Three-Dimensional Visualization of Oil Displacement by Foam in Porous Media

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josiah Siew Kai Wong ◽  
Tetsuya Suekane
Keyword(s):  
Porous Media ◽  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
The Other ◽  
Oil Viscosity ◽  
Fluid Displacement ◽  
Oil Displacement ◽  
Gas Flooding ◽  
Displacement Patterns ◽  
Foam In Porous Media

Abstract Foam Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) has been employed as an improved recovery method due to its best sweep efficiency and best mobility control over the other injection method such as gas flooding, water flooding and other EOR methods. Foam which has high viscosity illustrates great potential for displacing liquid. The relative immobility of foam in porous media seems to be able to suppress the formation of fingers during oil displacement leading a more stable displacement. However, there are still various parameters that may influence the efficiency of foam assisted oil displacement such as oil properties, permeability of reservoir rock, physical and chemical properties of foam, and other parameters. Also, the interaction and displacement patterns of foam inside the porous media are remained unknown. Thus, in this study, we investigated the three-dimensional (3D) characteristics of oil recovery with gases, water, surfactant, and foam injection in a porous media set-up. By using CT scanning machine, the fluid displacement patterns were captured and analyzed. Moreover, the effect of oil viscosity on foam displacement patterns is studied. The study provides a qualitative and quantitative experimental visualization of 3D displacement structure, oil recovery with gases, liquid and foam injection. As a result, the comparison of fluid displacement patterns between gases, water, surfactant and foam injection show that foam has the good ability in sweeping and forms stable displacement front. The combination of surfactant, liquid and gas, which makes up foam resulted in a synergistic effect in oil displacement. On the other hand, viscous fingering, gravity segregation, trapped oil phenomena are shown in gas flooding and liquid flooding experiments. Thus, foam which displaced stably across the permeable bed resulted in the highest oil recovery factor. The mechanism of foam flow in porous media was understood in this study. Foam, as a series of bubble, burst and become free moving liquid and gas particles when in contact with oil and porous media. Therefore, two displacement fronts could be found from the foam injection experiment, in which the front layer moving ahead in contacting with oil bank is the discontinuous gas/liquid layer and followed by stably foam bank at the back. Due to the stable displacement of foam bank, the effect of oil viscosity on foam displacement is suppressed and showed no distinction in terms of displacement patterns. The flow regimes are found to be the same despite different viscosity of displaced oil. There has been no linear correlation proved between the oil viscosity and oil recovery factor.

A Ternary, Two-Phase, Mathematical Model of Oil Recovery With Surfactant Systems

1984 ◽  
Vol 24 (06) ◽  
pp. 606-616 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles P. Thomas ◽  
Paul D. Fleming ◽  
William K. Winter
Keyword(s):  
Mathematical Model ◽  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Arbitrary Number ◽  
The Other ◽  
Phase System ◽  
Chemical Flooding ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Oil Displacement ◽  
Surfactant Systems ◽  
And Diffusion

Abstract A mathematical model describing one-dimensional (1D), isothermal flow of a ternary, two-phase surfactant system in isotropic porous media is presented along with numerical solutions of special cases. These solutions exhibit oil recovery profiles similar to those observed in laboratory tests of oil displacement by surfactant systems in cores. The model includes the effects of surfactant transfer between aqueous and hydrocarbon phases and both reversible and irreversible surfactant adsorption by the porous medium. The effects of capillary pressure and diffusion are ignored, however. The model is based on relative permeability concepts and employs a family of relative permeability curves that incorporate the effects of surfactant concentration on interfacial tension (IFT), the viscosity of the phases, and the volumetric flow rate. A numerical procedure was developed that results in two finite difference equations that are accurate to second order in the timestep size and first order in the spacestep size and allows explicit calculation of phase saturations and surfactant concentrations as a function of space and time variables. Numerical dispersion (truncation error) present in the two equations tends to mimic the neglected present in the two equations tends to mimic the neglected effects of capillary pressure and diffusion. The effective diffusion constants associated with this effect are proportional to the spacestep size. proportional to the spacestep size. Introduction In a previous paper we presented a system of differential equations that can be used to model oil recovery by chemical flooding. The general system allows for an arbitrary number of components as well as an arbitrary number of phases in an isothermal system. For a binary, two-phase system, the equations reduced to those of the Buckley-Leverett theory under the usual assumptions of incompressibility and each phase containing only a single component, as well as in the more general case where both phases have significant concentrations of both components, but the phases are incompressible and the concentration in one phase is a very weak function of the pressure of the other phase at a given temperature. pressure of the other phase at a given temperature. For a ternary, two-phase system a set of three differential equations was obtained. These equations are applicable to chemical flooding with surfactant, polymer, etc. In this paper, we present a numerical solution to these equations paper, we present a numerical solution to these equations for I D flow in the absence of gravity. Our purpose is to develop a model that includes the physical phenomena influencing oil displacement by surfactant systems and bridges the gap between laboratory displacement tests and reservoir simulation. It also should be of value in defining experiments to elucidate the mechanisms involved in oil displacement by surfactant systems and ultimately reduce the number of experiments necessary to optimize a given surfactant system.

The Experimental Analysis of the Role of Flue Gas Injection for Horizontal Well Steam Flooding

2018 ◽  
Vol 140 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhanxi Pang ◽  
Peng Qi ◽  
Fengyi Zhang ◽  
Taotao Ge ◽  
Huiqing Liu
Keyword(s):  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Heavy Oil ◽  
Flue Gas ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Steam Injection ◽  
Displacement Efficiency ◽  
Oil Viscosity ◽  
Sweep Efficiency ◽  
Steam Flooding ◽  
Heavy Oil Reservoirs

Heavy oil is an important hydrocarbon resource that plays a great role in petroleum supply for the world. Co-injection of steam and flue gas can be used to develop deep heavy oil reservoirs. In this paper, a series of gas dissolution experiments were implemented to analyze the properties variation of heavy oil. Then, sand-pack flooding experiments were carried out to optimize injection temperature and injection volume of this mixture. Finally, three-dimensional (3D) flooding experiments were completed to analyze the sweep efficiency and the oil recovery factor of flue gas + steam flooding. The role in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) mechanisms was summarized according to the experimental results. The results show that the dissolution of flue gas in heavy oil can largely reduce oil viscosity and its displacement efficiency is obviously higher than conventional steam injection. Flue gas gradually gathers at the top to displace remaining oil and to decrease heat loss of the reservoir top. The ultimate recovery is 49.49% that is 7.95% higher than steam flooding.

scholarly journals Effect of Surface Wettability on Immiscible Displacement in a Microfluidic Porous Media

Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 664 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge Avendaño ◽  
Nicolle Lima ◽  
Antonio Quevedo ◽  
Marcio Carvalho
Keyword(s):  
Porous Media ◽  
Water Injection ◽  
Residual Oil ◽  
Strong Function ◽  
Fluid Displacement ◽  
Oil Displacement ◽  
Displacement Front ◽  
Final Volume ◽  
Displacement Experiments ◽  
Effect Of Surface

Wettability has a dramatic impact on fluid displacement in porous media. The pore level physics of one liquid being displaced by another is a strong function of the wetting characteristics of the channel walls. However, the quantification of the effect is still not clear. Conflicting data have shown that in some oil displacement experiments in rocks, the volume of trapped oil falls as the porous media becomes less water-wet, while in some microfluidic experiments the volume of residual oil is higher in oil-wet media. The reasons for this discrepancy are not fully understood. In this study, we analyzed oil displacement by water injection in two microfluidic porous media with different wettability characteristics that had capillaries with constrictions. The resulting oil ganglia size distribution at the end of water injection was quantified by image processing. The results show that in the oil-wet porous media, the displacement front was more uniform and the final volume of remaining oil was smaller, with a much smaller number of large oil ganglia and a larger number of small oil ganglia, when compared to the water-wet media.

Study on Minimum Miscible Pressure and Oil Displacement Law for CO2 Flooding

2011 ◽  
Vol 391-392 ◽  
pp. 1051-1054
Author(s):  
Shu Li Chen ◽  
Wen Xiang Wu ◽  
Jia Bin Tang
Keyword(s):  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Gas Injection ◽  
Injection Pressure ◽  
Water Flooding ◽  
Tube Model ◽  
Gas Oil ◽  
Core Flooding ◽  
Oil Displacement ◽  
Gas Flooding ◽  
Cumulative Recovery

In laboratory, the minimum miscible pressure (MMP) of oil and CO2 was studied by using a slim tube model. The results showed that the greater the gas injection pressure, the higher the cumulative recovery. The gas breakthrough when the gas was injected with a volume of 0.7~0.8PV, the trend of cumulative recovery increase slowed down and the produced gas-oil ratio increased dramatically. Core flooding experiments were carried to compare the effects of CO2 and water flooding. As a result, the ultimate oil recovery of CO2 flooding increased with the increase of gas injection pressure. If the gas flooding was miscible, the ultimate recovery of CO2 flooding was generally higher than that of water flooding.

scholarly journals Ultra-Low Interfacial Tension Foam System for Enhanced Oil Recovery

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 2155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qi Liu ◽  
Shuangxing Liu ◽  
Dan Luo ◽  
Bo Peng
Keyword(s):  
Liquid Phase ◽  
Interfacial Tension ◽  
Enhanced Oil Recovery ◽  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Foaming Properties ◽  
Oil Viscosity ◽  
Important Indicator ◽  
Oil Displacement ◽  
Displacement Capacity ◽  
Foam Flooding

The liquid phase of foam systems plays a major role in improving the fluidity of oil, by reducing oil viscosity and stripping oil from rock surfaces during foam-flooding processes. Improving the oil displacement capacity of the foam’s liquid phase could lead to significant improvement in foam-flooding effects. Oil-liquid interfacial tension (IFT) is an important indicator of the oil displacement capacity of a liquid. In this study, several surfactants were used as foaming agents, and polymers were used as foam stabilizers. Foaming was induced using a Waring blender stirring method. Foam with an oil-liquid IFT of less than 10–3 mN/m was prepared after a series of adjustments to the liquid composition. This study verified the possibility of a foam system with both an ultra-low oil-liquid IFT and high foaming properties. Our results provide insight into a means of optimizing foam fluids for enhanced oil recovery.

Effect of Foam on Permeability of Porous Media to Gas

1964 ◽  
Vol 4 (03) ◽  
pp. 267-274 ◽  
Author(s):  
George G. Bernard ◽  
L.W. Holm
Keyword(s):  
Porous Media ◽  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Gas Flow ◽  
Gas Permeability ◽  
Absolute Permeability ◽  
Displacement Efficiency ◽  
Foaming Agent ◽  
Foaming Agents ◽  
Oil Displacement ◽  
Surface Active

Abstract Laboratory experiments were conducted to determine the effect of foam on gas flow in porous media. Previous studies have indicated that foam may be applicable as a restrictive agent in influencing underground gas flow. Foam was found to be exceedingly effective in reducing the permeability of porous media to gas. Consolidated and unconsolidated sands with specific permeabilities of 100 to 146,000 md had, in the presence of foam, gas permeabilities that were less than 1 per cent of the specific permeability; in many cases the gas permeability was practically zero. Foam reduced the gas permeability of loose sand to a much greater degree than that of a tight sand. For example, the permeability of a 125,000-md sand was reduced to 3 md while the permeability of a 4,000-md sand was reduced to 7 md. This effect should cause, to some degree, a selective plugging of high permeability channels in various oil displacement processes. The presence of oil in a porous medium decreased the effectiveness of foam in reducing gas permeability; apparently oil acts as a foam depressant. However, it was found that certain foaming agents were very effective in reducing permeability even in the presence of oil. Also, continuous injection of other foaming agents increased their effectiveness, when oil was present. The effect of foam on permeability of porous media to gas was studied as a function of foaming agent concentration and injection rate, absolute permeability, total pressure, pressure gradient, length of porous system, brine concentration and time. Introduction The use of surface active agents in flood water to increase the recovery of oil has been studied in the laboratory and in the field for decades, with rather limited success. In recent years a new approach to the problem was proposed. Instead of using an aqueous solution of surfactant as an oil recovery agent, Bond and Holbrook proposed that the oil recovery agent he a mixture of surfactant solution and gas. In their method, a water-soluble surface active agent with foam-producing characteristics is injected into an underground formation as an aqueous slug. This slug is followed by gas to produce a foam within the rock. Foams are defined as "agglomerations of gas bubbles separated from each other by thin liquid films." A foam is fundamentally an unstable system. The foam process for oil recovery has since been studied by other investigators. Fried has shown that foam can displace from porous structures oil that normally is unrecoverable by conventional water or gas drives. This superior oil displacing action is believed to be the result of several factors:foam introduces into the reservoir many resilient interfaces of various sizes and curvatures, which increase the probability that a proper combination of forces for oil displacement will be created;foam has appreciable viscosity which improves mobility ratio and contact efficiency;foam accentuates the trapped gas effect because high gag saturations are possible without producing high gas/oil ratios. Deming studied the effect of various foam properties on the displacement of liquid. He found thathigh foaming ability favors high displacement efficiency;high foam stability is not necessary for high displacement efficiency;displacement efficiency decreases with increase in plasticity of foam anddisplacement efficiency is unaffected by surface tension of foaming agent solution. One of the important aspects of this oil recovery process is the effect of foam on gas permeability. The simultaneous flow of gas and liquid in porous media has been studied by numerous investigators and a large amount of literature exists on the subject. In this previous work, gas and liquid have generally been considered as essentially independent phases, whose flow characteristics are related through the saturation parameter. Foam, however, is a material with properties that are considerably different from those of its components; for example, the viscosity of a foam is greater than either of its components. SPEJ P. 267ˆ

Study on In Situ Carbon Dioxide-Generation Flooding

2012 ◽  
Vol 502 ◽  
pp. 179-183
Author(s):  
Hong Jing Zhang ◽  
Shuang Bo Dong ◽  
Zhe Kui Zheng
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Flow Direction ◽  
Physical Models ◽  
Viscosity Reduction ◽  
Oil Viscosity ◽  
Foamy Oil ◽  
Oil Displacement ◽  
Generation Technology

Aiming at the source and corrosiveness of carbon dioxide, the in-situ carbon dioxide generation technology to enhance oil recovery was proposed。This paper presents the in-situ carbon dioxide generation technology mechanism, the expansion, viscosity reduction; oil-displacement efficiency and foamy oil of this technology were experimentally evaluated by using microscopic models and physical models. The experimental results indicated that the in-situ carbon dioxide generation technology could be used to produce enough carbon dioxide and get good efficiencies of oil expansion, reduction of viscosity and enhancement of oil displacement. Under the conditions of 2010mPa•s in oil viscosity, 60°C and 10MPa, the volume of oil could be expanded by25%, and the viscosity of oil can reduced to 52.7% , and the CO2 can displacement，restraining viscous fingering and changing liquid flow direction and carrying the residual oil.

Applied Research of Heat Self-Generated CO2 Technology in Steam Huff and Puff

2014 ◽  
Vol 1010-1012 ◽  
pp. 1693-1698
Author(s):  
Yi Ding ◽  
Guo Wei Qin ◽  
Peng Liu ◽  
Zi Li Fan ◽  
Hong Wei Xiao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Interfacial Tension ◽  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Heavy Oil ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Reduction Rate ◽  
Viscosity Reduction ◽  
Oil Viscosity ◽  
Blowing Agent ◽  
Steam Flooding ◽  
Gas Flooding

Heat self-generated CO2 technique is proposed, which is focused on the problems of recovery difficulty, poor effect steam soaking and so on for heavy oil reservoirs. This technology is combining of steam flooding and gas flooding and so on. Its main mechanism is the application of steam heating blowing agent to generate a large volume of gases (including CO2, NH3, etc) in the formation. While some of these gases acting with the oil to reduce the oil viscosity, some form miscible flooding to reduce water interfacial tension, so as to achieve the purpose of enhancing oil recovery. An optimized selection of the heat blowing agents was performed. By comparison the difference before and after the reaction of blowing agent solution, the increase of alkaline is occurred after the reaction, and is helpful to reduce oil viscosity and lower interfacial tension, etc. Studies indicate that heat-generating CO2 flooding technology can get a maximum viscosity reduction rate of 76.7%, oil-water interfacial tension decreased by 54.77%, further improve oil recovery by 4.17% based on the steam drive, which shows a technical advantage toward conventional EOR method. The field experiments indicate that the technique can greatly improve the oil production, which will provide a powerful technical supporting for the efficient development of heavy oil.

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