Pore-scale Visualization of Oil Recovery by Viscoelastic Flow Instabilities during Polymer EOR

Rock, A.; Hincapie, Rafael E.; Wegner, Jonas; Födisch, Hendrik; Ganzer, Leonhard

doi:10.3997/2214-4609.201700273

Cited by 7 publications

(9 citation statements)

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“…As a summary of the streamline visualization, Hincapie et al [ 29 ] defined the elastic turbulence characteristics as follows: (1) changing stream width, (2) changing stream direction, (3) penetration of the stream into small corners, (4) build-up and immediate collapse of vortices and (5) streamline crossing, especially near grains. Rock et al [ 11 ] consider the penetration of small corners and build-up of vortices, in particular, as the main reason for an increased oil recovery due to viscoelastic effects, as observed by Clarke et al [ 55 ]. This will be discussed in detail in the coming section.…”

Section: Viscoelasticity In Enhanced Oil Recoverymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since the sandstone resembling micromodels usually do not consist of single, circle-shaped grains, it is not possible to determine D p visually with an image algorithm. Therefore, Rock et al [ 11 ] proposed the rearrangement of the Ergun equation [ 92 ] which is given by:

where L is the flow length along the micromodel, Δ p the measured differential pressure along the micromodel and µ the viscosity of the fluid. Since the viscosity of the viscoelastic polymer solutions change with different flow rates, it is necessary to determine D p with the pressure data obtained during the permeability flooding with deionized water which is a Newtonian fluid and hence, has no viscosity changes with changing flow rates.…”

Section: Viscoelasticity In Enhanced Oil Recoverymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a more specific sense, polymer flooding has proven to be an excellent process economically speaking as a well-recognized and widely used chemical EOR method. This is mainly due to the large number of advanced and extensive experimental investigations (e.g., [ 2 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 ] as well as due its success in field applications such as the Daqing oil field in China [ 16 ]. The remarkable potential of polymer EOR is additionally underlined by Sheng et al [ 17 ] who analyzed 733 polymer flooding projects around the world.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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On the Role of Polymer Viscoelasticity in Enhanced Oil Recovery: Extensive Laboratory Data and Review

et al. 2020

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Polymer flooding most commonly uses partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamides (HPAM) injected to increase the declining oil production from mature fields. Apart from the improved mobility ratio, also the viscoelasticity-associated flow effects yield additional oil recovery. Viscoelasticity is defined as the ability of particular polymer solutions to behave as a solid and liquid simultaneously if certain flow conditions, e.g., shear rates, are present. The viscoelasticity related flow phenomena as well as their recovery mechanisms are not fully understood and, hence, require additional and more advanced research. Whereas literature reasonably agreed on the presence of these viscoelastic flow effects in porous media, there is a significant lack and discord regarding the viscoelasticity effects in oil recovery. This work combines the information encountered in the literature, private reports and field applications. Self-gathered laboratory data is used in this work to support or refuse observations. An extensive review is generated by combining experimental observations and field applications with critical insights of the authors. The focus of the work is to understand and clarify the claims associated with polymer viscoelasticity in oil recovery by improvement of sweep efficiency, oil ganglia mobilization by flow instabilities, among others.

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Section: Viscoelasticity In Enhanced Oil Recoverymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Viscoelasticity In Enhanced Oil Recoverymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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On the Role of Polymer Viscoelasticity in Enhanced Oil Recovery: Extensive Laboratory Data and Review

et al. 2020

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“…Mechanical degradation might occur along with the onset of shear thickening [51]. Onset of shear thickening has received a great attention in the literature as it is an indication of viscoelasticity in porous medium [50,[52][53][54][55]. Any alteration of the molecular structure of HPAM through exposing it to shear rate above or below the onset of shear thickening may change its apparent shear thickening behavior [56].…”

Section: Polymer Injectivity and Mechanical Degradationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polymer Injectivity: Investigation of Mechanical Degradation of Enhanced Oil Recovery Polymers Using In-Situ Rheology

et al. 2018

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Water soluble polymers have attracted increasing interest in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) processes, especially polymer flooding. Despite the fact that the flow of polymer in porous medium has been a research subject for many decades with numerous publications, there are still some research areas that need progress. The prediction of polymer injectivity remains elusive. Polymers with similar shear viscosity might have different in-situ rheological behaviors and may be exposed to different degrees of mechanical degradation. Hence, determining polymer in-situ rheological behavior is of great significance for defining its utility. In this study, an investigation of rheological properties and mechanical degradation of different partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM) polymers was performed using Bentheimer sandstone outcrop cores. The results show that HPAM in-situ rheology is different from bulk rheology measured by a rheometer. Specifically, shear thickening behavior occurs at high rates, and near-Newtonian behavior is measured at low rates in porous media. This deviates strongly from the rheometer measurements. Polymer molecular weight and concentration influence its viscoelasticity and subsequently its flow characteristics in porous media. Exposure to mechanical degradation by flow at high rate through porous media leads to significant reduction in shear thickening and thereby improved injectivity. More importantly, the degraded polymer maintained in-situ viscosity at low flow rates indicating that improved injectivity can be achieved without compromising viscosity at reservoir flow rates. This is explained by a reduction in viscoelasticity. Mechanical degradation also leads to reduced residual resistance factor (RRF), especially for high polymer concentrations. For some of the polymer injections, successive degradation (increased degradation with transport length in porous media) was observed. The results presented here may be used to optimize polymer injectivity.

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“…Mechanical degradation might occur along with the onset of shear thickening [51]. Onset of shear thickening has deserved high attention in the literature as it is an indication of viscoelasticity in porous medium [50,[52][53][54][55]. Any alteration of molecular structure of HPAM through exposing HPAM to shear rate above or below the onset of shear thickening may change its apparent shear thickening behavior [56].…”

Section: Mechanical Degradationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polymer Injectivity: Investigation of Mechanical Degradation of EOR Polymers Using In-Situ Rheology

Al-Shakry¹,

Skauge²,

Shiran³

et al. 2018

Preprint

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Water soluble polymers have gained an increasing interest in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) processes, especially as polymer flooding. Despite the fact that the flow of polymer in porous medium has been a research subject for many decades with numerous publications, there are still some research areas that need progress. The prediction of polymer injectivity remains elusive. Polymers with similar shear viscosity might have different in-situ rheological behaviors and may be exposed to different extent of mechanical degradation. Hence, determining polymer in-situ rheological behavior is of great significance for defining its utility. In this study, an investigation of rheological properties and mechanical degradation of different HPAM (partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide) polymers was performed using Bentheimer sandstone outcrop cores. Results show that, HPAM in-situ rheology is different from bulk rheology measured in rheometer. Specifically, shear thickening behavior occurs at high rates, and near-Newtonian behavior is measured at low rates in porous media. This deviates strongly from measurements in the rheometer. Polymer molecular weight and concentration influence its viscoelasticity and subsequently its flow characteristics in porous media. Exposure to mechanical degradation by flow at high rate through porous media leads to significant reduction in shear thickening and thereby improved injectivity. More importantly, the degraded polymer maintained in-situ viscosity at low flow rates indicating that improved injectivity can be achieved without compromising viscosity at reservoir flow rates. This is explained by reduction in viscoelasticity. Mechanical degradation also leads to reduced residual resistance factor (RRF), especially for high polymer concentrations. For some of the polymer injections, successive degradation (increased degradation with transport length in porous media) was observed. The results presented here may be used to optimize polymer injectivity.

show abstract

Pore-scale Visualization of Oil Recovery by Viscoelastic Flow Instabilities during Polymer EOR

Cited by 7 publications

References 0 publications

On the Role of Polymer Viscoelasticity in Enhanced Oil Recovery: Extensive Laboratory Data and Review

On the Role of Polymer Viscoelasticity in Enhanced Oil Recovery: Extensive Laboratory Data and Review

Polymer Injectivity: Investigation of Mechanical Degradation of Enhanced Oil Recovery Polymers Using In-Situ Rheology

Polymer Injectivity: Investigation of Mechanical Degradation of EOR Polymers Using In-Situ Rheology

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