Improvement of Carbon Dioxide EOR in Water-Wet Reservoirs by Using Active Carbonated Water

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atmire.migration.oldid4266
dc.contributor.advisorDong, Mingzhe
dc.contributor.advisorChen, Shengnan
dc.contributor.authorShu, Guanli
dc.contributor.committeememberLi, Huazhou
dc.contributor.committeememberHassanzadeh, Hassan
dc.contributor.committeememberMahinpey, Nader
dc.contributor.committeememberWong, Ron Chik-Kwong
dc.date.accessioned2016-04-25T20:56:51Z
dc.date.available2016-04-25T20:56:51Z
dc.date.issued2016
dc.date.submitted2016en
dc.description.abstractCO2 injection for enhanced oil recovery has been widely and successfully used in many oil fields. The drawbacks of conventional CO2 injection are high mobility and gravity segregation, which lead to low sweep efficiency in the reservoir. Particularly in strongly water-wet reservoirs, a significant trapping of oil by water occurs after CO2 flood due to water blocking effect. To overcome the effect of water blocking, carbonated water flood is considered. In this thesis, a new injection strategy is proposed to recover the trapped residual oil in water-wet reservoirs. After waterflood, a slug of carbonated water is pre-flushed before CO2 flood, followed by an extended waterflood. A series of parallel tests are performed to compare the recovery efficiencies of tertiary floods. Additionally, the slug size of carbonated water is investigated and optimized to achieve the maximum economic value. In accordance with experimental results from parallel tests, it is recognized that molecular diffusion plays important role in recovering the trapped oil. In order to study the mass transfer process of dissolved CO2 from carbonated water into oil phases, a theoretical model is developed. The diffusion process is governed by diffusion coefficients of CO2 in water and oil phases. To determine these two diffusivities, an experimental method is proposed. In the experiment, two phases are placed in a closed diffusion cell immersed in a water bath at a constant temperature. To avoid natural convection, the water phase locates at the bottom and oil phase lies at the top. Combined with a developed theoretical model, pressure changes that occur in the cell are recorded and analyzed to investigate the mass transfer process. By means of the theoretical model and experimental method, effects of operational parameters on diffusion coefficients are studied. To explain the reasons for enhanced oil recovery by pre-flushing carbonated water before the CO2 flood, three types of experiments are involved in investigating the mechanisms. The derived theoretical model and experimental method can be applied to study the mass transfer process and to determine diffusion coefficients for any liquid-liquid system.en_US
dc.identifier.citationShu, G. (2016). Improvement of Carbon Dioxide EOR in Water-Wet Reservoirs by Using Active Carbonated Water (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/26482en_US
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/26482
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11023/2898
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisher.facultyGraduate Studies
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Calgaryen
dc.publisher.placeCalgaryen
dc.rightsUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.
dc.subjectEngineering--Petroleum
dc.subject.classificationCarbon dioxide (CO2)en_US
dc.subject.classificationEnhanced oil recovery (EOR)en_US
dc.subject.classificationCarbonated wateren_US
dc.subject.classificationWater-wet reservoirsen_US
dc.subject.classificationMass transferen_US
dc.subject.classificationDiffusion coefficienten_US
dc.titleImprovement of Carbon Dioxide EOR in Water-Wet Reservoirs by Using Active Carbonated Water
dc.typedoctoral thesis
thesis.degree.disciplineChemical and Petroleum Engineering
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Calgary
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophy (PhD)
ucalgary.item.requestcopytrue
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