An experimental and numerical study of chemically enhanced water alternating gas injection

In this work, an experimental study combined with numerical simulation was conducted to investigate the potential of chemically enhanced water alternating gas （CWAG） injection as a new enhanced oil recovery method. The unique feature of this new method is that it uses alkaline, surfactant, and polymer additives as a chemical slug which is injected during the water alternating gas （WAG） process to reduce the interfacial tension （IFT） and simultaneously improve the mobility ratio. In essence, the proposed CWAG process involves a combination of chemical flooding and immiscible carbon dioxide （CO2） injection and helps in IFT reduction, water blocking reduction, mobility control, oil swelling, and oil viscosity reduction due to CO2 dissolution. Its performance was compared with the conventional immiscible water alter- nating gas （I-WAG） flooding. Oil recovery utilizing CWAG was better by 26 % of the remaining oil in place after waterflooding compared to the recovery using WAG conducted under similar conditions. The coreflood data （cumulative oil and water production） were history mat- ched via a commercial simulator by adjusting the relative permeability curves and assigning the values of the rock and fluid properties such as porosity, permeability, and the experimentally determined IFT data. History matching ofthe coreflood model helped us optimize the experiments and was useful in determining the importance of the parameters influencing sweep efficiency in the CWAG process. The effectiveness of the CWAG process in pro- viding enhancement of displacement efficiency is evident in the oil recovery and pressure response observed in the coreflood. The results of sensitivity analysis on CWAG slug patterns show that the alkaline-surfactant-polymer injection is more beneficial after CO2 slug injection due to oil swelling and viscosity reduction. The CO2 slug size analysis shows that there is an optimum CO2 slug size, around 25 % pore volume which leads to a maximum oil recovery in the CWAG process. This study shows that the ultralow IFT system, i.e., IFT equaling 10 2 or 10 3 mN/ m, is a very important parameter in CWAG process since the water blocking effect can be minimized.

Field Scale Simulation Study of Miscible Water Alternating CO₂Injection Process in Fractured Reservoirs

Vast amounts of world oil reservoirs are in natural fractured reservoirs. There are different methods for increasing recovery from fractured reservoirs. Miscible injection of water alternating CO2?is a good choice among EOR methods. In this method, water and CO2?slugs are injected alternatively in reservoir as miscible agent into reservoir. This paper studies water injection scenario and miscible injection of water and CO2?in a two dimensional, inhomogeneous fractured reservoir. The results show that miscible water alternating CO2?gas injection leads to 3.95% increase in final oil recovery and total water production decrease of 3.89% comparing to water injection scenario.

Experimental study of water effects on gas desorption during highpressure water injection

For the question of applying high-pressure water injection to increase gas extraction efficiency by increasing the permeability of water to drive gas action, an independently designed gas desorption experimental measuring device was used under the condition of external solution invasion. The law of water effect on gas desorption was obtained after water invasion through experiment for the first time. The results show that water＇s later invasion not only can make the quantity of gas dcsorp- tion greatly reduced, but also can make gas desorption end early. Therefore, when evaluating the applications of high-pressure water injection to increase gas extraction efficiency, we should take water damaging effects on gas desorption into account.

Using cyclic alternating water injection to enhance oil recovery for carbonate reservoirs developed by linear horizontal well pattern

In view of high water cut and low oil recovery caused by the unidirectional flow in linear pattern of horizontal wells for the carbonate reservoirs in the Middle East,this paper provides a novel approach to improve oil recovery by converting linear water injection to cyclic alternating water injection patterns including cyclic alternating water injection with apparent inverted seven-spot pattern or apparent five-spot pattern and cyclic differential alternating water injection.The main advantage of using this strategy is that the swept efficiency is improved by changing injection-production streamlines and displacement directions,which means displacement from two different direction for the same region during a complete cycle.This technology is effective in increasing the swept efficiency and tapping the remaining oil,thus resulting in higher oil recovery.Field application with three new patterns in a carbonate reservoir in the Middle East is successful.By optimizing injection and production parameters based on the cyclic alternating well pattern,the test well group had a maximum increase of daily oil production per well of 23.84 m^(3) and maximum water cut drop of 18%.By further optimizing the distance(keep a long distance)between the heels of injection and production wells,the waterflooding performance could be better with water cut decreasing and oil production increasing.

Influence of Water Injection Fracturing on Crack Damage in Soft Coal and Application in Gas Extraction

In order to study the hypotonic and rheological particularity of “three soft” coal seam in west Henan, China, this paper explored the stress and damage characteristics of crack in coal under condition of water injection fracturing based on ABAQUS platform;The cohesive element in T-P damage evolution criterion was used to describe the approximately linear relationship between crack width and extending distance in soft coal. The simulation results show that stress evolution and crack damage in soft coal is a gradually developing process under condition of water injection fracturing. When the static pressure is 4 - 10 MPa, and the injection time is about 1 - 2 hours, the damage range of crack in soft coal can basically reach an ideal data of 80 - 100 m, and then greatly improve the hypotonic performance of “three soft” coal seam.

A New Method for the Dynamic Reserves of Gas Condensate Reservoir Using Cyclic Gas Injection Based on the Effects of Reinjection Ratio and Water Influx

As we all know, cyclic gas injection is one of the most effective development methods to improve condensate oil recovery. When dealing with the calculation of the reserves, the injection-production differences and water influx create great influence on the accuracy. Based on the existing research, we proposed a new material balance equation which considered the differences of composition between produced and injected fluids and the effect of water influx, and a solution was provided in this paper. The results of the method are closer to the actual situation because they are built on the law of conservation of mass, and the using of curve fitting method can not only avoid the use of water influx coefficient but also obtain the water influx rate and reserves at the same time. The YH-23 gas condensate reservoir is taking as a typical subject to do the research, which has been exploited by cycle gas injection for 14 years. Three different methods are used to calculate the reserves, and the results show that the method proposed in this paper has minimum error of 2.96%.

Progress and prospects of EOR technology in deep,massive sandstone reservoirs with a strong bottom-water drive

The Triassic massive sandstone reservoir in the Tahe oilfield has a strong bottom-water drive and is characterized by great burial depth,high temperature and salinity,a thin pay zone,and strong heterogeneity.At present,the water-cut is high in each block within the reservoir;some wells are at an ultrahigh water-cut stage.A lack of effective measures to control water-cut rise and stabilize oil production have necessitated the application of enhanced oil recovery(EOR)technology.This paper investigates the development and technological advances for oil reservoirs with strong edge/bottom-water drive globally,and compares their application to reservoirs with characteristics similar to the Tahe oilfield.Among the technological advances,gas injection from the top and along the direction of structural dip has been used to optimize the flow field in a typical bottom-water drive reservoir.Bottom-water coning is restrained by gas injection-assisted water control.In addition,increasing the lateral driving pressure differential improves the plane sweep efficiency which enhances oil recovery in turn.Gas injection technology in combination with technological measures like channeling prevention and blocking,and water plugging and profile control,can achieve better results in reservoir development.Gas flooding tests in the Tahe oilfield are of great significance to identifying which EOR technology is the most effective and has the potential of large-scale application for improving development of deep reservoirs with a strong bottomwater drive.

An analysis method of injection and production dynamic transient flow in a gas field storage facility

A dynamic transient flow analysis method considering complex factors such as the cyclic injection and production history in a gas field storage facility was established in view of the limitations of the existing methods for transient flow analysis and the characteristics of the injection-production operation of strongly heterogeneous gas reservoirs, and the corresponding theoretical charts were drawn. In addition, an injection-production dynamic transient flow analysis model named "three points and two stages" suitable for an underground gas storage(UGS) well with alternate working conditions was proposed. The "three points" refer to three time points during cyclic injection and production, namely, the starting point of gas injection for UGS construction, the beginning and ending points of the injection-production analysis stage;and the "two stages" refer to historical flow stage and injection-production analysis stage. The study shows that the dimensionless pseudo-pressure and dimensionless pseudo-pressure integral curves of UGS well flex downward in the early stage of the injection and production process, and the dimensionless pseudo-pressure integral derivative curve is convex during the gas production period and concave during the gas injection period, and the curves under different flow histories have atypical features. The new method present in this paper can analyze transient flow of UGS accurately. The application of this method to typical wells in Hutubi gas storage shows that the new method can fit the pressure history accurately, and obtain reliable parameters and results.

A simulation approach: Miscible carbon dioxide injection in a carbonate reservoir

The purpose of this study is to optimize the existing carbon dioxide （CO2） flood in deep dolomite formations by improving oil sweep efficiency of miscible CO2 floods and enhancing the conformance control. A full compositional simulation model using a detailed geologic characterization was built to optimize the injection pattern. The model is a quarter of an inverted nine-spot and covers 20 acres of field formation. Geologic description was used to construct the simulation grids. The simulation layers represent actual flow units and resemble the large variation of reservoir properties. History match was performed to validate the model. Several sensitivity runs were made to improve the CO2 sweep efficiency and increase the oil recovery. Finally, the optimum CO2 injection rate for dolomite formations was determined approximately. Simulation results also indicate that a water-alternating-gas （WAG） ratio of 1：1 along with an ultimate CO2 slug of 100% hydrocarbon pore volume （HCPV） will allow an incremental oil recovery of 18%. The additional recovery increases to 34% if a polymer is injected as a conformance control agent during the course of the WAG process at a ratio of 1：1. According to the results, a pattern reconfiguration change from the nine spot to staggered line drive would represent an incremental oil recovery of 26%.

A laboratory study of hot WAG injection into fractured and conventional sand packs

Gas injection is the second largest enhanced oil recovery process, next only to the thermal method used in heavy oil fields. To increase the extent of the reservoir contacted by the injected gas, the gas is generally injected intermittently with water. This mode of injection is called water-alternating-gas (WAG). This study deals with a new immiscible water alternating gas (IWAG) EOR technique, “hot IWAG” which includes combination of thermal, solvent and sweep techniques. In the proposed method CO2 will be superheated above the reservoir temperature and instead of normal temperature water, hot water will be used. Hot CO2 and hot water will be alternatively injected into the sand packs. A laboratory test was conducted on the fractured and conventional sand packs. Slugs of water and CO2 with a low and constant rate were injected into the sand packs alternatively; slug size was 0.05 PV. Recovery from each sand pack was monitored and after that hot water and hot CO2 were injected alternatively under the same conditions and increased oil recovery from each sand pack and breakthrough were measured. Experimental results showed that the injection of hot WAG could significantly recover residual oil after WAG injection in conventional and fractured sand packs.

海上低渗油藏CO_(2)混相驱可行性实验研究

海上珠江口盆地陆丰凹陷低渗、特低渗储量丰富,水驱开发难度大,注气开发需求迫切。CO_(2)驱是提高采收率的主要技术之一,但目前海上CO_(2)综合利用方面应用较少。以陆丰凹陷L油藏为例,开展了目标油藏原油注CO_(2)驱油机理实验和长岩心CO_(2)驱油效果评价实验,重点对比CO_(2)注入前后原油相态特征的变化,并对不同开发方式驱油效果进行了对比优化研究,为目标油田CO_(2)驱可行性提供依据。实验结果表明,CO_(2)可以有效提高低渗油藏的开发效果,提高采收率幅度可以在水驱的基础上提高11.75%,交替驱可以作为后期注CO_(2)防窜和进一步提高采收率的技术手段。实验研究结果对海上低渗油藏CO_(2)注气开发提供技术支持。

CO_(2)驱不同注入方式对低渗透储层渗流能力的影响

CO_(2)驱是提高低渗透储层采收率有效的技术手段。CO_(2)与原油接触后使体系中的沥青质以固体形式沉积下来,对储层造成一定堵塞,但同时发生的溶蚀作用整体上提高了储层渗流能力,且不同注入方式下CO_(2)驱对低渗透储层渗流能力的影响具有一定差异。开展了CO_(2)连续注入及CO_(2)-水交替注入后有机垢堵塞机理实验、储层润湿性实验及CO_(2)-水溶液对岩石的溶蚀评价实验,并对相对渗透率曲线参数变化特征进行评价,定量表征了CO_(2)驱不同注入方式对低渗透储层渗流能力的影响程度。结果表明:CO_(2)驱产生的有机垢会对岩石孔喉造成堵塞,但整体上CO_(2)与绿泥石反应导致的溶蚀作用更强,使得低渗透储层采收率有效提高;且CO_(2)-水交替注入比CO_(2)连续注入引起的有机垢堵塞要弱,溶蚀作用效果更好,渗透率损失率更低,能够在中、大孔隙中取得更好的驱油效果,整体上更能增大岩石孔隙空间和渗流通道,使得低渗透储层采收率有效提高。

热-流耦合与热-流-固耦合作用下的水气交替及间歇注入对咸水层CO_(2)溶解封存的影响

基于TOUGH+软件架构,结合更为准确的物理性质计算模型,建立了适用于咸水层CO_(2)封存的热-流耦合模拟方法,并使用固定应力分割迭代耦合模型将其与RGMS软件耦合,改进了热-流-固双向耦合模拟方法,建立了准确性更高的热-流-固迭代耦合模拟方法。基于鄂尔多斯盆地地质特征构建的地质模型,使用热-流与热-流-固迭代耦合方法模拟咸水层CO_(2)溶解封存过程,研究了水气交替及间歇注入方案对CO_(2)溶解量、孔隙压力和地层形变的影响。结果表明:热-流-固迭代耦合模拟能帮助设计更加合理的注入方案;仅用水气交替注入方式可提高CO_(2)溶解量;间歇注入有助于孔隙压力与地层形变恢复。研究结果可为咸水层CO_(2)溶解封存提供理论指导。

水气交替提高采收率技术进展

水气交替(WAG)注入技术是一种提高油藏采收率的有效方法,已经在多种类型的油藏中得到应用。本文介绍了WAG技术的发展背景和研究意义,然后根据注入方式、流体类型和混相状态对WAG技术进行了分类,并分别阐述了各类WAG技术的优缺点和驱油机制;分析水的矿化度、滞后效应、油藏非均质性、润湿性和WAG比例等因素对WAG技术效果的影响。基于WAG技术在实施过程中遇到的气体提前突破、设备问题和沥青质沉积等挑战,提出相应的解决措施,对未来的研究方向进行展望。

CO_(2)驱后水气交替注入驱替特征及剩余油启动机制

水气交替注入(WAG)是特低渗透油藏提高采收率的有效手段之一,但在CO_(2)连续气驱后实施WAG驱,仍然存在驱替特征模糊、剩余油启动机制不明确等问题。以海拉尔油田贝14区块为研究对象,借助Micro⁃CT研究WAG驱启动剩余油的微观作用机制,同时通过长岩心驱替实验研究CO_(2)驱后水气交替注入的驱替特征。Micro⁃CT实验结果表明:目标区块大孔隙的体积比例超过85%,在被CO_(2)全部动用后成为了气窜通道,采收率仅47.95%;CO_(2)驱后WAG驱不仅启动次级大孔隙中的剩余油,对中小孔隙的剩余油也有不同程度的动用。长岩心实验结果表明:在CO_(2)驱后开展WAG驱,水和气段塞需要交替注入一定量(0.40 PV左右)后采收率才能大幅度增加,气水比和段塞尺寸存在最优值,分别为1∶1和0.10 PV,该条件下WAG驱的采收率增幅主要由第3、4交替轮次所贡献,10轮次的水气交替注入可在CO_(2)驱的基础上提高采收率18.68百分点。研究成果可为特低渗透油藏CO_(2)驱后进一步提高采收率提供理论支撑。

延长低渗透油藏CO_(2)驱油参数优化数值模拟研究

CO_(2)驱油在特低渗油藏中具有较好的应用效果,是提高采收率的重要方法。以延长油田H区块为研究对象,分析目前注水开发存在的问题,根据动静态参数将井组分成2类,应用数值模拟方法,分别对2类井组CO_(2)驱油的开发方式、注气时机、注气速度、井底流压及气水交替周期进行了优化。结果表明,以气水比1∶1且气水交替的方式在油井含水40%~60%时注气效果最佳。第1类注气井组的最优注气速度为10~15 t/d,井底流压1 MPa,气水交替周期60天;第2类注气井组最优注气速度为5~10 t/d,井底流压2 MPa,气水交替周期30天。该研究结果对H区块低渗油藏现场注CO_(2)驱油设计具有重要的指导作用。

Experimental Investigation for NO_x Emission Reduction in Hydrogen Fueled Spark Ignition Engine Using Spark Timing Retardation, Exhaust Gas Recirculation and Water Injection Techniques

The experimental tests were carried out on a single cylinder hydrogen fueled spark ignition(SI)generator set with different spark timings(4-20℃A bTDC),exhaust gas recirculation(EGR)up to 28% by volume and water injection up to 1.95 kg/h(maximum water to fuel mass ratio of 8:1).The engine speed was kept constant of 3000 r/min.The NOx emission and thermal efficiency of engine with gasoline and hydrogen fuel operation at 1.4 kW power output are 5 g/kWh and 12.1 g/kWh,and 15% and 20.9% respectively.In order to reduce the NOx emission at source level,retarding spark timing,exhaust gas recirculation(EGR),and water injection techniques were studied.Nox emission decreased with spark timing retardation,EGR,and water injection.NOx emission with hydrogen at 1.4 kW power output decreased from 12.1 g/kWh with maximum brake torque(MBT)spark timing(10℃A bTDC)to 8.1 g/kWh with retarded spark timing(4℃A bTDC)due to decrease in the in-cylinder peak pressure and temperature.The Nox emission decreased to 6.1 g/kWh with 20% EGR due to thermal and chemical dilution effect.However,thermal efficiency decreased about 33% and 17% with spark timing retardation and 20EGR respectively as compared to that of MBT spark timing.But,in the case of water injection,the NOx emission decreased significantly without affecting the thermal efficiency of the engine and it is 5.6 g/kWh with water-hydrogen ratio of 4:1(water flow rate of 0.92 kg/h).Water injection is the best suitable method to reduce the NOx emission in a hydrogen fueled engine compared with the spark timing retardation and EGR technique.

Thermal recovery method of submarine gas hydrate based on a thermoelectric generator

1.Objective Natural gas hydrates are considered as a potential alternative fuel resource to petroleum and gas (Chong ZR et al.,2016),which can be exploited by means of depressurization,thermal method,inhibitor injection,etc.For the thermal method,gas hydrates are decomposed into water and methane when the reservoir is heated to above the equilibrium temperature of gas hydrate (Li X et al.,2016). However,the thermal recovery method needs a great deal of heat,and thus the feasibility of economic exploitation is reduced.

Determination of selected semi-volatile organic compounds in water using automated online solid-phase extraction with large-volume injection/gas chromatography/mass spectrometry

A rapid,sensitive,and cost-effective analyticalmethod was developed for the analysis of selected semivolatileorganic compounds in water.The method used anautomated online solid-phase extraction technique coupledwith programmed-temperature vaporization large-volumeinjection gas chromatography/mass spectrometry.Thewater samples were extracted by using a fully automatedmobile rack system based on x-y-z robotic techniquesusing syringes and disposable 96-well extraction plates.The method was validated for the analysis of 30 semivolatileanalytes in drinking water,groundwater,andsurface water.For a sample volume of 10 mL,the linearcalibrations ranged from 0.01 or 0.05 to 2.5μg·L^(-1),and themethod detection limits were less than 0.1μg·L^(-1).For thereagent water samples fortified at 1.0μg·L^(-1)and2.0μg·L^(-1),the obtained mean absolute recoveries were70%-130%with relative standard deviations of less than20%for most analytes.For the drinking water,groundwater,and surface water samples fortified at 1.0μg·L^(-1),theobtained mean absolute recoveries were 50%-130%withrelative standard deviations of less than 20%for mostanalytes.The new method demonstrated three advantages:1)no manipulation except the fortification of surrogatestandards prior to extraction;2)significant cost reductionassociated with sample collection,shipping,storage,andpreparation;and 3)reduced exposure to hazardous solventsand other chemicals.As a result,this new automatedmethod can be used as an effective approach for screeningand/or compliance monitoring of selected semi-volatileorganic compounds in water.

Evaluation of sour gas-low salinity waterflooding in carbonate reservoirs-A numerical simulation approach

Although significant amount of H_(2)S(sour gas)rich natural gas is estimated globally,but not much attention has been given to the application of H_(2)S in the oil recovery process.Recent studies on the use of H_(2)S in oil recovery processes showed that H_(2)S has the potential of improving the oil recovery,and it can be even more effective than using CO_(2) in some processes.H_(2)S can equally dissolve in the water,react with the reservoir rock to change its surface charge,porosity,and permeability.However,previous in-vestigations on H_(2)S oil recovery attributed the improved oil recoveries to the higher miscibility of H_(2)S in the oil,and the reduction in the oil viscosity.Therefore,there is limited understanding on the H_(2)S-oil-brine-rock geochemical interactions,and how they impact the oil recovery process.This study aims to investigate the interactions between H_(2)S,oil,and carbonate formations,and to assess how the combi-nation of H_(2)S and low salinity water can impact the wettability and porosity of the reservoirs.A triple layer surface complexation model was used to understand the influence of key parameters(e.g.,pressure,brine salinity,and composition)on the H_(2)S-brine-oil-rock interactions.Moreover,the effects of mineral content of the carbonate rock on H_(2)S interactions were studied.Thereafter,the results of the H_(2)S-oil-brine-rock interactions were compared with a study where CO_(2) was used as the injected gas.Results of the study showed that the seawater and its diluted forms yielded identicalζ-potential values of about 3.31 mV at a pH of 3.24.This indicates that at very low pH condition,pH controls the ζ-potential of the oil-brine interface regardless of the brine's ionic strength.The study further demonstrated that the presence of other minerals in the carbonate rock greatly reduced the calcite dissolution.For instance,the calcite dissolution was reduced by 4.5%when anhydrite mineral was present in the carbonate rock.Findings from the simulation also indicated that CO_(2) produced negative ζ-potential values for the car-bonate rocks,and these values were reduced by 18.4%-20% when H_(2)S was used as the gas phase.This implies that the H_(2)S shifted the carbonate rockζ-potentials towards positive.The outcomes of this study can be applied when designing CO_(2) flooding and CO_(2) storage where the gas stream contains H_(2)S gas since H_(2)S greatly influences the dissolution of the carbonate mineral.