Dong, MingzheZhou, Xiaodong2017-12-182017-12-182012http://hdl.handle.net/1880/106055Bibliography: p. 83-90Some pages are in colour.The dominant mechanism of enhanced heavy oil recovery by chemical flooding is studied by conducting various chemical slug injections into a two-dimensional physical model. A total of sixteen tests including seven single-slug tests, seven two-slug tests and two tests with chemical slug alternated with air slugs were conducted to test the contribution of alkaline, surfactant, polymer and their combinations to enhanced heavy oil recovery. The relationship between the tertiary oil recovery and the pressure drop of the seven single-slug floods was analyzed, and it was discovered that the two have a good correlation. Comparison of the tertiary oil recoveries of different chemical slug tests shows that the improved recovery for the heavy oil used in this study is mainly due to the plugging of water channels, or the reduction of water mobility. The results of two-slug tests show that after regular alkaline/surfactant/polymer flooding, the second polymer slug injection can recover more oil, if a water slug injection is applied between the two chemical slugs. Experimental results and conclusions were further studied in the field application of polymer flooding, based on simulation results using actual geological and reservoir data and the production history data from Pelican Lake reservoir.ix, 90 leaves : ill. ; 30 cm.engUniversity 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.master thesis10.11575/PRISM/5054