Polymer flooding

 Polymer augmented waterflooding consists of adding the water-soluble polymers to

the water before it is injected into the reservoir.

Objective

1- Mobility control (improve volumetric sweep efficiency)

Limitation
1-High oil viscosities require a higher polymer concentration.
2-Results are normally better if the polymer flood is started before the water - oil ratio
becomes excessively high.
3-Clays increase polymer adsorption.
4-reservoir heterogeneity, because of it occurs phenomena of the viscous fingering.

Challenges

1-Lower injectivity than with water can adversely affect oil production
rates in the early stages of the polymer flood.
2-type polymers loose viscosity due to shear degradation.
3-polymers cost more.
co2 flooding
co, flooding consists of injecting large quantities of CO (15% or more
hydrocarbon pore volumes) in the reservoir to form a miscible flood.
Mechanisms That Improve Recovery Efficiency.
1-Co2, extracts the light-to-intermediate components from the oil, and, if
the pressure is high enough, develops miscibility to displace oil from the
reservoir.
2- Viscosity reduction / oil swelling.
 Limitations
1-Very low Viscosity of CO, results in poor mobility control.
2-Availability of Co2.
3- Surface Facilities.

Challenges

1-Early breakthrough of CO, causes problems.

2- Corrosion in producing wels
3-The necessity of separating CO, from saleable hydrocarbons.
Repressuring of CO, for recyding.
4- A large requirement of CO, per incremental barrel produced.

Miscible Gas Flooding (Hydrocarbon Injection)

Hydrocarbon gas flooding consists of injecting light hydrocarbons through
the reservoir to form a miscible flood.

1- Viscosity reduction/oil swelling/condensing or vaporizing gas drive.

Limitations
1-Viscous fingering results in poor vertical and horizontal sweep
efficiency.
2-Large quantities of expensive products are required. Solvent may be
trapped and not recovered.
Challenges

1-Viscous fingering results in poor vertical and horizontal sweep efficiency

2-Large quantities of expensive products are required.
3- Solvent may be trapped and not recovered.
  Efficient Microscopic and Macroscopic Displacement.
The overall displacement efficiency of any oil recovery displacement process can be
considered conveniently as the product of microscopic and macroscopic displacement
efficiencies. In equation form,
E=E DEV
where
E = overall displacement efficiency (oil recovered by process/oil in place at start of process),
ED = microscopic displacement efficiency expressed as a fraction,
EV = macroscopic (volumetric) displacement efficiency expressed as a fraction.
Microscopic displacement relates to the displacement or mobilization of oil at the pore
scale. That is, ED is a measure of the effectiveness of the displacing fluid in moving
(mobilizing) the oil at those places in the rock where the displacing fluid contacts the oil.
ED is reflected in the magnitude of the residual oil saturation, Sor, in the regions
contacted by the displacing fluid.

EOR processes ofteninvolve the injection of more than one fluid .

In a typical case, a relatively small volume of an expensive chemical (primary slug) is

injected to mobilize the oil and for achieves a best displacement.
This primary slug is displaced with a larger volume of a relatively inexpensive chemical
(secondary slug).
The purpose of the secondary slug is to displace the primary slug efficiently with as little
deterioration as possible of the primary slug.
In some cases, additional fluids of even lower unit cost are injected after a secondary slug
to reduce expenses.
All injected fluids are considered to be part of the EOR process, even though the final
chemical slug might be water or dry gas that is injected solely to displace volumetrically
the fluids injected earlier in the process.
Macroscopic displacement efficiency relates to the effectiveness of the displacing fluid(s)
in contacting the reservoir in a volumetric sense.
Alternative terms conveying the same general concept are sweep efficiency and
conformance factor.
E is a measure of how effectively the displacing fluid sweeps out the volume of a
V
reservoir, both areally and vertically, as well as how effectively the displacing fluid moves
the displaced oil toward production wells.
Both areal and vertical sweeps must be considered, and it is often useful to further
subdivide E into the product of areal and vertical displacement efficiencies.
V
E is reflected in the magnitude of average or overall residual oil saturation, Sor ,
V
because the average is based on residual oil in both swept and unswept parts of the
reservoir.

Macroscopic displacement efficiency relates to the effectiveness of the displacing fluid(s)

in contacting the reservoir in a volumetric sense.
Alternative terms conveying the same general concept are sweep efficiency and
conformance factor.
E is a measure of how effectively the displacing fluid sweeps out the volume of a
V
reservoir, both areally and vertically, as well as how effectively the displacing fluid moves
the displaced oil toward production wells.
Both areal and vertical sweeps must be considered, and it is often useful to further
subdivide E into the product of areal and vertical displacement efficiencies.
V
E is reflected in the magnitude of average or overall residual oil saturation, Sor ,
V
because the average is based on residual oil in both swept and unswept parts of the
reservoir.
  Macroscopic displacement efficiency is improved by maintenance of favorable
mobility ratios between all displacing and displaced fluids throughout a process.

Favorable ratios contribute to improvement of both areal and vertical sweep efficiencies.
An ideal EOR fluid then is one that maintains a favorable mobility ratio with the fluid being
displaced.
 Another factor important to good macroscopic efficiency is the density difference
between displacing and displaced fluids.

Large density differences can result in gravity segregation (i.e., the underriding or
overriding of the fluid being displaced).
The effect is to bypass fluids at the top or bottom of a reservoir, reducing E . If density
V
differences do exist between fluids, this might be used to advantage by flooding in an updip
or downdip direction.
 Mobility Control

These processes work by altering the mobility ratio. Most successful is the polymer flooding
process.
Other methods include foams, gels, gelled foams, water alternating gas injection and emulsion
flooding.

Mobility control is an essential part of other methods as well but sometimes it becomes the
main mechanism

Polymer flooding

 Polymer augmented waterflooding consists of adding the water-soluble polymers to

the water before it is injected into the reservoir.

Objective

4- Mobility control ( improve volumetric sweep efficiency)

chemical flooding

addition of polymers, surfactants or caustic to the injected water in a polymer flood a long
chain molecule called a polymer is added to the injected water because polymers are
expensive.
Primary benefit
1- Improves volumetric sweep efficiency.
2- Ideal to apply when mobility of oil is poor.

-we normally inject only a slug of polymer solution shown here in purple polymer solution
which is pushed through the formation from behind by conventional water injection ?
Answer
the polymer increases the viscosity of the water thereby improving the mobility ratio and increasing the
recovery efficiency the primary benefit of polymer flooding is in the improvement of the aerial and vertical
sweep efficiencies and the acceleration of oil production.
Note
second chemical process involves the addition of surface-active agents or surfactants to the
injected water these compounds can act to reduce the interfacial tension between the oil and
water in the reservoir reduce the residual oil saturation and improve the displacement efficiency
surfactants are usually introduced to a water flood as components in a water oil surfactant
or micellar solution a slug of this solution shown here in yellow is injected into the reservoir
at the leading edge of a flood a polymer solution is usually injected after the micellar
solution?
answer
to control the slug and improve volumetric sweep efficiency the polymer solution in turn is followed by normal
water injection, the injected fluids push an oil bank ahead of them and leave a relatively low residual oil
saturation behind.
caustic flooding sodium hydroxide
in the case of caustic flooding sodium hydroxide added to injection water reacts with certain
crude oils at the crude- water interface forming surfactants in situ shown here forming
surfactants in situ shown here in brown this reduces the interfacial tension and thus the residual
oil saturation the heavier more viscous Crude are usually the most responsive to caustic
flooding.

Miscible displacement

Miscible displacement processes are defined as processes where the effectiveness of the displacement results
primarily from miscibility between the oil in place and the injected fluid.
Displacement fluids, such as hydrocarbon solvents, carbon dioxide (CO 2), flue gas, and nitrogen, are
considered.

There are two types of miscible displacements:

1. FCM – first contact miscible
2. MCM – multiple contact miscible

1. FCM – first contact miscible

Injection of a displacement fluid that is miscible with the crude oil (i.e., it forms only a single
phase upon first contact when mixed in all proportions with the crude oil).(light-
intermediately of the hydrocarbon or hydrocarbon solvents )
.…… ‫)مثان ايثان بروبان‬C1,C2,C3,C4,C5 ( ‫يحصل االمتزاج مع النفط مباشرتا مثل المركبات الخفيفه الموجوده في الهيدروكاربون هي‬

2. MCM – multiple contact miscible

Miscible conditions are developed in situ through composition alteration of the injected
fluid or crude oil as the fluids move through the reservoir

When injecting a dry gas such as methane, will occurs contact between injected gas and oil
in the reservoir that dose not mix directly, a composition alteration occurs of the injected
gas or crude oil until the gas compositions is close to some of the oil compositions, and thus
miscible occurs between gas and oil in the reservoir in case contact the gas with crude oil .

Dry gas is best injected when the oil in the reservoir is light oil or the oil rich in light
compositions, because the compounds is close between them, the miscible occurs them.
The gas containing the intermediate compounds is injected, called the rich gas, when the
oil is rather heavy and an exchange of compounds between gas and oil in the reservoir in
the adhesion area.

Note / In the case of injecting dry gas such as C1, we need high pressure to make this gas
turn into the liquid and thus miscibility occur with crude oil

‫وقد تتبادل مواد الخفيفه والمتوسطة في النفط‬, L‫اليتم التماس بشكل مباشر بسسب اختالف في مكونات الماده المحقونه‬
‫داخل السائل المحقون داخل المكمن‬
‫يحصل تبادل في المركبات مابين النفط والغاز المحقون لحين وصول التشابه بالمركبات فيحصل االمتزاج ما بين السائلين‬
‫خفيف اخف من الهواء يحتوء الي ذرات الكاربون محاطه باصره او اصرتين وذره‬dry gas ‫ من الغازات‬methine ‫غاز‬
‫النتروجين محاط باصره واحده‬
‫هذا النوع اليتحول ع سائل بسهوله يحتاج الى ضغط عاليه ليتحول ع سائل فعند الحقن اليتم الوصول الضغط المطلوب‬
. ‫ليتحول الغاز الى سائل ويمتزج مع النفط مباشرتا‬
In an immiscible displacement process, such as a waterflood, the microscopic
displacement efficiency, ED, is generally much less than unity. Part of the crude oil in the
places contacted by the displacing fluid is trapped as isolated drops, stringers, or pendular
rings, depending on the wettability. When this condition is reached, relative permeability to
oil is reduced essentially to zero and continued injection of the displacing fluid is ineffective
because the fluid simply flows around the trapped oil. The oil does not move in the flowing
stream because of capillary forces, which prevent oil deformation and passage through
constrictions in the pore passages.

‫حل مشكله النفط المحاصر في المسام من قبل الماء‬

This limitation to oil recovery may be overcome by the application of miscible displacement
processes in which the displacing fluid is miscible with the displaced fluid at the conditions
existing at the displacing-fluid/displaced-fluid interface. Interfacial tension (IFT) is
eliminated. If the two fluids do not mix in all proportions to form a single phase, the process
is called immiscible

Lean gas (dry gas) in the gas phase, LPG (liquefied petroleum gases)
this gas is rich with the light This material is rich with intermediately
compounds and little from compounds and material is high
intermediately compounds, its expensive, for that it’s injected with
injected for displacement of the simple slug for displacement of the
LPG(high expensive). crude oil.