Extractive Capacity of CO₂ in Oil Saturated Porous Media

Abstract

CO2 flooding process has been a proven valuable tertiary enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technique. In this paper, experiment on extractive capacity of CO2 in oil saturated porous media was conducted under reservoir conditions. The main objectives of the study are to evaluate extractive capacity of CO2 in oil saturated natural cores and improve understanding of the CO2 flooding mechanisms, especially in porous media conditions. Experimental results indicated that oil production decreases while GOR increases with extractive time increases. the changes of the color and state of the production oil shows that oil component changes from light to heavy as extractive time increases. In addition, no oil was produced by water flooding after extractive experiment. Based on the experimental results and phenomena, the main conclusion drawn from this study is that under supercritical condition, CO2 has very powerful extractive capacity. And the application of CO2 flooding is recommended for enhancing oil recovery.