Mechanistic investigation of gas injection treatment in a continental shale gas condensate reservoir

Low thermal evolution degree of gas and connected fracture network are key features in the continental shale gas reservoirs.When the pressure decreases lower than the dew point pressure,gas condensate diminishes the mobility of subsurface fluid forms in the near well region,which further reduces the productivity and final recovery factor in addition to the low connected fracture network.This work is motivated to investigate the application of gas injection,proven to be a feasible technique in conventional/marine-shale gas condensate reservoirs,in continental shale gas condensate reservoirs.We apply a compositional model to investigate the mechanism of gas injection treatment taking a continental shale gas condensate reservoir in the Fuxing area,Sichuan Basin,China as an example.The results demonstrate that for the removal of gas condensate during CO_(2)injection,re-vaporization plays the main mechanism through two processes including pressurization and development of miscibility,while the former is overwhelming.Considering the variation trend of the total volume of gas condensate,we divide the whole injection process into four and six stages in the single fracture model and fracture network model,respectively,and reason the trend with respect to phase behavior and flow pattern.A sensitive study on the injected gas type indicates that the sorting of the gas injection performance to remove gas condensate produced gas followed by CH4,and followed by CO_(2).Finally,we investigate the performance of cyclic produced-gas injection and optimize the injection scheme.This work provides technical and theoretical support for the development of continental shale gas reservoirs.

CFD modeling of gas−liquid flow phenomenon in lead smelting oxygen-enriched side-blown furnace

A validated numerical model was established to simulate gas−liquid flow behaviors in the oxygen-enriched side-blown bath furnace.This model included the slip velocity between phases and the gas thermal expansion effect.Its modeling results were verified with theoretical correlations and experiments,and the nozzle-eroded states in practice were also involved in the analysis.Through comparison,it is confirmed that the thermal expansion effect influences the flow pattern significantly,which may lead to the backward motion of airflow and create a potential risk to production safety.Consequently,the influences of air injection velocity and furnace width on airflow behavior were investigated to provide operating and design guidance.It is found that the thin layer melt,which avoids high-rate oxygen airflow eroding nozzles,shrinks as the injection velocity increases,but safety can be guaranteed when the velocity ranges from 175 to 275 m/s.Moreover,the isoline patterns and heights of thin layers change slightly when the furnace width increases from 2.2 to 2.8 m,indicating that the furnace width shows a limited influence on production safety.

Optimization of Gas-Flooding Fracturing Development in Ultra-Low Permeability Reservoirs

Ultra-low permeability reservoirs are characterized by small pore throats and poor physical properties, which areat the root of well-known problems related to injection and production. In this study, a gas injection floodingapproach is analyzed in the framework of numerical simulations. In particular, the sequence and timing of fracturechanneling and the related impact on production are considered for horizontal wells with different fracturemorphologies. Useful data and information are provided about the regulation of gas channeling and possible strategiesto delay gas channeling and optimize the gas injection volume and fracture parameters. It is shown that inorder to mitigate gas channeling and ensure high production, fracture length on the sides can be controlled andlonger fractures can be created in the middle by which full gas flooding is obtained at the fracture location in themiddle of the horizontal well. A Differential Evolution (DE) algorithm is provided by which the gas injectionvolume and the fracture parameters of gas injection flooding can be optimized. It is shown that an improvedoil recovery factor as high as 6% can be obtained.

Numerical Simulation of Asphaltene Precipitation and Deposition during Natural Gas and CO_(2) Injection

Asphaltene deposition is a significant problem during gas injection processes,as it can block the porous medium,the wellbore,and the involved facilities,significantly impacting reservoir productivity and ultimate oil recovery.Only a few studies have investigated the numerical modeling of this potential effect in porous media.This study focuses on asphaltene deposition due to natural gas and CO_(2) injection.Predictions of the effect of gas injection on asphaltene deposition behavior have been made using a 3D numerical simulation model.The results indicate that the injection of natural gas exacerbates asphaltene deposition,leading to a significant reduction in permeability near the injection well and throughout the reservoir.This reduction in permeability strongly affects the ability of gas toflow through the reservoir,resulting in an improvement of the displacement front.The displacement effi-ciency of the injection gas process increases by up to 1.40%when gas is injected at 5500 psi,compared to the scenario where the asphaltene model is not considered.CO_(2) injection leads to a miscible process with crude oil,extracting light and intermediate components,which intensifies asphaltene precipitation and increases the viscosity of the remaining crude oil,ultimately reducing the recovery rate.

Horizontal well spacing optimization and gas injection simulation for the ultra-low-permeability Yongjin reservoir

Optimal spacing for vertical wells can be effectively predicted with several published methods,but methods suitable for assessing the proper horizontal well spacing are rare.This work proposes a method for calculating the optimal horizontal well spacing for an ultra-low permeability reservoir e the Yongjin reservoir in the Juggar Basin,northwestern China.The result shows that a spacing of 640m is the most economical for the development of the reservoir.To better develop the reservoir,simulation approaches are used and a new model is built based on the calculated well spacing.Since the reservoir has an ultralow permeability,gas injection is regarded as the preferred enhanced oil recovery(EOR)method.Injection of different gases including carbon dioxide,methane,nitrogen and mixed gas are modelled.The results show that carbon dioxide injection is the most efficient and economical for the development of the reservoir.However,if the reservoir produces enough methane,reinjecting methane is even better than injecting carbon dioxide.

Analysis of gas-solid flow and shaft-injected gas distribution in an oxygen blast furnace using a discrete element method and computational fluid dynamics coupled model

lronmaking using an oxygen blast furnace is an attractive approach for reducing energy consumption in the iron and steel industry. This paper presents a numerical study of gas-solid flow in an oxygen blast fur- nace by coupling the discrete element method with computational fluid dynamics. The model reliability was verified by previous experimental results. The influences of particle diameter, shaft tuyere size, and specific ratio （X） of shaft-injected gas （51G） flowrate to total gas flowrate on the SIC penetration behavior and pressure field in the furnace were investigated. The results showed that gas penetration capacity in the furnace gradually decreased as the particle diameter decreased from 100 to 40 mm. Decreasing particle diameter and increasing shaft tuyere size both slightly increased the SIG concentration near the furnace wall but decreased it at the furnace center. The value of X has a significant impact on the SIG distribution. According to the pressure fields obtained under different conditions, the key factor affecting SIG penetration depth is the pressure difference between the upper and lower levels of the shaft tuyere. If the pressure difference is small, the SIG can easily penetrate to the furnace center.

Comparison of different noble gas injections by massive gas injection on plasma disruption mitigation on Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak

Massive gas injection(MGI)is a traditional plasma disruption mitigation method.This method directly injected massive gas into the pre-disruption plasma and had been developed on the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak(EAST).Different noble gas injection experiments,including He,Ne,and Ar,were performed to compare the mitigation effect of plasma disruption by evaluating the key parameters such as flight time,pre-thermal quench(pre-TQ),and current quench(CQ).The flight time was shorter for low atomic number(Z)gas,and the decrease in flight time by increasing the amount of gas was insignificant.However,both pre-TQ and CQ durations decreased considerably with the increase in gas injection amount.The effect of atomic mass on pre-TQ and CQ durations showed the opposite trend.The observed trend could help in controlling CQ duration in a reasonable area.Moreover,the analysis of radiation distribution with different impurity injections indicated that low Z impurity could reduce the asymmetry of radiation,which is valuable in mitigating plasma disruption.These results provided essential data support for plasma disruption mitigation on EAST and future fusion devices.

Optimization of operational strategies for rich gas enhanced oil recovery based on a pilot test in the Bakken tight oil reservoir

Horizontal well drilling and multistage hydraulic fracturing have been demonstrated as effective approaches for stimulating oil production in the Bakken tight oil reservoir.However,after multiple years of production,primary oil recovery in the Bakken is generally less than 10%of the estimated original oil in place.Gas huff‘n’puff(HnP)has been tested in the Bakken Formation as an enhanced oil recovery(EOR)method;however,most field pilot test results showed no significant incremental oil production.One of the factors affecting HnP EOR performance is premature gas breakthrough,which is one of the most critical issues observed in the field because of the presence of interwell fractures.Consequently,injected gas rapidly reaches adjacent production wells without contacting reservoir rock and increasing oil recovery.Proper conformance control is therefore needed to avoid early gas breakthrough and improve EOR performance.In this study,a rich gas EOR pilot in the Bakken was carefully analyzed to collect the essential reservoir and operational data.A simulation model with 16 wells was then developed to reproduce the production history and predict the EOR performance with and without conformance control.EOR operational strategies,including single-and multiple-well HnP,with different gas injection constraints were investigated.The simulation results of single-well HnP without conformance control showed that a rich gas injection rate of at least 10 MMscfd was needed to yield meaningful incremental oil production.The strategy of conformance control via water injection could significantly improve oil production in the HnP well,but injecting an excessive amount of water also leads to water breakthrough and loss of oil production in the offset wells.By analyzing the production performance of the wells individually,the arrangement of wells was optimized for multiple-well HnP EOR.The multiwell results showed that rich gas EOR could improve oil production up to 7.4%by employing conformance control strategies.Furthermore,replacing rich gas with propane as the injection gas could result in 14%of incremental oil production.

Mechanical stirring for highly efficient gas injection refining

In gas injection refining processes,wide dispersion of small bubbles in the bath is indispensable for high refining efficiency.Eccentric mechanical stirring with unidirectional impeller rotation was tested using a water model for pursuing better bubble disintegration and dispersion.Effects of various factors on bubble disintegration and dispersion were investigated.These factors were stirring mode,eccentricity and rotation speed,nozzle structure,nozzle immersion depth,and gas flow rate.Gas injection from a nozzle at the end of the impeller shaft and from an immersed lance was studied.Under eccentric stirring,a vortex was formed away from the shaft.Small bubbles were produced in the strong turbulence or high shear stress field near the rotating impeller and moved in the direction to the vortex keeping up with the macroscopic flow induced by the mechanical stirring.Thus small bubbles could disperse widely in the bath under eccentric stirring with unidirectional rotation.

Oxide film on bubble surface of aluminum foams produced by gas injection foaming process

Based on A356 aluminum alloy,aluminum foams were prepared by gas injection foaming process with pure nitrogen,air and some gas mixtures.The oxygen volume fraction of these gas mixtures varied from 0.2%to 8.0%.Optical microscopy,scanning electron microscopy（SEM） and Auger electron spectroscopy（AES） were used to analyze the influence of oxygen content on cell structure,relative density,macro and micro morphology of cell walls,coverage area fraction of oxide film,thickness of oxide film and other aspects.Results indicate that the coverage area fraction of oxide film on bubble surface increases with the increase of oxygen content when the oxygen volume is less than 1.2%.While when the oxygen volume fraction is larger than 1.6%,an oxide film covers the entire bubble surface and aluminum foams with good cell structure can be produced.The thicknesses of oxide films of aluminum foams produced by gas mixtures containing 1.6%-21%oxygen are almost the same.The reasons why the thickness of oxide film nearly does not change with the variation of oxygen content and the amount of oxygen needed to achieve 100%coverage of oxide film are both discussed.In addition,the role of oxide film on bubble surface in foam stability is also analyzed.

Oxidation kinetics of oxide film on bubble surface of aluminum foams produced by gas injection foaming process

In the range of 620？710 °C, air was blown into A356 aluminum alloy melt to produce aluminum foams. In order to study the influence of temperature on the thickness of oxide film on bubble surface, Auger electron spectroscopy （AES） was used. Based on the knowledge of corrosion science and hydrodynamics, two oxidation kinetics models of oxide film on bubble surface were established. The thicknesses of oxide films produced at different temperatures were predicted through those two models. Furthermore, the theoretical values were compared with the experimental values. The results indicate that in the range of 620？710 °C, the theoretical values of the thickness of oxide film predicted by the model including the rising process are higher than the experimental values. While, the theoretical values predicted by the model without the rising process are in good agreement with the experimental values, which shows this model objectively describes the oxidation process of oxide film on bubble surface. This work suggests that the oxidation kinetics of oxide film on bubble surface of aluminum foams produced by gas injection foaming process follows the Arrhenius equation.

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.

Enhancing recovery and sensitivity studies in an unconventional tight gas condensate reservoir

The recovery factor from tight gas reservoirs is typically less than 15%, even with multistage hydrauhc tractunng stimulation. Such low recovery is exacerbated in tight gas condensate reservoirs, where the depletion of gas leaves the valuable condensate behind. In this paper, three enhanced gas recovery （EGR） methods including produced gas injection, CO2 injection and water injection are investigated to increase the well productivity for a tight gas condensate reservoir in the Montney Formation, Canada. The production performance of the three EGR methods is compared and their economic feasibility is evaluated. Sensitivity analysis of the key factors such as primary production duration, bottom-hole pressures, and fracture conductivity is conducted and their effects on the well production performance are analyzed. Results show that, compared with the simple depletion method, both the cumulative gas and condensate production increase with fluids injected. Produced gas injection leads to both a higher gas and condensate production compared with those of the CO2 injection, while waterflooding suffers from injection difficulty and the corresponding low sweep efficiency. Meanwhile, the injection cost is lower for the produced gas injection due to the on-site available gas source and minimal transport costs, gaining more economic benefits than the other EGR methods.

Gas injection for enhanced oil recovery in two-dimensional geology-based physical model of Tahe fractured-vuggy carbonate reservoirs:karst fault system

Gas injection serves as a main enhanced oil recovery(EOR)method in fractured-vuggy carbonate reservoir,but its effect differs among single wells and multi-well groups because of the diverse fractured-vuggy configuration.Many researchers conducted experiments for the observation of fluid flow and the evaluation of production performance,while most of their physical models were fabricated based on the probability distribution of fractures and caves in the reservoir.In this study,a two-dimensional physical model of the karst fault system was designed and fabricated based on the geological model of TK748 well group in the seventh block of the Tahe Oilfield.The fluid flow and production performance of primary gas flooding were discussed.Gas-assisted gravity flooding was firstly introduced to take full use of gas-oil gravity difference,and its feasibility in the karst fault system was examined.Experimental results showed that primary gas flooding created more flow paths and achieved a remarkable increment of oil recovery compared to water flooding.Gas injection at a lower location was recommended to delay gas breakthrough.Gas-assisted gravity flooding achieved more stable gas-displacing-oil because oil production was at a lower location,and thus,the oil recovery was further enhanced.

Deployment and Exploration of a Gas Storage Well Pattern Based on the Threshold Radius

To tackle the problem that wells that are deployed in a specific pattern based on the requirements of gas reservoir development are not suitable for gas storage,we have conducted concentrically circular injection and production simulation experiments for gas storage,discovered the existence of a threshold radius,denoted by Rt,and derived the expression for Rt.Based on the analysis and discussion results,we propose a strategy for deploying gas storage wells in specific patterns.The expression for Rt shows that it is affected by factors such as the gas storage gas production/injection time,the upper pressure limit,the lower pressure limit,the bottomhole flow pressure at the ends of injection and production,the and permeability.The analysis and discussion results show that the Rt of a gas storage facility is much smaller than the Rt for gas reservoir development.In the gas storage facilities in China,the Rt for gas production is less than the Rt for the gas injection,and Rt increases with the difference in the operating pressure and with permeability K.Based on the characteristics of Rt,we propose three suggestions for gas storage well pattern deployment:(1)calculate Rt according to the designed functions of the gas storage facility and deploy the well pattern according to Rt;(2)deploy sparser,large-wellbore patterns in high-permeability areas and denser,small-wellbore patterns in high-permeability areas;and(3)achieve the gas injection well pattern by new drilling,and the gas production well pattern through a combination of the gas injection well pattern and old wells.By assessing a gas storage facility with a perfect well pattern after a number of adjustments,we found that the Rt of the 12 wells calculated in this paper is basically close to the corresponding actual radius,which validates our method.The results of this study provide a methodological basis for well pattern deployment in new gas storage construction.

Fabrication of AlN-TiC/Al composites by gas injection processing

The fabrication of AlN-TiC/Al composites by carbon- and nitrogen-containing gas injection into Al-Mg-Ti melts was studied. It was shown that AlN and TiC particles could be formed by the in situ reaction of mixture gas （N2 ＋ C2H2 ＋ NH3） with Al-Mg-Ti melts. The condition for the formation of AlN was that the treatment temperature must be higher than 1373 K, and the amounts of AlN and TiC increased with the increase of the treatment temperature and the gas injection time It was considered that AlN was formed by the direct reaction of Al with nitrogen-containing gas at the interface of the gas bubble and the melt. However, the mechanism of TiC formation is a combination mechanism of solution-precipitation and solid-liquid reaction.

Influence of hydrogen-enriched atmosphere under coke oven gas injection on reduction swelling behaviors of oxidized pellet

It is of great importance to elucidate reduction swelling behaviors and reaction mechanism of oxidized pellet in hydrogen-enriched atmosphere under coke oven gas injection. In this work, the effects of hydrogen concentration in N_2-CO-H_2 atmosphere with unchanged CO content on reduction swelling behaviors of oxidized pellet at 1173 K were studied, to clarify the mechanism of hydrogen-enriched reduction and exclude the influences of CO. Then, the reduction swelling behaviors of oxidized pellet at 1173 K in actual atmosphere under coke oven gas(COG) injection, got from the simulation results of multi-fluid blast furnace model, were investigated. The results show that with the concentration of hydrogen increasing in N_2-CO-H_2 gas from 2% to 18%, the reduction swelling index of pellet decreases from 10.12% to 5.57% while the reduction ratio of pellet increases obviously from 39.85% to 69.58%. In addition, with COG injection rate increasing from 0 to 152.34 m^3/t, the reduction swelling index of pellet decreases slightly from 10.71% to 9.54% while the reduction ratio of pellet is increased from 31.57% to 36.39%. The microstructures of pellet are transformed from the platy structure to the flocculent structure.

Diffusion coefficients of natural gas in foamy oil systems under high pressures

The diffusion coefficient of natural gas in foamy oil is one of the key parameters to evaluate the feasibility of gas injection for enhanced oil recovery in foamy oil reservoirs. In this paper, a PVT cell was used to measure diffusion coefficients of natural gas in Venezuela foamy oil at high pressures, and a new method for deter- mining the diffusion coefficient in the foamy oil was de- veloped on the basis of experimental data. The effects of pressure and the types of the liquid phase on the diffusion coefficient of the natural gas were discussed. The results indicate that the diffusion coefficients of natural gas in foamy oil, saturated oil, and dead oil increase linearly with increasing pressure. The diffusion coefficient of natural gas in the foamy oil at 20 MPa was 2.93 times larger than that at 8.65 MPa. The diffusion coefficient of the natural gas in dead oil was 3.02 and 4.02 times than that of the natural gas in saturated oil and foamy oil when the pressure was 20 MPa. However, the gas content of foamy oil was 16.9 times higher than that of dead oil when the dissolution time and pressure were 20 MPa and 35.22 h, respectively.

Effects of different combustion modes on the thermal efficiency and emissions of a diesel pilot-ignited natural gas engine under low-medium loads

Research on dual-fuel(DF)engines has become increasingly important as engine manufacturers seek to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.There are significant advantages of using diesel pilot-ignited natural gas engines as DF engines.However,different combustion modes exist due to variations in the formation of the mixture.This research used a simulation model and numerical simulations to explore the combustion characteristics of high-pressure direct injection(HPDI),partially premixed compression ignition(PPCI),and double pilot injection premixed compression ignition(DPPCI)combustion modes under a low-medium load.The results revealed that the DPPCI combustion mode provides higher gross indicated thermal efficiency and more acceptable total hydrocarbon(THC)emission levels than the other modes.Due to its relatively good performance,an experimental study was conducted on the DPPCI mode engine to evaluate the impact of the diesel dual-injection strategy on the combustion process.In the DPPCI mode,a delay in the second pilot ignition injection time increased THC emissions(a maximum value of 4.27g/(kW·h)),decreased the emission of nitrogen oxides(a maximum value of 7.64 g/(kW·h)),increased and then subsequently decreased the gross indicated thermal efficiency values,which reached 50.4%under low-medium loads.

Effect of nozzle geometry on pressure drop in submerged gas injection

Submerged gas injection into liquid leads to complex multiphase flow, in which nozzle geometries are crucial important for the operational expenditure in terms of pressure drop. The influence of the nozzle geometry on pressure drop between nozzle inlet and outlet has been experimentally studied for different gas flow rates and bath depths. Nozzles with circular, gear-like and four-leaf cross-sectional shape have been studied. The results indicate that, besides the hydraulic diameter of the outlet, the orifice area and the perimeter of the nozzle tip also play significant roles. For the same superficial gas velocity, the average pressure drop from the four-leaf-shaped geometry is the least. The influence of bath depth was found negligible. A correlation for the modified Euler number considering the pressure drop is proposed depending on nozzle geometric parameter and on the modified Froude number with the hydraulic diameter of the nozzle do as characteristic length.