Low salinity water injection: Impact of physical diffusion, an aquifer and geological heterogeneity on slug size

Attar, Ahmed; Muggeridge, Ann

doi:10.1016/j.petrol.2018.03.023

Cited by 29 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Continuous injection of the chemical is expensive. Optimizing the slug size requires suitable simulation or mathematical modeling tools (Attar and Muggeridge 2018). Given that fast models are often preferred, the analytical model derived here would serve as a suitable proxy model.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Semi-Analytical Solution of Chemical Flooding in Heterogeneous Non-Communicating Layers with a Focus on Low Salinity Water Flooding

2020

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Chemical flooding has been implemented intensively for some years to enhance sweep efficiency in porous media. Low salinity water flooding (LSWF) is one such method that has become increasingly attractive. Historically, analytical solutions were developed for the flow equations for water flooding conditions, particularly for non-communicating strata. We extend these to chemical flooding, more generally, and in particular for LSWF where salinity is modeled as an active tracer and changes relative permeability. Dispersion affects the solutions, and we include this also. Using fractional flow theory, we derive a mathematical solution to the flow equations for a set of layers to predict fluid flow and solute transport. Analytical solutions tell us the location of the lead (formation) waterfront in each layer. We extend a correlation that we previously developed to predict the effects of numerical and physical dispersion. We used this correction to predict the location of the second waterfront in each layer which is induced by the chemical’s effect on mobility. We show that in multiple non-communicating layers, mass conservation can be used to deduce the interlayer relationships of the various fronts that form. This is based on similar analysis developed for water flooding although the calculations are more complex because of the development of multiple fronts. The result is a predictive tool that we compare to numerical simulations and the precision is very good. Layers with contrasting petrophysical properties and wettability are considered. We also investigate the relationship between the fractional flow, effective salinity range, salinity dispersion and salinity retardation. The recovery factor and vertical sweep efficiency are also very predictable. The work can also be applicable to other chemical EOR processes if they alter the fluid mobility. This includes polymer and surfactant flooding.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Semi-Analytical Solution of Chemical Flooding in Heterogeneous Non-Communicating Layers with a Focus on Low Salinity Water Flooding

2020

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“…It was observed that heterogeneity plays less important role in the case of carbonates compared to sandstones. (Attar et al 2015;Attar et al 2018) studied the impact of heterogeneity on oil recovery and water cut when low salinity waterflood is being employed as a secondary and tertiary method. They observed that the heterogeneity plays an important role in carbonates and that the water cut was being encountered earlier compared to homogeneous model.…”

Section: Impact Of Heterogeneity On Lswf Performance In Carbonatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

A review on low salinity waterflooding in carbonates: challenges and future perspective

Nande

Patwardhan

2021

J Petrol Explor Prod Technol

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Low salinity waterflooding has gained significant attention and importance in the last decade, as it is seen as an impactful method for recovery of additional oil from carbonate reservoirs. Existing literature does not do justice to the underlying mechanisms that aid in the recovery of additional oil from such rock types. In this paper, we present a comprehensive review of the research conducted on low salinity waterflooding in carbonates and further provide a detailed and critical analysis on the same. The intention of this paper is also to present a condensed research summary on the said topic, and to chart out a detailed roadmap for future work, thereby opening the possibilities of new avenues of research in the field.

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“…If LS brine is not injected continuously and the cumulative injection volume is not sufficiently high, then the efficiency of LSWF will be low. Therefore, the volume of injected slug must be more than a critical value to maintain its effectiveness during the movement through the porous media. , …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…During the recent years, some further studies have been performed on the impact of mixing/physical dispersion on the performance of LSWF. − However, to the best of our knowledge, no study has focused on suppressing physical dispersion and mixing of brines, even though some of the influencing factors are well studied. ,, To name a few, Al-Ibadi et al (2019), by running a number of numerical simulations, concluded that the mobility of brine is affected by salinity and the front of injected LS brine moves with a lower velocity compared to the front of the HS brine . Attar and Muggeridge (2018) also performed a number of simulations and concluded that the volume of injected LS brine must be higher than 0.6 PV to address the concerns regarding the performance of LSWF due to dispersion …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polymer-Enhanced Low-Salinity Brine to Control In Situ Mixing and Salt Dispersion in Low-Salinity Waterflooding

2021

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Although viability of low-salinity waterflooding (LSWF) at the laboratory scale has been proven, there are some challenges associated with its field application, which sheds uncertainties on its economic success. One of the challenges is the minimum required volume of low-salinity water, which should be injected to the reservoir due to the salt dispersion in porous media. Once the low-saline brine is injected into the reservoir, mixing of injected (low-salinity) and resident (high-salinity) brines occurs and the developed mixing zone grows continuously as the front moves from the injection well toward the production well. Increase in the salinity of the front reduces the efficiency of LSWF. In this paper, we demonstrate experimentally that if low-salinity brine is augmented with a small amount of a polymer (as a viscosifying and mobility control agent), salt dispersion can be significantly suppressed. In this regard, a systematic series of single-phase sandpack flooding experiments was designed and performed. The impacts of salinity of resident high-salinity brine, salinity of low-salinity brine, and polymer concentration on mixing (dispersion) control were investigated. Analytical and numerical simulation methods were implemented to analyze the experimental data and infer dispersivity. The results show that adding 200 ppm of partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM) to the injection brine reduces the dispersivity by more than 70%. Once the dispersivity is reduced, the salinity profile becomes sharper; thus, significantly less volume of low-salinity brine will be required to establish low-salinity conditions in the whole core. Additionally, the analysis of variance shows that polymer concentration and salinity of high-salinity brine are the main factors affecting the dispersivity. The total salinity of low-salinity brine was found to be comparatively less important.

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Low salinity water injection: Impact of physical diffusion, an aquifer and geological heterogeneity on slug size

Cited by 29 publications

References 26 publications

Semi-Analytical Solution of Chemical Flooding in Heterogeneous Non-Communicating Layers with a Focus on Low Salinity Water Flooding

Semi-Analytical Solution of Chemical Flooding in Heterogeneous Non-Communicating Layers with a Focus on Low Salinity Water Flooding

A review on low salinity waterflooding in carbonates: challenges and future perspective

Polymer-Enhanced Low-Salinity Brine to Control In Situ Mixing and Salt Dispersion in Low-Salinity Waterflooding

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