Investigation of Electrical Parameters of Fresh Water and Produced Mixed Injection in High-Salinity Reservoirs

Assuming a reservoir with a typical salt-lake background in the Qaidam Basin as a testbed,in this study the var-iation law of the rock electrical parameters has been determined through water displacement experiments with different salinities.As made evident by the results,the saturation index increases with the degree of water injec-tion.When the salinity of the injected water is lower than 80000 ppm,the resistivity of the rock samplefirst decreases,then it remains almost constant in an intermediate stage,andfinally it grows,thereby giving rise to a‘U’profile behavior.As the salinity decreases,the water saturation corresponding to the inflection point of the resistivity becomes lower,thereby leading to a wider‘U’type range and a higher terminal resistivity.For dif-ferent samples,higher initial resistivity of the sample in the oil-bearing state,and higher resistivity after low-sali-nity water washing are obtained when a thicker lithology is considered.

A salt-induced tackifying polymer for enhancing oil recovery in highsalinity reservoirs:Synthesis,evaluation,and mechanism

Polymerflooding is an effective method widely applied for enhancing oil recovery(EOR)by reducing the mobility ratio between theinjected water and crude oil.However,traditional polymers encounter challenges in high salinity reservoirs due to their salt sensitivity.Toovercome this challenge,we synthesized a zwitterion polymer(PAMNS)with salt-induced tackifying property through copolymerization ofacrylamide and a zwitterion monomer,methylacrylamide propyl-N,N-dimethylbutylsulfonate(NS).NS monomer is obtained from thereaction between 1,4-butanesultone and dimethylamino propyl methylacrylamide.In this study,the rheological properties,salt responsiveness,and EOR efficiency of PAMNS were evaluated.Results demonstrate that PAMNS exhibits desirable salt-induced tackifyingcharacteristics,with viscosity increasing up to 2.4 times as the NaCl concentration reaches a salinity of 30×10^(4)mg L^(-1).Furthermore,highvalence ions possess a much stronger effect on enhancing viscosity,manifested as Mg^(2+)>Ca^(2+)>Na^(+).Molecular dynamics simulations(MD)andfluid dynamics experiment results demonstrate that PAMNS molecules exhibit a more stretched state and enhanced intermolecularassociations in high-salinity environments.It is because of the salt-induced tackifying,PAMNS demonstrates superior performance inpolymerflooding experiments under salinity ranges from 5×10^(4)mg L^(-1)to 20×10^(4)mg L^(-1),leading to 10.38–19.83%higher EOR thantraditional polymers.

Enhancement of a foaming formulation with a zwitterionic surfactant for gas mobility control in harsh reservoir conditions

This work presents the design of a robust foam formulation that tolerates harsh reservoir conditions(high salinity,high divalent ion concentration,high temperature,light oil,and hydrocarbon injection gas)in a sandstone reservoir.For this,we selected anionic Alpha Olefin Sulfonate(AOS)surfactants and studied their synergistic effects in mixtures with zwitterionic betaines to enhance foam performance.The laboratory workflow used to define the best formulation followed a de-risking approach in three consecutive phases.First,(phase 1)the main surfactant(AOS)was selected among a series of commercial candidates in static conditions.Then,(phase 2)the betaine booster to be combined with the previously selected AOS was chosen and their ratio optimized in static conditions.Subsequently,(phase 3)the surfactant/booster ratio was optimized under dynamic conditions in a porous medium in the absence and the presence of oil.As a result of this study,a mixture of an AOS C14-C16 and cocamidopropyl hydroxysultaine(CAPHS)was selected as the one having the best performance.The designed formulation was proven to be robust in a wide range of conditions.It generated a strong and stable foam at reservoir conditions,overcoming variations in salinity and foam quality,and tolerated the presence of oil.