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Abstract
Field experience has shown that polymer flooding can be
an effective means to improve oil recovery. Evaluating
whether a polymer flood is suitable for a given field and
developing the optimal design requires considerable analysis
and testing prior to full-scale implementation. To help manage
this process, guidelines for polymer flooding evaluation and
development were developed that are described in this paper.
The guidelines are a specific case of a more general staged
process, which is also described in this paper, for evaluating
enhanced oil recovery methods. The polymer flooding
guidelines cover initial screening, laboratory measurements,
reservoir simulation, and field activities that are considered
best practices. Descriptions of specific activities have been
compiled into a matrix that serves as a valuable guide to
managing the various aspects of polymer flood evaluation and
development. These activities cover a range of topics
including reservoir simulation, evaluation of polymer solution
properties, polymer solution preparation, injectivity, facilities,
quality assurance, and economics.
Introduction
Use of a polymer-augmented waterflood (i.e., a polymer
flood) is a technique to enhance oil recovery from a reservoir
by improving reservoir sweep and reducing the amount of
injection fluid needed to recover a given amount of oil.
Polymer floods work by adding low concentrations of watersoluble polymers to injection water to increase the injectant
viscosity. This is done to more closely match the injectant
viscosity to that of the in situ oil and thus achieve a more
favorable mobility ratio.
A number of reviews on the application and benefits of
polymer flooding exist.1-4 Over the past thirty years, polymer
flooding has been applied on modest scales in a number of
areas and in large-scale applications in China, but its
application has not been widespread.5-9 One reason for the lack
of widespread use may be the technical challenges associated
with designing an economically attractive polymer flood.
Although the basic concept of polymer flooding is
straightforward, the evaluation and design of polymer floods is
significantly more complex than primary depletion or
waterflooding.
Evaluating whether a polymer flood is applicable for a
given field depends on a number of factors, which include: oil
viscosity, mobile oil saturation, ability for the polymer to
propagate through the reservoir, compatibility of the polymer
with reservoir rock and fluids at in situ conditions, reservoir
heterogeneity, well spacing and flow rates, polymer costs,
preparation and quality control of injected polymer solutions,
and the ability to sustain injectivity. As such, a proper
polymer flood evaluation and design requires a combination of
reservoir characterization, laboratory testing, reservoir
simulation, facilities design, and field testing.
If a polymer flood is found to be suitable for a given
reservoir, design variables such as polymer type, polymer slug
size, and polymer concentrations need to be optimized.
Optimization is complicated by the additional physical
phenomena that are not present in conventional waterfloods.
Simulation of full polymer-flood physics requires modeling
polymer concentration-dependent viscosities, shear-thinning
rheology of the polymer solution, extensional-thickening
rheology near the wellbore, in situ mixing (dilution) of the
polymer solution and native brine, thermal degradation, shear
degradation, polymer adsorption onto the reservoir rock,
inaccessible pore volume (physical exclusion of macromolecules by narrow pore throats), and relative permeability
changes due to adsorption (e.g., residual resistance factors).1,2
To help manage the complexity and challenges associated
with polymer flooding, guidelines were developed for a staged
process to evaluate and develop a polymer flood. The
guidelines, which are summarized in this paper, represent
recommended procedures that are generally applicable to any
field (e.g., offshore, onshore, large, small). The guidelines
cover initial screening, laboratory work, reservoir simulation,
field testing, field piloting, and finally commercial application.
The staged process reflects experiences from
ExxonMobils own studies and applications of polymer floods
as well as the published experiences of others. ExxonMobil
evaluated and piloted polymer flooding throughout the 1970s
and 1980s at the Loudon field10,11 in the United States (as part
of a surfactant-polymer flooding project), the Pembina field12
in Canada, and the West Yellow Creek field13-15 in the United
States. More recently ExxonMobil has evaluated polymer
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Analogs
Reservoir Modeling
Polymer Selection
Solution Rheology
Polymer Retention
Polymer Stability
Injectant Preparation
Injectivity
Facilities
Quality Assurance
Economics
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Summary
Recently there has been renewed interest in polymer
flooding as a means to increase oil recovery. Despite
significant work in the past, clear and complete workflows
have been lacking for evaluating whether a polymer flood is
appropriate for a given field and for gathering the information
required to optimize the process. In this paper, a general
staged process for EOR project evaluation and development
was presented. The process covers preliminary analysis,
laboratory work, simulation, and field testing. In addition,
application guidelines for polymer flooding were described.
Descriptions of polymer flood evaluation and development
activities have been compiled into a summary matrix. The
activities cover a range of topics including reservoir definition,
polymer solution property evaluation, polymer solution
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank their peers for their
numerous contributions to polymer flooding technology. We
specifically thank Jim Hutfilz, Jim Bragg, John Linderman,
Gary Teletzke, John Wilkinson, Ryan Kudva, Tom Crozier,
Jim Cannon, James Hacker, and K. Sampath for their
contributions to the polymer flooding guidelines and this
paper. We also thank ExxonMobil management for their
support in the preparation of this paper.
References
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Figure 2: Staged Process for Polymer Flood Project Evaluation and Development
Stage 1: Preliminary Screening
Gather basic reservoir description (rock
and fluid properties)
Compare to analogous fields
Select potential polymer types
Pass Criteria: Favorable comparison with
general polymer flood screening criteria
Stage 2b: Detailed Analysis
Detailed laboratory investigation
(corefloods, aging tests)
Finalize specific polymer choice
Improved reservoir description and
detailed simulation models
Risk-weighted economic analysis
Field test design
Pass Criteria: Technical feasibility
demonstrated; risk-weighted economic
favorable
Stage 3b: Field Pilot
Conduct field pilot; monitor technical /
operational performance
Interpret pilot and improve reservoir
description and simulation model
Update economic analysis
Pass Criteria: All technical milestones
achieved; economics are favorable
Preliminary
Screening
review
Preliminary
Analysis
2a
review
Detailed
Analysis
2b
review
Field Testing
3a
review
Field Pilot
3b
review
Commercial
Application
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Figure 3: Representative Portion of Polymer Flood Project Evaluation and Development Activity Matrix
Activity
Category
2a
Preliminary Analysis
2b
Detailed Analysis
Reservoir
Modeling
Polymer
Selection
Solution
Rheology
Measure shear-dependent
viscosities vs. brine
composition and polymer
concentration.
Polymer
Retention
Measure qualitative
adsorption via static tests.
Assess total retention
reported in literature.
Pass Criteria
for 2b 3a
3a
Field Testing
Evaluated impact of
uncertainty on key
parameters. Optimized
simulated polymer flood
design. Simulations
support desired injection
rates.
Un-degraded rheology
(including extensional
thickening) is well-defined
for injection and reservoir
brine compositions.
Determine apparent in
situ viscosity near
wellbore in field.
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