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A new empirical correlation for predicting effective molecular diffusivity of gas-heavy oil-porous media systems

Zamanian, E ; Sharif University of Technology | 2012

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  1. Type of Document: Article
  2. DOI: 10.1615/SpecialTopicsRevPorousMedia.v3.i1.30
  3. Publisher: 2012
  4. Abstract:
  5. Molecular diffusivity is an essential parameter for modeling of mass transfer in enhanced oil recovery processes. However, experimentally determined diffusivities for light gas-heavy oil systems in the presence of porous media are relatively rare. A few correlations are available in the literature that predict diffusivity of gases into heavy oil in presence of porous media. In this work the pressure-decay method was applied to obtain effective molecular diffusion of CO 2, CH 4 and N 2-heavy oil systems in both bulk and porous media systems at different temperatures. The diffusivity of gases in heavy oil was determined by matching the numerically calculated pressures to the measured data. A new empirical correlation for predicting molecular diffusivity of gases in porous media was proposed that depended upon temperature, oil viscosity and molecular weight of diffusing gases. The results of proposed correlation matched satisfactorily with the experimental data. Measured diffusion coefficients were in the range of available data in the literature for different heavy oils. The simplicity of the experimentally derived correlation makes it attractive for application in modeling and simulation of miscible enhanced oil recovery processes in similar heavy oils
  6. Keywords:
  7. Effective diffusion coefficient ; Heavy oil ; Porous media and empirical correlation ; Pressure-decay method ; Effective diffusion coefficients ; Empirical correlations ; Enhanced oil recovery ; Experimental data ; Measured data ; Media systems ; Modeling and simulation ; Molecular diffusion ; Molecular diffusivity ; Oil system ; Oil viscosity ; Carbon dioxide ; Computer simulation ; Diffusion ; Enhanced recovery ; Forecasting ; Inert gases ; Porous materials ; Heavy oil production
  8. Source: Special Topics and Reviews in Porous Media ; Volume 3, Issue 1 , 2012 , Pages 23-33 ; 21514798 (ISSN)
  9. URL: http://www.dl.begellhouse.com/journals/3d21681c18f5b5e7,7acdb62922343a25,2fec5acd7646342e.html