The New Development of Soft Microgel Particle Flooding Technology –From Theoretical Research in Laboratory to Field Trial

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhe Sun ◽  
Xiujun Wang ◽  
Xiaodong Kang
Keyword(s):  
Porous Media ◽  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Particle Dispersion ◽  
Field Application ◽  
Pore Throat ◽  
Motion Feature ◽  
Carrier Fluid ◽  
Microgel Particle ◽  
Swept Volume ◽  
Profile Inversion

Abstract Although polymer flooding technology has been widely applied and achieved remarkable effect of increasing oil. Yet the "entry profile inversion" phenomenon occurs inevitably in its later stage, which seriously affects the development effect. In recent years, the soft microgel particle dispersion is a novel developed flooding system. Due to its excellent performance and advanced mechanism, it can slow down the process of profile inversion, and achieve the goal of deep fluid diversion and expanding swept volume. The soft microgel particle dispersion consists of microgel particles and its carrier fluid. After coming into porous media, it shows the properties of "plugging large pore and leave the small one open" and the motion feature of "trapping, deformation, migration". In this paper, reservoir adaptability evaluation, plugging and deformation characteristics of soft microgel particle dispersion in pore throat is explored by using the microfluidic technology and 3D Printing technology. On this basis, by adopting the NMR and CT tomography technology, the research on its oil displacement mechanism is further carried out. Furthermore, the typical field application case is analyzed. Results show that, soft microgel particles have good performance and transport ability in porous media. According to the reservoir adaptability evaluation, the size relationships between particles and core pore throat is obtained, to provide basis for field application scheme design. Through microfluidic experiments, the temporary plugging and deformation characteristics of particles in the pore throat are explored. Also, when injecting soft microgel particle into the core, the particle phase separation happens, which makes the particles enter and plug the large pore in the high permeability layer. Therefore, their carrier fluid displace oil in the small pore, which works in cooperation and causes no damage to the low permeability layer. Furthermore, by using NMR and CT techniques, its micro percolation law in porous media and remaining oil distribution during displacement process is analyzed. During the experiment, microgels presents the motion feature of "migration, trapping, and deformation" in the core pore, which can realize deep fluid diversion and expand swept volume. From 3D macro experiment, microgels can realize the goal of enhance oil recovery. Finally, the soft microgel particle dispersion flooding technology has been applied in different oilfields, such as Oman, Bohai and other oilfields, which all obtained great success. Through interdisciplinary innovative research methods, the oil displacement mechanism and field application of soft microgel particle dispersion is researched, which proves its progressiveness and superiority. The research results provide theoretical basis and technical support for the enhancing oil recovery significantly.

Study on the Oil Displacement Effect and Application of Soft Microgel Flooding Technology

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jian Zhang ◽  
Zhe Sun ◽  
Xiujun Wang ◽  
Xiaodong Kang
Keyword(s):  
Phase Separation ◽  
Particle Dispersion ◽  
Field Application ◽  
Particle Phase ◽  
Displacement Effect ◽  
Microgel Particle ◽  
Oil Displacement ◽  
And Migration ◽  
Swept Volume ◽  
Poros Media

Abstract Due to the reservoir heterogeneity, there is still a lot of remaining oil that cannot be displaced by water flooding. Therefore, taking the whole injection-production flow field as the research object, the dominant channel is divided into macro and micro channel. Then the corresponding oil displacement system is adopted to realize the continuous flow diversion and effective expansion of swept volume. For micro channels, the soft microgel particle dispersion can be used. It is a novel flooding system developed in recent years. Due to its excellent performance and advanced mechanism, the oil recovery rate can be greatly improved. Soft microgel particle dispersion consists of microgel particles and its carrier fluid. After coming into porous media, its unique phenomenon of particle phase separation appears, which leads to the properties of "plugging large pore and leave the small one open", and the deformation and migration characteristic in the poros media. Therefore, particle phase separation of soft microgel particle dispersion is studied by using the microfluidic technology and numerical simulation. On this basis, by adopting the NMR and 3D Printing technology, the research on its oil displacement mechanism is further carried out. Furthermore, the typical field application cases are analyzed. Results show that, soft microgel particles have good performance and transport ability in porous media. According to the core displacement experiment, this paper presents the matching coefficient between microgels and pore throat under effective plugging modes. Also, the particle phase separation happens when injecting microgels into the core, which makes the particles enter the large pore in the high permeability layer and fluid enters into small pore. Therefore, working in cooperation, this causes no damage to the low permeability layer. On this basis, theoretically guided by biofluid mechanics, the mathematical model of soft microgel particle is established to simulate its concentration distribution, which obtained the quantitative research results. Furthermore, the micro displacement experiment shows that, microgels has unique deformation and migration characteristic in the poros media, which can greatly expand swept volume. The macro displacement experiment shows that, microgels have good oil displacement performance. Finally, the soft microgel particle dispersion flooding technology has been applied in different oilfields since 2007. Results show that these field trials all obtain great oil increasing effect, with the input-output ratio range of 2.33-14.37. And two field application examples are further introduced. Through interdisciplinary innovative research methods, the oil displacement effect and field application of soft microgel particle dispersion is researched, which proves its progressiveness and superiority. The research results play an important role in promoting the application of this technology.

A MATHEMATICAL MODEL OF MICROBIAL ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY IN POROUS MEDIA

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 263-272
Author(s):  
Jianlong Xiu ◽  
Tianyuan Wang ◽  
Ying Guo ◽  
Qingfeng Cui ◽  
Lixin Huang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mathematical Model ◽  
Porous Media ◽  
Enhanced Oil Recovery ◽  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery

scholarly journals Experimental study of the supercritical CO 2 diffusion coefficient in porous media under reservoir conditions

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 181902 ◽  
Author(s):  
Junchen Lv ◽  
Yuan Chi ◽  
Changzhong Zhao ◽  
Yi Zhang ◽  
Hailin Mu
Keyword(s):  
Porous Media ◽  
Diffusion Coefficient ◽  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Carbon Capture ◽  
Carbon Capture And Storage ◽  
Elevated Pressure ◽  
Experimental Results ◽  
Saturated Porous Media ◽  
Reservoir Conditions ◽  
The Impact

Reliable measurement of the CO 2 diffusion coefficient in consolidated oil-saturated porous media is critical for the design and performance of CO 2 -enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects. A thorough experimental investigation of the supercritical CO 2 diffusion in n -decane-saturated Berea cores with permeabilities of 50 and 100 mD was conducted in this study at elevated pressure (10–25 MPa) and temperature (333.15–373.15 K), which simulated actual reservoir conditions. The supercritical CO 2 diffusion coefficients in the Berea cores were calculated by a model appropriate for diffusion in porous media based on Fick's Law. The results show that the supercritical CO 2 diffusion coefficient increases as the pressure, temperature and permeability increase. The supercritical CO 2 diffusion coefficient first increases slowly at 10 MPa and then grows significantly with increasing pressure. The impact of the pressure decreases at elevated temperature. The effect of permeability remains steady despite the temperature change during the experiments. The effect of gas state and porous media on the supercritical CO 2 diffusion coefficient was further discussed by comparing the results of this study with previous study. Based on the experimental results, an empirical correlation for supercritical CO 2 diffusion coefficient in n -decane-saturated porous media was developed. The experimental results contribute to the study of supercritical CO 2 diffusion in compact porous media.

scholarly journals Investigation on the effect of active-polymers with different functional groups for EOR

e-Polymers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-68
Author(s):  
Dong Zhang ◽  
Jian Guang Wei ◽  
Run Nan Zhou
Keyword(s):  
Functional Groups ◽  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Molecular Size ◽  
Type I ◽  
Cleaning Efficiency ◽  
Sweep Efficiency ◽  
Profile Control ◽  
Branched Chain ◽  
Swept Volume ◽  
Enhance Oil Recovery

AbstractActive-polymer attracted increasing interest as an enhancing oil recovery technology in oilfield development owing to the characteristics of polymer and surfactant. Different types of active functional groups, which grafted on the polymer branched chain, have different effects on the oil displacement performance of the active-polymers. In this article, the determination of molecular size and viscosity of active-polymers were characterized by Scatterer and Rheometer to detect the expanded swept volume ability. And the Leica microscope was used to evaluate the emulsifying property of the active-polymers, which confirmed the oil sweep efficiency. Results show that the Type I active-polymer have a greater molecular size and stronger viscosity, which is a profile control system for expanding the swept volume. The emulsification performance of Type III active-polymer is more stable, which is suitable for improving the oil cleaning efficiency. The results obtained in this paper reveal the application prospect of the active-polymer to enhance oil recovery in the development of oilfields.

An Overview: Analysis of Heat and Mass Transfer in Fractal Media by Fractal Geometry and Technique

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boming Yu
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Mass Transfer ◽  
Porous Media ◽  
Heat And Mass Transfer ◽  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Fractal Geometry ◽  
Boiling Heat Transfer ◽  
Nucleate Boiling ◽  
Fractal Media ◽  
Nucleate Boiling Heat Transfer

In the past three decades, fractal geometry and technique have received considerable attention due to its wide applications in sciences and technologies such as in physics, mathematics, geophysics, oil recovery, material science and engineering, flow and heat and mass transfer in porous media etc. The fractal geometry and technique may become particularly powerful when they are applied to deal with random and disordered media such as porous media, nanofluids, nucleate boiling heat transfer. In this paper, a summary of recent advances is presented in the areas of heat and mass transfer in fractal media by fractal geometry technique. The present overview includes a brief summary of the fractal geometry technique applied in the areas of heat and mass transfer; thermal conductivities of porous media and nanofluids; nucleate boiling heat transfer. A few comments are made with respect to the theoretical studies that should be made in the future.

Tertiary Recovery Improvement of Steam Injection Using Chemical Additives: Pore Scale Understanding of Challenges and Solutions Through Visual Experiments

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Randy Agra Pratama ◽  
Tayfun Babadagli
Keyword(s):  
Porous Media ◽  
Phase Change ◽  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Heavy Oil ◽  
Phase Distribution ◽  
Steam Injection ◽  
Hot Water ◽  
Heavy Oil Recovery ◽  
Residual Oil ◽  
Tertiary Recovery

Abstract Our previous research, honoring interfacial properties, revealed that the wettability state is predominantly caused by phase change—transforming liquid phase to steam phase—with the potential to affect the recovery performance of heavy-oil. Mainly, the system was able to maintain its water-wetness in the liquid (hot-water) phase but attained a completely and irrevocably oil-wet state after the steam injection process. Although a more favorable water-wetness was presented at the hot-water condition, the heavy-oil recovery process was challenging due to the mobility contrast between heavy-oil and water. Correspondingly, we substantiated that the use of thermally stable chemicals, including alkalis, ionic liquids, solvents, and nanofluids, could propitiously restore the irreversible wettability. Phase distribution/residual oil behavior in porous media through micromodel study is essential to validate the effect of wettability on heavy-oil recovery. Two types of heavy-oils (450 cP and 111,600 cP at 25oC) were used in glass bead micromodels at steam temperatures up to 200oC. Initially, the glass bead micromodels were saturated with synthesized formation water and then displaced by heavy-oils. This process was done to exemplify the original fluid saturation in the reservoirs. In investigating the phase change effect on residual oil saturation in porous media, hot-water was injected continuously into the micromodel (3 pore volumes injected or PVI). The process was then followed by steam injection generated by escalating the temperature to steam temperature and maintaining a pressure lower than saturation pressure. Subsequently, the previously selected chemical additives were injected into the micromodel as a tertiary recovery application to further evaluate their performance in improving the wettability, residual oil, and heavy-oil recovery at both hot-water and steam conditions. We observed that phase change—in addition to the capillary forces—was substantial in affecting both the phase distribution/residual oil in the porous media and wettability state. A more oil-wet state was evidenced in the steam case rather than in the liquid (hot-water) case. Despite the conditions, auspicious wettability alteration was achievable with thermally stable surfactants, nanofluids, water-soluble solvent (DME), and switchable-hydrophilicity tertiary amines (SHTA)—improving the capillary number. The residual oil in the porous media yielded after injections could be favorably improved post-chemicals injection; for example, in the case of DME. This favorable improvement was also confirmed by the contact angle and surface tension measurements in the heavy-oil/quartz/steam system. Additionally, more than 80% of the remaining oil was recovered after adding this chemical to steam. Analyses of wettability alteration and phase distribution/residual oil in the porous media through micromodel visualization on thermal applications present valuable perspectives in the phase entrapment mechanism and the performance of heavy-oil recovery. This research also provides evidence and validations for tertiary recovery beneficial to mature fields under steam applications.

scholarly journals Special Issue: Fluid Flow in Fractured Porous Media

Processes ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (10) ◽  
pp. 178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richeng Liu ◽  
Yujing Jiang
Keyword(s):  
Porous Media ◽  
Fluid Flow ◽  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Geothermal Energy ◽  
Co2 Sequestration ◽  
Energy Development ◽  
Fractured Porous Media ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Deep Underground ◽  
Underground Reservoirs

The fluid flow in fractured porous media plays a significant role in the characteristic/assessment of deep underground reservoirs such as CO2 sequestration [1–3], enhanced oil recovery [4,5] and geothermal energy development [...]

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