Stability Investigation of Low-Tension Surfactant Floods

Lu, Jun; Pope, Gary A.; Weerasooriya, Upali

doi:10.2118/164090-ms

Cited by 6 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 30 publications

(12 reference statements)

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“…and Lu et al (2013Lu et al ( , 2014 have investigated the critical velocity for the stability of gravity-stable surfactant floods. There is a vast literature on stability analysis of fluid flow through porous media (Engelberts and Klinkenberg 1951;Hill 1952;Chouke et al 1959;Koval 1963;Todd and Longstaff 1972;Hickernell and Yortsos 1986;Tan and Homsy 1986;Homsy 1987;Tan and Homsy 1988;Araktingi and Orr 1993;Riaz and Meiburg 2003;Tchelepi 2004, 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Advantages are especially significant when the reservoir temperature is high and the use of polymer becomes increasingly difficult. Our simulations show that gravity-stable surfactant floods can be very efficient using horizontal wells in reservoirs with high vertical permeability.Introduction Tavassoli et al (2013Tavassoli et al ( , 2014 and Lu et al (2013Lu et al ( , 2014 have investigated the critical velocity for the stability of gravity-stable surfactant floods. There is a vast literature on stability analysis of fluid flow through porous media (Engelberts…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Introduction Tavassoli et al (2013Tavassoli et al ( , 2014 and Lu et al (2013Lu et al ( , 2014 have investigated the critical velocity for the stability of gravity-stable surfactant floods. There is a vast literature on stability analysis of fluid flow through porous media (Engelberts…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Frontal-Stability Analysis of Surfactant Floods

2015

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Recent surfactant-flooding experiments have shown that very-efficient oil recovery can be obtained without mobility control when the surfactant solution is injected at less than the critical velocity required for a gravity-stable displacement. The purpose of this study was to develop a method to predict the stability of surfactant floods at the reservoir scale on the basis of gravity-stable surfactant-flooding experiments at the laboratory scale. The scaleup process involves calculation of the appropriate average frontal velocity for the reservoir flood. The frontal velocity depends on the well configuration. We have performed systematic numerical simulations to study the effect of key scaling groups on the performance of gravity-stable surfactant floods. We simulated 3D heterogeneous reservoirs by use of a fine grid and a third-order finite-difference method to ensure numerical accuracy. These simulations have provided new insight into the behavior of gravitystable surfactant floods, and in particular the importance of the microemulsion properties. The capability to predict when and under what reservoir conditions a gravity-stable surfactant flood can be performed at a reasonable velocity is highly significant. When a surfactant flood can be performed without polymer (or foam) for mobility control, cost and complexity are significantly reduced. Advantages are especially significant when the reservoir temperature is high and the use of polymer becomes increasingly difficult. Our simulations show that gravity-stable surfactant floods can be very efficient using horizontal wells in reservoirs with high vertical permeability.Introduction Tavassoli et al. (2013Tavassoli et al. ( , 2014 and Lu et al. (2013Lu et al. ( , 2014 have investigated the critical velocity for the stability of gravity-stable surfactant floods. There is a vast literature on stability analysis of fluid flow through porous media (Engelberts

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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Frontal-Stability Analysis of Surfactant Floods

2015

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Frontal Stability Analysis of Surfactant Floods

Tavassoli

Pope

Sepehrnoori

2014

SPE Improved Oil Recovery Symposium

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Recent surfactant flooding experiments have shown very efficient oil recovery can be obtained without mobility control when the surfactant solution is injected below the critical velocity required for a gravity-stable displacement. The purpose of this study was to develop a method to predict the stability of surfactant floods at the reservoir scale based on gravity-stable surfactant flooding experiments at the laboratory scale. The scale up process involves calculation of the appropriate average frontal velocity for the reservoir flood. The frontal velocity depends on the well configuration. We have performed systematic numerical simulations to study the effect of key scaling groups on the performance of gravity-stable surfactant floods. We simulated three-dimensional heterogeneous reservoirs using a fine grid and a third-order finite-difference method to ensure numerical accuracy. These simulations have provided new insight into the behavior of gravity-stable surfactant floods and in particular the importance of the microemulsion properties. The capability to predict when and under what reservoir conditions a gravity-stable surfactant flood can be performed at a reasonable velocity is highly significant. When a surfactant flood can be done without polymer (or foam) for mobility control, cost and complexity are significantly reduced. Advantages are especially significant when the reservoir temperature is high and the use of polymer becomes increasingly difficult. Our simulations show that gravity-stable surfactant floods can be very efficient using horizontal wells in reservoirs with high vertical permeability.

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Observations of Microemulsion Viscosity for Surfactant EOR Processes

Suniga

Fortenberry

Delshad

2016

SPE Improved Oil Recovery Conference

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Microemulsion properties significantly impact any EOR process that relies on surfactants or soaps to generate ultralow interfacial tension to displace trapped oil. Unfavorable microemulsion viscosity can lead to high chemical retention, low oil recovery, and overall unfavorable performance across all modes. Controlling microemulsion properties is important in conventional approaches like surfactant-polymer (SP) and alkaline-surfactant-polymer (ASP) flooding, in addition to new applications like gravity stable displacements, spontaneous imbibition in fractured carbonates and unstable floods of viscous oil. Despite the central importance, microemulsion viscosity and rheology remain poorly understood. This paper describes the results of an extensive experimental microemulsion study. We evaluated the effect of polymer on microemulsion viscosity in different microemulsion phase types (i.e. oil in water, bi-continuous, water in oil emulsions). We measured microemulsion viscosities across a broad salinity range for several crudes from light (API >30°) to heavy oils (API<14°) and observed Newtonian rheology for all phase types. The effect of cosolvents on microemulsion viscosity was also evaluated. Finally, we evaluated microemulsions with and without alkali to help understand potential differences between ASP and SP microemulsions. We include many observations consistent with earlier literature using recently developed surfactants and report the microemulsion viscosity details for many high performance surfactant formulations across a wide range of conditions. We have also describe several observations, including polymer decreasing the required time to achieve equilibrium in microemulsion pipettes and the qualitative change in microemulsion behavior with and without polymer in Windsor Type III microemulsions.

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Stability Investigation of Low-Tension Surfactant Floods

Cited by 6 publications

References 30 publications

Frontal-Stability Analysis of Surfactant Floods

Frontal-Stability Analysis of Surfactant Floods

Frontal Stability Analysis of Surfactant Floods

Observations of Microemulsion Viscosity for Surfactant EOR Processes

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