Sequential Coupling of Geochemical Reactions With Reservoir Simulations for Waterflood and EOR Studies

Wei, Lingli

doi:10.2118/138037-pa

Cited by 47 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 29 publications

(35 reference statements)

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“…Low salinity water injection can give rise to geochemical alteration due to the interaction of fluidfluid and fluid-rock [55]. Understanding the geochemical variation is a key factor in pinpointing the mechanism(s) of the low salinity water effect thus constraining the uncertainties.…”

Section: Geochemical Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of multi-component ions exchange on low salinity EOR: Coupled geochemical simulation study

2016

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The mechanism(s) of Low salinity water flooding (LSWF) has been extensively investigated for 15-20 years, as a cost-effective and environmentally friendly technique for improved oil recovery. However, there is still no consensus on the dominant mechanism(s) behind low salinity effect due to the complexity of interactions in the Crude oil/Brine/Rock (COBR) system. While wettability is most agreed mechanism of low salinity EOR effect. Nevertheless, the mechanism(s) behind the wettability change is debated between multi-component ion exchange (MIE) and double layer expansion (DLE) in sandstone reservoirs. This paper aims to investigate the effectiveness of MIE with a coupled geochemical-reservoir model using published experimental data reported by Nasralla and Nasr-El-We created core-scale numerical models with parameters identical to those used in the experiments. We simulated the low salinity effect using a commercial reservoir simulator, CMG-GEM, by coupling three chemical reactions: (1) aqueous reaction, (2) multi-component ion exchange, and (3) mineral dissolution and precipitation. We modelled the adsorption of divalent cations on the surface of the clay minerals during low salinity water injection. Simulation results were compared with the experimental results.Simulation results show that the fractional adsorption of divalent cations (Ca 2+ ) increased almost 25% by injecting a 2,000 ppm NaCl solution, compared to initial 10,000 ppm NaCl. Injecting a 2,000 ppm of CaCl 2 solution, however, significantly increased the adsorbed Ca 2+ from 0.1 to 1, which implies the complete saturation of mineral surface with divalent cations. Moreover, injecting 50,000 ppm of CaCl 2 solution also demonstrated the same effect as the 2,000 ppm CaCl 2 solution but with a faster rate.Upon combining the simulation and experimental results, we concluded that the multi-component ion exchange is not the sole mechanism behind low salinity effect for two reasons. First, almost 10% additional oil recovery was observed from the experiments by injecting the 2,000 ppm CaCl 2 compared with 50,000 ppm CaCl 2 solutions. Even though in both cases the surface is expected to be fully saturated with Ca 2+ according to the geochemical modelling. Second, 6% incremental oil recovery was achieved from the experiments by injecting 2,000 ppm NaCl solution compared with that of 50,000 ppm NaCl. Although 25% incremental adsorption of divalent cations (Ca 2+ ) were presented during the flooding of the 2,000 ppm NaCl solution. Therefore, it is worth noting that the electrical double layer expansion due to the ion exchange needs to be taken into account to pinpoint the mechanism(s) of low-salinity water effect.

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Section: Geochemical Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of multi-component ions exchange on low salinity EOR: Coupled geochemical simulation study

2016

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“…Phase equilibria calculations in STOMP-CO2e use the formulations of Spycher et al (2003) for temperatures below 100 • C and those of Spycher and Pruess (2010) for temperatures above 100 • C, with corrections for dissolved salt as provided in Spycher and Pruess (2010). The Shell model of the S-3 Site has been developed using the Shell proprietary simulator MoReS (Wei 2012). MoReS is an interactive multi-platform reservoir simulator, with a flexible scripting interface, a modular object oriented design for black-oil, equation-of-state (EOS), and K value compositional simulations.…”

Section: Simulators and Modeling Approachesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Sim-SEQ Project: Comparison of Selected Flow Models for the S-3 Site

et al. 2014

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Sim-SEQ is an international initiative on model comparison for geologic carbon sequestration, with an objective to understand and, if possible, quantify model uncertainties. Model comparison efforts in Sim-SEQ are at present focusing on one specific field test site, hereafter referred to as the Sim-SEQ Study site (or S-3 site). Within Sim-SEQ, different modeling teams are developing conceptual models of CO 2 injection at the S-3 site. In this paper, we select five flow models of the S-3 site and provide a qualitative comparison of their attributes and predictions. These models are based on five different simulators or modeling approaches: TOUGH2/EOS7C, STOMP-CO2e, MoReS, TOUGH2-MP/ECO2N, and VESA. In addition to model-to-model comparison, we perform a limited model-to-data comparison, and illustrate how model choices impact model predictions. We conclude the paper by making

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“…With the newly calibrated geochemical database, the RTM using the Shell in-house MoReS simulator coupled with PHREEQC (Wei, 2012) is applied to the published Chinese case histories of Daqing ASP projects with regard to the observed scales due to alkalis (Na 2 CO 3 and NaOH). Figure 5 shows some examples of the scales observed in the tubing of oil producers.…”

Section: Case Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Shell in-house reservoir simulator MoReS coupled with PHREEQC (Parkhurst & Appelo, 2013) has been applied to simulate multicomponent reactive-transport problems (Wei, 2012). Farajzadeh et al (2012) applied this methodology for the mechanistic modeling of ASP processes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improving Reactive Transport Modelling Predictivity for ASP Flooding Simulations

Li¹,

Wei²,

Zhang³

2016

Day 3 Wed, March 23, 2016

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Alkaline-Surfactant-Polymer (ASP) injection into an oil reservoir triggers a series of geochemical reactions including reservoir mineral dissolution and precipitation of scales inside the reservoir and wellbores. Modelling these reactions is important for understanding the processes and designing the ASP formulation for optimal oil recovery. A number of reactive transport modelling (RTM) approaches have been reported in the literature so far, but none has addressed the importance of a geochemical database underpinning such simulations considering both equilibrium and kinetic reactions. In the meantime, experimental data available outside the oil industry can be used for calibrating reservoir mineral dissolution equilibrium constants in high pH solutions.In this paper, experimental data of dissolution of relevant reservoir minerals and precipitation of scale minerals are compiled and compared with predictions from the widely used geochemical modelling software PHREEQC. A new database calibrated to the experimental data is developed in PHREEQC format that can be used in Shell in-house reservoir simulator MoReS for ASP flood reactive transport simulations. In order to reproduce the sequence of the observed scale deposition during an ASP flood project, the kinetic rate laws for the mineral dissolution and precipitations have also been calibrated against the experimental data.Significant differences in the predicted mineral dissolution and precipitation between the calibrated database and the one from the official PHREEQC release demonstrate the necessity of geochemical database calibration for high pH environments. With the calibrated equilibrium constants and kinetic rate constants in the new geochemical database, the sequence of secondary mineral (scale) deposition during ASP flooding as reported in literature can be successfully reproduced. The improved modelling capability for ASP scaling prediction also increases the confidence for other aspects of simulation results such as chemical breakthrough.

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Sequential Coupling of Geochemical Reactions With Reservoir Simulations for Waterflood and EOR Studies

Cited by 47 publications

References 29 publications

Effect of multi-component ions exchange on low salinity EOR: Coupled geochemical simulation study

Effect of multi-component ions exchange on low salinity EOR: Coupled geochemical simulation study

The Sim-SEQ Project: Comparison of Selected Flow Models for the S-3 Site

Improving Reactive Transport Modelling Predictivity for ASP Flooding Simulations

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