Lessons Learned From Alkali/Surfactant/ Polymer-Flooding Field Tests in China

REE186036 DOI: 10.
2118/186036-PA Date: 7-August-18 Stage: Page: 1 Total Pages: 22
Lessons Learned From Alkali/Surfactant/

Polymer-Flooding Field Tests in China
Hu Guo, Yiqiang Li, Debin Kong, Ruicheng Ma*, Binhui Li, and Fuyong Wang, China University of Petroleum, Beijing
Summary
Although the alkali/surfactant/polymer (ASP) flooding technique used for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) was put forward many years
ago, it was not until 2014 that it was first put into practice in industrial applications with hundreds of injectors and producers in the
Daqing Oil Field in China. In this study, 30 ASP-flooding field tests in China were reviewed to promote the better use of this promising
technology. Up to the present, ASP flooding in the Daqing Oil Field deserves the most attention.
Alkali type does affect the ASP-flooding effect. Strong alkali [using sodium hydroxide (NaOH)] ASP flooding (SASP) was given more
emphasis than weak alkali [using sodium carbonate (Na2CO3)] ASP flooding (WASP) for a long time in the Daqing Oil Field because of
the lower interfacial tension (IFT) of the surfactant and the higher recovery associated with NaOH than with Na2CO3. Other ASP-flooding
field tests completed in China all used Na2CO3. With progress in surfactant production, a recent large-scale WASP field test in the
Daqing Oil Field produced an incremental oil recovery nearly 30% higher than most previous SASP recoveries and close to the value of
the most-successful SASP test. However, the most-successful SASP test was partly attributed to the weak alkali factor. Recent studies
have shown that the WASP incremental oil recovery factor could be as good as that of SASP but with much-better economic benefits.
Screening of surfactant by IFT test is very important in the ASP-flooding practice in China. Whether dynamic or equilibrium IFT
should be selected as criteria in surfactant screening is still in dispute. Many believe the equilibrium IFT is more important than the
dynamic IFT in terms of the displacement efficiency; thus, it is better to choose a lower dynamic IFT when the equilibrium IFT meets
the 103 order-of-magnitude requirement. However, it is impossible for many surfactants to form ultralow equilibrium IFT. Because of
the low acid value of the Daqing crude oil, the asphaltene and resin components play a very important role in reducing the oil/water
IFT and asphaltene is believed to be more influential, although more work is required to resolve this controversial issue.
Whether polymer viscoelasticity can reduce the residual oil saturation is still a matter of debate. Advances in surfactant production
and in the overcoming of scaling and produced-fluid-handling challenges form the foundation of the industrial application of ASP flood-
ing. Further work is advised on the emulsification effect of ASP flooding. According to one field test, the EOR routine should be
selected depending on consideration of the residual oil type to decide whether to increase the sweep volume and/or displacement effi-
ciency. The micellar flooding failure in one ASP field test in China has led all subsequent field tests in China to choose the “low concen-
tration, large slug” technical route instead of the “high concentration, small slug” one. ASP flooding can increase oil recovery by 30%
at a cost of less than USD 30/bbl; thus, this technique can be used in response to low-oil-price challenges.
Introduction
ASP flooding is one of the most-attractive chemical-flooding EOR technologies, and field tests have achieved incremental-oil-recovery
factors as high as 33% (Wang et al. 2013). ASP flooding was first reported in 1981 in the United States, with the main goal being to
inject high-pH alkaline silicates and high-pH chelating agents to enhance the micellar polymer-flooding effect (Holm and Robertson
1981). It is worth mentioning that Burdyn et al. (1975) patented the use of alkali and polymer together in a two-slug design before the
first report of ASP flooding. At the beginning, alkali, surfactant, and polymer were not injected together at the same time, and alkali pre-
flush was adopted. Krumrine and Falcone (1983) first reported injecting these chemicals together in the same slug to obtain desirable
results because of synergistic effects or to shorten the duration, thereby improving the economics for the project. Using many previous
laboratory studies and polymer-flooding, alkali-flooding, micellar-flooding, alkali/polymer-flooding, and alkali/surfactant-flooding field
tests, the first ASP-flooding field test in the world was designed and implemented in the West Kiehl Field, Wyoming, USA, in Septem-
ber 1987 (Clark et al. 1993). Alkali Na2CO3 was selected mainly for its low cost compared with other alkaline agents, NaOH and
Na4SiO4 (Clark et al. 1988). The field test was very successful, and the incremental oil recovery over the next 2.5 years was 26% origi-
nal oil in place (OOIP). Another six ASP-flooding field tests in the United States were implemented subsequently and presented in the
Cambridge (1993), Sho-Vel-Tum (1998), Tanner (2000), Mellot Ranch (2000), Laurence (2010), and Brookshire Dome (2011) Fields
(Olajire 2014; Sheng 2014). ASP-flooding field tests were also implemented in other countries such as Canada, China, and India
(Olajire 2014; Sheng 2014). ASP flooding has recently made great progress in both laboratory studies (Kazempour et al. 2012b;
Gregersen et al. 2013; Kazempour et al. 2013a; Panthi and Mohanty 2013; Olajire 2014; Sharma et al. 2015; Kazemi Nia Korrani et al.
2016; Li et al. 2016; Panthi et al. 2016; Southwick et al. 2016) and field tests (Stoll et al. 2011; Sharma et al. 2013; Wang et al. 2013;
Zhu et al. 2013a; Watson et al. 2014; Liya et al. 2016).
Although ASP flooding was not first reported in China, the progress in China deserves more attention for the following three rea-
sons. First, until the present, the largest-scale and largest number of field tests have been performed in China; thus, the research depth
and breadth deserves attention. Second, the largest-scale polymer-flooding industrial application has been performed in the Daqing Oil
Field in China (Zhang et al. 2016), and to some extent, ASP flooding is regarded as a development of polymer flooding. The wide use
of and experience with polymer flooding provide solid foundations for ASP flooding (Wang et al. 2013). Finally, all technology related
to ASP flooding has been mastered in the Daqing Oil Field in China, and ASP flooding used in industrial or commercial applications in
the Daqing Oil Field since 2014 has been developed from 30 years of research, which has included many field tests at different scales
(Cheng et al. 2014a, b). In 2015, ASP-flooding production in the Daqing Oil Field was 3.5 million tons, representing 9% of the total
crude-oil production. In 2016, the ASP-flooding production increased to 4.06 million tons, representing 11% of the total crude-oil
* Now with the Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration & Development, PetroChina.
Copyright V
C 2018 Society of Petroleum Engineers
This paper (SPE 186036) was accepted for presentation at the SPE Reservoir Characterization and Simulation Conference and Exhibition, Abu Dhabi, 8–10 May 2017, and revised for
publication. Original manuscript received for review 21 June 2017. Revised manuscript received for review 21 February 2018. Paper peer approved 22 February 2018.
2018 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering 1
ID: jaganm Time: 16:51 I Path: S:/REE#/Vol00000/180032/Comp/APPFile/SA-REE#180032

REE186036 DOI: 10.2118/186036-PA Date: 7-August-18 Stage: Page: 2 Total Pages: 22
production (Xia 2017). Considering the oil production in Daqing has declined year by year, this is a great achievement. According to
our summary of many public statistics (Liu 2016), Figs. 1 and 2 show the ASP-flooding production changes and the percentage of the
total oil production in the Daqing Oil Field in recent years. As seen in Figs. 1 and 2, ASP flooding is clearly becoming the dominant
EOR technology in the Daqing Oil Field. ASP-flooding production increased sharply in 2014 with the start of commercial application.
Before this, industrial field tests with dozens of wells have been implemented since 2006 on the basis of small-scale pilots and finished
enlarged field tests. Fig. 1 shows that ASP-flooding oil production has clearly increased from 2006 to 2010.
ASP-Flooding Oil Production in Daqing

4.5
4.06
4.0
ASP-Flooding Production
3.50
3.5
(million tons)
3.0
2.5 2.25
2.0
1.48
1.5 1.24 1.28 1.13 1.17
0.96
1.0 0.82
0.44
0.5 0.20 0.24 0.22 0.24 0.29 0.29
0.0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Years
Fig. 1—ASP-flooding production in the Daqing Oil Field.
ASP-Flooding Oil-Production Percentage in Daqing

12
11.11
ASP-Flooding Production (%)
10 9.12
6 5.63
3.67
4 3.11 3.20 2.83 2.93
2.40
1.98
2 0.93
0.45 0.49 0.63 0.63
0.00 40.005
0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Years
Fig. 2—Percentage of ASP-flooding production to total oil in the Daqing Oil Field.
Another large-scale ASP-flooding field test in a high-temperature (81 C) reservoir in Henan, China, has also achieved significant pro-
gress (Sheng 2014; Jianyin and Zhenxin 2015; Chang 2016), and the ASP flooding in an ultrahigh-temperature (95 C) reservoir with
organic alkali has been studied (Zhao et al. 2015). Although many ASP-flooding field tests have achieved success from a technical
perspective, unsuccessful cases were not rare in China. Even in the Daqing Oil Field, where thorough research into ASP flooding has been
conducted for more than 30 years, some projects achieved only partial success. When oil prices are high, it is easy for ASP flooding to suc-
ceed, whereas lower oil prices may make the technically successful ASP-flooding projects fail economically; the key factors in this issue
are cost and incremental oil volume. The factors affecting the cost and incremental oil volume include the proper selection of the ASP-
system parameters (e.g., the viscosity, IFT, and alkali concentration) in addition to the operators’ project-management level. Therefore, a
review of ASP-flooding field tests in China will help petroleum engineers understand the complexity of ASP flooding, choose the proper
chemical system according to the actual reservoir properties, and promote the use of this promising technology in similar reservoirs.
ASP-Flooding Field Tests

Field testing is a necessary stage for the transition of the ASP-flooding method from the laboratory to real-world application. According
to the goals of the research and the degree of mastery of the technology, the scale of field tests varies. Many field tests have been con-
ducted in China after laboratory studies. Some progress in the laboratory studies in China has been previously described (Guo et al.
2017a). In Table 1, 30 ASP-flooding field tests with different scales are summarized. Table 2 shows the detailed slug designs of ASP
tests in China. These 30 field tests are all in onshore reservoirs, and are summarized in Table 3. Slug viscosity is shown in Table 4. At
present, ASP flooding has not been applied in offshore reservoirs in China, although the first and only surfactant/polymer (SP) flooding
pilot test was implemented by the China National Offshore Oil Corporation in an offshore heavy-oil reservoir (Lu et al. 2015). Notably,
some of the latest ASP-flooding projects have not yet been made public for reasons of confidentiality; thus, the total number of actual
projects in China is more than 30. However, among the 30 tests discussed here, 23 are in the Daqing Oil Field (in Table 1, ASP 1
through ASP 13 and ASP 21 through ASP 30; hereafter, ASP 1 means No. 1 in Table 1); two are in the Shengli Oil Field (ASP 15 and
ASP 16); and one is in the Henan Oil Field (ASP 20). The owner of the Shengli Oil Field is the only company that has conducted more
than one field test in China, except for the Daqing Oil Field; however, no ongoing study has produced a larger field test using the
2 2018 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering

smaller pilot. The reason for this will be introduced later. Among these 30 projects, a strong alkali (NaOH) was used in 14 projects, all
in Daqing; Na2CO3 was used in 15 projects; and both NaOH and Na2CO3 were used in one project. Among the seven projects outside
Daqing, Na2CO3 was used in six field tests and both Na2CO3 and NaOH were used in one project. In other words, the ASP-flooding
field tests outside Daqing were all Na2CO3-based. Obviously, the Daqing Oil Field has great interest in strong alkali tests, although
NaOH can cause more scaling and formation damage than Na2CO3, according to early studies (Baviere 1991; Cheng 1986; Mayer et al.
1983; Krumrine et al. 1985; Bertaux and Lemanczyk 1987; Diallo et al. 1987). Because of surfactant availability and the advantages of
a high pH, more emphasis has been given to SASP (Guo et al. 2017a, 2018); considerable efforts have been made toward antiscaling
and produced-fluid handling in Daqing (Jiecheng et al. 2008, 2011; Cheng et al. 2009; Cheng et al. 2013; Wang et al. 2013; Yang et al.
2015); and the Daqing Oil Field has mastered all the technology related to the industrial applications of ASP flooding (Cheng et al.
2013). Among these studied projects, the highest-temperature reservoir was 86 C in Zhongyuan-Huzhuangji (ASP 14), and the second-
highest temperature was 81 C in Henan Shuanghe (ASP20), followed by 69 C in Shengli (ASP 15 and ASP 16). It is known from previ-
ous tests that ASP flooding in high-temperature reservoirs is much more difficult than in low-temperature reservoirs, accounting for the
relatively limited number of ASP field tests outside Daqing in China. Compared with the Shengli and Zhongyuan Oil Fields, the Daqing
Oil Field features many favorable conditions, such as a favorable temperature (45 C); viscosity (average 9.8 mPas underground), a
large geologic reservoir volume, and good formation properties (e.g., permeability and pore structure). Furthermore, the heterogeneous
formation-permeability-variation coefficients (0.6 to 0.8) are regarded as favorable for ASP flooding; the formation-brine salinity is low
(approximately 7000 mg/L); the divalent-cation concentration is low (less than 50 mg/L); and the produced-water salinity is low (Guo
et al. 2002). Reservoirs parameters are shown in Table 3 for comparison. Notably, the data in Table 3 only represent blocks that have
been conducted field tests, not the whole reservoirs.
Date Keff φ Tr* µ Inj. Refer-

Number Block (Year.Month) I*/P* d* (m) (md) Vk * (%) (°C) (mPa·s) Alkali (PV) Inc. (%) ence
1994.09– 1
ASP 1 S-Z-X 4/9 106 509 0.765 26 45 11.5 Na2CO3 0.603 21.40
1996.05
1995.01– 1
ASP 2 X–5 1/4 141 589 0.630 26 45 6.1 NaOH 0.678 25.00
1997.04
1996.09- 2
ASP 3 X-2-X 4/9 200 675 0.590 26 45 7.1 NaOH 0.694 19.16
1999.10
1997.09- 3
ASP 4 B-1-DX 6/12 250 512 0.767 26 45 9.8 NaOH 0.653 21.9
1999.10
XJJ-B 1997.12- 3
ASP 5 3/4 75 567 NA 26 45 9.8 NaOH 0.741 23.24
(S-B) 1998.12
2004.10– 4
ASP 6 XJJ-N 3/4 75 467 0.65–0.74 26 45 9.8 Na2CO3 0.749 24.66
2005.10
1999.09– 5–6
ASP 7 N-4-D 4/9 170 NA NA 26 45 9.8 Na2CO3 0.550 15.4
2001.11
2000.04– 7–8
ASP 8 X-2-Z 17/27 250 404 0.63 25 45 9.8 NaOH 0.848 18.1
2007.10
2002.08– 9
ASP 9 B-3-X 13/14 250 657 NA 26 45 9.8 Na2CO3 0.688 18.2
2008.12
2008.10– 10–12
ASP 10 B-2-X 35/44 125 533 0.59–0.65 26 45 9.8 Na2CO3 0.910 29.4
2013.12
2006.07– 13
ASP 11 B-1-D 49/63 125 670 NA 26 45 9.8 NaOH 0.937 30
2012.12
2006.07– 10–12
ASP 12 N–5 29/39 175 501 NA 26 45 9.8 NaOH 0.934 19.8
2012
2008.10– 10–12
ASP 13 L-B-D 44/62 120 676 0.73 26 45 10.3 NaOH 0.864 20.3
2013.12
2000.01– 129– NaHCO3+ 14
ASP 14 ZY-HZJ 4/5 NA NA NA 86 NA NA 0.61
2001.3 277 Na2CO3,1:1
15–16
ASP 15 SL-GD 1992–1994 4/9 50 2560 0.33 35 68 41.3 Na2CO3 0.35 16.8
15–16
ASP 16 SL-GDX 1997–2002 6/13 212 1520 NA 32 69 70 Na2CO3 0.45 15.5
XJ- 1995.8– 17–18
ASP 17 4/9 50 181 NA 18.1 23 8.82 Na2CO3 0.49 25
Karamay 1997
1994.3– 19
ASP 18 YM-LJM 1/4 70 374 NA 24 28 7.14 Na2CO3+KCl 0.33 1.82
1995.8
1997.9– 20–21
ASP 19 JL-HG 3/22 200 163 0.63–0.72 21 55 12.9 Na2CO3+NaOH NA 20.4
2000.6
22–27
ASP 20 HN-SH 2010.12 38/43 170–260 543 0.54–0.83 19 81 3.3 Na2CO3 0.61 6.9
0.687 28
ASP 21 X-1–2-D 2007.12 112/143 150 517 NA 26 45 9–11 NaOH 18.5
5
10, 29
ASP 22 N-6-D 2008.11 93/94 175 520 NA 26 45 9–11 NaOH 0.710 NA
10, 29
ASP 23 X-6-D-I 2009.06 102/112 141 575 NA 26 45 9–11 NaOH 0.725 18.5
10, 29
ASP 24 X-6-D-II 2009.11 109/105 141 526 NA 26 45 9–11 NaOH 0.725 19
30
ASP 25 B-1-DX-X 2012.06 90/118 125 460 NA 26 45 9–11 NaOH 0.788 NA
31
ASP 26 DQ-N 2009.10 4/9 NA 450 NA 26 45 9–11 NaOH 0.562 9.7*
32
ASP 27 B-3-D-X 2013.08 96/96 125 358 NA NA 45 9–11 Na2CO3 0.840 21.59
33
ASP 28 B-2-X-D 2015.05 172/178 150 330 NA 26 45 9–11 Na2CO3 0.740 20.1
34
ASP 29 N-4-D 2015.08 9/16 NA 553 NA 26 45 9–11 Na2CO3 NA 10*
35
ASP 30 XQ–2 2014.07 99/131 125 546 NA 26 45 9–11 Na2CO3 0.790 NA
1. Demin et al. (1997); 2. Demin et al. (1998); 3. Demin et al. (1999a, b); 4. Wan et al. (2006); 5. Yong et al. (2010); 6. Yan (2006); 7. Li et al. (2008); 8. Hongfu et al. (2003); 9. Chang et al. (2006); 10. Zhu et al. (2012)
11. Jiecheng et al. (2008); 12. Yang et al. (2008); 13. Cheng et al. (2013); 14. Lin et al. (2003); 15. Wang et al. (1997); 16. Qu et al. (1998); 17. Qi et al. (2000); 18. Gu et al. (1998); 19. Wang et al. (1999);
20. Zhonglin et al. (2001); 21. Meng (2011); 22. Yanhua et al. (2013); 23. Jianyin and Zhenxin (2015); 24. Zhao et al. (2015); 25. Li et al. (2016); 26. Chang (2016); 27. Li et al. (2017); 28. Wang et al. (2013); 29. Zhu
(2015); 30. Zhang and Yiming (2014); 31. Wang et al. (2016a); 32. Chen (2015); 33. Yunpu (2015); 34. Zhitian (2015); 35. Liu (2016)
Table 1—ASP-flooding field tests in China. I* and P* represent injectors and producers, respectively. d* 5 average well spacing;
Inj. 5 injected-chemical slug; Inc. 5 incremental oil recovery factor; NA 5 not available. Note that the incremental recovery in N-4-D is the
staged incremental recovery factor (marked with an asterisk). Underlined permeabilities in ASP 15, 16, and 19 represent air permeability.

Slug 1 (Preslug) Slug 2 (ASP Main) Slug 3 (ASP Vice) Slug 4 (Post-Slug)
Total
Size P P A P Size P Slug S Type
ASP Number Block (PV) (mg/L) Size (PV) A (%) S (%) (mg/L) Size (PV) (%) S (%) (mg/L) (PV) (mg/L) Size (name)
ASP 1 S-Z-X – – 0.32 1.25 0.3 1200 – – – – 0.283 600 0.603 B-100
1200
ASP 2 X–5 – – 0.37 1.2 0.3 1200 – – – – 0.308 0.678 ORS-41
800 400
1000
ASP 3 X-2-X 0.0375 1284 0.35 1.2 0.3 2300 0.1 1.2 0.1 1800 0.2 0.694 ORS-41
700 500
900 700
ASP 4 B-1-DX – – 0.3 1.2 0.3 2000 0.152 1.2 0.1 1400 0.2 0.653 ORS–41
600
ORS-
ASP 5 XJJ-B – – 0.33 1.2 0.35 1800 0.158 1.2 0.1 1800 0.253 800 0.741
41+RH
ASP 6 XJJ-N NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA 0.749 PS
Carbox-
ASP 7 N-4-D – – 0.35 1 0.3 1300 – – – – 0.2 800 0.55
ylate
1000
ASP 8 X-2-Z 0.128 1400 0.354 1 0.2 1650 0.1 1 0.1 1000 0.2 0.848 HABS
630
1.2 0.8 0.25 0.1
ASP 9 B-3-X 0.018 800 0.35 1580 0.104 1.2 0.1 1400 0.2 700 0.688 HABS
1.2 0.25
1750 1940
ASP 10 B-2-X 0.0801 1350 0.4284 1.2 0.3 0.2203 1.0 0.1 0.25 1500 0.9788 PS (DPS)
1980 1980
1
ASP 11 B-1-D 0.054 1300 0.351 1.2 0.3 2000 0.285 0.2 0.1 2000 0.233 1500 0.923 HABS
0.8
ASP 12 N–5 0.0617 1350 0.378 1.2 0.2 1650 0.15 1 0.1 1650 0.2 1350 0.934 ABS
ASP 13 L-B-D 0.082 2500 0.363 1.2 0.3 2230 0.181 1.1 0.2 1680 0.238 1400 0.864 ABS
ASP 14 ZY-HZJ NA* 1500 NA* 0.5 1.58 800 – – – – NA 1000 NA Note 1
OP-
ASP 15 SL-GD 0.05 1000 0.05 1.5 0.4 – 0.35 1.5 0.4 1000 0.1 500 0.592
10+CY1
ASP 16 SL-GDX 0.097 2000 0.309 1.2 0.3 1700 – – – – 0.05 1500 0.497 Note 2
PS
ASP 17 XJ-Kara 0.4 1.5% KCl 0.337 1.5 0.3 1300 – – – – 0.15 1000 0.3708
(KPS–1)
PS
ASP 18 YM-LJM 0.52 4% KCl 0.33 0.4 8 NA – – – – – – 0.86
(YPS-3A)
ASP 19 JL-HG – – NA 0.8 0.3 2000 – – – – – – <0.27 PS
Mixed
ASP 20 HN-SH 0.1 2000 0.27* 0.8 0.3 1800 0.2 0.5 0.2 1800 0.05* 1500 0.6
(SH6)
ASP 21 X-1–2-D 0.0375 1400 0.3 1.2 0.3 1800 0.15 1 0.1 1800 0.2 1400 0.6875 NA
Carbox-
1300 ylate
1600 80
ASP 26 DQ-N 0.0454 800 1000 0.3 1 0.3 1600 – – – – 0.1 0.562
0 (PBH-
2100
808E)
ASP 27 B-3-D-X 0.04 1350 0.35 1.2 0.3 1900 0.15 1 0.1 1900 0.2 1350 0.84 NA
Note 1 natural mixed carboxylates+alkyl sulfobetaines

Note 2 anionic (BES)+ lignosulfonate PS.
Table 2—Slug size and composition. NA 5 not available.
Oil Field Daqing Shengli Xinjiang Jilin Zhongyuan Henan Yumen

1272/1190– 1160– 1550–
Strata depth (m) 800–1200 599–678 2000 500
1310 1220 1770
Formation temperature (°C) 42–48 68/69 23 55 86 81 28
Average permeability (md) 1,024–1,546 1,520/2,560 157 163 129–277 543 374
0.54–
Dykstra-Parsons coefficient Vk 0.53–0.72 0.33/NA 0.7–0.8 0.681 NA NA
0.83
Average porosity (%) 22–26 32/35 18.1 26 19.6 21.49 24
Effective thickness (m) 7–15 11/16.2 15–22 NA NA 5.7/4.4 6.42
Inverted Inverted Five- Inverted
Well pattern Five-spot Five-spot NA
five-spot 13 spot five-spot
Well spacing (m) 125/250 50/212 50 200 NA 170/230 70
Formation-water TDS (mg/L) 6778 3259/6864 700 12 000 170 000 7947 7996
Formation-water divalents (mg/L) 9–21 42/143 70 20–60 5630 32 566
Injection-water salinity (mg/L) 486 4550/6188 387 NA NA 5002 NA
Injection-water divalents (mg/L) 20–50 92/78 78 NA NA 22 NA
Oil viscosity in place (mPa·s) 9.8 41.3/70 8.82 12.9 NA 3.3 7.14
0.103–
Oil acid number (mg KOH/g) 0.02 1.7/3.11 0.35–1.5 NA NA 0.19
0.14
Number of ASP tests >20 2 2 1 1 1 1
Table 3—ASP-flooding reservoir parameters. NA 5 not available.
The largest industrial polymer-flooding application in the world was implemented in the Daqing Oil Field in 1996, which laid a solid
foundation and the impetus for ASP flooding. Polymer-flooding production in the Daqing Oil Field used to represent more than 30% of
total oil production. From many perspectives, ASP flooding is similar to polymer flooding because of the use of a viscous polymer fluid
as a mobility-control technique, although there are many differences (Guo et al. 2016). At present, the largest-scale ASP-flooding field

tests and industrial applications have been conducted in the Daqing (Guo et al. 2017a, b, c, d, 2018). Hence, the Daqing Oil Field repre-
sents the most-researched moderate-temperature reservoir with ASP flooding in China. Thus, lessons learned from the Daqing Oil Field
are of great value. In this paper, the experiences and lessons learned from ASP field tests in Daqing are introduced with emphasis. For
high-temperature-reservoir ASP flooding, the experiences from Shengli and Henan Oil Fields deserve more attention. Although a small
ASP pilot test (ASP 14) was implemented in the Zhongyuan-Huzhuangji in an 86 C reservoir, resulting in an increase of oil production
and a decrease in water cut, Table 1 shows that this pilot was not a success from an incremental oil recovery perspective. The highlight
of this pilot is that a natural mixture of carboxylate surfactants was used. However, surfactants that are resistant to such high tempera-
tures with an acceptable cost are very difficult to find. Another ASP-flooding field test worthy of note is the one in the Karamay Oil
Field in Xinjiang, China (ASP 17). It is the only conglomerate reservoir in China in which ASP flooding has been applied. Its success
indicated that an ASP-flooding technique can be used in conglomerate reservoirs, which are difficult to develop because of high levels
of heterogeneity.
Tests Slug 1 Slug 2 Slug 3 Slug 4

ASP 1 – ≥16 NA NA
ASP 3 NA ≥30 NA NA
ASP 6 NA 38 NA NA
ASP 8 40 40 35 30 15
ASP 9 40 40 30 NA
ASP 10 22 58 65 69
ASP 11 30 31,65,77 40 40,50
ASP 12 40 44 37 38
ASP 13 200 110 50 40
ASP 14 100 46.5 – 20
ASP 15 16.5 0.47 7.86 6.16
ASP 16 NA NA – NA
ASP 17 – 12 – NA
ASP 18 – 15.7 14 –
ASP 19 ≥60
ASP 20 ≥30 ≥65 ≥65 NA
ASP 21 ≥40 ≥40 ≥40 ≥40
ASP 26 40 60 18 22 40 NA 50 52
Table 4—Viscosity of ASP slugs (in mPas). NA 5 not available.
The first ASP-flooding pilot test to start and finish in China was in the Yumen Oil Field in the Laojunmiao Reservoir (ASP 18).
However, this pilot was not successful from the perspectives of both incremental oil recovery factor (1.82%) and economic performance
(the input/output ratio was 10:1). The lessons learned from this pilot test helped subsequent field tests in the Daqing Oil Field select the
correct technological route. One ASP-flooding pilot test (ASP 20) was also performed in the low-permeability reservoir Jilin Honggang,
as listed in Table 1. Note that in Table 1, the permeability is effective permeability, except for ASP 15, ASP 16, and ASP 20. The
average air permeability in ASP 19 was 163 md, indicating a much-lower effective permeability. Although an incremental oil recovery
factor of 20.4% was reported (Meng 2011), little information about this test is available. In Table 1, the incremental recovery factor val-
ues listed for finished field tests were the actual factors in the central-well zone. For the unfinished tests (ASP 19 through ASP 30), the
factors are predicted, except for some with an asterisk. Compared with Table 1, some field-test information is not available in Table 2
because many recent ASP-flooding field tests have not been made fully public. ASP 21 in Table 2 probably represents industrial field
tests or applications (ASP 21 through ASP 30) in recent years. Table 4 shows some field-test slug viscosities, while others are not avail-
able. The basic requirement of slug viscosity in Daqing is that wellhead viscosity should be three to four times higher than the viscosity
underground (approximately 10 mPas). That is approximately 30 to 40 mPas, which will be explained later. Slug size in ASP flooding
has been introduced previously (Sheng 2011, 2014; Olajire 2014), and thus the main purpose of Tables 1 through 4 is to provide as
detailed information as possible for the petroleum industry. Hence, the experience and lessons learned from conducting ASP flooding
and pilot-test commercial applications are the main focus of this paper.
Daqing Oil Field

ASP-Flooding Development. ASP flooding in the Daqing Oil Field can be divided into five stages: the laboratory-study stage, small-
scale (pilot) test stage, large-scale field-test stage, industrial-application field-test stage, and industrial-application stage, as shown in
Fig. 3. It takes 7 years to prepare, develop, and conduct the first pilot tests derived from laboratory tests, and 37 years have been used to
conduct a commercial application of the ASP-flooding technology. Laboratory studies were started in 1987 with the main goal of
screening out ultralow-IFT (103 mN/m) surfactants for the ultralow-acid-value (lower than 0.02 mgKOH/g oil) Daqing crude oil. At
that time, the acid value of oil suitable for ASP flooding should have been higher than 0.20 mgKOH/g oil, and ASP flooding was there-
fore once considered as unsuitable for the Daqing oil by some top experts. After many experiments, two imported alkyl benzene

sulfonate (ABS) surfactants (ORS-41 and B-100) that can form ultralow IFT (103 mN/m) between the Daqing oil and water in the
presence of NaOH were identified from more than 100 surfactants in the world (Zhu et al. 2013b). The two surfactants cannot form
ultralow IFT with the Daqing oil without the presence of an alkali (Gregersen et al. 2013). At that time, a synergy between the exter-
nally added surfactants and in-situ surfactants related to the reaction between the added alkali and acid components in the crude oil was
believed to be the cause of the ultralow IFT; thus, certain acid values for oil were required. Later, studies by the Daqing Oil Field
researchers and their partners indicated that the ultralow IFT mechanism in the low-acid-value oil is different from that in the high-
acid-value oil (Cheng et al. 2014a). On the basis of its chemical composition, Daqing crude oil was separated into four groups (Li et al.
2005): saturates, aromatics, resins, and asphaltenes. The IFT between each group and ASP was then tested. The relative reduction in the
IFT for the groups was resins > asphaltenes > aromatics > saturates (Cheng et al. 2014a). This is shown in Fig. 4 (Cheng et al. 2014a).
However, asphaltenes in the heavy oil played a more-significant role than resin, as argued by other researchers (He et al. 2015). This
different conclusion may be attributed to the definition of asphaltenes and resins in heavy and light oils, as well as the extraction
methods. More work was suggested on this issue (He et al. 2015). Nonacid components can play an important role in reducing the IFT,
making it possible to develop appropriate surfactants for use in ASP flooding for low-acid-value oils, such as the Daqing oil. This find-
ing is an important achievement in ASP-flooding research in the Daqing Oil Field. The surfactant was the key factor that constrained
the ASP-flooding development in the Daqing Oil Field for years and is an important problem that has to be solved for other reservoirs
for ASP-flooding development. Further studies have found that the surfactants used in the Daqing Oil Field were not single-component,
and when the average molecular weight of the surfactants was close to that of the oil, the IFT was the lowest (Cheng et al. 2014a).
Thus, researchers developed surfactants suitable for Daqing oil, continued to improve the production processes, and finally produced
inexpensive and well-tested surfactants for ASP flooding (Cheng et al. 2014a). Only when the quality, quantity, and cost of the surfac-
tants meet the requirements of large-scale application is it possible to conduct large-scale ASP-flooding field tests and industrial appli-
cation. This finding was the most-basic conclusion from the Daqing Oil Field ASP-flooding tests. The other three field tests using
domestic surfactants (ASP 6, ASP 8, and ASP 9) were successful.
Industrial- Industrial
Single-well Large-scale application application
pilot tests field tests field tests
7
7 2014
6 2007
1994 2000
Fig. 3—ASP-field-test development in the Daqing Oil Field.
0.1
IFT (mN/m)
0.01
Resins
Asphaltenes
0.001 Aromatics
Saturates
0.0001
0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6
NaOH Concentration (%)
Fig. 4—Crude-oil-components’ ability to reduce IFT (Cheng et al. 2014a).
After years of laboratory research, ASP flooding in Daqing entered a small-scale (pilot) test stage in 1994. Two pilot tests (ASP 1
and ASP 2) were conducted in 1994 and 1995, as listed in Table 1. The well spacings were small and the tests were both for a single-
well group. These two tests were technically successful. No economic evaluation of them was reported. To check the effects of ASP
flooding with larger well spacing, multiple-well groups, and larger slugs, two industrial well-spacing tests (ASP 3 and ASP 4) with sev-
eral well groups were conducted in 1996 and 1997. These two tests were also very successful, especially ASP 3 in X-2-X. After water-
flooding, the additional recovery factor was 19.16% OOIP under the harsh conditions in which the central-well water cut was 100% for
a long period of time. To reduce the dosage of the surfactant, another field test (ASP 5) was conducted in 1997 involving mixtures of
biosurfactants and ABS. This test was successful and showed that the surfactant dosage was reduced by approximately 50%, more than
the laboratory-test-indicated reduction of 25 to 30%, and that the surfactant cost in the field test was reduced by 50% (Li et al. 2009).
Imported surfactants were used in these five pilot tests. B-100 and Na2CO3 were used in the first pilot test, whereas ORS-41 and NaOH
were used in the other four pilot tests. Because the surfactants were imported, the cost of these five pilot tests was high. No economic
evaluation of these tests has been reported. After these five pilot tests, more field tests were conducted after 1999 with domestic
surfactants. The main goal was to determine the effects of the domestic surfactants in ASP flooding in an industrial-well pattern with
industrial-well spacing.

N-4-D (ASP 7) was the first field test using a domestic surfactant. The surfactant was carboxylate, and Na2CO3 was used as the al-
kali. During the field tests, some problems with the carboxylate surfactant were realized, including the poor IFT stability (ultralow IFT
duration was fewer than 10 days) and poor solubility. The surfactant is highly soluble and forms ultralow IFT only at temperatures
greater than 40 C (Cheng 2006). This field test did not go as expected. The advantages of the carboxylate surfactant are its common
raw materials and its low cost. Thus, one more field test (ASP 26) was conducted in 2008 using a plant carboxylate surfactant (PBH-
808E) (Wang et al. 2016a). Until December 2015, after the post-water-slug injection of 0.256 pore volumes (PV), an incremental oil re-
covery of 9.7% was reported (Wang et al. 2016a). The incremental recovery is much lower than all the other field tests in Table 1.
According to Wang et al. (2016a), the shorter emulsification time and lower viscosity stability accounted for the lower recovery. The
raw material of the alkyl carboxylate surfactant comes from renewable natural oil and its waste, which has the significant advantage of
reducing the surfactant cost. The success of the carboxylate-surfactant-based ASP flooding depends on the critical incremental oil re-
covery factor. In other words, if the economic effect of this project is good, even if the incremental oil recovery factor is not as high as
in the other field tests, the test is considered successful. The evaluation criteria should be its economic effect, rather than the incremen-
tal oil factor used in most studies in China. ASP 8 and ASP 9 were dependent on industrial-well spacing (250 m); NaOH and heavy
alkyl benzene sulfonate (HABS) were used in ASP 8, whereas Na2CO3 and Daqing petroleum sulfonate were used in ASP 9. Notably,
the central-well water cut in ASP 8 was 100%, and the average permeability was lower than in other blocks. Thus, although the incre-
mental oil recovery factor of ASP 8 was lower than that of other field tests, this test was regarded as a great success (Zhao et al. 2007).
This field test also showed that the difference between the ASP flooding and polymer flooding is the displacement efficiency. During
this field test, it was found that the production-capacity reduction (Guo et al. 2018) and scaling were more serious than previous small-
well-spacing tests and WASP tests. The incremental oil recovery factor in ASP 9 was lower than that in other field tests except for ASP
8. The main reason was that the quality of the weak alkali surfactant (Daqing petroleum sulfonate) was not stable. Laboratory coreflood-
ing tests also showed that WASP produces lower incremental oil recovery factors than SASP. Thus, WASP was deemed inferior to
SASP in terms of incremental oil recovery for a long time in Daqing Oil Field and China, even though ASP 9 exhibited better injectivity
and production capacity, less-severe scaling, and better economic effects. With the progress of the surfactant-production technology,
the HABS surfactant used with weak alkali tests was tested in Daqing, and further progress in the Daqing Oil Field led to the production
of a relatively single-component, industrial-level ABS surfactant for WASP (Cheng 2006). A special small-well-spacing pilot test (ASP
6) was conducted to check the effect and quality of the surfactant. This pilot test was successful, indicating that the new surfactant-
production technology can meet the requirements of larger-scale field tests.
Using the previous tests, four industrial field tests (ASP 10 through ASP 13) with larger scales were conducted. The goals of these
four tests were to find solutions to scaling and produced-fluid-handling issues, optimize the injection systems, and pave the way to
industrial applications. These four tests were organized at the same time, used the same well pattern, and had similar well spacing. The
well spacing of ASP 10 and ASP 11 were both 125 m, whereas the well spacing of ASP 11 and ASP 13 were 175 and 120 m, respec-
tively. Table 1 shows that these four field tests included much-larger numbers of wells than previous tests. One test (ASP 12) was in a
Class One formation, and the other three tests were in Class Two formations (a Class Two formation is inferior to a Class One forma-
tion, according to the definition in the Daqing Oil Field). Typical injection and production parameters in ASP 12 are shown in Figs. 5
and 6, respectively (Zhu et al. 2012). The designing of these four tests started at the same time, and they were operated by different oil-
production plants under the guidance of the Daqing Oil Field and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) experts. Thus, the
original development plans were very similar, which can be seen in the relevant publications (Guo et al. 2017a, c, 2018). Only one of
these four field tests was a WASP test, indicating that SASP tests were given more emphasis. The alkali type has a great influence on
the ASP-flooding effects (Guo et al. 2017a, c, 2018), and the alkali effect will be discussed later. The incremental oil recovery factors
varied greatly and were approximately 30% in ASP 11 and ASP 10, which had higher values than the other field tests. The economic
benefits of these four tests varied as well, especially in ASP 10 and ASP 13, indicating that even under similar reservoir conditions, dif-
ferent ASP-system designs may lead to different economic effects. Three of the four field tests were compared from the comprehensive
cost perspective (Guo et al. 2017c). These four field tests indicated that specific schemes and adjustments should be made according to
the actual reservoir conditions.
12.1 12.1 11.9

Injection 12 8.4
Pressure 8 5.8
(MPa)
4
Injection 4000 2776 2299 2346

Volume 2500 2000 1814
(m3/d)
1000
Polymer slug Main ASP slug Assistant ASP slug

Viscosity 100
39 41 44 47 38
(mPa·s) 50
0
3 1.67
Water Sopped
Index 1.5 0.95 0.65 0.56 0.54
(m3/d·m·MPa)
0
2006 3 6 9 12 3 6 9 12 3 6 9 12 3 6 9 12
Time (months)
Fig. 5—Typical injection curve of N-5 (ASP 12) in Daqing (Zhu et al. 2012).

4,211
5,000 3,622 3,494
Liquid 2,833 2,705
(ton/D) 3,000
1,000
727.5
Oil 750
425.5
(ton/Day) 400 186.2 241.2 220.6
50
Polymer slug Main ASP slug Assistant ASP slug
99 93.3
Water Cut
(%) 85.0
89
79.2
79
Decrease 16.5%
Polymer 1,200 748

Concentration 600 103 525
(mg/L) 0
2006 3 6 9 12 3 6 9 12 3 6 9 12 3 6 9 12
Time (months)
Fig. 6—Typical production curve of N-5 (ASP 12) in Daqing (Zhu et al. 2012).
These four field tests demonstrated the greater side effects of using a strong alkali (NaOH) vs. a weak alkali (Na2CO3). Early SASP
field tests tended to show higher recovery factors than WASP tests, as reflected by laboratory coreflooding tests (Li et al. 2005). Thus,
many engineers and researchers in China, especially in the Daqing Oil Field, tended to believe that SASP is better than WASP. The
evaluation of these four large-scale field tests surprisingly revealed that the incremental oil recovery factor of WASP can be as good as
or even better than that of SASP, with improvement in the petroleum sulfonates used in conjunction with a weak alkali (Guo et al.
2017a, c, d, 2018). The economic effect of WASP is better than that of SASP because of the similar recovery, better injectivity, better
productivity, easier produced-fluid handling, and most importantly, less scaling (Guo et al. 2017a, c, d, 2018). For ASP flooding, labora-
tory studies may be poor predictors of the results of real-field tests (Kazempour et al. 2012b). These four field tests, together with the
previous unexpected success of WASP in B-3-X (ASP 9) (Wang et al. 2013), convinced us that WASP is better than SASP. The sepa-
rate evaluations of these four field tests were completed in 2013 or earlier. According to our evaluation (Guo et al. 2017c), WASP in
B-2-X (ASP 10) costs less than SASP in B-1-D (ASP 11) and ASP 13, with ASP 11 representing the most-successful ASP-flooding field
test in Daqing history depending on the incremental recovery factor. Because the WASP cost can be as low as USD 30/bbl (Cheng
et al. 2014a; Guo et al. 2017c), ASP flooding may be a good way to address financial challenges in an era of low oil prices. With pro-
gress in produced-fluid handling, the total cost can be further reduced, as verified by the industrial field test (Wang et al. 2013).
Although WASP has been more popular globally (Olajire 2014), NaOH was given more attention in the Daqing Oil Field because of
the actual conditions of this oil field. This can be seen in the four industrial promotional blocks (ASP 21, ASP 22, ASP 23, and ASP 24)
in Table 1. From 2007 to 2009, these four larger-scale field tests were all SASP. These four tests were implemented as part of the indus-
trial-application field-test stage. At that time, oil price was climbing rapidly. Using previous field-test experience, these four field tests
were conducted to improve the previously investigated antiscaling technologies. Scaling of SASP was a huge challenge for many oil
fields other than Daqing. The rising oil price justified the input necessary to overcome the scaling and other related issues. Table 1
shows that in each field test at this stage, there were more than 200 wells. The progress of one of these four tests has been published
(Wang et al. 2013). Notably, when these four tests were implemented, the previous four large-scale field tests were not finished but had
yielded positive results. In B-2-X, WASP was not performed until 2008, when chemical injections started because the blank-waterflood-
ing stage was long. In other words, if these four large-scale field tests had all been completed and evaluated, perhaps fewer SASP tests
would have been implemented. One demonstration SASP block (ASP 25) was established to promote SASP in Daqing.
An in-depth analysis of these field tests reveals that the high cost of SASP compared with that of WASP becomes more prominent
when the oil price drops. WASP in X-2-X turned out to be less vulnerable to low oil prices than any other ASP field test. In addition,
the incremental oil recovery here was far beyond the expectation. A summary of the previous WASP tests has convinced us that the
recovery effects of WASP can be as good as or better than those of SASP in the Daqing Oil Field (Guo et al. 2017a, c, d, 2018). Using
the excellent performance of WASP at B-2-X (ASP 10), the first WASP demonstration block in B-3-D-X (ASP 27) was established to
help promote WASP in the Daqing Oil Field. This demonstration represented a great change from WASP to SASP in Daqing. Because
SASP was technically feasible in the Daqing Oil Field, and perhaps only in the Daqing Oil Field, the antiscaling technology and pro-
duced-fluid handling could make ASP flooding profitable. Some recent ASP-flooding blocks of an industrial scale, where hundreds of
wells are WASP, and some previously scheduled SASP projects were changed into WASP ones. Notably, the previous projects of the
operators of ASP 29 were all SASP; thus, a pilot test was carefully conducted to master the related technology of WASP.
The strategy of performing a test first and then scaling up step by step until all the major problems are solved was another important
experience gained from the Daqing Oil Field. This helps reduce the risk of failure. The other major goal of ASP 29 was to determine
the effects of weak alkalized ABS-production technology, as the previously used devices used a strong alkali in conjunction with ABS.
The results from ASP 29 were good, and a staged incremental oil recovery of 10% was attained. After mastering all the related technol-
ogy (Liang et al. 2011; Wang et al. 2013, 2016; Zhu et al. 2013a), ASP flooding in the Daqing Oil Field entered the large-scale applica-
tion stage in 2014 (Cheng et al. 2014a). Because of confidentiality considerations, some ASP-flooding tests have not yet been
made public, and thus some projects are not listed in Table 1. Fig. 1 shows the oil production from ASP-flooding change in the Daqing
Oil Field. The ASP-flooding oil production in Daqing increased from 1.17 million tons in 2013 to 2.25 million tons in 2014. ASP-
flooding oil production in the industrial-application stage is much higher than that in large-scale field-test stage and industrial-application
field-test stage. For other EOR techniques or other oil fields, the industrial-application field-test stage and industrial-application
stage may be combined. Practice in the Daqing Oil Field reveals the complexity of ASP flooding and the prudence of using ASP
flooding commercially.

Alkali Type. As noted previously, the alkali selection in ASP flooding is not an easy matter. ASP flooding was developed on the basis
of alkali flooding, surfactant flooding, and polymer flooding. Alkalis play an important role in ASP flooding (Olajire 2014). Alkalis
react with acidic and active components in crude oil to form in-situ soap in synergy with externally added surfactants to reduce IFT to
ultralow levels. Alkalis can reduce the adsorption of surfactants on the formation rock and cause emulsification, which is believed to be
one of the mechanisms in ASP flooding (Li et al. 2005). Stable emulsion in the presence of alkali is regarded as beneficial to chemical
flooding (Wang et al. 2012). Alkalis can also alter the wettability of the formation, and this factor has been extensively studied in earlier
alkali flooding (Baviere 1991). However, the contributions of these mechanisms to EOR is poorly understood and worth further
investigation. For the low-acid-value Daqing oil, screened ABS surfactants in the early days could form ultralow IFT (103 mN/m)
only in presence of NaOH (Guo et al. 2017a, 2018). Fig. 7 (Demin et al. 1999a) shows the IFT comparisons between alkali and Daqing
oil under typical Daqing Oil Field conditions. It is obvious that IFT is reduced to ultralow (103 mN/m) values at a wide alkali range
(0.8 to 1.2 wt%) for NaOH rather than Na2CO3. Thus, NaOH rather than Na2CO3 was used in the field tests in Daqing. With progress in
surfactant production, large-scale production of weak ASP sulfonates with stable properties and high qualities was gradually attained in
Daqing, and this production laid a solid foundation for implementing large-scale WASP field tests. A large amount of surfactants are
required in large-scale field tests and industrial application. Recently, a weakly alkalized ABS surfactant that can form ultralow IFT
with Daqing oil and water was developed. Because the HABS used in SASP has been used for a long time in Daqing, both its produc-
tion ability and production technology are mature. Thus, unlike other ASP-flooding tests using Na2CO3 (Vargo et al. 2000; Gregersen
et al. 2013; Olajire 2014; Sharma et al. 2015), more tests have used NaOH rather than Na2CO3 for a long time in Daqing. This
choice was closely related to the oil and brine conditions in the Daqing Formation as well as the ASP-flooding history in the Daqing Oil
Field. Experience also affects future choices in field tests. In the selection of the appropriate alkali, actual conditions should be given
top priority.
0.1
NaCH
Na2CO3
IFT (mN/m)
0.01
Surfactant B = 0.2%
Number 4 oil and water
0.001
0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8
Alkaline Concentration (wt%)
Fig. 7—Effect of alkali type and concentration on IFT (Demin et al. 1999a).
As introduced in previous sections, the success of recent WASP projects and the pressure from low oil prices make Na2CO3 a more-
practical and better choice. Interestingly, the high carbon dioxide (CO2) content in the formation brine in B-1-D (ASP 11) SASP made
the injected NaOH convert to Na2CO3, and this highly successful SASP field test showed many WASP-like behaviors, such as less-
severe scaling than any other SASP test (but still more severe than actual WASP tests). More-detailed information about this issue can
be found in our previous publications (Guo et al. 2017c, 2018). The high content of CO2 in B-1-D and the use of NaOH were perhaps at
least partly responsible for the extraordinary success of B-1-D. For a reservoir rich in CO2, NaOH may be used or partly used in ASP
flooding to make use of the high pH (Cheng et al. 2013). More work on this issue is recommended. The pH has a great influence on the
crude-oil-reaction rate (Gregersen et al. 2013), emulsification (Li et al. 2005; Kazempour et al. 2012a; 2013b), polymer viscosity (Hou
et al. 2005, 2006; Wang et al. 2008; Zhao et al. 2015), the adsorption of surfactants (Liu et al. 2008; Solairaj et al. 2012; Zhao et al.
2015), and most importantly, scaling and formation damages (Kazempour et al. 2012b, 2013a, b; Gregersen et al. 2013; Panthi and
Mohanty 2013; Olajire 2014; Sharma et al. 2015; Fang et al. 2016; Southwick et al. 2016). Considerable time and energy have been
spent trying to address scaling and produced-fluid-handling issues. The encouraging news is that the scaling in SASP is manageable
(Jiecheng et al. 2008, 2011; Cheng et al. 2016), but the bad news is that the cost remains high. The antiscaling technology and pro-
duced-fluid-handing technologies used in the Daqing Oil Field ASP-flooding practice are introduced by Cheng et al. (2013). Another
way to cope with scaling is to use organic alkalis (Zhao et al. 2015; Li et al. 2016; Southwick et al. 2016). The most-practical approach
is to use WASP when the oil price is low. Notably, alkalis play a very important role in reducing the surfactant adsorption in field tests.
Surfactant-adsorption reduction can be as high as 80% in ASP flooding. This reduction indicates why ASP flooding rather than SP
flooding should be used in Daqing. Although many researchers believed that SP flooding is a developing chemical-flooding trend (Zhu
et al. 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016a, b; Zhu 2015; Zhu and Lei 2016), and although five large-scale SP-flooding field tests were organized
and conducted by the CNPC, reducing the surfactant adsorption in the formation remains a top concern. Otherwise, the results of the
SP-flooding tests are slightly better or no better than those of polymer-flooding tests. Lu et al. (2014) and Jang et al. (2016) may help
resolve this question when industrial-grade low-adsorption surfactants are available.
Equilibrium vs. Dynamic IFT. According to capillary-number theory (Fulcher et al. 1985; Chatzis and Morrow 1984; Chatzis et al.
1988), a lower IFT results in a higher displacement efficiency and a better recovery effect. This theory is a fundamental aspect of sur-
factant flooding, SP flooding, and ASP flooding. Recent studies have shown that the capillary-number condition should be given special
attention when this theory is used (Guo et al. 2017b). It is very important to distinguish the remaining oil from the residual oil in capil-
lary-number theory. There are two important issues related to IFT in ASP flooding (Cheng et al. 2013): whether the oil/water IFT has to
be reduced to 103 mN/m in ASP flooding, and whether equilibrium IFT or dynamic IFT between the ASP and the oil is more important

in ASP flooding. Dynamic and equilibrium IFT are shown in Fig. 8 (Chen et al. 2005) and Fig. 9 (Pei et al. 2011), which represent typi-
cal Daqing light oil and Shengli heavy oil, respectively. The basic requirement for surfactants in the Daqing Oil Field is that the IFT
must reach the ultralow value (103 mN/m) across a wide range of concentration (Guo et al. 2017a, b, 2018). The IFT here is the equi-
librium IFT. In Fig. 8 (Chen et al. 2005) and Fig. 9 (Pei et al. 2011), when the dynamic IFT keeps stable within a certain time, the final
IFT value is regarded as equilibrium IFT. If the dynamic IFT is regarded as the criteria, both curves in Fig. 8 attain the ultralow-IFT
requirement. Otherwise, only the combination alkali in Fig. 8 meets the requirement.
1
Surfactant = 0.2 wt%
Alkali concentration = 0.8 wt% NaOH
NIWW and Xingerzhong crude Combination alkali
Dynamic IFT (mN/m)

0.1
0.01
0.001
0.0001
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
Time (minutes)
Fig. 8—Dynamic IFT curve with ASP/Daqing light oil (Chen et al. 2005).
101
100
IFT/(mN/m)
10–1
Fresh alkali and fresh oil

10–2
Fresh alkali and equilibrated oil
Equilibrated alkali and fresh oil
Equilibrated alkali and equilibrated oil
10–3
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Time (minutes)
Fig. 9—Dynamic IFT curves with different-alkali/Shengli-heavy-oil systems (Pei et al. 2011).
At present, there is no consensus regarding whether the dynamic IFT or equilibrium IFT should be regarded as the IFT parameter.
Some researchers from Sinopec in China regard the minimum value of the dynamic IFT as the parameter in surfactant screening,
whereas other researchers from CNPC, especially from the Daqing Oil Field, believe that the equilibrium IFT should be regarded as the
parameter in IFT testing. They argue that it takes a period of time for the chemicals to reach the formation in the reservoir; therefore, if
the ultralow-IFT duration is short, the IFT exceeds the ultralow-IFT range before the chemicals have a chance to reach the target zone
(Cheng et al. 2013). Their tests showed that when the equilibrium IFT was constant, the system with the lowest dynamic IFT resulted in
a higher displacement efficiency. Thus, during the surfactant screening, the lowest dynamic IFT system should be selected on the condi-
tion that the equilibrium IFT reached 103 mN/m orders of magnitude. The surfactant-screening process stipulated that ultralow-IFT
conditions must last for 120 minutes. However, for many oil/surfactant systems, oil droplets were tested over only very short periods of
time, such as 5 minutes, especially at high temperatures like those encountered by surfactants used in high-temperature reservoirs
(Zhao et al. 2015; Li et al. 2016, 2017). Obviously, it is impossible to form equilibrium IFT under these conditions. If judged by the
equilibrium IFT standard, these surfactants are not good; however, according to the actual field tests, this is not true. Moreover, the
120-minute period is far less than the period of time required to reach the target zone. To better understand this issue, the equilibrium
time needed to establish if equilibrium IFT was regarded as a parameter. The experimental results show that for an oil/water dynamic
IFT that reached 103 mN/m, the incremental oil recovery of a system with an equilibrium IFT of 102 mN/m was lower than that of a
system with an equilibrium IFT of 103 mN/m (Cheng et al. 2013). However, the difference was only 2%, which was within the scope
of the accepted deviation. In addition, the requirement that IFT must reach 103 mN/m was inconsistent with some studies (Hou et al.
2005, 2006; Shen et al. 2009).
Polymer Concentrations and Viscosities. Whether polymers can reduce the residual oil saturation remains an interesting issue. The
debate over this issue lies in the contribution of polymer viscoelasticity to displacement efficiency. In the early days of flooding
research, polymers were believed to be incapable of reducing residual oil saturation (Seright 2017). Later, some studies indicated that

viscoelasticity of polymers can reduce residual oil saturation (Wang et al. 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011a, b; Delshad et al. 2008; Vermolen
et al. 2014; Clarke et al. 2016). At present, this issue is still under debate (Seright 2011, 2017; Koh et al. 2016). Mistaking the remaining
oil saturation for the ROS leads to incorrect conclusions (Guo et al. 2017b). According to the coring analysis results of two wells before
and after polymer flooding (Zhao et al. 2007), the maximum displacement efficiency associated with the polymer flooding was no
greater than that associated with waterflooding in the highly water-swept areas (100% of the formation thickness). Many researchers in
China believed that the polymer’s viscoelasticity could make great contributions to displacement efficiency, and thus some high-
concentration polymer-flooding tests were conducted in Daqing (Wang et al. 2011a, b). The reported effects of these field tests were not
especially good because the high-concentration polymer dosage was three times higher than that in conventional polymer flooding,
whereas the average incremental oil recovery was approximately 1.5 times greater than in conventional polymer flooding. The
disadvantages of emulsification (Wang et al. 2016b), well damage associated with the high injection pressure, and blocking of low-
permeability formations were unreported but can be deduced. The applicability of such high-concentration polymer flooding was
discussed in a recent review (Seright 2017). Perhaps because of this idea as well as the possible—but not well-understood—viscosity
loss caused by the pipeline effect, shear in nearby borehole zones, and deep formations, a high-polymer-concentration slug was used in
ASP 13. The polymer-viscosity loss during the injection is shown in Fig. 10 (Wang et al. 2008). The polymer concentration and
viscosity were much higher in ASP 13 than in the other two field tests (ASP 10 and ASP 12) in the same period, as shown in Tables 2
and 4. The incremental oil recovery of 20.3% reported for ASP 13 was much lower than the values of the other two tests (ASP 10 and
ASP 11). In addition, the cost per incremental oil was also much higher. An economic evaluation of ASP 13 indicates that this field test
was actually unsuccessful (Jing 2014), whereas ASP 10 and ASP 11 are very successful. More analysis is available in Guo et al.
(2017a, c, d, 2018). High-concentration polymers can easily block the low-permeability layer. Currently, there is no well-accepted
criteria for the polymer to match with a formation (that is, how much and what kind of polymers can be injected during polymer
flooding). Previous screening methods about polymer-blocking issues in strata have been reviewed recently (Guo 2017). One such
criteria can be seen in Fig. 11 (Clarke et al. 2016). Even though polymer flooding has been used for industrial applications in Daqing
since 1996 (Zhang et al. 2016), different criteria have been used in different production plants in Daqing. A review by Seright (2017)
provided good insights into this issue.
40
Standard curve in laboratory

Polymer Viscosity (mPa·s)
30
Sample after mixing
20
Sample from well
head of injector
10
Sample from cored well

Sample from producer
0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200

Polymer Concentration (mg/L)
Fig. 10—Polymer-viscosity loss during injection (Wang et al. 2008).
Contours of Flow Velocity (ft/D) (So = 0.5)

40
0.2
35
Daqing parameter range
0.4
30
1
ck of
e
MW (million Dalton)
ag
blo isk
R
25 1
2
20
1 2
15 4
2 4
7
10 7
4 1
12
7 20
20
5 12 40
20 40
70 7
10
102 103
Permeability (md)
Fig. 11—One set of matching criteria (Clarke et al. 2016). MW 5 molecular weight; So 5 oil saturation.

Dynamic Adjustments in Injection Schemes and Production Operations. In field tests, dynamic adjustments were common and
necessary (Wang et al. 2013). Different measures were required at different stages of polymer flooding and ASP flooding. The adjust-
ments included scheme changes and stimulation as well as stimulated-injection measures. Using the scheme changes between the origi-
nal and the actual plans, we find that both slug sizes and chemical concentrations were changed (Guo et al. 2017c, 2018). Slug-size
adjustments were often dependent on numerical simulations, whereas the chemical-concentration changes may have been dependent on
laboratory tests and numerical simulations. During ASP-flooding field tests, some injectors had difficulty injecting the chemicals
because of emulsification, scaling, and injected-chemical incompatibilities with the formation; concentrations that were too high;
and/or chemical molecular weights that were too large for certain pore structures. These effects greatly reduced the productivity capacity
of some producing wells. When the injection pressure was close to the formation-parting pressures, fracturing and acidification meas-
ures had to be implemented (Cheng et al. 2013). A recent study indicated that injections at pressures greater than the formation-parting
pressure and fracture extension are not necessarily detrimental, as shown in Fig. 12 (Seright 2017). Fracturing was also used to enhance
the fluid-production capacity in producers. The experiences at ASP 4 indicated that when the volume of the produced fluid decreased
significantly, effects could only be seen when fracturing measures were taken earlier (Cao et al. 2011). In ASP 4, acid cleaning extended
the pump-check period from 30 to 109 days (Cao et al. 2011). Acidification and fracturing were very common in the industrial field
tests. In the SASP at B-1-D (ASP 11), fracturing measures were implemented 40 times (Cheng et al. 2013) in the central-well zones.
Because there were 36 producers in the central-well zone, the central-well-zone producer-fracturing percentage was 111%. In addition,
fracturing was implemented 61 times in this field test, representing 96.8% of the total producers. Compared with the other three large-
scale SASP field tests (ASP 11, ASP 12, ASP 13), the magnitude of the injection-pressure increase was much lower in the ASP 10
WASP test. Therefore, less fracturing was adopted. During WASP, the field test in ASP 10, fracturing was implemented 19 times
(Cheng et al. 2013), representing only 43.2% of producers. Fracturing adds to the overall cost, which is one reason for the relatively low
cost of WASP. Optimizing the ASP-injection formulation according to the formation physical properties in the well vicinity to reduce
the fracturing-well number and to reduce the instances in fracturing in a fracturing well is an issue worthy of more investigation.
Negative effect
on sweep
Positive effect
on sweep
Fig. 12—Effect of fracture orientation on the sweep (Seright 2017).
In-Situ Emulsification Effects. The effect of emulsification on chemical flooding has always attracted attention. Factors that affect
this emulsification include the oil/water IFTs (Li et al. 2003), oil/water ratio (Cheng et al. 2013), oil saturation, shearing effects, and
alkali type (Li et al. 2005). Interestingly, serious emulsification occurred during the high-concentration polymer flooding in Daqing
(Wang et al. 2016b). The IFT was deemed as an important factor contributing to emulsification. A water/oil (W/O) emulsion has visco-
sifying and profile-controlling effects, whereas an oil/water (O/W) emulsion enhances solubility and entrainment (Jie et al. 2015). Field
tests in Daqing indicated that the emulsion type was affected by the ASP-injection stage and the remaining oil amount (Jie et al. 2015).
W/O emulsions occurred in areas rich in remaining oil, and were observed in four wells in N-5 (ASP 12) and 10 wells in B-1-D
(ASP 11) (Jie et al. 2015), representing 10 and 6% of the total producers, respectively, in these areas. According to an analysis of 20
central-zone wells, as the water cut increased, the emulsion type changed from W/O to O/W in the main ASP-slug stage. In the second-
ary ASP-slug stage, the O/W-type emulsion formed. Because emulsification in the field tests is so complex, the mechanisms are not
well-understood. The high-emulsion viscosity in the ASP flooding may account for the injection- and production-loss problems.
According to field-test data (Cheng et al. 2013), as are shown in Fig. 13, the maximum emulsion viscosities of the produced fluid in
WASP (ASP 10) and SASP (ASP 11) were as high as 250 and 487 mPaS, respectively. Furthermore, the average emulsion viscosity of
the five wells with serious emulsification in B-1-D was 200 mPaS, and the average emulsion viscosity of the six wells with serious
emulsification in B-2-X was 101 mPaS. Thus, the emulsion viscosity can be 40 times greater than the oil viscosity underground, and 5
to 10 times greater than the injected-ASP viscosity. This phenomenon has not been well-explained at present. Such high-emulsion vis-
cosities may impair the injectivity, or cause reservoir contamination, as evidenced in L-B-D (ASP 13). Fortunately, contamination by
viscous emulsion may be recoverable depending on the basic mechanisms of emulsion flooding (Moradi et al. 2014). High emulsifica-
tion in ASP 13 in the presence of NaOH and a high concentration of polymers was partly responsible for the poor recovery effect (Guo
et al. 2017c, 2018). Current research is more focused on the benefits of emulsification and the few possible side effects of the injectivity
and productivity loss, although the emulsification seriously increases the difficulty of produced-fluid handling and transportation (Cheng
et al. 2013). Considerable work remains to be done on the contribution of emulsification to displacement efficiencies and/or sweep effi-
ciency, the emulsion-flow behavior in deep formations, and efficient emulsion-breaking techniques.
Scaling. Scaling is one of the main challenges that prevented ASP flooding from advancing from the laboratory to field applications.
The scaling is now solved in Daqing Oil Field after decades of hard work; however, the cost in SASP remains to be reduced (Zhu
2015). Fig. 14 (Cheng et al. 2014b) shows the antiscaling research route diagram for ASP flooding in Daqing. ASP field tests finished
in Daqing all indicated that scaling caused by weak alkali is less severe than that caused by strong alkali (Cheng et al. 2014a, b). For
example, strong-alkali ASP-flooding field tests in B-1-DX and X-2-Z with well spacing of 250 m reported very serious scaling, whereas
another weak-alkali ASP field test with the same well spacing in B-3-X showed slight scaling. An average pump-check-period

comparison shows better performance by Na2CO3 than by NaOH in the Daqing Oil Field (Guo et al. 2018). Scaling in SASP is more
severe than that in WASP (Kazempour et al. 2013b; Wang et al. 2013; Guo et al. 2017a, b, c, d, 2018). The silica, potassium, and alumi-
num concentrations were higher for NaOH than for Na2CO3 in Berea sandstone, and the permeability reduction caused by NaOH was
larger than that caused by Na2CO3 depending on laboratory tests (Kazempour et al. 2012b). The unexpected scale problems derived
from the laboratory results suggest that the laboratory-scale experiments might not generate representative information that is needed to
predict these types of fluid/rock interactions (Kazempour et al. 2013b), and the laboratory results are poor predictors of field behavior
(Kazempour et al. 2012b); thus, scaling results from field tests are very valuable. These results also explained why NaOH is better than
Na2CO3 in the laboratory (Li et al. 2005; Gregersen et al. 2013), although in field tests, this was not the case. In the laboratory, it is diffi-
cult to study scaling effects because of the model-scale and testing-time constraints, which explains why NaOH was selected as the
alkali in early ASP field tests in Daqing. Field tests also indicate that smaller well spacing could alleviate scaling in oil fields.
ASP Produced Emulsion

600
Viscosity (mPa·s)
500
400
300
200
100
0
WASP SASP
Fig. 13—ASP-flooding produced-emulsion viscosity.
ASP Antiscale-Lifting Methodology
Scaling principle and Scale inhibitor and Physical antiscale Producers’ management
predication remover technique guidance
Chemical
Core tests Trailing tests research and Operating Antiscale PCP Antiscale beam Producers’ Chemical
development process technique pump management management
Scale-judging standard System optimum Structure Process Structure design Training and
and software and completion optimum optimum improvement
Fig. 14—ASP-flooding antiscaling lifting technical-route diagram (Cheng et al. 2014b).
The type of scaling in WASP was different from that in SASP. The composition of the WASP-test scaling samples was mainly car-
bonate scales, whereas the majority of the scales from SASP were composed of carbonate and silicate scales, and the proportion of sili-
cate varied with the injection stage (Cheng et al. 2014b). Thus, the percentage of silicate scales can be used to distinguish WASP scales
from SASP scales (Guo et al. 2017d). Scaling comparison between SASP and WASP in field tests in Daqing is available in previous
publications (Cheng et al. 2014b; Guo et al. 2017d). The pH value was crucial to the scale type (Cheng et al. 2014b). Different ASP
blocks produced similar scale types at the same pH value, and as the pH value increased, the silicate-scale content increased (Cheng
et al. 2014b). Technical breakthroughs in production engineering make it technically feasible to implement ASP flooding on the indus-
trial scale in Daqing (Cao et al. 2007; Cheng et al. 2014a, b). The antiscaling technology including physical techniques, such as anti-
scale progressing-cavity pumps (PCPs) and electrical submersible pumps, and chemical techniques, such as scale inhibitors and related
chemical-feeding systems, has been mastered in Daqing (Cao et al. 2007; Jiecheng et al. 2011; Cheng et al. 2013, 2014a, b). Figs. 15
and 16 (Cao et al. 2007) show the scaling effect on PCPs, whereas Fig. 17 (Cao et al. 2007) shows the ceramic-coating rotor signifi-
cantly helps reduce scaling effects on PCPs. At present, pumps-checking time has been changed from dozens of days to 383 days and
473 days for SASP and WASP, respectively (Zhang and Yiming 2014).
Produced-Fluid Handling. ASP flooding faces some major challenges in the handling of produced fluids before it can be applied com-
mercially (Olajire 2014). ASP emulsions are stable for long times without breaking emulsion (Stoll et al. 2011). One of the main goals
of field tests is to master the ASP-flooding produced-fluid-handling technology. Compared with emulsions produced from WASP tests
in Daqing, emulsions from SASP tests were much more difficult to break and dehydrate (Zhu 2015; Zhu et al. 2015). The strong alkali
caused the dissolution of the rock mineral, and the tiny solid-mineral-particle adsorption onto the oil/water interface further enhanced
the stability of the emulsion (Zhu et al. 2015). Physical and chemical methods have been used to dehydrate water in the Daqing Oil
Field (Cheng et al. 2009, 2011), and the cost to treat water from SASP is much higher than that from WASP (Zhu 2015; Zhu et al.
2015). Measures taken to solve the problems are well-introduced in publications (Cheng et al. 2011, 2013; Wang et al. 2013). Fig. 18

(Cheng et al. 2011) is the schematic process of produced-fluid handling used in the ASP 8 SASP field test. Fig. 19 (Wang et al. 2013)
shows the produced-liquid-demulsification process, which is quite challenging because the produced emulsion in ASP flooding is very
stable. Produced-fluid-handling technology is well-mastered in the Daqing Oil Field, which laid a solid foundation for commercial
application of ASP-flooding technology. More information may be found elsewhere (Cheng et al. 2013; Wang et al. 2013).
Fig. 15—Scaling rotor of PCP wells in ASP flooding area (Cao et al. 2007).
Fig. 16—PCP-rotor and rod-abrasion wear caused by scaling in ASP flooding (Cao et al. 2007).
Fig. 17—Ceramic-coating rotor after operating 256 days in ASP 2 (left) and 170 days in ASP 23 (right) (Cao et al. 2007).
Gas export
Oil export
Produced fluid
Production
FWKO Heater Treater
separator
Demulsifier
Water export Surge
Chelatant 700-m3 tank
skim tank
Heater CPI Bed filter
Backblending Water
Producer
Fig. 18—Schematic process of produced-fluid handling in ASP 8 (Cheng et al. 2011). FWKO 5 free-water knockout; CPI 5
corrugated plate interceptor.

Dehydration
Free-water separator station
Adding
Metering antideposition agent
plant
Adding
antideposition agent
Heating furnace
Fig. 19—The produced-liquid-demulsification process (Wang et al. 2013).
Shengli Oil Field

High-Temperature Reservoir. Two ASP-flooding field tests (ASP 15 and ASP 16) have been completed in the Shengli Oil Field
(Wang et al. 1997; Qu et al. 1998; Chang et al. 2006; Guo 2006). The temperature (69 C) in these two blocks in Shengli is higher than
that in Daqing (45 C). The temperature has a significant effect on polymer stability (Seright et al. 2010; Levitt et al. 2011), and it is
more difficult to apply chemical flooding in high-temperature reservoirs (Seright and Skjevrak 2015; Wan and Seright 2017). Studies in
the Daqing Oil Field indicated that when the temperature was higher than 65 C, polymers experience serious thermo-oxidative degrada-
tion, and this effect was negligible at 45 C (Guo et al. 2002). Viscosity changes with time at 45 and 65 C are shown in Fig. 20 (Guo
et al. 2002). Thus, no deoxygenation measures were taken in polymer flooding and ASP flooding in the Daqing Oil Field (Wang et al.
2008). The oil viscosity underground and the divalent-cation concentration in the formation brine in Shengli are also much higher than
that in Daqing (Guo et al. 2017a). Aspects of the Shengli Oil Field that are beneficial for ASP flooding are the acid value of the crude oil
and the high permeability. The incremental oil recovery values at ASP 15 and ASP 16 in Table 1 were much lower than those in Daqing.
However, in view of the harsh conditions, an incremental oil recovery of 15% was a great achievement. Some values in Table 1 are
updated data. Table 1 shows that the Shengli Oil Field was the first ASP-flooding test performed in China, and it is the largest high-
temperature reservoir with large-scale ASP flooding after the Henan Oil Field (ASP 20). Although the temperature in ASP 14 was higher
than that in Shengli, the test was small compared with the Shengli tests. Because the first small-well-spacing ASP-flooding pilot test in
Shengli using the imported surfactant OP-100 with the local cosurfactant CY was successful, a larger field test was conducted later, using
the domestic surfactant SLPS. In the small-well-spacing ASP 15, 62% of the alkali, 70% of the polymer, and 99% of the surfactant were
adsorbed in the formation (Wang et al. 1997; Qu et al. 1998). Therefore, how far the injected chemicals (alkali, surfactant, and polymer)
can move in the formation is an important question. Field tests in Daqing also indicated that the distance of ultralow IFT was very short
(approximately 60 m) because of surfactant adsorption. ASP 16 used a waterflooding well pattern; thus, no drilling costs were incurred,
which was quite different from the tests in Daqing, where many wells in the ASP flooding tests were newly drilled. The enlarged ASP-
flooding field tests in Shengli revealed many problems hidden in the small-well-spacing pilot test, such as serious scaling, considerable
sand production, and produced-fluid emulsion breaking (Guo 2006). Using a smaller well spacing could alleviate the scaling issue, and
the scaling in ASP 16 (well spacing: 212 m) was much more serious than that of ASP 15 (well spacing: 59 m). Field tests in Daqing also
verified this conclusion. It takes time for the alkalis to react with the formation minerals. In ASP 16, the sand production was so serious
that 10 times more sand was produced by ASP flooding than by waterflooding. This serious sand-production issue was attributed to the
loose pore structure in the Shengli Oil Field. For these reasons, after this field test, the ASP flooding in Shengli was no longer given
much attention and research attention turned to SP flooding (Zhenquan et al. 2012) and foam flooding (Liu et al. 2008; Li et al. 2009).
50
Polymer Viscosity (mPa·s)
40
65°C
45°C
30
20
10
0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Time (hours)
Fig. 20—Polymer-viscosity change vs. time at different temperatures (Guo et al. 2002).
Xinjiang Oil Field

Both the Daqing and Shengli Oil Fields are sandstone reservoirs, whereas Xinjiang Oil Field is mainly a conglomerate reservoir. Com-
pared with a sandstone reservoir, a conglomerate one is more heterogeneous and features a more-complex pore structure, resulting in a
low waterflooding recovery factor (Hou et al. 2012). In 1995, an ASP-flooding pilot test with a small-well-spacing single-well group

(ASP 17) was conducted in the Karamay in the Xinjiang Oil Field (Gu et al. 1998; Qi et al. 2000; Shen et al. 2005). Unlike the tests in
Daqing and Shengli, before the ASP-slug injection, a 0.3-PV slug with 1.5 wt% NaCl was preflushed to alter the salinity. In the Daqing
field tests, a viscous polymer slug was injected to control the profile. In the Shengli Oil Field pilot test, a 0.05-PV polymer slug was
injected to block the water channels. The larger Shengli field tests used a prepolymer slug, an ASP slug, and a post-polymer slug. The
first five ASP-flooding pilot tests in Daqing adopted a three-slug design similar to that in the Shengli Oil Field. Subsequent field tests all
adopted a four-slug design, in which the ASP slug was divided into a main slug and a secondary slug depending on previous tests.
Unlike the injection rate of 0.2 PV/yr for the previous field test in Shengli, an injection rate of 0.62 PV/yr was used in ASP 17 (Gu et al.
1998). Injection rate of ASP in Daqing is 0.15 to 0.20 PV/yr. The local surfactant KPS was a petroleum-sulfonate-type surfactant pro-
duced in Xinjiang. Na2CO3 was used as the alkali. Thus, the chemical cost of this field test was much lower than the original ASP tests
in Daqing and Shengli. However, the polymer used was the same as that in the Shengli tests and was imported from abroad. The
reported incremental oil recovery of ASP 17 was 24% in the full-test area and 25% in the central-well zone (Qi et al. 2000). During the
peak period after the chemicals took effect, the oil production was 5.35 times greater than that before ASP flooding, a little lower than
the value of 6.66 times in ASP 15 but higher than the value of 2.5 times at ASP 16 in the Shengli Oil Field. The maximum incremental-
oil-production ratio (MIOPR), which is defined as the oil production associated with the ASP flooding divided by that from waterflood-
ing, was 3.70 and 9.90 in ASP 10 and ASP 11, respectively (Guo et al. 2018). MIOPR from four field tests are shown in Fig. 21.
MIOPR can be used to evaluate field-test-result performances, especially when incremental oil recovery cannot be calculated. ASP 10
makes the highest incremental oil recovery factor and thus the highest MIOPR. MIOPR between ASP 10 and ASP 11 reflects the alkali
effect. The high heterogeneity in the test area was greatly reduced by ASP injections. Notably, the preflush slug with 1.5% NaCl brine
was not used in subsequent tests.
12
10
8
MIOPR
0
ASP 10 ASP 11 ASP 15 ASP 16
Fig. 21—Comparison of MIOPR.
Henan Oil Field

To tackle high-temperature challenges, the largest ASP-flooding field test (ASP 20) at present in a high-temperature (81 C) reservoir was
started in Shuanghe in the Henan Oil Field (Yanhua et al. 2013; Jianyin and Zhenxin 2015; Zhao et al. 2015; Chang 2016; Li et al. 2016,
2017). Detailed information on this test has not been made fully public. There were 81 wells, of which 38 were injectors and 43 were pro-
ducers. In total, 18 of these wells were newly drilled. Although a pilot test (ASP 14) was performed in 2001 in Zhongyuan Huzhangji in
the 86 C formation (Lin et al. 2003), the scale was much smaller and the results were not good. In December 2010, injection of a preslug
cross-linked polymer slug began; in February 2012, injection of the ASP slug began; in December 2015, injection of a 0.6-PV chemical
slug began. Unlike in other field tests elsewhere, the waterflooding recovery before the ASP flooding was 55.65% (Jianyin and Zhenxin
2015; Chang 2016), much higher than any other chemical field tests in China. The remaining oil was scattered in this high-recovery reser-
voir; thus, additional recovery was more difficult. Temperature has a large effect on polymers (Seright et al. 2010; Levitt et al. 2011) and
surfactants (Lu et al. 2014) and can therefore make EOR more difficult. Alkalis also have a significant effect on polymer viscosity, and
the effects of oxygen on the polymer and surfactant stabilities have to be considered (Seright et al. 2015; Seright 2017; Wan and Seright
2017). Thus, identifying the right polymer and surfactant is not easy. Compared with the surfactant, the choice of polymer may be easier
because one polymer-flooding test in an ultrahigh-temperature formation (126 C) in western China was reportedly successful (Wu et al.
2016). Favorable attributes in Shuanghe were the low salinity (5002 mg/L), low oil viscosity (3.3 mPas underground), and low divalent
cation (approximately 20 mg/L). A mixed anionic and cationic surfactant called SH6 (Yanhua et al. 2013; Li et al. 2016) was used. Nota-
bly, dynamic minimum IFT criteria were used in the evaluation surfactant SH6 and the IFT was 104 mN/m (Yanhua et al. 2013). Up to
October 2016, the staged incremental oil recovery of waterflooding was 6.62% for the entire-test area and 7.7% for the central-well zone,
allowing this reservoir to attain a high recovery of 62.27% (Chang 2016). The total incremental oil recovery was predicted to be 14.2%
(Li et al. 2017). In total, 35 of the 39 producers showed positive effects. The daily oil production was increased from 38.8 to 166.3 tons
(an increase of 4.3 times), and the cumulative increased oil production was 2.372 million tons (Li et al. 2017). Any special measures
taken to consider the oxygen effect remain unknown. Notably, the scaling in production facilities is not serious, whereas some blocking
happens in injection pipelines (Li et al. 2017). Low alkali concentration (0.8% Na2CO3) also accounts for the not-serious scaling. The
scaling in injection valves and static mixers is mainly carbonate scales and can be easily removed by dilute acid, which keeps working
for 2 years (Li et al. 2017). The WASP scaling in Henan is similar to that in Daqing (Guo et al. 2017d). ASP flooding in a higher-tempera-
ture reservoir (95 C) with organic alkali and the surfactant SH6 was investigated (Zhao et al. 2015). A pilot is scheduled.
Profile control before the ASP-slug injection was an important experience learned from one failed SP-flooding field test in another
formation (67 C) in the Shuanghe Oil Field. The incremental oil recovery of that SP flooding was less than 2%. As shown in Table 1,
there was a pilot test (ASP 14) in an 86 C formation (Lin et al. 2003). Although this test had a very small incremental oil recovery, it
provided guidance for ASP flooding in a high-temperature reservoir. Four slugs were injected. A 1% KCl solution was injected in a pre-
flush slug to reduce the possible surfactant-adsorption effect in the formation. Then, 1500 mg/L of biopolymer xanthan solution was
injected as a preslug. The main ASP slug contained 1500 mg/L of a natural mixed carboxylate (named SDC), 800 mg/L of alkyl sulfo-
betaine, 800 mg/L of biopolymer xanthan, and 5000 mg/L alkali mixture (1:1 Na2CO3 and NaHCO3). The surfactant mixture SDC and

carboxylate alkyl sulfobetaine can increase the divalent-cation-resistance ability of the SDC from 380 to 5000 mg/L according to labo-
ratory tests. Laboratory coreflooding tests indicated that the use of 0.3 PV of this chemical formulation can increase oil recovery by
18.46%. However, the field-test incremental oil recovery was only 0.61% (Lin et al. 2003). Why this field test was unsuccessful remains
unknown. Perhaps it was because of the degradation of the biopolymer at high temperatures, or the polymer concentration was too low
for such high salinities and divalent-cation contents. This test investigated the feasibility of using environmentally friendly and easily
available natural carboxylates in a very hard brine at high-temperature formations. These tests show that high-temperature/high-salinity
reservoir ASP flooding has not been well-mastered and is worth more study.
Other Field Tests

The second ASP-flooding field test (ASP 18) in China was conducted in the Yumen Oil Field in Laojunmiao (Wang et al. 1999). This
field test was then directly guided by top experts from abroad. Before the test, the water cut of all producers was higher than 99% for a
long time. The ASP flooding can be divided into three stages: an alkali-solution preflush stage, a micellar-injection stage, and a polymer
stage (Sheng 2011):
• Salt preflush and KCl preflush: 3427 m3 (equivalent 0.24 PV), 4% KCl
• Alkaline preflush: 3971 m3 (equivalent to 0.28 PV), 2% KCl þ 4%Na2CO3
• Micellar/polymer flooding: 4807 m3 (equivalent to 0.33 PV), 5% YPS-3A (local surfactant) þ 3% n-butanol (cosolvent) þ 0.4%
K2CO3 that is followed by AD-27 (SNF product, 9 million Dalton molecular weight, 17% hydrolysis) with graded concentrations.
The micellar slug and polymer-slug viscosity are 15.7 and 14 mPas, respectively.
The daily injection volume of KCl and alkali was 30 m3. Dynamic data indicated that the preflush goal was attained. A large amount
of Ca2þ and Mg2þ was produced, and the pH changed from 6.2 to 8.0. The pH change in the preflush stage was similar to that in a labo-
ratory test: When Ca2þ and Mg2þ concentrations peaked, the pH increased from an initially low value. The alkaline-preflush-solution
damage to the formation permeability was within the acceptable range (approximately 12%). The injection pressure increased from
4.7 to 5.0 MPa (after the injection of the 4% KCl solution) and was then increased to 5.6 MPa (after the injection of the 2% KCl þ 4%
Na2CO3 solution). The micellar injection started in May 1995 at a rate of 30 m3/d. The viscosities of the micellar and polymer
were 15.7 and 14 mPas, respectively, both of which are higher than the oil viscosity of 7.17 mPas in the formation. The cumulative
oil production of 151 tons, and the incremental oil recovery was 1.83% (Wang et al. 1999). The performance of this pilot test was
below expectations. This failure was partly attributed to the inferior micellar properties. The IFT of the microemulsion was only
5.18102 mN/m, and therefore did not reach a value of 103 mN/m. The residual oil was in the form of an oil film; thus, the displace-
ment efficiency rather than the sweep efficiency should have been the main goal. Another reason for the noneffectiveness is believed to
be that the main surfactant YPS-3A was so lipophilic that most of the injected surfactant partitioned in the oil phase and remains in the
form of immobile oil film (Wang et al. 1999). This was the cause of the phenomenon that 105 000 kg surfactants were injected but only
484 kg produced in producers. The relationship between the displacement efficiency and sweep efficiency became crucial in the test.
During the design of a field test, the designers must decide which of these to choose. An economic evaluation indicated that the input/
output ratio was 10:1 and the chemical cost accounts for 67.6% of the total cost (Wang et al. 1999). The failure led to subsequent field
tests in the Daqing Oil Field to select the technical route of “low concentrations (0.05–0.3%), large slug” rather than “small slug, high
concentrations (2–10%).” This field test also led future tests to use the IFT test rather than the salinity-scan method for surfactant
screening in China. An ultralow IFT is required. The common feature in ASP 18 and ASP 14 was that the divalent-cation (Ca2þ and
Mg2þ) concentration was very high. A high-salinity solution was injected to reduce the possible surfactant adsorption in the brine. In
ASP 14, 1% KCl solution was injected before polymer preflush (Sheng 2011). Whether this technique is valid or economical for high-
divalent-cation concentrations remains an open question. ASP 19 was performed in a low-permeability reservoir, with an average air
permeability of 163 md. Considering the relation between air permeability and water permeability, this test was performed in a primar-
ily low-permeability formation. Unlike other field tests outside the Daqing Oil Field that used only Na2CO3, both NaOH and Na2CO3
were used in this low-permeability test. Little information on this low-permeability ASP-flooding test is available.
Lessons Learned
Field tests in China show that ASP-flooding technology is very complex but possible to be used commercially. Reservoirs with parame-
ters in Table 5 are practical to use for ASP flooding commercially. Notably, the reservoir permeability (K) should not be too high. High
permeability is often associated with loose formation, which easily results in serious sand production and scaling, as verified by field
tests in the Shengli Oil Field. ASP flooding can be conducted in a low-acid-value oil reservoir. A high-salinity formation with high
divalent concentration remains challenging in China. NaOH has received more attention than Na2CO3 in the history of ASP-flooding
tests in the Daqing Oil Field. The main reason for this was that the surfactants screened formed ultralow IFT with the low-acid-value
Daqing oil only in the presence of NaOH. Although both NaOH and Na2CO3 were widely used in Daqing, the NaOH used was regarded
as better than Na2CO3 for a long time. However, Na2CO3 has proved to be more cost-competitive and thus better than NaOH through
recent field tests. The advantages of Na2CO3 over NaOH include a better injectivity, less fluid-production-capacity loss, less scaling,
and lower comprehensive cost. This depends on the condition that the surfactants can reduce the oil/water IFT to ultralow levels. Many
wells have experienced injection problems during ASP flooding, and fracturing has been adopted to assist injection. The injected ASP
together with in-situ emulsification may make the ASP flooding fail, as has been verified by one field test in Daqing. Smaller well spac-
ing alleviates the scaling. Fracturing and acidification are commonly used in ASP-flooding wells. The best means to reduce the need for
fracturing using optimized design with considerations of emulsification, scaling, and chemical/formation are worth studying. For the
film-type residual oil, it is better to achieve a higher displacement efficiency by reducing the IFT to ultralow orders of magnitude rather
than increasing the sweep efficiency. Some ASP-flooding failures have provided good guidance for future tests. The “low concentra-
tions, big slug” scheme was selected instead of the “high concentrations, small slug” scheme because of field-test results. The ASP-
production percentages in 2015 and 2016 were 9 and 11%, respectively, of the total oil production in the Daqing Oilfield.
Dykstra- Oil Acid

µo Formation Salinity Divalent Cations Parsons Number (mg
K (md) Tr (°C) (mPa·s) (ppm) (ppm) Lithology Coefficient KOH/g oil)
300–800 <81 30 <10,000 150 Sandstone 0.6 to 0.8 >0.02
Table 5—Summary of screening criteria for mature ASP-flooding technology.

Conclusions
Laboratory screening and coreflooding results are poor predictors of field behavior because of limited scale, and thus field tests are nec-
essary and important stages for ASP-flooding technology. The strategy of performing a test first and then scaling it up step by step until
all the major problems are solved was another important experience gained from the Daqing Oil Field.
Alkali is essential to reduce surfactant adsorption in ASP flooding. NaOH was believed to be better than Na2CO3 because of higher
incremental oil recovery, which is in the history of ASP-flooding tests in the Daqing Oil Field. However, after developing a surfactant
used for WASP to improve incremental oil recovery, WASP flooding was finally proved to be better than SASP flooding through field
tests in Daqing.
Whether IFT has to be reduced to 103 mN/m for surfactants remains disputed. Effective surfactant is required to reduce the oil/
water IFT to 102 mN/m.
Both WASP and SASP in the Daqing Oil Field can achieve incremental-oil-recovery values of 30% OOIP. Incremental-oil-recovery
factor was one of, but not the best, parameter to evaluate ASP flooding. The economic parameter is better for use under low-oil-price
conditions. The total cost of oil in ASP flooding in Daqing can be as low as USD 30/bbl of incremental oil.
Low-cost and high-quality surfactants are crucial to the success of ASP flooding. The progress of ASP flooding in the Daqing Oil
Field was closely related to the progress of surfactant-production technology.
Whether polymer viscoelasticity can reduce the residual oil saturation remains debated. How to select an appropriate polymer con-
centration and viscosity still needs to be resolved. Field tests show that a viscosity that is too high together with strong emulsification
and/or scaling can block a formation or affect the development effects. Alkali improves the injectivity of polymers in ASP flooding.
A large-scale field test at an 81 C reservoir was successful, and the staged incremental oil recovery was 7.7% depending on a high
waterflooding recovery. Ultrahigh-temperature-reservoir (95 C) ASP flooding with organic alkali and a mixture of cationic and anionic
surfactants is currently being researched.
All the related technology, including efficient surfactant production, dynamic adjusting, antiscaling, and produced-fluid handling,
have been mastered in a low- to medium-temperature reservoir in China. ASP flooding has entered the industrial-application stage
in Daqing.
Nomenclature
K ¼ permeability, md
Keff ¼ effective permeability, md
Vk* ¼ Dykstra-Parsons coefficient
Tr* ¼ strata temperature, C
l ¼ viscosity, mPas
lo ¼ oil viscosity, mPas
/ ¼ average reservoir porosity, %
Acknowledgments
This work was financially supported by National Key Special Subjects (Nos. 2016ZX05010-003-001 and 2016ZX05025-003-010),
National Natural Science Foundation Project (Nos. 51374221 and 51604285), and Beijing Natural Science Foundation (No. 316404).
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SI Metric Conversion Factors

acre 4.046 873 Eþ03 ¼ m2
bbl 1.589 873 E01 ¼ m3
*
cp 1.0 E03 ¼ Pas
ft 3.048* E01 ¼ m
ft2 9.290 304* E02 ¼ m2
3
ft 2.831 685 E02 ¼ m3
*
in. 2.54 Eþ00 ¼ cm
psi 6.894 757 Eþ00 ¼ kPa
*Conversion factor is exact.
Hu Guo is a PhD degree student at China University of Petroleum, Beijing. His current research interest is chemical flooding. Guo
holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Xi’an Petroleum University, China, and a master’s degree in oil and gas engi-
neering from China University of Petroleum, Beijing.
Yiqiang Li is a professor at China University of Petroleum, Beijing. His current research interest is chemical flooding. Li holds a
bachelor’s degree in petroleum engineering and a master’s degree in oilfield- and gasfield-development engineering, both
from Daqing Petroleum Institute (now Northeast Petroleum University), China.
Debin Kong is a PhD degree student at China University of Petroleum, Beijing. He holds a bachelor’s degree in petroleum engi-
neering from China University of Petroleum, Huadong, and a master’s degree in oil and gas engineering from China University of
Petroleum, Beijing.
Ruicheng Ma is a master’s degree student at China University of Petroleum, Beijing. He holds a bachelor’s degree in petroleum
engineering from Yangtze University, China.
Binhui Li is a PhD degree student at China University of Petroleum, Beijing. His current research interest is EOR. Li holds bachelor’s
and master’s degrees, both in petroleum engineering, from Northeast Petroleum University, China.
Fuyong Wang is an associate professor at China University of Petroleum, Beijing. His current interests include flow in tight porous
media and improved oil recovery. Wang holds a PhD degree in petroleum engineering from Heriot-Watt University, UK.

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REE186036 DOI: 10.

2118/186036-PA Date: 7-August-18 Stage: Page: 1 Total Pages: 22

Lessons Learned From Alkali/Surfactant/

2018 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering 1

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ASP-Flooding Oil Production in Daqing

Fig. 1—ASP-flooding production in the Daqing Oil Field.

ASP-Flooding Oil-Production Percentage in Daqing

ASP-Flooding Field Tests

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Date Keff φ Tr* µ Inj. Refer-

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Note 1 natural mixed carboxylates+alkyl sulfobetaines

Table 2—Slug size and composition. NA 5 not available.

Oil Field Daqing Shengli Xinjiang Jilin Zhongyuan Henan Yumen

Table 3—ASP-flooding reservoir parameters. NA 5 not available.

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Tests Slug 1 Slug 2 Slug 3 Slug 4

Table 4—Viscosity of ASP slugs (in mPas). NA 5 not available.

Daqing Oil Field

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Fig. 3—ASP-field-test development in the Daqing Oil Field.

Fig. 4—Crude-oil-components’ ability to reduce IFT (Cheng et al. 2014a).

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12.1 12.1 11.9

Injection 4000 2776 2299 2346

Polymer slug Main ASP slug Assistant ASP slug

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Polymer 1,200 748

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Dynamic IFT (mN/m)

Fresh alkali and fresh oil

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Standard curve in laboratory

Sample from cored well

0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200

Fig. 10—Polymer-viscosity loss during injection (Wang et al. 2008).

Contours of Flow Velocity (ft/D) (So = 0.5)

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Fig. 12—Effect of fracture orientation on the sweep (Seright 2017).

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ASP Produced Emulsion

Fig. 13—ASP-flooding produced-emulsion viscosity.

ASP Antiscale-Lifting Methodology

Fig. 14—ASP-flooding antiscaling lifting technical-route diagram (Cheng et al. 2014b).

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Heater CPI Bed filter

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Fig. 19—The produced-liquid-demulsification process (Wang et al. 2013).