Effect of CO_(2)flooding in an oil reservoir with strong bottom-water drive in the Tahe Oilfield,Tarim Basin,Northwest China

The dissolution and diffusion of CO_(2)in oil and water and its displacement mechanism were investigated by laboratory experiment and numerical simulation for Block 9 in the Tahe oilfield,a sandstone oil reservoir with strong bottom-water drive in Tarim Basin,Northwest China.Such parameters were analyzed as solubility ratio of CO_(2)in oil,gas and water,interfacial tension,in-situ oil viscosity distribution,remaining oil saturation distribution,and oil compositions.The results show that CO_(2)flooding could control water coning and increase oil production.In the early stage of the injection process,CO_(2)expanded vertically due to gravity differentiation,and extended laterally under the action of strong bottom water in the intermediate and late stages.The CO_(2)got enriched and extended at the oil-water interface,forming a high interfacial tension zone,which inhibited the coning of bottom water to some extent.A miscible region with low interfacial tension formed at the gas injection front,which reduced the in-situ oil viscosity by about 50%.The numerical simulation results show that enhanced oil recovery(EOR)is estimated at 5.72%and the oil exchange ratio of CO_(2)is 0.17 t/t.

Influence of pore structure heterogeneity on channeling channels during hot water flooding in heavy oil reservoir based on CT scanning

Hot water flooding is an effective way to develop heavy oil reservoirs.However,local channeling channels may form,possibly leading to a low thermal utilization efficiency and high water cut in the reservoir.The pore structure heterogeneity is an important factor in forming these channels.This study proposes a method that mixes quartz sand with different particle sizes to prepare weakly heterogeneous and strongly heterogeneous models through which hot water flooding experiments are conducted.During the experiments,computer tomography(CT)scanning identifies the pore structure and micro remaining oil saturation distribution to analyze the influence of the pore structure heterogeneity on the channeling channels.The oil saturation reduction and average pore size are divided into three levels to quantitatively describe the relationship between the channeling channel distribution and pore structure heterogeneity.The zone where oil saturation reduction exceeds 20%is defined as a channeling channel.The scanning area is divided into 180 equally sized zones based on the CT scanning images,and threedimensional(3D)distributions of the channeling channels are developed.Four micro remaining oil distribution patterns are proposed,and the morphology characteristics of micro remaining oil inside and outside the channeling channels are analyzed.The results show that hot water flooding is more balanced in the weakly heterogeneous model,and the oil saturation decreases by more than 20%in most zones without narrow channeling channels forming.In the strongly heterogeneous model,hot water flooding is unbalanced,and three narrow channeling channels of different lengths form.In the weakly heterogeneous model,the oil saturation reduction is greater in zones with larger pores.The distribution range of the average pore size is larger in the strongly heterogeneous model.The network remaining oil inside the channeling channels is less than outside the channeling channels,and the hot water converts the network remaining oil into cluster,film,and droplet remaining oil.

Mechanisms of remaining oil formation by water flooding and enhanced oil recovery by reversing water injection in fractured-vuggy reservoirs

To get a deeper understanding on the formation mechanisms and distribution laws of remaining oil during water flooding, and enhanced oil recovery(EOR) mechanisms by reversing water injection after water flooding, 3D visualization models of fractured-vuggy reservoir were constructed based on the elements and configuration of fractures and vugs, and typical fracture-vug structures by using advanced CT scanning and 3D printing technologies. Then, water flooding and reversing water injection experiments were conducted. The formation mechanisms of remaining oil during water flooding include inadequate injection-production well control, gravity difference between oil and water, interference between different flow channels, isolation by low connectivity channel, weak hydrodynamic force at the far end. Under the above effects, 7 kinds of remaining oil may come about, imperfect well-control oil, blind side oil, attic oil at the reservoir top, by-pass residual oil under gravity, by-pass residual oil in secondary channel, isolated oil in low connectivity channel, and remaining oil at far and weakly connected end. Some remaining oil can be recovered by reversing water injection after water flooding, but its EOR is related to the remaining oil type, fracture-cavity structure and reversing injection-production structure. Five of the above seven kinds of remaining oil can be produced by six EOR mechanisms of reversing water injection: gravity displacement, opening new flow channel, rising the outflow point, hydrodynamic force enhancement, vertically equilibrium displacement, and synergistic effect of hydrodynamic force and gravity.

An Experiment on Releasing Water from Water Tanks by Xu Youzhen during the Ming Dynasty

In 1453,Xu Youzhen,a scholar-bureaucrat and hydrologist in Ming China,was dispatched to Shandong to find a way to harness the Yellow River.He proposed the opening up of multiple channels to diverge the flood waters.An experiment was conducted to compare the efficiency of releasing water using one large opening with the use of a number of small openings.This experiment proved that opening up multiple channels outperformed the construction of only one,thereby convincing the emperor and officials of the efficacy of this method.Xu’s method for water control proved to be successful in averting a flood that occurred in 1456.

Experiments on the influences of well pattern on water flooding characteristics of dissolution vug-cave reservoir

Based on the similarity criterion, volcanic rock samples were taken from outcrops to make experimental models. Water flooding experiments of five-spot well pattern, nine-spot well pattern, five-spot to nine-spot well pattern, the relationship between relative well and fracture positions, and injection rate in dissolution vug-cave reservoirs with/without fractures were carried out to analyze variation regularities of development indexes, find out development characteristics of water flooding with different well patterns and sort out the optimal water flooding development mode. For dissolution vug-cave reservoirs without fractures, five-spot well pattern waterflooding has very small sweeping area, serious water channeling and low oil recovery. When the well pattern was adjusted from five-spot to nine-spot well pattern, oil recovery could be largely improved, but the corner well far from the injector is little affected. In dissolution vug-cave reservoirs with fractures, when the injector and producer are not connected by fractures, the fractures could effectively connect the poorly linked vugs to improve the development effect of water flooding. Whether there are fractures or not in dissolution vug-cave reservoirs, the development effect of nine-spot well-pattern is much better than that of five-spot well pattern and five-spot to nine-spot well pattern, this is more evident when there are fractures, and the edge well has better development indexes than corner well. At the high-water cut stage of water flooding with nine-spot well pattern, the oil recovery can be further improved with staggered line-drive pattern by converting the corner well into injection well. It is helpful to increase the oil production of corner well of nine-spot well pattern by increasing the injection rate, and improve ultimate oil recovery, but the water-free production period would be greatly shortened and water-free recovery would decrease.

Efficiency of enhanced oil recovery by injection of low-salinity water in barium-containing carbonate reservoirs

When low-salinity water containing sulfate ions is injected into carbonate reservoirs, rock dissolution and in situ precipitation occur, altering rock permeability and wettability. Particularly, when barium ions are present in formation water,they react chemically with SO;, and BaSO;is precipitated. These reactions can cause a serious impact on the efficiency of enhanced oil recovery（EOR）. Therefore, the main purpose of this study was to identify EOR efficiency induced by lowsalinity waterflooding（LSWF） when Ba;is present in carbonate reservoirs. From the experimental results, it was confirmed that the permeability calculated by the measured pressure difference was improved because of rock dissolution predominating over in situ precipitation for the case of low Ba;concentrations. In the analysis of wettability alteration through the measurements of relative permeabilities before and after LSWF, the higher Ba;concentration case consumed more SO;in precipitating the BaSO;, resulting in weaker wettability alteration due to the reduction of sulfate activity.These phenomena ultimately influenced EOR efficiency, i.e., the oil recovery was greater for the lower Ba;concentration.

Three-Dimensional Imaging of Pore-Scale Water Flooding Phenomena in Water-Wet and Oil-Wet Porous Media

The penetration of water during water flooding has been observed over many years using several methods. A microfocused X-ray computed tomography scanner can be used to directly observe 3D water flooding in a nondestructive manner. To eliminate the possibility of false images being produced because of X-ray broadening effects, we developed a visualization method by arranging the brightness distribution of all phases involved. Water flooding experiments were conducted using oil-wet and water-wet porous media. The water phase was injected upward into packed glass beads containing an oil phase, and the process was scanned every minute until steady state was reached. Using this scheme, real-time, the water invasion pattern and oil trapping process in clusters of pores and individual pores can be observed clearly. By eliminating false images, the boundary of each phase could be identified with high precision, even in a single pore. Porelevel phenomena, including snap off (which has never before been captured in a real 3D porous medium), piston-like displacement, and the curvature of the interface, were also observed. Direct measurement of the pore throat radius and the contact angle between the wetting and nonwetting phases gave an approximation of the capillary pressure during the piston-like displacement and snap-off processes.

Factors influencing oil recovery by surfactant-polymer flooding in conglomerate reservoirs and its quantitative calculation method

This study aims to clarify the factors influencing oil recovery of surfactant-polymer(SP)flooding and to establish a quantitative calculation model of oil recovery during different displacement stages from water flooding to SP flooding.The conglomerate reservoir of the Badaowan Formation in the seventh block of the Karamay Oilfield is selected as the research object to reveal the start-up mechanism of residual oil and determine the controlling factors of oil recovery through SP flooding experiments of natural cores and microetching models.The experimental results are used to identify four types of residual oil after water flooding in this conglomerate reservoir with a complex pore structure:oil droplets retained in pore throats by capillary forces,oil cluster trapped at the junction of pores and throats,oil film on the rock surface,isolated oil in dead-ends of flow channel.For the four types of residual oil identified,the SP solution can enhance oil recovery by enlarging the sweep volume and improving the oil displacement efficiency.First,the viscosity-increasing effect of the polymer can effectively reduce the permeability of the displacement liquid phase,change the oil-water mobility ratio,and increase the water absorption.Furthermore,the stronger the shear drag force of the SP solution,the more the crude oil in a porous medium is displaced.Second,the surfactant can change the rock wettability and reduce the absorption capacity of residual oil by lowering interfacial tension.At the same time,the emulsification further increases the viscosity of the SP solution,and the residual oil is recovered effectively under the combined effect of the above two factors.For the four start-up mechanisms of residual oil identified after water flooding,enlarging the sweep volume and improving the oil displacement efficiency are interdependent,but their contribution to enhanced oil recovery are different.The SP flooding system primarily enlarges the sweep volume by increasing viscosity of solution to start two kinds of residual oil such as oil droplet retained in pore throats and isolated oil in dead-ends of flow channel,and primarily improves the oil displacement efficiency by lowing interfacial tension of oil phase to start two kinds of residual oil such as oil cluster trapped at the junction of pores and oil film on the rock surface.On this basis,the experimental results of the oil displacement from seven natural cores show that the pore structure of the reservoir is the main factor influencing water flooding recovery,while the physical properties and original oil saturation have relatively little influence.The main factor influencing SP flooding recovery is the physical and chemical properties of the solution itself,which primarily control the interfacial tension and solution viscosity in the reservoir.The residual oil saturation after water flooding is the material basis of SP flooding,and it is the second-most dominant factor controlling oil recovery.Combined with the analysis results of the influencing factors and reservoir parameters,the water flooding recovery index and SP flooding recovery index are defined to further establish quantitative calculation models of oil recovery under different displacement modes.The average relative errors of the two models are 4.4%and 2.5%,respectively;thus,they can accurately predict the oil recovery of different displacement stages and the ultimate reservoir oil recovery.

The Hot Water Oil Expulsion Technique for Geothermal Resources

With the rapid development of Chinese petroleum industry, Oil production way of burning crude oil to produce steam need change. Heavy oil reservoir with thin layer or edgewater is unsuitable thermal recovery, electric heating leads to considerable electrical consumption, low injection water temperature decreases reservoir temperature and increased crude oil viscosity. The prolonged temperature difference break up reservoir pore throat cement and framework minerals. To improve high-capacity channel communication, we proposed geothermal oil recovery. Broad-sense abundant geothermal resources and existing injection water technique equipment are used, deep-seated high temperature liquid (oil-gas-water mixture) draws geothermal warming flowing layer to transit heat upward, decreases viscidity and increases fluidity. Reservoir temperature different offer geothermal fountain. Practicability process is analyzed. statistics and reservoir temperature variation analysis of Gudong Oilfield, Shengli Oilfield Company, SINOPEC, we have designed flow-chart concept for geothermal oil recovery, suggested drilling multi-branch well in heavy oil reservoir as injection-well, at the same position of geothermal fountain well, using free-pressure pump to inject hot liquid directly to aimed oil layer, made oil recovery in surrounding wells. It is proposed that geothermal oil recovery forerunner test should be first conducted in favorable blocks.

Inter-well interferences and their influencing factors during water flooding in fractured-vuggy carbonate reservoirs

Based on the characteristics of injection-production units in fractured-vuggy carbonate reservoirs,nine groups of experiments were designed and performed to analyze the interference characteristics and their influencing factors during water flooding.Based on percolation theory,an inversion model for simulating waterflooding interferences was proposed to study the influence laws of different factors on interference characteristics.The results show that well spacing,permeability ratio,cave size,and cave location all affect the interference characteristics of water flooding.When the cave is located in high permeability fractures,or in the small well spacing direction,or close to the producer in an injection-production unit,the effects of water flooding are much better.When the large cave is located in the high-permeability or small well spacing direction,the well in the direction with lower permeability or smaller well spacing will see water breakthrough earlier.When the cave is in the higher permeability direction and the reserves between the water injector and producer differ greatly,the conductivity differences in different injection-production directions are favorable for water flooding.When the injection-production well pattern is constructed or recombined,it’s better to make the reserves of caves in different injection-production directions proportional to permeability,and inversely proportional to the well spacing.The well close to the cave should be a producer,and the well far from the cave should be an injector.Different ratios of cave reserves to fracture reserves correspond to different optimal well spacings and optimal permeability ratios.Moreover,both optimal well spacing and optimal permeability ratio increase as the ratio of cave reserves to fracture reserves increases.

Mechanisms and influencing factors of the oil bank in fire flooding

Based on the systematic summary of current research on oil bank, the definition of oil bank in the process of fire flooding and its quantitative indices were proposed; and a new one-dimensional positive dry-fire flooding model considering temperature gradient was established based on the steady flow theory of gas and liquid phases. Single factor analysis and orthogonal experiments were adopted to verify the reliability and reveal the formation mechanisms and the controlling factors of the oil bank. Then the optimal conditions for the oil bank to form were discussed. The study results show the formation of the oil bank is controlled by 3 factors:(1) Oil bank would come into being within a certain temperature interval and above a critical value of temperature gradient(absolute value), with temperature too high or too low and temperature gradient absolute value lower than the critical value, the oil bank couldn't form.(2) For fire flooding process in heavy oil reservoirs, the viscosity of oil influences the width of oil bank and the speed at which oil bank forms; the lower the oil viscosity is, the wider the oil bank is and the faster the oil bank forms.(3) Oil saturation could affect the developing temperature and speed of oil bank. The favorable temperature at which oil bank develops gets lower and the accumulating speed of oil gets faster when the oil saturation is higher. By orthogonal experiments with the model, the optimal combinations of reservoir conditions for forming oil bank during fire flooding in heavy oil reservoirs can be worked out.

Geochemical characteristics of reservoir after water and polymer flooding in Xingshugang oilfield of Daqing

Collecting 44 oil-sand specimens of Pu-I Member in two inspection wells before and after polymer flooding in the thirteenth district of Xingshugang oilfield,with experimental analysis,the author obtained the data about oil viscosity,flow,oil saturation and oil displacement efficiency.The result shows that viscous oil predominates in the main remaining oil in Xingshugang oilfield after water flooding with a certain amount of low viscosity oil,high viscosity oil and heavy oil;after polymer flooding,the viscous oil is main ingredient.Compared with water flooding,the low mobility and poor oil can be spread by polymer flooding,expanding the affected area and improving sweep efficiency and oil recovery.The geochemical affecting factors of water flooding and oil displacement efficiency refer to reservoir flow,permeability and the viscosity of residual oil.In the reservoir with permeability from low to high,the polymer flooding efficiency is better than water flooding.It provides the basis for improving the water and polymer flooding efficiency of the Xingshugang oilfield.

Experimental study on asphaltene precipitation induced by CO_2 flooding

The effects of CO2 pressure,temperature and concentration on asphaltene precipitation induced by CO2 were studied using a high-pressure vessel,interfacial tensiometer,Fourier transform infrared （FTIR） and drill core displacement experimental apparatus.The results indicated that the content of asphaltene in crude oil decreased,and the interfacial tension between a model oil and distilled water increased,with an increase of CO2 pressure,decrease of temperature and increase of molar ratio of CO2 to crude oil when CO2 contacted crude oil in the high pressure vessel.The content of asphaltene in sweepout oil and the permeability of test cores both also decreased with an increase of CO2 flooding pressure.The main reason for changes in content of asphaltene in crude oil,in interfacial tension between model oil and distilled water and in the permeability of the test core is the precipitation of asphaltene which is an interfacially active substance in crude oil.Precipitation of asphaltene also blocks pores in the drill core which decreases the permeability.

The Selection and Breeding of a Novel Microorganism Strain I and Investigation of Core Model Experiment for MEOR

This paper introduces the results of selecting and breeding a micro-organism, Strain I, and its core model experiment investigation for microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR). Strain I was separated from the formation water of the Dagang oil field, with analytical results showing that Strain I is a gram-positive bacillus. A further study revealed that this strain has an excellent tolerance of environmental stresses: It can survive in conditions of 70℃, 30 wt% salinity and pH3.5-9.4. Strain I can metabolize biosurfactants that could increase the oil recovery ratio, use crude oil as the single carbon source, and decompose long-chain paraffin with a large molecular weight into short-chain paraffin with a small molecular weight. The core model experiment shows that Strain I enhances oil recovery well. Using 2 vol% of the fermentation solution of Strain I to displace the crude oil in the synthetic plastic bonding core could increase the recovery ratio by 21.6%.

Quantitative Characterization and Dynamic Law of Interlayer Interference for Multilayer Commingled Production in Heavy Oil Reservoirs by Numerical Simulation

This paper moves one step forward to build?a?numerical model to research quantitative characterization and dynamic law for interlayer interference factor (IIF) in the multilayer reservoir which was heavy oil reservoirs and produced by directional wells. There are mainly four contributions of this paper to the existing body of literature. Firstly, an equivalent simulation method of the pseudo start pressure gradient (PSPG) is developed to quantitatively predict the value of?IIF?under different geological reservoir conditions. Secondly, the interlayer interference is extended in time, and the time period of the study extends from a water cut stage to the whole process from the oil well open to produce?a?high water cut. Thirdly, besides the conventional productivity interlayer interference factor (PIIF), a new parameter, that is, the oil recovery interlayer interference factor (RIIF) is put forward.?RIIF?can be used to evaluate the technical indexes of stratified development and multilayer co-production effectively. Fourthly,?the?effectsof various geological reservoir parameters such as reservoir permeability and crude oil viscosity, etc. on the?PIIF?and?RIIF’s?type curves?are?discussed in detail and the typical plate?is?plotted. The research results provide a foundation for the effective development of multilayer heavy oil reservoirs.

Comparison of oil displacement mechanisms and performances between continuous and dispersed phase flooding agents

To compare the oil displacement mechanisms and performances of continuous phase flooding agent(traditional polymer solution) and dispersed phase flooding agent(particle-type polymer SMG dispersion), the particle phase separation of SMG dispersion migrating in pores was simulated by using the microfluidic technology. Theoretically guided by the tree fork concentration distribution of red cells in biological fluid mechanics, the concentration distribution mathematical model of SMG in different pores is established. Furthermore, the micro and macro physical simulation experiments of continuous and dispersed phase flooding agents were carried out. The results show that the continuous flooding agent enters all the swept zones and increases the flow resistance in both larger and small pores. On the contrary, the particle phase separation phenomenon occurs during the injection process of dispersed flooding agent. The SMG particles gather in the larger pore to form bridge blinding, and the carrier fluid displace oil in the small pore. Working in cooperation, the SMG particle and carrier fluid drive the residual oil in the low permeability layers step by step and achieve the goal of enhanced oil recovery. The laboratory experimental results indicate that, the oil increment and water reduction effect of dispersed flooding agent is much better than that of continuous flooding agent, which is consistent with the field test results.

CO2 assisted steam flooding in late steam flooding in heavy oil reservoirs

To improve the oil recovery and economic efficiency in heavy oil reservoirs in late steam flooding,taking J6 Block of Xinjiang Oilfield as the research object,3D physical modeling experiments of steam flooding,CO2-foam assisted steam flooding,and CO2 assisted steam flooding under different perforation conditions are conducted,and CO2-assisted steam flooding is proposed for reservoirs in the late stage of steam flooding.The experimental results show that after adjusting the perforation in late steam flooding,the CO2 assisted steam flooding formed a lateral expansion of the steam chamber in the middle and lower parts of the injection well and a development mode for the production of overriding gravity oil drainage in the top chamber of the production well;high temperature water,oil,and CO2 formed stable low-viscosity quasi-single-phase emulsified fluid;and CO2 acted as a thermal insulation in the steam chamber at the top,reduced the steam partial pressure inside the steam chamber,and effectively improved the heat efficiency of injected steam.Based on the three-dimensional physical experiments and the developed situation of the J6 block in Xinjiang Oilfield,the CO2 assisted steam flooding for the J6 block was designed.The application showed that the CO2 assisted steam flooding made the oil vapor ratio increase from 0.12 to 0.16 by 34.0%,the oil recovery increase from 16.1%to 21.5%,and the final oil recovery goes up to 66.5%compared to steam flooding after perforation adjustment.

Technology and Practice of Stabiliing Oil Production and Controlling Water Cut in Kalamkas Oilfield in Central Asia

In this paper, by in-depth geological research of Kalamkas Oilfield in Central Asia, the geological body has been re-ascertained; combined with fine study of reservoir engineering, based on the understanding of the distribution of remaining oil horizontal wells have been given full play to stabilizing oil production and controlling water cut, reducing the producing pressure drop, improving well productivity and other advantages, and the development and deployment has been optimized; horizontal wells have been applied to solve problems such as old well casing damages, shutting down wells, low-productivity and low- efficiency wells, and high water cut wells to improve the utilization rate of old wells; through separate layer system improved injection production pattern, adjustment wells have been optimized and deployed, and part measures wells have been preferably selected to tap the residual oil improve the degree of reserves control realize the stabilization of oil production and control of water cut in an old oilfield, and further improve the development effects.

Method of moderate water injection and its application in ultra-low permeability oil reservoirs of Yanchang Oilfield, NW China

To explore the method of improving development effect and solving the problem of water breakthrough and water out for ultralow permeability fractured reservoirs, an indoor evaluation method of dynamic imbibition for fracture-matrix system was established taking the Chang 8 reservoir in southern Yanchang Oilfield as a research target. Key factors for the imbibition effect were obtained, an imbibition's rate expression was obtained, a model considering the double effects of imbibition-displacement was built and optimal injection and production parameters for the research area were obtained as well. The results show that an optimum displacement rate that maximizes the oil displacement efficiency exists in the water displacing oil process, and the optimal displacing rate becomes smaller as the permeability decreases. The imbibition displacement efficiency increases as the reservoir quality index and water wettability index of rock become bigger. But the larger the initial water saturation or oil-water viscosity ratio is, the smaller the imbibition displacement efficiency is. The optimal injection-production ratio for the Chang 8 reservoir of southern Yanchang Oilfield is 0.95, and the predicted recovery is 17.2% when the water cut is 95%, it is 2.9% higher than the recovery of conventional injection-production ratio 1.2. By using the moderate water injection technique based on the double effects of imbibition-displacement mechanism, the water injection development effect for the ultra-low permeability fractured reservoirs can be improved significantly.

Hybrid low salinity water and surfactant process for enhancing heavy oil recovery

Combining low salinity water (LSW) with surfactants has an enormous potential for enhancing oil recovery processes. However, there is no consensus about the mechanisms involved, in addition to the fact that several studies have been conducted in model systems, while experiments with rocks and reservoir fluids are scarce. This study presents a core-flooding experiment of LSW injection, with and without surfactant, using the core and heavy oil samples obtained from a sandstone reservoir in southeastern Mexico. The effluents and the crude oil obtained at each stage were analyzed. The study was complemented by tomographic analysis. The results revealed that LSW injection and hybrid process with surfactants obtained an increase of 11.4 percentage points in recovery factor. Various phenomena were caused by LSW flooding, such as changes in wettability and pH, ion exchange, mineral dissolution, detachment of fines and modification of the hydrocarbon profile. In the surfactant flooding, the reduction of interfacial tension and alteration of wettability were the main mechanisms involved. The findings of this work also showed that the conditions believed to be necessary for enhanced oil recovery with LSW, such as the presence of kaolinite or high acid number oil, are not relevant.