Worm‐like micelles: A new approach for heavy oil recovery from fractured systems

Abstract

In this work, a new type of flooding system, "worm-like micelles", in enhanced heavy oil recovery (EOR) has been introduced. Application of these types of surfactants, because of their intriguing and surprising behaviour, is attractive for EOR studies. Fundamental understanding of the sweep efficiencies as well as displacement mechanisms of this flooding system in heterogeneous systems especially for heavy oils remains a topic of debate in the literature. Worm-like micellar surfactant solutions are made up of highly flexible cylindrical aggregates. Such micellar solutions display high surface activity and high viscoelasticity, making them attractive in practical applications for EOR. In this study, worm-like micellar solutions were used for flooding experiments in micromodels, initially saturated with heavy crude oil. The fractured micromodels with different fracture geometrical properties, different orientation angles and length, were used in the tests under oil-wet condition. During experiments, high quality pictures of injection processes were recorded. Oil recoveries as a function of injected pore volumes and microscopic mechanisms during displacements were investigated from precise analyses of the provided pictures. It was observed that three mechanisms govern the EOR process during worm-like micellar solution flooding: ultra-low interfacial tension, high viscosity of the injecting fluid and in situ formation of macro-emulsion. Considering these mechanisms, worm-like micellar surfactants solutions are potentially good choices for EOR in heterogeneous systems such as fractured reservoirs. This study illustrates that the application of worm-like micelles for heavy oil recovery in heterogeneous systems can reduce the risks involved with heterogeneity on flooding performance in such reservoirs.

How do you write and present research well? 10—State the uncertainty, but not too precisely

“…Factors that influence Guedes et al [3] Pure Temperature 315.71827 K 315.7 K Lu et al [4] Pure Pressure 101 325 Pa 101 kPa Kianinejad et al [5] Pure Porosity 52.47 % 52 % Abdelaziz et al [6] Pure Length 2.655 m 2.65 m Jeon et al [7] Analytical Surface area 163.9 m 2 · g −1 160 m 2 · g −1 Lin et al [8] Analytical EDS analysis 40.09 wt% 0.40 g · g −1 Jia et al [9] Analytical Viscosity 5.875 cP 5.9 cP Ma et al [10] Derived Selectivity 63.3 63 Vedoy and Soares [11] Derived Solids recovered 25.97 % 26 % Esmailpour et al [12] Derived Air density 0.921 02 kg · m −3 0.92 kg · m −3 Verma et al [13] Derived COD 1000.00 mg · L 1 .00 g · L Moradi et al [14] Derived Activation energy 36.314 kJ · mol…”

Can Supramolecular Polymers Become Another Material Choice for Polymer Flooding to Enhance Oil Recovery?

“…However, there is a gap between the development of oil displacement polymers and the deterioration of reservoir conditions. The existing polymer materials show poor temperature and salt resistance and shear resistance in extremely harsh reservoirs [ 9 , 64 ]. Due to the irreversible degradation of the static permanent covalent polymer network, it is far from meeting the viscosity of the displaced crude oil.…”

Microfluidic study of surfactant flooding of heavy oil in layered porous media containing fractures

“…The impact of fracture in fluid displacement was significant, as the longer the fracture, the higher recovery of oil achieved. Kianinejad et al [ 39 ] introduced a new type of surfactant called worm‐like micelles for EOR purposes. They studied displacement mechanisms and sweep efficiencies of this surfactant in a fractured porous medium using a micromodel apparatus.…”