Applications of Surfactants and Nanoparticles in Enhanced Oil Recovery Processes

The surfactant injection is considered as the EOR (Enhanced Oil Recovery) with the highest potential to recover oil from reservoirs due to its ability to reduce interfacial forces into the porous medium. However, the adsorption of this type of chemical on the surface of rocks is the main problem when a surfactant injection project is applied since the surfactant molecules would rather be placed on rock minerals instead of being the oil–water interface. Based on this fact, this chapter would be discussed the significance of surfactant injection as an EOR method, the types of surfactants used, the main mechanism and parameters involved in the surfactant adsorption on the rock, and its consequences in oil recovery. Likewise, the addition of nanoparticles to inhibit the adsorption of surfactants is another topic that will be covered as a novel technology to improve the efficiency of the EOR process.

Fuzzy-Based Screening System for Determination of Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) Method in Reservoir

The petroleum industry is developing technology to increase oil recovery in reservoirs. One of the technologies used is Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR). Selecting an EOR method for a specific reservoir condition is one of the most challenging tasks for a reservoir engineer. This study tries to build a fuzzy logic-based screening system to determine the EOR method. It created the system intending to be able to assist in selecting and determining the appropriate EOR method used in the field. There are nine input criteria used to screen the EOR criteria, namely: API Gravity, Oil Saturation, Formation Type, Net Thickness, Viscosity, Permeability, Temperature, Porosity, Depth criteria. The output criteria generated from the calculation of the EOR screening criteria are 14 outputs, namely: CO2 MF Miscible Flooding, CO2 IMMF Immiscible Flooding, HC MF Miscible Flooding, HC IMMF Immiscible Flooding, N2 MF Miscible Flooding, N2 IMMF Immiscible Flooding, WAG MF Miscible Flooding , HC+WAG IMMF Immiscible Flooding, Polymer, ASP, Combustion, Steam, Hot Water, Microbial. In this system, 512 rules are generated to produce 14 different outputs of the EOR method, with Mamdani's Fuzzy Inference reasoning. This fuzzy-based screening system has an accuracy rate of 80.95%, so this system is suitable to be used to assist reservoir engineers in determining the appropriate EOR method to be used according to the conditions in the reservoir. The sensitivity level of the system only reaches 53.1%, while the specificity level reaches 94%.

Flow Physics of Profile Control Fluids in Porous Media and Implications for Enhanced Oil Recovery: A Microfluidic Study

Novel profile control agents are constantly emerging in the field of enhanced oil recovery, contributing to the extension of a stable production period. However, evaluation performed through conventional core flow experiments is usually inadequate to reveal the in-depth mechanism of profile control agents. Besides, due to different operation and production modes, there is an urgent need for a specific experimental method applicable to horizontal wells in bottom water reservoirs. In this context, this paper describes two models tailored to bottom water reservoirs and investigates the flow characteristics and mechanisms of three water-shutoff agent types. At the pore scale, further study was carried out on the water-shutoff synergism between a gel and an emulsifier. The results show that the gel is present at the edge of the pore body, while the emulsion is blocked in the center of the pore body. Hence, gel that enters a water channel (main flow and accumulation area of emulsion) can cooperate with an emulsion to achieve high-strength water shutoff, making the bottom water that re-invades mainly break through at oil-rich areas. Compared with water shutoff with gel alone (randomly distributed in the breakthrough area), the synergism improves the gel’s ability to select flow channels, inhibits emulsifier channeling, and achieves a remarkable EOR effect.