Bulk Rheology and Injectivity Assessments of Potential Biopolymer and Synthetic Polymer for Applications in Carbonates Under Harsh Conditions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deena A. Elhossary ◽  
Anoo Sebastian ◽  
Waleed Alameri ◽  
Emad W. Al-Shalabi
Keyword(s):  
High Temperature ◽  
High Salinity ◽  
Shear Thickening ◽  
Shear Thinning ◽  
Polymer Injection ◽  
Temperature Conditions ◽  
Chemical Eor ◽  
Reservoir Conditions ◽  
Rheological Experiments ◽  
The Stability

Abstract Polymer flooding is a well-established chemical EOR technology that is used to overcome challenges associated with conventional waterflooding including viscous fingering and early breakthrough. Nevertheless, polymers tend to perform poorly under harsh reservoir conditions of high temperature and high salinity (HTHS). The main objective of this study is to evaluate and compare the performance of two potential polymers, an ATBS-based polymer and a biopolymer (Scleroglucan), in carbonates under harsh reservoir conditions. This comparative study includes an analysis of polymer rheological experiments as well as polymer injectivity tests. The effects of water salinity and temperature on the performance of these two polymers was also investigated in this study. Rheological experiments were carried out on polymer samples at both ambient (25 °C) and high temperature conditions (90 °C). Polymer viscosity was measured as function of concentration, temperature, and salinity at different shear rates ranging from 1 to 1000 s−1. Injectivity characteristics of both polymers were also assessed through coreflooding experiments using high permeability carbonate outcrops at room (25 °C) and high (90 °C) temperature conditions. The injectivity tests included two stages of brine pre-flush and polymer injection, which allowed assessing the resistance factor (RF) of these polymers. These tests were conducted using high salinity formation water (167,114 ppm TDS) at both temperature conditions. The bulk rheological tests showed that both ATBS-based and Scleroglucan polymers exhibit a shear-thinning behavior. However, the shear-thinning effect is far more evident at higher concentrations in the case of Scleroglucan as opposed to that of the ATBS-based polymer. Viscosity measurements of the polymer samples at different salinities demonstrated the detrimental impact of salinity and divalent ions on the stability of ATBS-based whereas Scleroglucan was not much affected. Scleroglucan exhibited better filterability at the high temperature as opposed to the room temperature. From the injectivity tests, the shear-thinning behavior of the biopolymer in the porous media was confirmed as RF decreased with increasing the flow rate applied at both temperature conditions. Meanwhile, the ATBS-based polymer exhibited a shear-thickening behavior at 25 °C, but a shear-thinning one at 90 °C. Compared to the biopolymer, the ATBS-based polymer showed better injectivity at both the room and the high temperatures as the differential pressure stabilized within the first few pore volumes injected. This study highlights the importance of polymer screening for EOR applications in carbonate reservoirs under HTHS conditions.

scholarly journals Analysis and Simulation of Polymer Injectivity Test in a High Temperature High Salinity Carbonate Reservoir

Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 1765
Author(s):  
Mohamed Adel Alzaabi ◽  
Juan Manuel Leon ◽  
Arne Skauge ◽  
Shehadeh Masalmeh
Keyword(s):  
Porous Media ◽  
High Temperature ◽  
Polymer Solutions ◽  
High Salinity ◽  
Shear Thickening ◽  
Shear Thinning ◽  
Polymer Flooding ◽  
Carbonate Reservoir ◽  
Polymer Injection ◽  
The Impact

Polymer flooding has gained much interest within the oil industry in the past few decades as one of the most successful chemical enhanced oil recovery (CEOR) methods. The injectivity of polymer solutions in porous media is a key factor in polymer flooding projects. The main challenge that faces prediction of polymer injectivity in field applications is the inherent non-Newtonian behavior of polymer solutions. Polymer in situ rheology in porous media may exhibit complex behavior that encompasses shear thickening at high flow rates in addition to the typical shear thinning at low rates. This shear-dependent behavior is usually measured in lab core flood experiments. However, data from field applications are usually limited to the well bottom-hole pressure (BHP) as the sole source of information. In this paper, we analyze BHP data from field polymer injectivity test conducted in a Middle Eastern heterogeneous carbonate reservoir characterized by high-temperature and high-salinity (HTHS) conditions. The analysis involved incorporating available data to build a single-well model to simulate the injectivity test. Several generic sensitivities were tested to investigate the impact of stepwise variation in injection flow rate and polymer concentration. Polymer injection was reflected in a non-linear increase in pressure with injection, and longer transient behavior toward steady state. The results differ from water injection which have linear pressure response to rate variation, and quick stabilization of pressure after rate change. The best match of the polymer injection was obtained with complex rheology, that means the combined shear thickening at high rate near the well and moving through apparent Newtonian and shear thinning at low rate.

Stability of Shear-Thickening Liquids Between Rotating Cylinders

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nariman Ashrafi ◽  
Habib Karimi Haghighi
Keyword(s):  
Couette Flow ◽  
Dynamical Behavior ◽  
Shear Thickening ◽  
Shear Thinning ◽  
Taylor Vortex ◽  
Shear Dependent Viscosity ◽  
Shear Thinning Fluids ◽  
Shear Thickening Fluids ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Dependent Viscosity

The effects of nonlinearities on the stability are explored for shear thickening fluids in the narrow-gap limit of the Taylor-Couette flow. It is assumed that shear-thickening fluids behave exactly as opposite of shear thinning ones. A dynamical system is obtained from the conservation of mass and momentum equations which include nonlinear terms in velocity components due to the shear-dependent viscosity. It is found that the critical Taylor number, corresponding to the loss of stability of Couette flow becomes higher as the shear-thickening effects increases. Similar to the shear thinning case, the Taylor vortex structure emerges in the shear thickening flow, however they quickly disappear thus bringing the flow back to the purely azimuthal flow. Naturally, one expects shear thickening fluids to result in inverse dynamical behavior of shear thinning fluids. This study proves that this is not the case for every point on the bifurcation diagram.

Drops of power-law fluids falling on a coated vertical fibre

2014 ◽  
Vol 751 ◽  
pp. 184-215
Author(s):  
Liyan Yu ◽  
John Hinch
Keyword(s):  
Solitary Waves ◽  
Power Law ◽  
Shear Thickening ◽  
Shear Thinning ◽  
Bond Number ◽  
Power Law Fluid ◽  
Shear Thinning Fluids ◽  
Power Law Fluids ◽  
Shear Thickening Fluids ◽  
The Stability

AbstractWe study the solitary wave solutions in a thin film of a power-law fluid coating a vertical fibre. Different behaviours are observed for shear-thickening and shear-thinning fluids. For shear-thickening fluids, the solitary waves are larger and faster when the reduced Bond number is smaller. For shear-thinning fluids, two branches of solutions exist for a certain range of the Bond number, where the solitary waves are larger and faster on one and smaller and slower on the other as the Bond number decreases. We carry out an asymptotic analysis for the large and fast-travelling solitary waves to explain how their speeds and amplitudes change with the Bond number. The analysis is then extended to examine the stability of the two branches of solutions for the shear-thinning fluids.

Development of Chemical EOR Formulations for a High Temperature and High Salinity Carbonate Reservoir

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ming Han ◽  
Abdulkareem AlSofi ◽  
Alhasan Fuseni ◽  
Xianmin Zhou ◽  
Saleh Hassan
Keyword(s):  
High Temperature ◽  
High Salinity ◽  
Carbonate Reservoir ◽  
Chemical Eor

Successful Field Application of Delayed Water-Swelling, Flexible Gel Particles for In-Depth Waterflood Conformance Improvement in Wide Spacing of Wells with High Temperature and High Salinity

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fayang Jin ◽  
Qihang Li ◽  
Yong Liu ◽  
Wanfen Pu ◽  
Chengdong Yuan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Temperature ◽  
High Salinity ◽  
Production Performance ◽  
Wide Spacing ◽  
Gel Particles ◽  
Well Spacing ◽  
Profile Control ◽  
Reservoir Conditions ◽  
Water Swelling

Abstract The HD Oilfield, operated by PetroChina, is located in Tarim Basin. It is characterized by high temperature (112 ℃) and high salinity (291000 mg/L), and developed by wide spacing of wells (average 700 m). High vertical and areal heterogeneity lead to early water breakthrough and a poor water sweep efficiency. Effective conformance control is urgently needed, but harsh reservoir conditions, wide well spacing, and discontinuous interlayers pose great challenges for conformance treatments in this field. Because of wide well spacing and discontinuous interlayers, water channeling and crossflow in in-depth part of reservoir could still occur after conformance treatment. To prevent this, in-depth conformance improvement treatments with injecting large volumes of low-cost profile control agents were proposed. To achieve this goal, we designed delayed water-swelling, flexible gel particles that have high deformability and elasticity. Simultaneously, to meet the harsh reservoir conditions, gel particles were designed to have long-term tolerance to high temperature and high salinity. The first treatment was implemented in May 2016, and the total incremental oil by June 2019 was 17347 tons. The treatment validity is more than 36 months, and it keeps being effective. Until now, 9 treatments have been finished. The total incremental oil is 102100 tons until May 2020, and the increment is still going on. The input-output ratio for these 9 treatments is about 8.45, which indicates the treatments were an economic and technical success. In this paper, first we describe the design of gel particles and their properties evaluation by extensive experiments, including water-swelling ability, long-term tolerance to high temperature and high salinity, elasticity, tenacity, injectivity, selectivity, plugging ability, and scouring resistance, etc. Then, we present operation design and control in the field, which is especially important for the success of these treatments. Furthermore, according to production performance as well as the wellhead pressure drop curve, pressure curve of water injection, and water injectivity in injection well, treatment results are discussed in detail to evaluate if the treatment is successful or not. Finally, several important experiences with respect to how to do operation design and field control are summarized. This paper documents a successful case history of in-depth waterflood conformance improvement in wide spacing of wells. These successful field cases together with summarized experience will provide a detailed guide and an updated framework for conformance improvement treatment for operators. In addition, this paper presents an alternative agent, i.e., delayed water-swelling, flexible gel particles, for in-depth waterflood conformance improvement in high temperature and high salinity reservoirs.

Shear-Thickening Flow Between Coaxial Cylinders

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nariman Ashrafi ◽  
Habib Karimi Haghighi
Keyword(s):  
Couette Flow ◽  
Dynamical Behavior ◽  
Shear Thickening ◽  
Shear Thinning ◽  
Taylor Vortex ◽  
Shear Dependent Viscosity ◽  
Shear Thinning Fluids ◽  
Shear Thickening Fluids ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Dependent Viscosity

The effects of nonlinearities on the stability are explored for shear thickening fluids in the narrow-gap limit of the Taylor-Couette flow. A dynamical system is obtained from the conservation of mass and momentum equations which include nonlinear terms in velocity components due to the shear-dependent viscosity. It is found that the critical Taylor number, corresponding to the loss of stability of Couette flow becomes higher as the shear-thickening effects increases. Similar to the shear thinning case, the Taylor vortex structure emerges in the shear thickening flow; however they quickly disappear thus bringing the flow back to the purely azimuthal flow. Naturally, one expects shear thickening fluids to result in inverse dynamical behavior of shear thinning fluids. This study proves that this is not the case for every point on the bifurcation diagram.

Development of Chemical EOR Formulations for a High Temperature and High Salinity Carbonate Reservoir

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ming Han ◽  
Abdulkareem AlSofi ◽  
Alhasan Fuseni ◽  
Xianmin Zhou ◽  
Saleh Hassan
Keyword(s):  
High Temperature ◽  
High Salinity ◽  
Carbonate Reservoir ◽  
Chemical Eor
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