A laboratory approach to evaluate the efficiency of low salinity brine injection for enhancing oil recovery at high temperature in carbonate reservoirs

Blin, Nicolas; Ruiz, Jesus Montes; Pardo, R. Rodriguez

doi:10.1190/rdp2018-39301148.1

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 5 publications

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“…In surveys conducted by Austad et al, the presence of sulfate ions as catalysts showed to make a difference in wettability regarding cationic surfactants [26]. Subsequently, Zhang and Austad [27] suggested the sulfate ion as the only adequate consideration to improve change of wettability in carbonate formations denying the use of surface-active agents especially avoiding high expense of application [28][29][30]. Published experimental data suggests that desorption of acidic oil components from rock surfaces make carbonate rocks more water-wet.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental investigation of water composition and salinity effect on the oil recovery in carbonate reservoirs

Zaheri

Khalili

Sharifi

2020

Oil Gas Sci. Technol. – Rev. IFP Energies nouvelles

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Water injection has been known as a conventional approach employed for years in order to achieve higher oil recovery from oil reservoirs. Since the last decade many researchers conducted on the water injection assessment suggested that low salinity water flooding can be an effective flooding mechanism and it can be used as an enhanced oil recovery method. Several examinations were conducted to identify governing mechanisms entailed in oil extraction and the effect of salinity and different types of ionic contents contained in Formation Water (FW) and injected fluid. This study is dedicated to address the influence of salinity and different types of ionic contents contained in formation water and injected fluid on incremental oil recovery. For this purpose, fluid–fluid and rock–fluid interaction were investigated especially for evaluating the effect of calcium ions in the formation water and sulfate ions in the injected water. Several experiments were carried out including core-flooding, contact angle, and imbibition tests. While former researchers concluded that reducing the salinity of injected water causing a decrease in ionic strength may lead to a greater oil recovery, in this research, we showed that these statements are not necessarily true. It was observed that existence of the high calcium concentration in the formation water would cause significant effect on wettability status of rocks and final oil recovery during low salinity water injection. This process is mainly due to rock wettability alteration. Wettability alteration mechanism in carbonate rocks is explained through interaction between rock and fluid composition. The results indicate the decisive role of calcium ions in the formation water at all stages from aging in oil to primary and secondary recovery. In addition to that, it was observed that more sulfate ion concentration in the injected water enhances rock wettability alteration.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental investigation of water composition and salinity effect on the oil recovery in carbonate reservoirs

Zaheri

Khalili

Sharifi

2020

Oil Gas Sci. Technol. – Rev. IFP Energies nouvelles

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Phase Behavior, Wettability Alteration, and Oil Recovery of Low-Salinity Surfactant Solutions in Carbonate Reservoirs

2020

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Summary Recent investigations have shown that treatment with injected brine composition can improve oil production. Various mechanisms have been suggested to go through the phenomenon; nevertheless, wettability alteration is one of the most commonly proposed mechanisms in the literature. Wettability alteration of the porous media toward a more favorable state reduces the capillary pressure, consequently contributing to the oil detachment from pore walls. In this study, phase behavior, oil recovery, and wettability alteration toward a more favorable state were investigated using a combination of formulations of surfactant and modified low-salinity (LS) brine. Phase behaviors of these various formulations were examined experimentally through observations on relative phase volumes. Experiments were performed in various water/oil ratios (WORs) in the presence of two different oil samples, namely C1 and C2. These experiments were conducted to clarify the impact of each affecting parameter; in particular, the impact of resin and asphaltene of crude oil on the performance of LS surfactant (LSS) flooding. Hereafter, the optimal formulation was flooded into the oil-wet micromodel. Optimum formulations increased the capillary number more than four orders of magnitude higher than that under formation brine (FB) flooding, thus causing oil recovery rates of 61 and 67% for oil samples C1 and C2, respectively. Likewise, the wettability alteration potential of optimized formulations was studied through contact angle measurements. Results showed that LS and LSS solutions could act as possible wettability alternating methods for oil-wet carbonate rocks. Using the optimum formulation resulted in a wettability alteration index (WAI) of 0.66 for sample C1 and 0.49 for sample C2, while using LS brine itself ended in 0.51 and 0.29 for oil samples C1 and C2, respectively.

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A laboratory approach to evaluate the efficiency of low salinity brine injection for enhancing oil recovery at high temperature in carbonate reservoirs

Cited by 2 publications

References 5 publications

Experimental investigation of water composition and salinity effect on the oil recovery in carbonate reservoirs

Experimental investigation of water composition and salinity effect on the oil recovery in carbonate reservoirs

Phase Behavior, Wettability Alteration, and Oil Recovery of Low-Salinity Surfactant Solutions in Carbonate Reservoirs

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