The Modelling of Low Salinity Waterflooding by Numerical and Analytical Method

This study is an attempt to better understand the principal of low salinity waterflooding (LSWF) through simulation approach by comparing the solution from the numerical to the analytical simulation. The LSWF is regarded as novel in the reservoir simulation, therefore, there hasn’t been many reservoir simulators offering a feature to simulate the LSWF effect. Commercial reservoir simulator was used in this study to numerically simulate the LSWF effect by implementing the multi-component ion exchange (MIE). The main challenge in this study was to develop an analytical simulation model of LSWF by taking into account all the parameters that are indispensable for the LSWF modelling with MIE. As an approach, a modified Buckley-Leverett equation was introduced in the analytical model.

The result from this study suggests that the numerical simulation of the LSWF by implementing the MIE offers a more realistic result compared to the analytical simulation in terms of the water shock front extremity. Moreover, the numerical result of the LSWF simulation from this study may also be applied in terms of a full field scale flooding with some degree of confidence.