A Potentiometric Study of the Effects of Mobility Ratio on Reservoir Flow Patterns

Bradley, H. B.; Heller, J.P.; Odeh, A.S.

doi:10.2118/1585-g

Cited by 4 publications

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“…Classical work that addresses how mobility ratio influences oil recovery for miscible flooding operations include the works of Haberman [6], Dyes, Caudle, and Erickson [7], caudle, Erickson, and Slobod [8], Blackwell, Rayne, and Terry [9], Aronofsky and Ramey [ 10], and Bradley, Heller, and Odeh [11].…”

Section: Oil Recovery Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Economic Model of Mobility Control Methods for CO2 Flooding

Pande

Heller

1984

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Members SPE-AIME Abstract A levelized cost procedure is used to determine the profitability of carbon dioxide flooding in profitability of carbon dioxide flooding in non-waterflooded fields, and of the use of thickening agents for mobility control. The effects on production of changing the mobility of the injected CO2 are estimated by use of a correlation developed by Claridge [11 from his analysis of the literature on developed five-spot patterns. The procedure shows that mobility control can be applied procedure shows that mobility control can be applied profitably to carbon dioxide floods. Greater profitably to carbon dioxide floods. Greater profits result from operating at lower mobility profits result from operating at lower mobility ratios. The effect of varying critical operation and financial parameters on the profitability of carbon dioxide floods is investigated. The profitability of the project is highly dependent on profitability of the project is highly dependent on the cost of carbon dioxide. The oil price, oil price escalation rate, carbon dioxide cost price escalation rate, carbon dioxide cost escalation rate, and discount rate for discounting future cost and revenue stream affect the profitability of the project by an order of profitability of the project by an order of magnitude less than the cost of carbon dioxide. However, for conventional carbon dioxide floods, carbon dioxide recycling is important and the recycling affects profits more than the parameters just mentioned previously. The cost, concentration, and escalation rates of mobility control agents are also important factors which affect the profitability of mobility controlled carbon dioxide profitability of mobility controlled carbon dioxide floods. The fixed charge rate for capital and the operation and maintenance cost escalation rate affect the profitability of the flood but these parameters play a far less significant role than any parameters play a far less significant role than any of the other factors described above. Introduction Economic considerations are important for determining whether or not enhanced oil recovery processes will be applied to petroleum reservoirs. The objective of this work is to provide a means by which to consider the costs and benefits of ability control for carbon dioxide flooding. The mobility control alternatives investigated include use of conventional carbon dioxide flooding, and thickening the injected CO2 by mans of an additive such as foams or polymers for mobility control. A levelized cost procedure is used to evaluate the different mobility control alternatives under consideration. By definition, levelized costs are a stream of constant annual payments over the life of the investment, with the same discounted present value as the actual stream of payments. When capital as well as continuing yearly operation and maintenance costs are involved, the levelized cost is the sum of the appropriate fixed charge rate times the capital outlay plus the levelized stream, of annual costs. The use of levelized costs provides a means of comparing different investment provides a means of comparing different investment strategies; in this case, a commitment to a particular mobility control alternative with different particular mobility control alternative with different capital outlays and annual cost streams In this analysis, a Fortran IV computer program with approximately 50 input variables is used to perform the engineering and economic analysis. These input parameters relate to operating characteristics parameters relate to operating characteristics (mobility ratio, amount of CO2 injected, flood type - conventional, foam, or polymer CO2 flood), field characteristics, and financial parameters. These parameters are initially set at base case values and then altered to investigate the effect of changes in the parameter on profit. The program incorporates subroutines to calculate the oil recovery which occurs as a function of time, capital investment costs, operation and maintenance costs, and crude oil revenue over time. The windfall profits tax, royalties, and state and local oil and gas severance taxes are taken into account. The program finally levelizes cost stream and provides program finally levelizes cost stream and provides levelized (annualized) profit which can be used to compare the different investment alternatives. The annualized profit does not account for overhead expenses or the corporate income tax. The oil recovery model incorporated into the program is based on the work of Claridge. It is assumed that the rate at which CO2 is injected and the mobility ratio remain invariant with time. The oil recovery model is applied to a non-waterflooded field. P. 261

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Section: Oil Recovery Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Economic Model of Mobility Control Methods for CO2 Flooding

Pande

Heller

1984

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“…The effects of fluid mobility ratio on areal sweep efficiency on breakthrough for a five-spot well pattern was studied by Fay and Prats (1951) as well as Cheek and Menzie (1955) using fluid-mapped models, by Armofsky and Ramey (1956) with an electrolytic tank, Bradley et al (1961) using potentiometer models, and by Dougherty and Sheldon (1964) employing the analytical method. Table 1 presents a summary of the reported areal sweep efficiency for a five-spot pattern as a function of mobility ratio.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Areal Sweep Efficiency of the First-contact Miscible Displacements: An Experimental Approach

Zekri

Mustafiz

Islam

2008

Petroleum Science and Technology

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Solvent flooding using the water alternating gas (WAG) technique is very important for predicting the process performance. This technique has been employed in a number of oil fields. However, little data are available in the literature. Therefore, there is an immense need for the sweep efficiency data resulting from first-contact miscible flooding, particularly in view of conducting reservoir simulation studies. In this article, we conducted a series of WAG displacements through glass bead packs. A number of miscible WAG displacement tests were conducted at WAG ratios of 1:1, 1:2, and 2:1. Constant flow rates were used to mask the effects of capillary number on sweep efficiency. Experimental results revealed that the WAG ratio affects the sweep efficiency of the miscible flooding process. In addition, new correlations of areal sweep as function of mobility ratio at various WAG ratios were developed. The data provided can be useful to the oil industry in conducting analytical and numerical modeling studies of miscible WAG processes.

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Foamlike Dispersions for Mobility Control in CO2 Floods

Heller

Lien

Kuntamukkula

1985

Society of Petroleum Engineers Journal

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Heller, John P., SPE, New Mexico Petroleum Recovery Research Center Petroleum Recovery Research Center Lien, Cheng Li, SPE, New Mexico Petroleum Recovery Research Center, Kuntamukkula, Murty S., SPE, New Mexico Petroleum Recovery Research Center Petroleum Recovery Research Center AUGUST 1985 Abstract At the reservoir temperature and pressure at which CO2 can displace a crude oil with high microscopic-displacement efficiency, its density and compressibility are close to those of the crude oil-and not greatly different from those of water itself. Because of this, the mechanical and chemical characteristics of a high-pressure, CO2-in-water "foam" cannot be assumed to be the same as those of an air/water foam at near-atmospheric pressure. pressure. This paper reports information on the mobility of foamlike dispersions in reservoir rock. The data come both from the recalculation of selected experimental work reported in the literature and from new experiments. An important criterion for these experiments is to eliminate or greatly reduce the influence of fluid compressibility, so as to approximate field conditions in CO2 floods more closely. The core flow experiments performed for this work meet this condition by use of the nonaqueous phase of either liquid CO2 at high pressure, or a light hydrocarbon to simulate dense CO2 in experiments performed at low pressure. We postulate that to be effective in retarding the growth of fingers or other instability patterns in CO2 floods while maintaining a high microscopic displacement efficiency, a foamlike dispersion of dense CO2 in surfactant/water should have the following characteristics. 1. Its aqueous-phase content should be as low as possible, to minimize oil trapping and to permit maximum possible, to minimize oil trapping and to permit maximum contact between CO2 and the crude oil. 2. Its effective mobility in the reservoir rock should be adjustable, by some parameters accessible during its generation, to about that of the oil bank it is expected to form and to displace. Introduction Since the classical flow and model experiments, and calculations of the 1950's and 1960's, it has been well known that adverse mobility ratio prevents the attainment of high areal sweep efficiencies in both miscible and immiscible displacements. The mechanism responsible for this is the formation of "fingers" of an unstable displacement front, which leads to early breakthrough and lowered oil production rates. The only apparent remedy is to thicken or to decrease the mobility of the injected fluids. An early suggestion along this line was to use foams to displace the oil. Several dozen papers over the intervening years have studied this idea further in both laboratory and field, and there is general agreement that the method holds great promise for selected plugging or diversion of flow from high-permeability streaks. Although the literature points out that large pressure drops ate required to move foam through porous media, and although this is very promising for mobility control, serious questions remain unresolved for that application. One such problem is that in most of the reported experiments, considerable expansion in volume occurred over the length of the flow system. Thus, it is difficult to separate the effects of the foam's compressibility from its inherent flow-resisting properties. An even more fundamental question concerns the mechanism of foam flow itself and the task of describing it quantitatively. We reject the idea that a useful description can be given in terms of a "foam viscosity" as measured in any standard viscometer. To explain this view, and to justify a more modest description in terms only of measurable quantities, we present a section on the rheological background of the problem. problem. This work is directed specifically toward the development of foamlike dispersions of dense CO2 in aqueous surfactant solutions for use in the control of mobility ratio in CO2 floods. We have searched the literature for applicable information, and have re-examined several studies of foam flow in porous media. In most cases the given results have been recalculated to cast them all into a common form that, it is hoped, offers a basis for calculation of the pressure gradients associated with foam flow in a reservoir. This paper also contains the results of original, steady-state experiments, performed under approximate field conditions and designed to permit the calculation of the mobility of foam-like dispersions of CO2 in reservoir rock. Finally, some general conclusions are drawn concerning the use of such foams for mobility control. Rheological Background The concept of "viscosity" to represent the resistance offered by a fluid to continuous deformation under the influence of shearing force has been a cornerstone of classical fluid mechanics and is of paramount importance in engineering practice involving fluid flow. The viscosity of a fluid is given by the ratio of shear stress to the rate of shear and is generally a strong function of temperature and weakly dependent on pressure. SPEJ p. 603

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A Potentiometric Study of the Effects of Mobility Ratio on Reservoir Flow Patterns

Cited by 4 publications

References 0 publications

Economic Model of Mobility Control Methods for CO2 Flooding

Economic Model of Mobility Control Methods for CO2 Flooding

The Areal Sweep Efficiency of the First-contact Miscible Displacements: An Experimental Approach

Foamlike Dispersions for Mobility Control in CO2 Floods

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