Flow characteristics and EOR mechanism of foam flooding in fractured vuggy reservoirs

Xu, Zhengxiao; Li, Zhaomin; Cui, Shiti; Li, Binfei; Chen, Danqi; Zhang, Zuo‐Feng; Zheng, Lei; Husein, Maen M.

doi:10.1016/j.petrol.2022.110170

Cited by 20 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…Xu established a microscopic fractured-vuggy reservoir model and analyzed the flow characteristics and the enhanced oil recovery (EOR) mechanism of foam. The experiment showed that foam flooding can displace residual oil near the top of the vugs, high-speed foam flooding after low-speed foam flooding can better displace the oil in dead-end pores, and foam flooding can improve oil recovery from fractured vuggy reservoirs [20].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of the Influencing Factors on the Extraction of Residual Oil through the Gel Foam Flooding of Underground Reservoirs in the Tahe Oilfield

Li,

Hou,

Wen

et al. 2023

Gels

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Fractured-vuggy reservoirs are mainly composed of three types: underground rivers, vugs, and fractured-vuggy structures. Based on the similarity criterion, a 3D model can truly reflect the characteristics of the multi-scale space of a fractured-vuggy reservoir, and it can reflect fluid flow laws in the formation. Water flooding, gas flooding, and gel foam flooding were carried out in the model sequentially. Based on gas flooding, the enhanced recovery ratio of gel foam flooding in the underground river was approximately 12%. By changing the injection rate, the average recovery ratio of nitrogen flooding was 6.84% higher than that of other injection rates at 5 mL/min, and that of gel foam flooding was 1.88% higher than that of other injection rates at 5 mL/min. The experimental results showed that the gel foam induced four oil displacement mechanisms, which selectively plugged high-permeability channels, controlled the mobility ratio, reduced oil-water interfacial tension, and changed the wettability of rock surfaces. With different injection-production methods, gel foam flooding can spread across two underground river channels. Two cases of nitrogen flooding affected one underground river channel and two underground river channels. By adjusting the injection rate, it was found that after nitrogen flooding, there were mainly four types of residual oil, and gel foam flooding mainly yielded three types of remaining oil. This study verified the influencing factors of extracting residual oil from an underground river and provides theoretical support for the subsequent application of gel foam flooding in underground rivers.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of the Influencing Factors on the Extraction of Residual Oil through the Gel Foam Flooding of Underground Reservoirs in the Tahe Oilfield

Li,

Hou,

Wen

et al. 2023

Gels

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“…Liang and Hou also established a new kind of 2D visual model and clarified the flow characteristics and phase behavior of nitrogen and foam-assisted nitrogen in the fractured-vuggy reservoir [ 17 ]. A 2D model was established by Xu to reveal the flow characteristics and the EOR mechanism of foam in fractured-vuggy reservoirs [ 30 ]. The design and manufacture of the three-dimensional (3D) visual model of the fractured-vuggy reservoirs were complicated, and related research is rare.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental Study on Multi-Dimensional Visualization Simulation of Gas and Gel Foam Flooding in Fractured-Vuggy Reservoirs

Wen,

Hou

2023

Gels

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Gas flooding and foam flooding are potential technologies for tertiary oil recovery in fractured-vuggy reservoirs. The development and mechanism research of fractured-vuggy reservoirs is difficult due to the complex structures and the strong heterogeneity of fractured-vuggy reservoirs. Visualization simulation is one of the effective methods to study the flow behavior of fluid in fractured-vuggy reservoirs. In this study, an upscaling method of visualization simulation from one dimension (1D) to three dimensions (3D) was established, and the physical models of fractured-vuggy reservoirs were designed and fabricated. Water flooding, gas flooding, and gel foam flooding were carried out in the models. The experimental results showed that gas flooding has a single flow channel and water flooding has multiple flow channels in fractures and vugs. Gel foam with an excellent capability of mobility control and a high microscopic displacement efficiency swept in all directions at a uniform velocity. The EOR mechanisms of gel foam in fractured-vuggy reservoirs were mainly as follows: reducing interfacial tension, increasing mobility ratio, selectively plugging high permeability channels, and discontinuous flow. In the displacement process of fractured-vuggy reservoirs, water should be injected from the well at the bottom of the reservoir, and gas should be injected from the well located in the vug at the high part of the reservoir. Gel foam with strong stability and high viscosity should be selected and injected in most kinds of injection wells in fractured-vuggy reservoirs. This study provides a complete method of visualization simulation for the study of flow behavior in fractured-vuggy reservoirs and provides theoretical support for the application of gas flooding and gel foam flooding in fractured-vuggy reservoirs.

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“…This work intends to study the compromise between the accuracy of DFM and the convenience of equivalent continuum model. We focus on two-phase flow in fractured porous media, and discuss the extension to a more general case, namely fractured vuggy porous media, which has gained much attention in recent years (Yan et al, 2019;Mohammed et al, 2021;Xu et al, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An efficient adaptive implicit scheme with equivalent continuum approach for two-phase flow in fractured vuggy porous media

Wang¹,

Golfier²,

Tinet³

et al. 2022

Advances in Water Resources

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Flow characteristics and EOR mechanism of foam flooding in fractured vuggy reservoirs

Cited by 20 publications

References 46 publications

Analysis of the Influencing Factors on the Extraction of Residual Oil through the Gel Foam Flooding of Underground Reservoirs in the Tahe Oilfield

Analysis of the Influencing Factors on the Extraction of Residual Oil through the Gel Foam Flooding of Underground Reservoirs in the Tahe Oilfield

Experimental Study on Multi-Dimensional Visualization Simulation of Gas and Gel Foam Flooding in Fractured-Vuggy Reservoirs

An efficient adaptive implicit scheme with equivalent continuum approach for two-phase flow in fractured vuggy porous media

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