Polymer Transport and Rheological Properties for Polymer Flooding in the North Sea

Osterloh, W. Terry; Law, E.J.

doi:10.2118/39694-ms

Cited by 47 publications

(19 citation statements)

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“…This involves two polymer slug injections separated by large pore volumes of brine injection (Lotsch et al 1985;Hughes et al 1990;Osterloh and Law 1998). The purpose of large volumes of brine injection was to flush out all the mobile polymer molecules from the core.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydrodynamic Retention and Rheology of EOR Polymers in Porous Media

Zhang

Seright

2015

SPE International Symposium on Oilfield Chemistry

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Polymer retention caused by increase of hydrodynamic force acting upon polymer molecules was evaluated in this study. The results indicate this hydrodynamic retention is strongly flow rate dependent. In the low-flow region, the retention increases abruptly with increased flow rate. In contrast, in the high-flow region, the increase becomes much more gradual. Our results also demonstrate that this flow-induced retention is totally reversible (no incremental irreversible retention occurs), which is also confirmed by the constant residual resistance factors determined after 100 PV of brine postflush. Consistent with previous literature, distinct flow behaviors of partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM) and xanthan polymers in porous media were observed. For HPAM, in the low-flow regime, Newtonian behavior (i.e., resistance factor is independent of flow rate) was exhibited. In the moderateto-high-flow regime, HPAM showed shear-thickening behavior (resistance factor increase with flow rate). In contrast, only shear thinning (resistance factor decreases with flow rate) was detected for xanthan polymer. By analyzing the retention and rheology of both HPAM and xanthan polymers, we show that hydrodynamic retention has little effect on polymer rheology in porous media.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydrodynamic Retention and Rheology of EOR Polymers in Porous Media

Zhang

Seright

2015

SPE International Symposium on Oilfield Chemistry

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“…However, they acknowledged the experimental difficulties of accurately determining IAPV values. By use of a controversial method, Pancharoen et al (2010) suggested IAPV values from 20-40% in a 12-darcy sandpack. One wonders whether experimental difficulties are responsible for the wide, unexplained variation of IAPV values in Table 2.…”

Section: Key Observations For Polymer Retentionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Field vs. Laboratory Polymer-Retention Values for a Polymer Flood in the Tambaredjo Field

Manichand

Seright

2014

SPE Reservoir Evaluation &Amp; Engineering

127

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During a polymer flood, polymer retention can have a major impact on the rate of polymer propagation through a reservoir, and consequently on oil recovery. A review of the polymer-retention literature revealed that iron and high-surface-area minerals (e.g., clays) dominate polymer-retention measurements in permeable rock and sand (>100 md). A review of the literature on inaccessible pore volume (IAPV) revealed inconsistent and unexplained behavior. A conservative approach to design of a polymer flood in high-permeability (>1 darcy) sands would assume that IAPV is zero. Laboratory measurements using fluids and sands associated with the Sarah Maria polymer flood in Suriname suggested polymer retention and IAPV values near zero [0620 lg/g for retention and 0610% pore volume (PV) for IAPV]. A procedure was developed using salinity-tracer and polymer concentrations from production wells to estimate polymer retention during the Sarah Maria polymer flood in the Tambaredjo reservoir. Field calculations indicated much higher polymer-retention values than those from laboratory tests, typically ranging from approximately 50 to 250 lg/g. Field cores necessarily represent an extremely small fraction of the reservoir. Because of the importance of polymer retention, there is considerable value in deriving polymer retention from field results, so that information can be used in the design of project expansions.

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“…Due to the high viscosity of the oil (50 to 150 cp) a polymer flood was considered very early in the life of the field (Osterloh and Law 1998). Produced water is used for polymer mixing and injection because of incompatibility between formation water and seawater.…”

Section: Huntington Beachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhanced Oil Recovery of Heavy Oil in Reservoirs With Bottom Aquifer

Delamaide¹,

Moreno²

2015

SPE Western Regional Meeting

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Oil production in presence of a bottom aquifer is one of the most challenging issues in reservoir engineering. In most cases water coning happens very quickly and the influx of water restricts oil production and limits recovery. The problem is even more difficult when the oil is heavy because the viscosity contrast is large. In some cases horizontal wells may be used to improve the situation but when reservoirs are thin and the oil is viscous even horizontal wells are of limited use. This paper presents the challenges and potential solutions for Enhanced Oil Recovery in heavy oil reservoirs with bottom aquifer. Existing literature is reviewed for field cases of EOR experience with bottom aquifer for chemical as well as thermal processes (SAGD, steam injection as well as In Situ Combustion). In the case of chemical EOR the chemicals may be lost to the aquifer; for thermal recovery the bottom water can act as a heat sink and affect and steam oil ratio. Some in-situ combustion projects have been successful in such settings but in every case the outcome is the same: the economics of the project can be affected. The paper contains some previously unpublished data of polymer injection in a heavy oil pool with some limited bottom aquifer; for the most part it is a review of the existing literature which may prove useful to practicing engineers who are faced with the issue of developing heavy oil resources in the presence of bottom aquifer.

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Polymer Transport and Rheological Properties for Polymer Flooding in the North Sea

Cited by 47 publications

References 0 publications

Hydrodynamic Retention and Rheology of EOR Polymers in Porous Media

Hydrodynamic Retention and Rheology of EOR Polymers in Porous Media

Field vs. Laboratory Polymer-Retention Values for a Polymer Flood in the Tambaredjo Field

Enhanced Oil Recovery of Heavy Oil in Reservoirs With Bottom Aquifer

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