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Heavy oil recovery using ASP flooding: A pore-level experimental study in fractured five-spot micromodels

Sedaghat, M ; Sharif University of Technology | 2016

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  1. Type of Document: Article
  2. DOI: 10.1002/cjce.22445
  3. Publisher: Wiley-Liss Inc , 2016
  4. Abstract:
  5. Although alkaline-surfactant-polymer (ASP) flooding has proven efficient for heavy oil recovery, the displacement mechanisms and efficiency of this process should be discussed further in fractured porous media. In this study, several ASP flooding tests were conducted in fractured glass-etched micromodels with a typical waterflood geometrical configuration, i.e. five-spot injection-production pattern. The ASP flooding tests were conducted at constant injection flow rates but different fracture geometrical characteristics. The ASP solutions consisted of five polymers, two surfactants, and three alkaline types. It was found that using synthetic polymers, especially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide with high molecular mass, as well as cationic surfactant increases the ultimate recovery. The location of the injection well with respect to the fracture system plays a significant role in the ASP flooding performance, i.e. an increase in the angle associated with the longitudinal extension of fractures with respect to the main flow direction resulted in enhanced oil recovery and also postponed the wetting phase breakthrough time. Mechanistic study of this displacement process revealed that dispersive and diffusive behaviour of the ASP front enhanced the fluid transport from fracture to matrix and increased the microscopic displacement efficiency. Emulsification and coalescence mechanisms were responsible for ASP frontal advancement. Residual oil in the invaded region, which was observed in the form of discontinuous oil ganglia dispersed in the invaded pore bodies or in the form of pendular bridges formed around some of the solid particles, was mobilized in the form of oil wads through the droplets of the displacing phase. © 2016 Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering
  6. Keywords:
  7. ASP flooding ; Displacement mechanisms ; Fracture ; Heavy oil ; Micromodel ; Cationic surfactants ; Crude oil ; Dyes ; Efficiency ; Emulsification ; Floods ; Fracture ; Heavy oil production ; Injection (oil wells) ; Oil well flooding ; Petroleum reservoirs ; Polymers ; Porous materials ; Surface active agents ; Well flooding ; Alkaline-surfactant-polymer flooding ; Geometrical characteristics ; Geometrical configurations ; Hydrolyzed polyacrylamides ; Microscopic displacement ; Enhanced recovery
  8. Source: Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering ; Volume 94, Issue 4 , 2016 , Pages 779-791 ; 00084034 (ISSN)
  9. URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cjce.22445/abstract;jsessionid=77F875E142411AD2BCDF9D6D1E6EB046.f04t01