Compositional Modeling of Impure CO2 Injection for Enhanced Oil Recovery and CO2 Storage

Injecting CO2, a greenhouse gas, into the reservoir could be beneficial economically, by extracting remaining oil, and environmentally, by storing CO2 in the reservoir. CO2 captured from various sources always contains various impurities that affect the gas–oil system in the reservoir, changing oil productivity and CO2 geological storage performance. Therefore, it is necessary to examine the effect of impurities on both enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and carbon capture and storage (CCS) performance. For Canada Weyburn W3 fluid, a 2D compositional simulation of water-alternating-gas (WAG) injection was conducted to analyze the effect of impure CO2 on EOR and CCS performance. Most components in the CO2 stream such as CH4, H2, N2, O2, and Ar can unfavorably increase the MMP between the oil and gas mixture, while H2S decreased the MMP. MMP changed according to the type and concentration of impurity in the CO2 stream. Impurities in the CO2 stream also decreased both sweep efficiency and displacement efficiency, increased the IFT between gas and reservoir fluid, and hindered oil density reduction. The viscous gravity number increased by 59.6%, resulting in a decrease in vertical sweep efficiency. In the case of carbon storage, impurities decreased the performance of residual trapping by 4.1% and solubility trapping by 5.6% compared with pure CO2 WAG. As a result, impurities in CO2 reduced oil recovery by 9.2% and total CCS performance by 4.3%.

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Making the subsurface political: How enhanced oil recovery techniques reshaped the energy transition

Environment and Planning C Politics and Space ◽

10.1177/2399654419884077 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 38 (4) ◽

pp. 733-750

Author(s):

Sébastien Chailleux

Keyword(s):

Enhanced Oil Recovery ◽

Oil Recovery ◽

Carbon Capture ◽

Oil And Gas ◽

Global Climate ◽

Carbon Capture And Storage ◽

Energy Transition ◽

Social Protest ◽

Recovery Techniques ◽

And Storage

Analyzing the case of France, this article aims to explain how the development of enhanced oil recovery techniques over the last decade contributed to politicizing the subsurface, that is putting underground resources at the center of social unrest and political debates. France faced a decline of its oil and gas activity in the 1990s, followed by a renewal with subsurface activity in the late 2000s using enhanced oil recovery techniques. An industrial demonstrator for carbon capture and storage was developed between 2010 and 2013 , while projects targeting unconventional oil and gas were pushed forward between 2008 and 2011 before eventually being canceled. We analyze how the credibility, legitimacy, and governance of those techniques were developed and how conflicts made the role of the subsurface for energy transition the target of political choices. The level of political and industrial support and social protest played a key role in building project legitimacy, while the types of narratives and their credibility determined the distinct trajectories of hydraulic fracturing and carbon capture and storage in France. The conflicts over enhanced oil recovery techniques are also explained through the critical assessment of the governance framework that tends to exclude civil society stakeholders. We suggest that these conflicts illustrated a new type of politicization of the subsurface by merging geostrategic concerns with social claims about governance, ecological demands about pollution, and linking local preoccupations to global climate change.

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Chemistry of Reservoir Fluids in the Aspect of CO2 Injection for Selected Oil Reservoirs in Poland

Energies ◽

10.3390/en13236456 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (23) ◽

pp. 6456

Author(s):

Ewa Knapik ◽

Katarzyna Chruszcz-Lipska

Keyword(s):

Oil Recovery ◽

Carbon Capture ◽

Co2 Storage ◽

Carbon Capture And Storage ◽

Oil Reservoirs ◽

Co2 Injection ◽

Oil Composition ◽

Co2 Solubility ◽

Geological Co2 Storage ◽

Reservoir Conditions

Worldwide experiences related to geological CO2 storage show that the process of the injection of carbon dioxide into depleted oil reservoirs (CCS-EOR, Carbon Capture and Storage—Enhanced Oil Recovery) is highly profitable. The injection of CO2 will allow an increasing recovery factor (thus increasing CCS process profitability) and revitalize mature reservoirs, which may lead to oil spills due to pressure buildups. In Poland, such a solution has not yet been implemented in the industry. This work provides additional data for analysis of the possibility of the CCS-EOR method’s implementation for three potential clusters of Polish oil reservoirs located at a short distance one from another. The aim of the work was to examine the properties of reservoir fluids for these selected oil reservoirs in order to assure a better understanding of the physicochemical phenomena that accompany the gas injection process. The chemical composition of oils was determined by gas chromatography. All tested oils represent a medium black oil type with the density ranging from 795 to 843 g/L and the viscosity at 313 K, varying from 1.95 to 5.04 mm/s. The content of heavier components C25+ is up to 17 wt. %. CO2–oil MMP (Minimum Miscibility Pressure) was calculated in a CHEMCAD simulator using the Soave–Redlich–Kwong equation of state (SRK EoS). The oil composition was defined as a mixture of n-alkanes. Relatively low MMP values (ca. 8.3 MPa for all tested oils at 313 K) indicate a high potential of the EOR method, and make this geological CO2 storage form more attractive to the industry. For reservoir brines, the content of the main ions was experimentally measured and CO2 solubility under reservoir conditions was calculated. The reservoir brines showed a significant variation in properties with total dissolved solids contents varying from 17.5 to 378 g/L. CO2 solubility in brines depends on reservoir conditions and brine chemistry. The highest calculated CO2 solubility is 1.79 mol/kg, which suggest possible CO2 storage in aquifers.

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Improving CO2 storage and oil recovery by injecting alcohol-treated CO2

The APPEA Journal ◽

10.1071/aj19145 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 60 (2) ◽

pp. 662

Author(s):

Saira ◽

Furqan Le-Hussain

Keyword(s):

Oil Recovery ◽

Co2 Sequestration ◽

Computer Modelling ◽

Co2 Storage ◽

Co2 Injection ◽

Displacement Efficiency ◽

Sweep Efficiency ◽

Numerical Studies ◽

Reservoir Simulator ◽

Enhance Oil Recovery

Oil recovery and CO2 storage related to CO2 enhance oil recovery are dependent on CO2 miscibility. In case of a depleted oil reservoir, reservoir pressure is not sufficient to achieve miscible or near-miscible condition. This extended abstract presents numerical studies to delineate the effect of alcohol-treated CO2 injection on enhancing miscibility, CO2 storage and oil recovery at immiscible and near-miscible conditions. A compositional reservoir simulator from Computer Modelling Group Ltd. was used to examine the effect of alcohol-treated CO2 on the recovery mechanism. A SPE-5 3D model was used to simulate oil recovery and CO2 storage at field scale for two sets of fluid pairs: (1) pure CO2 and decane and (2) alcohol-treated CO2 and decane. Alcohol-treated CO2 consisted of a mixture of 4 wt% of ethanol and 96 wt% of CO2. All simulations were run at constant temperature (70°C), whereas pressures were determined using a pressure-volume-temperature simulator for immiscible (1400 psi) and near-miscible (1780 psi) conditions. Simulation results reveal that alcohol-treated CO2 injection is found superior to pure CO2 injection in oil recovery (5–9%) and CO2 storage efficiency (4–6%). It shows that alcohol-treated CO2 improves CO2 sweep efficiency. However, improvement in sweep efficiency with alcohol-treated CO2 is more pronounced at higher pressures, whereas improvement in displacement efficiency is more pronounced at lower pressures. The proposed methodology has potential to enhance the feasibility of CO2 sequestration in depleted oil reservoirs and improve both displacement and sweep efficiency of CO2.

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Beyond Carbon Steel: Detecting Wellbore Shape and Cavities, and Cement Imperfections in Cased Wells

Energies ◽

10.3390/en12214211 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 12 (21) ◽

pp. 4211

Author(s):

Timofey Eltsov ◽

Tadeusz W. Patzek

Keyword(s):

Magnetic Field ◽

Carbon Steel ◽

Oil Recovery ◽

Magnetic Permeability ◽

Carbon Capture ◽

Oil And Gas ◽

Carbon Capture And Storage ◽

Vertical Component ◽

Co2 Injection ◽

Gas Field

The non-corrosive, electrically resistive fiberglass casing materials may improve the economics of oil and gas field projects. At moderate temperatures (<120 °C), fiberglass casing is superior to carbon steel casing in applications that involve wet CO2 injection and/or production, such as carbon capture and storage, and CO2-based enhanced oil recovery (EOR) methods. Without a perfect protective cement shell, carbon steel casing in contact with a concentrated formation brine corrodes and the fiberglass casing is superior again. Fiberglass casing enables electromagnetic logging for exploration and reservoir monitoring, but it requires the development of new logging methods. Here we present a technique for the detection of integrity of magnetic cement behind resistive fiberglass casing. We demonstrate that an optimized induction logging tool can detect small changes in the magnetic permeability of cement through a non-conductive casing in a vertical (or horizontal) well. We determine both the integrity and solidification state of the cement-filled annulus behind the casing. Changes in magnetic permeability influence mostly the real part of the vertical component of the magnetic field. The signal amplitude is more sensitive to a change in the magnetic properties of the cement, rather than the signal phase. Our simulations showed that optimum separation between the transmitter and receiver coils ranged from 0.25 to 0.6 m, and the most suitable magnetic field frequencies varied from 0.1 to 10 kHz. A high-frequency induction probe operating at 200 MHz can measure the degree of solidification of cement. The proposed method can detect borehole cracks filled with cement, incomplete lift of cement, casing eccentricity, and other borehole inhomogeneities.

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A Review of CO2 Storage in View of Safety and Cost-Effectiveness

Energies ◽

10.3390/en13030600 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

pp. 600 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Cheng Cao ◽

Hejuan Liu ◽

Zhengmeng Hou ◽

Faisal Mehmood ◽

Jianxing Liao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Co2 Emissions ◽

Oil Recovery ◽

Carbon Capture ◽

Large Scale ◽

Oil And Gas ◽

Coal Fly Ash ◽

Co2 Storage ◽

Carbon Capture And Storage ◽

Current Status ◽

The Government

The emissions of greenhouse gases, especially CO2, have been identified as the main contributor for global warming and climate change. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is considered to be the most promising strategy to mitigate the anthropogenic CO2 emissions. This review aims to provide the latest developments of CO2 storage from the perspective of improving safety and economics. The mechanisms and strategies of CO2 storage, focusing on their characteristics and current status, are discussed firstly. In the second section, the strategies for assessing and ensuring the security of CO2 storage operations, including the risks assessment approach and monitoring technology associated with CO2 storage, are outlined. In addition, the engineering methods to accelerate CO2 dissolution and mineral carbonation for fixing the mobile CO2 are also compared within the second section. The third part focuses on the strategies for improving economics of CO2 storage operations, namely enhanced industrial production with CO2 storage to generate additional profit, and co-injection of CO2 with impurities to reduce the cost. Moreover, the role of multiple CCS technologies and their distribution on the mitigation of CO2 emissions in the future are summarized. This review demonstrates that CO2 storage in depleted oil and gas reservoirs could play an important role in reducing CO2 emission in the near future and CO2 storage in saline aquifers may make the biggest contribution due to its huge storage capacity. Comparing the various available strategies, CO2-enhanced oil recovery (CO2-EOR) operations are supposed to play the most important role for CO2 mitigation in the next few years, followed by CO2-enhanced gas recovery (CO2-EGR). The direct mineralization of flue gas by coal fly ash and the pH swing mineralization would be the most promising technology for the mineral sequestration of CO2. Furthermore, by accelerating the deployment of CCS projects on large scale, the government can also play its role in reducing the CO2 emissions.

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Why CCS? Milestone on Research and Regulation Coverages

KnE Energy ◽

10.18502/ken.v1i1.346 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

pp. 13

Author(s):

Aisyah Kusuma ◽

Eko Widianto ◽

Rachmat Sule ◽

Wawan Gunawan A. Kadir ◽

Mega S. Gemilang

Keyword(s):

Oil Recovery ◽

Carbon Capture ◽

Carbon Emission ◽

Fossil Fuels ◽

Co2 Storage ◽

Carbon Capture And Storage ◽

Point Sources ◽

Co2 Injection ◽

Road Map ◽

And Storage

Further to Kyoto Protocol, again in 2009 G-20 Pittsburg Summit, Indonesia delivered the commitment on reducing 26% on its emission level. Moreover, as non-annex 1 country, Indonesia shows strong and bold commitment in supporting reduction on increased concentrations of greenhouse gases produced by human activities such as burning the fossil fuels and deforestation. From the energy sector, Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is known as a process of capturing waste carbon dioxide (CO2) from large point sources and depositing it normally at an underground geological formation. CCS becomes now as one of the possible supports to the country commitment. In Indonesia, the potential of CCS applications could be conducted in the gas fields with high content of CO2 and in almost depleted oil fields (by applying CO2-Enchanced Oil Recovery (EOR) The CCS approach could also be conducted in order to increase hydrocarbon production, and at the same time the produced CO2 will be injected and storage it back to the earth. Thus, CCS is a mitigation process in enhancing carbon emission reduction caused by green house effect from production hydrocarbon fields.This paper will show a proposed milestone on CCS Research roadmap, as steps to be taken in reaching the objective. The milestone consists of the study for identifying potential CO2 sources, evaluating CO2 storage sites, detail study related to CO2 storage selection, CO2 injection, and CO2 injection monitoring. Through these five steps, one can expect to be able to comprehend road map of CCS Research. Through this research milestone, applications of CCS should also be conducted based on the regulatory coverage milestone. From this paper, it is hoped that one can understand the upstream activities starting with research milestone to the very end downstream activities regarding to the regulation coverage bound. Keywords: CCS, reduction of carbon emission, regulation umbrella

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Compositional Modeling to Analyze the Effect of CH4 on Coupled Carbon Storage and Enhanced Oil Recovery Process

Applied Sciences ◽

10.3390/app10124272 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (12) ◽

pp. 4272 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jinhyung Cho ◽

Gayoung Park ◽

Seoyoon Kwon ◽

Kun Lee ◽

Hye Lee ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Global Warming ◽

Carbon Storage ◽

Enhanced Oil Recovery ◽

Oil Recovery ◽

Carbon Capture ◽

Carbon Capture And Storage ◽

Reservoir Pressure ◽

Sweep Efficiency ◽

Trapping Mechanism ◽

Storage Effects

The present study is aimed at the development of compositional simulation models of the co-injection of CO2 and CH4 during the water-alternating-gas (WAG) process in order to assess the efficiency of carbon capture and storage in combination with enhanced oil recovery (CCS-EOR). The co-injection of CO2 and CH4 occupies more reservoir pore volume and causes higher reservoir pressure than CO2 WAG, thus leading to an enhanced early EOR performance. However, the overall EOR performance of the co-injection method becomes lower than that of CO2 WAG due to the reduced miscibility and sweep efficiency upon further CH4 addition. The decrease in gas displacement and sweep efficiency weaken the hysteresis effects upon the residual trapping mechanism. However, the solubility trapping mechanism takes effect because the co-injection generates higher average reservoir pressure than does the CO2 WAG. The index of global warming potential (GWP) in a mole unit is employed to quantify the carbon storage effects of CO2 and co-injection WAG cases. According to the index, 1 mole of CH4 sequestration has the same effects as that of 10 moles of CO2 for global warming mitigation. In conclusion, the carbon storage effects are enhanced as CH4 concentration in the WAG increases.

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