The effect of inorganic salt precipitation on oil recovery during CO2 flooding:A case study of Chang 8 block in Changqing oilfield,NW China

Static experiments and dynamic displacement experiments were conducted to quantitatively determine the amount of precipitate generated by the CO_(2)-formation water reaction at different temperatures,pressures,and scaling ion concentrations during CO_(2) flooding in the Chang 8 block of Changqing Oilfield,the influence of precipitate on the physical properties of reservoirs was investigated,and the corresponding mathematical characterization model was established.The mathematical characterization equation was used to correct the numerical simulation model of E300 module in Eclipse software.The distribution pattern of inorganic salt precipitates during continuous CO_(2) flooding in Chang 8 block was simulated,and the influence of inorganic salt precipitates on oil recovery was predicted.The inorganic salt precipitate generated during CO_(2)-formation water reaction was mainly CaCO_(3),and the pressure difference and scaling ion concentration were proportional to the amount of precipitate generated,while the temperature was inversely proportional to the amount of precipitate.The rate of core porosity change before and after CO_(2) flooding was positively correlated with temperature and flooding pressure difference.The core porosity increase in the CO_(2)-formation water-core reaction experiment was always lower than that of CO_(2)-distilled water-core reaction experiment because of precipitation.The area around the production wells had the most precipitates generated with the injection of CO_(2).The oil field became poor in development because of the widely distributed precipitate and the recovery decreased to 33.45% from 37.64% after 20-year-CO_(2) flooding when considering of precipitation.

Research of Recycled Salt and Glauber' Salt Precipitation Rules of Yabulai Salt Lake Brine

1 Introduction The main production of Yabulai salt lake was original salt and recycled salt many years ago.After decade’s production,the sale lake resource is more and more deficient.Glauber’s salt and magnesium salt are concentrated in brine now.It could affect the quality of the salt.In recent years,research had done much work to

Developing a phenomenological model to simulate single and mixed scale formation during flow in porous media:Coupling a salt precipitation model with an ion transport equation under dynamic conditions

Water flooding and pressure maintenance are recommended to improve oil recovery practices after low recovery of petroleum reservoirs occurs during primary production.Salt crystal formation is a frequent occurrence when using these techniques.Several experimental,numerical,and theoretical studies have been done on the mechanisms underlying scaling and permeability reduction in porous media;however,there has not been a satisfactory model developed.This study developed a phenomenological model to predict formation damage caused by salt deposition.Compared with existing models,which provide a scaling tendency,the proposed model predicts the profile of scale deposition.The salt precipitation model simulates reactive fluid flow through porous media.A thermodynamic,kinetic,and flow hydrodynamic model was developed and coupled with the ion transport equation to describe the movement of ions.Further,a set of carefully designed dynamic experiments were conducted and the data were compared with the model predictions.Model forecasts and experimental data were observed to have an average absolute error(AAE)ranging from 0.68%to 5.94%,which indicates the model's suitability.

Amodified numerical model for moisture-salt transport in unsaturated sandy soil under evaporation

Soil salinization,caused by salt migration and accumulation underneath the soil surface,will corrode structures.To analyze the moisture-salt migration and salt precipitation in soil under evaporation conditions,a mathematical model consisting of a series of theoretical equations is briefly presented.The filling effect of precipitated salts on tortuosity factor and evaporation rate are taken into account in relevant equations.Besides,a transition equation to link the solute transport equation before and after salt precipitation is proposed.Meanwhile,a new relative humidity equation deduced from Pitzer ions model is used to modify the vapor transport flux equation.The results show that the calculated values are in good agreement with the published experimental data,especially for the simulation of volume water content and evaporation rate of Toyoura sand,which confirm the reliability and applicability of the proposed model.

Natural Evaporation of Dangxiongcuo Salt Lake Spring Brine in Tibet,China

1 Introduction Dangxiongcuo salt lake(Figure 1),which is located in the southwest of Tibet,China,is rich in valuable mineral elements like lithium,potassium,boron,rubidium,caesium

Geothermal energy exploitation from depleted high-temperature gas reservoirs by recycling CO_(2): The superiority and existing problems

CO_(2) can be used as an alternative injectant to exploit geothermal energy from depleted high-temperature gas reservoirs due to its high mobility and unique thermal properties.However,there has been a lack of systematic analysis on the heat mining mechanism and performance of CO_(2),as well as the problems that may occur during geothermal energy exploitation at specific gas reservoir conditions.In this paper,a base numerical simulation model of a typical depleted high-temperature gas reservoir was established to simulate the geothermal energy exploitation processes via recycling CO_(2) and water,with a view to investigate whether and/or at which conditions CO_(2) is more suitable than water for geothermal energy exploitation.The problems that may occur during the CO_(2)-based geothermal energy exploitation were also analyzed along with proposed feasible solutions.The results indicate that,for a depleted low-permeability gas reservoir with dimensions of 1000 m×500 m×50 m and temperature of 150℃ using a single injection-production well group for 40 years of operation,the heat mining rate of CO_(2) can be up to 3.8 MW at a circulation flow rate of 18 kg s^(-1)due to its high mobility along with the flow path in the gas reservoir,while the heat mining rate of water is only about 2 MW due to limitations on the injectivity and mobility.The reservoir physical property and injection-production scheme have some effects on the heat mining rate,but CO_(2)always has better performance than water at most reservoir and operation conditions,even under a high water saturation.The main problems for CO_(2) circulation are wellbore corrosion and salt precipitation that can occur when the reservoir has high water saturation and high salinity,in which serious salt precipitation can reduce formation permeability and result in a decline of CO_(2) heat mining rate (e.g.up to 24%reduction).It is proposed to apply a low-salinity water slug before CO_(2)injection to reduce the damage caused by salt precipitation.For high-permeability gas reservoirs with high water saturation and high salinity,the superiority of CO_(2) as a heat transmission fluid becomes obscure and water injection is recommended.

Effects of salinity and ionic composition of smart water on mineral scaling in carbonate reservoirs during water flooding

This work was conducted to study the risk of formation damage as the result of mineral scales deposition during smart waterflooding into carbonate core sample,as well as the influence of injected water salinity and ionic composition on mineral scaling and precipitation.The reservoir flowing conditions were simulated by a new laboratory core-flooding procedure,which took into count of the effect of in-situ contact time(CT)of injected water and formation water on scaling.After the optimum CT was determined,extent of permeability decline was studied by the change in the salinity and ionic composition of injection seawater.The scaled core sample was analyzed visually by scanning electron microscopy(SEM)to study the crystal morphology of the scale.Under the experimental conditions,extent of permeability decline caused by CaSO_(4) and CaSO_(3) composite scales ranged from 61% to 79.1% of the initial permeability.The salinity and the ionic composition of injected smart water,and CT of the mixing waters had significant effects on the co-precipitation of CaSO_(4) and CaSO_(3) scales.The SEM images reveal that the loss of permeability is mainly caused by the accumulation and growth perpendicular to the pore wall of scale crystals.

Buried Hydrothermal Systems:The Potential Role of Supercritical Water,“ScriW”,in Various Geological Processes and Occurrences in the Sub-Surface

It is well known that seawater that migrates deep into the Earth’s crust will pass into its supercritical domain at temperatures above 407°C and pressures above 298 bars. In the oceanic crust, these pressures are attained at depths of 3 km below sea surface, and sufficiently high temperatures are found near intruding magmas, which have temperatures in the range of 800°C to 1200°C. The physico-chemical behaviour of seawater changes dramatically when passing into the supercritical domain. A supercritical water vapour (ScriW) is formed with a density of 0.3 g/cc and a strongly reduced dipolar character. This change in polarity is causing the ScriW to lose its solubility of the common sea salts (chlorides and sulphates) and a spontaneous precipitation of sea salts takes place in the pore system. However, this is only one of many cases where the very special properties of ScriW affect its surroundings. The objective of this paper is to increase awareness of the many geological processes that are initiated and governed by ScriW. This includes interactions between ScriW and its geological surroundings to initiate and drive processes that are of major importance to the dynamics and livelihood of our planet. ScriW is the driver of volcanism associated with subduction zones, as ScriW deriving from the subduction slab is interacting with the mantle rocks and reducing their melting point. ScriW is also initiating serpentinization processes where olivines in the mantle rocks (e.g. peridotite) are transformed to serpentine minerals upon the uptake of OH-groups from hydrolysed water. The simultaneous oxidation of Fe2+ dissolved from iron-bearing pyroxenes and olivines leads to the formation of magnetite and hydrogen, and consequently, to a very reducing environment. ScriW may also be the potential starter and driver of the poorly understood mud and asphalt volcanism;both submarine and terrestrial. Furthermore, the lack of polarity of the water molecules in ScriW gives the ScriW vapour the potential to dissolve organic matter and petroleum. The same applies to supercritical brines confined in subduction slabs. If these supercritical water vapours migrate upwards to reach the critical point, the supercritical vapour is condensed into steam and dissolved petroleum is partitioned from the water phase to become a separate fluid phase. This opens up the possibility of transporting petroleum long distances when mixed with ScriW. Therefore, we may, popularly, say that ScriW drives a gigantic underground refinery system and also a salt factory. It is suggested that the result of these processes is that ScriW is rejuvenating the world’s ocean waters, as all of the ocean water circulates into the porous oceanic crust and out again in cycles of less than a million years. In summary, we suggest that ScriW participates in and is partly responsible for: 1) Ocean water rejuvenation and formation;2) Fundamental geological processes, such as volcanism, earthquakes, and meta-morphism (including serpentinization);3) Solid salt production, accumulation, transportation, and (salt) dome formation;4) The initiation and driving of mud, serpentine, and asphalt volcanoes;5) Dissolution of organic matter and petroleum, including transportation and phase separation (fractionation), when passing into the subcritical domain of (liquid) water.