Effect of fluid rheology on enhanced oil recovery in a microfluidic sandstone device

Nilsson, Michael; Kulkarni, R.G.; Gerberich, Lauren; Hammond, Ryan; Singh, Rohitashwa; Baumhoff, Elizabeth; Rothstein, Jonathan P.

doi:10.1016/j.jnnfm.2013.09.011

Cited by 94 publications

(68 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Above the threshold, the apparent diffusion coefficient is greatly enhanced, 16 the apparent viscosity is increased, 15,17 and some a) Electronic mail: hugues.bodiguel@univ-grenoble-alpes.fr trapped oil droplets are mobilized. 15,18 This last consequence is likely to be related to oil field results in Wang,19,20 where additional oil has been recovered using polymer flooding in the semi-dilute regime. Clarke et al proposed that oil mobilization is related to pressure fluctuations, which has been recently confirmed in three-dimensional structures.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Extra dissipation and flow uniformization due to elastic instabilities of shear-thinning polymer solutions in model porous media

et al. 2016

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We study flows of hydrolized polyacrylamide solutions in two dimensional porous media made using microfluidics, for which elastic effects are dominant. We focus on semi-dilute solutions (0.1%-0.4%) which exhibit a strong shear thinning behavior. We systematically measure the pressure drop and find that the effective permeability is dramatically higher than predicted when the Weissenberg number is greater than about 10. Observations of the streamlines of the flow reveal that this effect coincides with the onset of elastic instabilities. Moreover, and importantly for applications, we show using local measurements that the mean flow is modified: it appears to be more uniform at high Weissenberg number than for Newtonian fluids. These observations are compared and discussed using pore network simulations, which account for the effect of disorder and shear thinning on the flow properties. Published by AIP Publishing. [http://dx

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Extra dissipation and flow uniformization due to elastic instabilities of shear-thinning polymer solutions in model porous media

et al. 2016

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“…However, many enhanced oil recovery and NAPL-remediation approaches involve the addition of chemical additives such as surfactants and polymers to the water that is injected into the system to displace the oil. Where the aim of a microfluidic experiment is to evaluate the performance of such additives, the addition of dye to the aqueous phase is not desirable as dyes can alter the interfacial properties of the test fluid; in such cases, the oil phase must be dyed instead (e.g., Conn et al 2014;Zhang et al 2011;Beaumont et al 2013;Gauteplass et al 2013;Nilsson et al 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Oil/water displacement in microfluidic packed beds under weakly water-wetting conditions: competition between precursor film flow and piston-like displacement

2018

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Optical microscopy was used to measure depth-averaged oil distribution in a quasi-monolayer of crushed marble packed in a microfluidic channel as it was displaced by water. By calibrating the transmitted light intensity to oil thickness, we account for depth variation in the fluid distribution. Experiments reveal that oil saturation at water breakthrough decreases with increasing Darcy velocity, U w , between capillary numbers Ca = w U w ∕ = 9 × 10 −7 and 9 × 10 −6 , where w is the dynamic viscosity of water and is the oil/water interfacial tension, under the conditions considered presently. In contrast, end-point (long-time) remaining oil saturation depends only weakly on U w . This transient dependence on velocity is attributed to the competition between precursor film flow, which controls early time invasion dynamics but is inefficient at displacing oil, and piston-like displacement, which controls ultimate oil recovery. These results demonstrate that microfluidic experiments using translucent grains and fluids are a convenient tool for quantitative investigation of sub-resolution liquid/liquid displacement in porous media.

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“…There are three stages for oil recovery: primary depletion, secondary recovery process and tertiary or enhanced oil recovery. Between the 50 and 70% of the original oil remains in the oil field after primary and secondary oil recovery techniques have been exhausted [2]. Consequently, there is huge interest in recovering the remaining-trapped oil in the reservoir.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hence, the chemistry must be tailored for each reservoir and the oil properties can vary as well. Besides, chemical approach faces another challenge, which is cost, depending on the fluctuating price of oil and production [2].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design and analysis of different models of microfluidic devices evaluated in Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) assays

et al. 2018

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Microfluidic devices are a new platform for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) assays. The application of Colloidad Dispersion Gels (CDG) injection method has been proposed in recent years. However, the mechanism of oil recovery enhancement has not been completely elucidated. Its purpose is to mobilize oil by decreasing the permeability of channeled zones. The success of injection depends on the characteristics of water, the porous medium and the oil. Therefore, a successful injection in a reservoir can be different in another, hence the importance of a methodology for assessment prior to injection. This work applies micro and nanotechnology techniques to develop microfluidic chips used in EOR tests. EOR chips simulate the phenomena that occur in micro-nano scale reservoirs. Experiments analyzed multiphase flows in porous media inside chips. Generally, the first step of the experiments corresponds to fill the microchannels with water and then oil (1 poral volume 1PV). Second, water-injection takes place at constant flow rate until oil recovery ceases. Finally, either polymer or CDG is injected and their behavior is studied by digital image analysis. Results allowed obtaining graphs of oil residual saturation versus time for pore volumes of fluid used in EOR. The optimum configurations of the microchannels showed 80% of residual oil saturation after water injection.

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Effect of fluid rheology on enhanced oil recovery in a microfluidic sandstone device

Cited by 94 publications

References 34 publications

Extra dissipation and flow uniformization due to elastic instabilities of shear-thinning polymer solutions in model porous media

Extra dissipation and flow uniformization due to elastic instabilities of shear-thinning polymer solutions in model porous media

Oil/water displacement in microfluidic packed beds under weakly water-wetting conditions: competition between precursor film flow and piston-like displacement

Design and analysis of different models of microfluidic devices evaluated in Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) assays

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