test results and using this model to forecast the magnitude of the permeability impairment in a reservoir setting during miscible GI.

Modeling Formation Damage due to Asphaltene Deposition in the Porous Media

2011 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 753-761 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bahram S. Soulgani ◽  
Bahman Tohidi ◽  
Mohammad Jamialahmadi ◽  
Davood Rashtchian
Keyword(s):  
Porous Media ◽  
Formation Damage ◽  
Asphaltene Deposition

Modeling Permeability Impairment in Porous Media due to Asphaltene Deposition under Dynamic Conditions

2011 ◽  
Vol 25 (12) ◽  
pp. 5647-5659 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazeem A. Lawal ◽  
Velisa Vesovic ◽  
Edo S. Boek
Keyword(s):  
Porous Media ◽  
Dynamic Conditions ◽  
Asphaltene Deposition ◽  
Permeability Impairment

An Integrated Simulation Approach for Wellbore Blockage Considering Precipitation, Aggregation, and Deposition of Asphaltene Particles

SPE Journal ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Minhui Qi ◽  
Rouzbeh Ghanbarnezhad Moghanloo ◽  
Xin Su ◽  
Mingzhong Li
Keyword(s):  
Production Capacity ◽  
Production Performance ◽  
Flow Assurance ◽  
Simulation Approach ◽  
Asphaltene Precipitation ◽  
Integrated Simulation ◽  
Aggregation Processes ◽  
Asphaltene Deposition ◽  
Wellbore Flow ◽  
Flow Simulator

Summary Asphaltene deposition triggers serious flow assurance issues and can significantly restrict the production capacity. Because of the complexity associated with asphaltene deposition that includes several mechanisms acting simultaneously, an accurate prediction of asphaltene blockage along the wellbore requires integration of asphaltene precipitation, aggregation, and deposition. In this work, an integrated simulation approach is proposed to predict the asphaltene deposition profile along the wellbore. The proposed approach is novel because it integrates various deposition patterns of particulate flow (which depends on hydrodynamics) with aggregation processes to investigate how the distribution of asphaltene particle size varies (governed by molecular dynamics) after being precipitated out of the oil phase (controlled by thermodynamics). To improve the predictability capability of simulations, a direct input from the wellbore flow simulator is used to update the velocity profile after the wellbore radius changes beyond a certain predefined threshold. The fraction of asphaltene precipitation is determined using the asphaltene solubility model and combined with aggregation models to feed into deposition calculations. Wellbore blockage was examined for two cases with and without the aggregation mechanism included. A sensitivity analysis was carried out to study parameters that affect the severity of blockage, such as range of pressure-temperature along the wellbore, flow velocity, and radial distribution of asphaltene particles. The simulation approach proposed in this paper provides an in-depth understanding of the wellbore flow assurance issues caused by asphaltene deposition and thus provides useful insights for improving the predictions of production performance.

Simulating the Permeability Reduction due to Asphaltene Deposition in Porous Media

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nasser Alizadeh ◽  
Abbas Khaksar Manshad ◽  
Ali Fadili ◽  
Edmund Leung ◽  
Siavash Ashoori
Keyword(s):  
Porous Media ◽  
Permeability Reduction ◽  
Asphaltene Deposition
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