High-Pressure Air Injection Laboratory and Numerical Modelling in Bazhenov Source Rocks

Abstract

In this paper, key aspects of constructing a hydrodynamic model of high-pressure air injection into Bazhenov source rocks were highlighted. Most of them are associated with the choice of pseudo-components of kerogen required to describe thermal decomposition and oxidation of kerogen and needed for construction of a kinetic model. Sensitivity analysis was carried out. As a result, high sensitivity of output to the change in the content of components reflecting the presence of kerogen in the formation and its participation in oxidation processes and thermal decomposition was confirmed. Based on the above, a list of experimental studies was formulated, which must be carried out to determine the parameters of numerical simulation and to evaluate the effectiveness of the high-pressure air injection method. High-pressure ramped temperature oxidation of kerogen was carried out. As a result, temperature profiles, gas composition, and volume of generated/displaced fluids were obtained. 24.8 g of water-oil emulsion were generated from 92 cm3 of rock. Kerogen in the sample was completely converted, which was confirmed by the results of conducted pyrolysis studies.

Insights on In Situ Combustion Modeling Based on a Ramped Temperature Oxidation Experiment for Oil Sand Bitumen

“…The reservoir characteristics of interest are as follows: formation depth ranging from 145 to 195 m, average porosity of 28-30%, permeability of 730-740 mD, oil-saturated part thickness of 10.2-10.6 m, reservoir thickness of 17.1-17.8 m, and an average oil saturation of 94%, which makes it economically promising. The considered oil exhibits an average oil viscosity of 9000-9500 mPa•s and a gravity of Energies 2023, 16, 6738 2 of 14 15.8-16 • API. Currently, the reservoir pressure stands at 0.72 MPa, while the reservoir temperature is relatively low at 9-10 • C. Preliminary calculations indicate elevated combustion temperature predictions due to the high porosity and oil viscosity.…”

“…In numerical reservoir modeling, researchers encounter several key difficulties, and the most challenging is the construction of an appropriate kinetic model for a specific range of components [2,[10][11][12]. Numerous studies have tackled this issue and proposed approaches to overcome these challenges [13][14][15][16][17]. There are a number of proposed ISC kinetic models for crude oils, specifically for Maltenes and Asphaltenes fractions [4,12,16,18] and Saturate, Aromatic, Resin, and Asphaltene (SARA) fractions [19][20][21][22].…”

Enhanced Oil Recovery Method Selection for Shale Oil Based on Numerical Simulations

“…5,6 Moreover, up to 50% of Bazhenov's organic matter is kerogen, which is capable of in situ synthetic oil production only through the application of additional stimulation. 7,8 Although waterflooding could potentially be effective in lowand ultra-low-permeability reservoirs, 9,10 other oil recovery agents should lead to a better result, especially for tight reservoirs with mosaic hydrophobization. 11 Various enhanced oil recovery (EOR) techniques can be applied for the efficient extraction of shale oil.…”

“…However, only 10% of hydrocarbons (HCs) can potentially be recovered from ultra-low-permeability shale reservoirs using this technique. The low recovery factor is caused by a rapid decline in the recovery rate during the first few years of oil production in depletion mode due to the rapid decrease in reservoir pressure and the limited drainage volume. , Moreover, up to 50% of Bazhenov’s organic matter is kerogen, which is capable of in situ synthetic oil production only through the application of additional stimulation. , …”