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.

Displacement characteristics of CO_(2)flooding in extra-high water-cut reservoirs

Carbon dioxide(CO_(2))flooding is a widely applied recovery method during the tertiary recovery of oil and gas.A high water saturation condition in reservoirs could induce a‘water shielding’phenomenon after the injection of CO_(2).This would prevent contact between the injected gas and the residual oil,restricting the development of the miscible zone.A micro-visual experiment of dead-end models,used to observe the effect of a film of water on the miscibility process,indicates that CO_(2)can penetrate the water film and come into contact with the residual oil,although the mixing is significantly delayed.However,the dissolution loss of CO_(2)at high water-cut conditions is not negligible.The oil-water partition coefficient,defined as the ratio of CO_(2)solubility in an oil-brine/two-phase system,keeps constant for specific reservoir conditions and changes little with an injection gas.The NMR device shows that when CO_(2)flooding follows water flooding,the residual oil decreasesdnot only in medium and large pores but also in small and micro pores.At levels of higher water saturation,CO_(2)displacement is characterized initially by a low oil production rate and high water-cut.After the CO_(2)breakthrough,the water-cut decreases sharply and the oil production rate increases gradually.The response time of CO_(2)flooding at high watercut reservoirs is typically delayed and prolonged.These results were confirmed in a pilot test for CO_(2)flooding at the P1-1 well group of the Pucheng Oilfield.Observations from this pilot study also suggest that a larger injection gas pore volume available for CO_(2)injection is required to offset the dissolution loss in high water saturation conditions.

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.

Performance of low-salinity water flooding for enhanced oil recovery improved by SiO_2 nanoparticles

Low-salinity water injection has been utilized as a promising method for oil recovery in recent years. Low-salinity water flooding changes the ion composition or brine salinity for improving oil recovery. Recently, the application of nanoparticles with low-salinity water flooding has shown remarkable results in enhanced oil recovery(EOR). Many studies have been performed on the effect of nanofluids on EOR mechanisms. Their results showed that nanofluids can improve oil recovery when used in low-salinity water flooding. In this work, the effects of injection of low-salinity water and low-salinity nanofluid(prepared by adding SiO_2 nanoparticles to low-salinity water) on oil recovery were investigated. At first, the effects of ions were investigated with equal concentrations in low-salinity water flooding. The experimental results showed that the monovalent ions had better performance than the divalent ions because of them having more negative zeta potential and less ionic strength. Also, low-salinity water flooding recovered 6.1% original oil in place(OOIP) more than the high-salinity flooding. Contact angle measurements demonstrated that low-salinity water could reduce the contact angle between oil and water. Then in the second stage, experiments were continued by adding SiO_2 nanoparticles to the K+ solution which had the highest oil recovery at the first stage. The experimental results illustrated that the addition of Si02 nanoparticles up to 0.05 wt% increased oil recovery by about 4% OOIP more than the low-salinity water flooding.

Effects of physical parameter range on dimensionless variable sensitivity in water flooding reservoirs

The similarity criterion for water flooding reservoir flows is concerned with in the present paper. When finding out all the dimensionless variables governing this kind of flow, their physical meanings are subsequently elucidated. Then, a numerical approach of sensitivity analysis is adopted to quantify their corresponding dominance degree among the similarity parameters. In this way, we may finally identify major scaling law in different parameter range and demonstrate the respective effects of viscosity, permeability and injection rate.

How much would silica nanoparticles enhance the performance of low-salinity water flooding?

Nanofluids and low-salinity water(LSW)flooding are two novel techniques for enhanced oil recovery.Despite some efforts on investigating benefits of each method,the pros and cons of their combined application need to be evaluated.This work sheds light on performance of LSW augmented with nanoparticles through examining wettability alteration and the amount of incremental oil recovery during the displacement process.To this end,nanofluids were prepared by dispersing silica nanoparticles(0.1 wt%,0.25 wt%,0.5 wt% and 0.75 wt%)in 2,10,20 and 100 times diluted samples of Persian Gulf seawater.Contact angle measurements revealed a crucial role of temperature,where no wettability alteration occurred up to 80 ℃.Also,an optimum wettability state(with contact angle 22°)was detected with a 20 times diluted sample of seawater augmented with 0.25 wt% silica nanoparticles.Also,extreme dilution(herein 100 times)will be of no significance.Throughout micromodel flooding,it was found that in an oil-wet condition,a combination of silica nanoparticles dispersed in 20 times diluted brine had the highest displacement efficiency compared to silica nanofluids prepared with deionized water.Finally,by comparing oil recoveries in both water-and oil-wet micromodels,it was concluded that nanoparticles could enhance applicability of LSW via strengthening wettability alteration toward a favorable state and improving the sweep efficiency.

Rise of Urban Water Table as a Cause of Flooding: Improving Knowledge in the City of Niamey (Niger Republic)

Niamey, the capital of Niger, has experienced continuous demographic growth (+4%), accompanied by rapid urban expansion that is insufficiently controlled. This growth, combined with the effects of climate change as well as a drastic change in land use (urbanization of cultivated fields, deforestation of plateaus and erosion of slopes) disrupts the water cycle, thus leading to the superposition of three types of floods: 1) rain floods (monsoon period);2) river floods (Niger river);and 3) flooding caused by rising water table. In several neighbourhoods, the water table is now out in a sustainable manner and degrades already fragile sanitary conditions. This study aims to clarify the functioning of aquifers in the city of Niamey due to the combination of geological, geophysical and hydrogeological data. Hydrogeological investigations make it possible to identify, in areas flooded by the water table, a shallow aquifer with low capacitance (effective porosity of a few %) and low permeability (2 × 10-6 to 1 × 10-4 m/s), overlying at a level shallow clay (~10 m) and lying on the Precambrian base (schists, granites). This configuration limits flows and has led to the appearance of permanent pools created by the water table in the valley thalweg in and around the city. Thus, in Niamey, an increase of up to twenty to forty meters was observed between 1961 and 2021 with seasonal piezometric fluctuations of a pluri-metric order following the rainy season. Beyond the health impacts, this trajectory negatively impacts land and locally causes degradation or displacement of traffic axes. Containing the level of the water table appears to be essential in the long term for sustainable sanitation in the city of Niamey.

Application of New Water Flooding Characteristic Curve in the High Water-Cut Stage of an Oilfield

The oil production predicted by means of the conventional water-drive characteristic curve is typically affected by large deviations with respect to the actual value when the so-called high water-cut stage is entered.In order to solve this problem,a new characteristic relationship between the relative permeability ratio and the average water saturation is proposed.By comparing the outcomes of different matching methods,it is verified that it can well reflect the variation characteristics of the relative permeability ratio curve.Combining the new formula with a reservoir engineering method,two new formulas are derived for the water flooding characteristic curve in the high water-cut stage.Their practicability is verified by using the production data of Mawangmiao and Xijiakou blocks.The results show that the error between the predicted cumulative oil production and production data of the two new water drive characteristic curves is less than the error between the B-type water drive characteristic curve and the other two water drive characteristic curves.It is concluded that the two new characteristic curves can be used to estimate more accurately the recoverable reserves,the final recovery and to estimate the effects of water flooding.

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.

Timing of advanced water flooding in low permeability reservoirs

It is very important to design the optimum starting time of water injection for the development of low permeability reservoirs. In this type of reservoir the starting time of water injection will be affected by a reservoir pressure-sensitive effect. In order to optimize the starting time of water injection in low permeability reservoirs, this effect of pressure change on rock permeability of low permeability reservoirs was, at first, studied by physical simulation. It was shown that the rock permeability decreases exponentially with an increase in formation pressure. Secondly, we conducted a reservoir engineering study, from which we obtained analytic relationships between formation pressure, oil production rate, water production rate and water injection rate. After our physical, theoretical and economical analyses, we proposed an approach which takes the pressure-sensitive effect into consideration and designed the optimum starting time of water injection, based on the principle of material balance. Finally, the corresponding software was developed and applied to one block of the Jiangsu Oilfield. It is shown that water injection, in advance of production, can decrease the adverse impact of the pressure-sensitive effect on low permeability reservoir development. A water-flooding project should be preferably initiated in advance of production for no more than one year and the optimum ratio of formation pressure to initial formation pressure should be maintained at a level between 1.05 and 1.2.

Correct understanding and application of waterflooding characteristic curves

Through reviewing the generation process and essential characteristics of waterflooding curves, the essence and characteristics of Zhang Jinqing waterflooding curve and Yu Qitai waterflooding curve recommended in Chinese Petroleum Industry Standard 'Calculation methods for Recoverable Oil Reserves(SY/T5367—1998)' were discussed, and some technical issues related to the curves were examined in-depth. We found that:(1) All the waterflooding curves are based on empirical formulas derived from oilfield production experience and statistics methods, and can characterize oil displacement features by water quite well.(2) A new waterflooding curve can be derived by combining waterflooding parameters and using different mathematical calculations as long as the parameter combinations and mathematical operation meet a linear relationship, so proposing new waterflooding curves by changing the combination mode has no practical significance anymore.(3) The upwarp of waterflooding curve in the extremely high water cut stage is because the mobility ratio curve has an inflection point with the rapid rise of water cut after reaching a certain value, and the later rapid rise of mobility ratio changes the original two-phase flow dynamics.(4) After entering into water cut stage, all the waterflooding curves with linear relationship can be used to make prediction, even curves with inflection points, as long as they have a straight section above the inflection point.(5) Actual data of waterflooding oilfields has proved that Type A, Zhang Jinqing and Yu Qitai waterflooding curves all can predict accurately oil recoverable reserves in extremely high water cut stage and can be promoted.

3D Physical Simulation of Water Flooding Characteristics of Buried Hill Reservoir with Different Fracture Systems

In order to understand the water-flooding characteristics of different fracture systems in metamorphic rock buried hill reservoirs and the mechanism of improving water-flooding development effect, a three-dimensional physical model of fractured reservoirs is established according to the similarity criterion based on the prototype of metamorphic buried hill reservoirs in JZ Oilfield in Bohai Bay Basin. Combined with the fractured reservoir characteristics of JZ Oilfield, the water displacement characteristics of the top-bottom staggered injection-production well pattern in different fracture network mode and different fracture development degree of buried hill reservoir are studied. The experimental results show that: 1) the more serious the fracture system irregularity is, the shorter the water-free oil production period is and the lower the water-free oil recovery is. After water breakthrough of production wells, the water cut rises faster, and the effect of water flooding development is worse;2) under the condition of non-uniform fracture development, the development effect of the bottom fracture undeveloped is better than that of the middle fracture undeveloped. Water injection wells are deployed in areas with relatively few fractures, while oil wells are deployed in fractured areas with higher oil recovery and better development effect.

Theoretical exploration of water injection gravity flooding oil in ultra-deep fault-controlled fractured-cavity carbonate reservoirs

Based on the analysis of geological characteristics of ultra-deep fault-controlled fracture-cavity carbonate reservoirs and division of reservoir units, two physical models were made, and physical simulations of oil displacement by water injection were carried out to find out water flooding mechanism in the fault-controlled fracture-cavity carbonate reservoir under complex flow state. On this basis, a mathematical model of fault-controlled carbonate reservoir with coexisting seepage and free flow has been established. Pilot water injection tests have been carried out to evaluate the effects of enhancing oil recovery by water injection. The results show that: fault-controlled fracture-cavity carbonate reservoir units can be divided into three types:the strong natural energy connected type, the weak natural energy connected type and the weak natural energy isolated type;the fault-fracture activity index of the fault-controlled fractured-cavity body can effectively characterize the connectivity of the reservoir and predict the effective direction of water injection;the mathematical model of fault-controlled carbonate reservoir with coexisting seepage and free flows can quantitatively describe the fluid flow law in the fracture-cavity body;the water injected into the fault-controlled fracture-cavity body is weakly affected by the capillary force of the lithologic body, and the oil-water movement is mainly dominated by gravity. The development modes of single well water injection, unit water injection,and single well high pressure water injection proposed based on the connection structure of fracture-cavity space and well storage space configuration are confirmed effective by pilot tests, with obvious water injection gravity flooding effect.

Displacement behavior and mechanism of long-term water flooding in sandstone oil reservoirs

Sandstone oil reservoirs with huge bottom water and high permeability are generally developed with high flow rate.After long-term water flooding(LTWF),the water flooding characteristics are quite different from that of original reservoir.In this paper,the effects of the PV number,viscosity,and displacement rate during LTWF are studied through experiments.The mechanism is analyzed based on analysis of changes in oil composition,rock mineral composition and wettability.The oil-water relative permeability curves,oil recovery and wettability were obtained with new experiments methods,which avoids the oil metering error by measuring oil and water separately.The research indicates that when the viscosity increases,the water phase permeability decreases,the residual oil saturation increases,and the water content rate increases earlier.A higher water flooding rate results in a higher ultimate recovery.A higher asphaltene content results in a higher viscosity and more oil-wet reservoir conditions.After LTWF,the wettability tends to water-wet,which is more favorable for heavy oil recovery.Moreover,LTWF reduces the clay content,which creates a more water-wet surface and a larger reservoir pore throat environment.This research provides insightful characteristics of offshore sandstone oil reservoirs,which can be used to enhance oil recovery.

Experimental study of the effects of a multistage pore-throat structure on the seepage characteristics of sandstones in the Beibuwan Basin:Insights into the flooding mode

To investigate the relationship between grain sizes, seepage capacity, and oil-displacement efficiency in the Liushagang Formation of the Beibuwan Basin, this study identifies the multistage pore-throat structure as a crucial factor through a comparison of oil displacement in microscopic pore-throat experiments. The two-phase flow evaluation method based on the Li-Horne model is utilized to effectively characterize and quantify the seepage characteristics of different reservoirs, closely relating them to the distribution of microscopic pores and throats. It is observed that conglomerate sandstones at different stages exhibit significant heterogeneity and noticeable differences in seepage capacity, highlighting the crucial role played by certain large pore throats in determining seepage capacity and oil displacement efficiency. Furthermore, it was found that the displacement effects of conglomeratic sandstones with strong heterogeneity were inferior to those of conventional homogeneous sandstone, as evidenced by multiple displacement experiments conducted on core samples with varying granularities and flooding systems. Subsequently, core-based experiments on associated gas flooding after water flooding were conducted to address the challenge of achieving satisfactory results in a single displacement mode for reservoirs with significant heterogeneity. The results indicate that the oil recovery rates for associated gas flooding after water flooding increased by 7.3%-16.4% compared with water flooding alone at a gas-oil ratio of approximately 7000 m^(3)/m^(3). Therefore, considering the advantages of gas flooding in terms of seepage capacity, oil exchange ratio, and the potential for two-phase production, gas flooding is recommended as an energy supplement mode for homogeneous reservoirs in the presence of sufficient gas source and appropriate tectonic angle. On the other hand, associated gas flooding after water flooding is suggested to achieve a more favorable development effect compared to a single mode of energy supplementation for strongly heterogeneous sandstone reservoirs.

A production prediction method of single well in water flooding oilfield based on integrated temporal convolutional network model

Since the oil production of single well in water flooding reservoir varies greatly and is hard to predict, an oil production prediction method of single well based on temporal convolutional network(TCN) is proposed and verified. This method is started from data processing, the correspondence between water injectors and oil producers is determined according to the influence radius of the water injectors, the influence degree of a water injector on an oil producer in the month concerned is added as a model feature, and a Random Forest(RF) model is built to fill the dynamic data of water flooding. The single well history is divided into 4 stages according to its water cut, that is, low water cut, middle water cut, high water cut and extra-high water cut stages. In each stage, a TCN based prediction model is established, hyperparameters of the model are optimized by the Sparrow Search Algorithm(SSA). Finally, the models of the 4 stages are integrated into one whole-life model of the well for production prediction. The application of this method in Daqing Oilfield, NE China shows that:(1) Compared with conventional data processing methods, the data obtained by this processing method are more close to the actual production, and the data set obtained is more authentic and complete.(2) The TCN model has higher prediction accuracy than other 11 models such as Long Short Term Memory(LSTM).(3) Compared with the conventional full-life-cycle models, the model of integrated stages can significantly reduce the error of production prediction.

Capsule polymer flooding for enhanced oil recovery

To solve the problems of shear degradation and injection difficulties in conventional polymer flooding,the capsule polymer flooding for enhanced oil recovery(EOR)was proposed.The flow and oil displacement mechanisms of this technique were analyzed using multi-scale flow experiments and simulation technology.It is found that the capsule polymer flooding has the advantages of easy injection,shear resistance,controllable release in reservoir,and low adsorption retention,and it is highly capable of long-distance migration to enable viscosity increase in deep reservoirs.The higher degree of viscosity increase by capsule polymer,the stronger the ability to suppress viscous fingering,resulting in a more uniform polymer front and a larger swept range.The release performance of capsule polymer is mainly sensitive to temperature.Higher temperatures result in faster viscosity increase by capsule polymer solution.The salinity has little impact on the rate of viscosity increase.The capsule polymer flooding is suitable for high-water-cut reservoirs for which conventional polymer flooding techniques are less effective,offshore reservoirs by polymer flooding in largely spaced wells,and medium to low permeability reservoirs where conventional polymers cannot be injected efficiently.Capsule polymer flooding should be customized specifically,with the capsule particle size and release time to be determined depending on target reservoir conditions to achieve the best displacement effect.

Theory and technology of preventing water from flooding roadways

According to the principle of effective stress action of rock and soil, we established a mechanical model of water flooding into roadways,analyzed the constitutive relation of hydrodynamic pressure and contact pressure of rock and soil and discovered that the process of pre-grouting of a roadway curtain is a dynamically balancing process in which effective stress keeps gradually in- creasing and pore water pressure gradually declines. In such a grouting process, the initial water plugging effect is realized when the effective stress and total stress reaches equilibrium. A rigid-flexible packing layer is designed behind the brickwork to increase the effective stress and reduce pore water pressure in order to have a permanent water proof performance. This provides a theoretical basis for roadway driving and permanent water prevention. The monitoring and application results show that the initial and perma- nent waterproof theory has provided an effective method for roadway driving and making it waterproof.

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.

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.