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Abstract

Summary

CO flow in porous media is vital for carbon utilization and underground storage, both of which contribute to the reduction of the atmospheric concentration of CO₂. Water-Alternating-Gas (WAG) injection has often been applied to improve CO₂ mobility control for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). However, the early gas breakthrough during WAG injection is still problematic in highly heterogeneous reservoirs.

In this study, we investigate experimentally the feasibility of a novel polymer-assisted WAG (PAWAG) process by conducting a series of X-ray computed tomography (CT)-aided core-flood experiments in heterogenous carbonate cores at reservoir conditions. Several core-flood experiments using different injection schemes were conducted: (a) CO₂ injection alone, (b) WAG injection, and (c) PAWAG injection. The phase saturations were mapped at different times of injection using CT scanning. The results of the experiments were compared by analyzing the oil recovery factor, and pressure data. We also present new insights into the displacement mechanisms which could only be obtained by CT scanning.

Continuous injection of CO₂ led to the recovery factor (RF) of only 32.2 ± 0.8% of the original oil in place (OOIP). CT scans of CO2 displacement showed strong gravity segregation due to density contrast between CO and oil. WAG almost doubled the oil recovery (i.e., RF= 71.5 ± 0.8%); however, the water and gas breakthroughs still occurred in the early stage of the injection (0.14 PV for water and 0.30 PV for CO). The addition of the polymer to the water slug delayed both the water and CO breakthroughs (0.21 PV for water and 0.32 PV for CO). Moreover, during this PA-WAG process less severe gravity segregation of CO was observed. This resulted in an incremental recovery of 10% with respect to WAG. The CT analyses confirmed that this was due to better mobility control as shown by the delay in the CO₂ breakthrough. The addition of polymer to the water slug increases the contribution of viscous forces in the total flux leading to a more uniform CO₂ front. In addition, the permeability reduction due to polymer adsorption mitigates the gas channeling.

© EAGE Publications BV
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/content/papers/10.3997/2214-4609.202331048
2023-10-02
2024-10-11

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References

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/content/papers/10.3997/2214-4609.202331048
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Polymer-Assisted-Water-Alternating Gas for Improved CO2 Eor in Carbonate Cores
Conference Proceedings 2023, 1 (2023); https://doi.org/10.3997/2214-4609.202331048
/content/papers/10.3997/2214-4609.202331048
/content/papers/10.3997/2214-4609.202331048
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