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Pore-scale investigation of selective plugging mechanism in immiscible two-phase flow using phase-field method

Sabooniha, E ; Sharif University of Technology | 2019

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  1. Type of Document: Article
  2. DOI: 10.2516/ogst/2019050
  3. Publisher: Editions Technip , 2019
  4. Abstract:
  5. The selective plugging effect of hydrophobic bacteria cell on secondary oil recovery performance was investigated. Water and aqua solution of purified Acinetobacter strain RAG-1 were injected into an oil-saturated heterogeneous micromodel porous media. Pure water injection expelled oil by 41%, while bacterial solution injection resulted in higher oil recovery efficiency (59%). In the simulation section, a smaller part of the heterogeneous geometry was applied as a computational domain. A numerical model was developed using coupled Cahn-Hilliard phase-field method and Navier-Stokes equations, solved by a finite element solver. In the non-plugging model, approximately 50% of the matrix oil was recovered through water injection. Seven different models, which have different plugging distributions, were constructed to study the influences of selective plugging mechanism on the flow patterns. Each plugging module represented a physical phenomenon which can resist the displacing phase flow in pores, throats, and walls during microbial-enhanced oil recovery. After plugging of the main diameter route, displacing phase exited from sidelong routes located on the top and bottom of the matrix. The results indicated that the number of plugs occurring in the medium significantly affected the breakthrough time. Increasing the number of plugging modules did not necessarily lead to higher ultimate oil recovery. The adjacent plugs to the inlet caused flow patterns similar to the non-plugging model, and higher oil recovery factor than the models with farther plugs from the inlet. The obtained results showed that the fluids distribution at the pore-scale and the ultimate oil recovery were strongly dependent on the plugging distribution
  6. Keywords:
  7. Biotechnology ; Enhanced oil recovery ; Immiscible fluid ; Numerical model ; Porous medium ; Two phase flow ; Acinetobacter ; Bacteria (microorganisms)
  8. Source: Oil and Gas Science and Technology ; Volume 74 , 2019 ; 12944475 (ISSN)
  9. URL: https://ogst.ifpenergiesnouvelles.fr/articles/ogst/abs/2019/01/ogst190138/ogst190138.html