FORCE: EOR Process Modeling Workshop / 26.05.

14 / Stavanger, 2014
MODELLING EOR TECHNIQUES USING ECLIPSE AND INTERSECT
ALEXANDER SHADCHNEV, RESERVOIR ENGINEER
TAOUFIK MANAI, RESERVOIR ENGINEERING ADVISOR
SCHLUMBERGER INFORMATION SOLUTIONS
EOR modelling Challenges

 Increasing number of EOR projects

 Modelling challenges
– Conversion from primary and
secondary recovery to EOR
– Difficult to set up EOR models
– Modelling scale
– Simulation run times
– Disconnected from operations
Source: Omer Gurpinar - SLB EOR Services
Understanding geological
complexities and uncertainties
Integrated EOR
Build a representative history matched
simulation model

Rapid
updating of models Evaluate various EOR
development
scenarios
Surveillance,
Monitoring and Optimisation

High resolution
Engineering design of design
facilities
SLB simulators EOR capabilities
Chemical
EOR

Miscible Injection

Thermal
Chemical EOR Functionality
Log K

Polymers
Chemical
Surfactants Alkaline
EOR

Miscible Injection
Solvents

Surfactant
Foams
Thermal
Low salinity brine
Polymer
 Black Oil Alkalis

 Compositional
Miscible Injection EOR Functionality

Chemical
HC Gas
EOR

Miscible Injection
CO2
Others
Thermal

 Black Oil
 Compositional
Thermal EOR Functionality

Chemical
EOR

Miscible Injection
CSS
SAGD
Thermal
ISC

 Black Oil VAPEX

 Compositional
EOR modelling – An incremental approach

EOR Compositional: Add

complexity when required

EOR Black Oil: Add few

keywords in tabular form
Start: Primary / secondary
history matched model
 Simulators functionality development
1990 2000 2008 2013 2014 
Hysteresis Polymer, Solids: Black Oil: Compositional:
1984 surfactant: 1990 2003 Low Salinity, Alkaline, Foam, Surfactant/Foam
extensions to Polymer, Multi- Polymer Continuous
Brine: 1991 Component Brine, Temperature WAG improvement

WAG: before Compositional:

INTERSECT
1993 Improvements to miscible flood, CO2,
Thermal
Thermal; Polymer
Temperature, Chemical Reactions, Water Tracer
Thermal: 1995 components, Asphaltenes,

CO2 solubility
in water: 1997
NEW EOR functionality in 2013
 Surfactant in compositional
– Compatible with foam

 Polymer Enhancements
– Salinity dependent adsorption
– Cell based permeability reduction
– Temperature dependent permeability reduction
– Improved rheology model
– Simplified gel workflow

 WAG improvements
Surfactant model in ECLIPSE 300 (new in 2013)
Same effects as in the E100 surfactant model
 reduction of oil-water IFT So surfactant
 wettability modification
Surfactant is a water component

Rock-fluid interaction via reactions

 e.g. adsorption So water flood
Can be run in
 Black-oil
 Compositional K-values
 Compositional EOS
Multicomponent Water, Solids, Reactions
Reach and flexible functionality
 components change viscosity and density of water
 components can react
 in particular, water components with solids
 components affect oil-water IFT
 solids affect wettability
 solids may block pore space
– porosity and permeability reduction
 or they can dissolve and increase pore space
Temperature-Sensitive “Popping” Polymer Microgel
Example technology: BrightWaterTM*
SPE 144234:

BrightWaterTM is activated
by heat and time. Particles
expand up to 10 times the
original size; they get
adsorbed and retained by
the rock.

*TradeMark of Tiorco
 What ECLIPSE does?
 Polymer viscosity and residual resistance factor functions of temperature
mw = mw(Cp,T)
RRF = RRF(T)
 As reservoir temperature warms the mixture, increased viscosity and
permeability reduction slows flow through thief zone
 Later injection of pure water will bypass the blocked thief zone and
displace oil from low permeability regions
ECLIPSE EOR advantages
 Multiple physical effects modelled
 Easy transition to EOR predictions
 Fast EOR screening + CO2 + Polymer
 Add complexity if required
 Results fidelity

+ CO2

FAWAG
ECLIPSE EOR Plans for 2014
 Polymer in ECLIPSE black-oil
– temperature dependent adsorption
– more general rheology model
 EOR in ECLIPSE compositional
– adding polymer functionality to water components
• viscosity mixing rules
• rheology
INTERSECT**

 Representative High Resolution

Modeling of
– Geology
– Physics
– Asset
 Enabled by fast and scalable
reservoir simulation
 Petrel RE simulation ** Mark of Chevron, Total and Schlumberger
environment
Fast and Scalable reservoir simulation

Fit for purpose solver

 Adaptive Multi-grid solver (CPR-AMG)
 Solver stability
 Efficient with non-linearity
Flexible domain decomposition
 Efficient allocation of work load allows
better scalability
 INTERSECT EOR simulation
 Full field high resolution simulation
 Reduce impact of numerical dispersion
 Detailed pilot design
 Fast multiple realization modeling for
uncertainty management
 Advanced field management logic
 EOR staged modeling & evaluation
Petrel: Modeling Platform
Preliminary
Detailed Analysis Injectivity Test Pilot Project Deployment
Analysis

 Single platform for every stage

 EOR incremental approach
 Models consistency
 Transparent data transfer between
models
Published SPE papers
An integrated approach to solving EOR challenges
Facilities

Wells

Reservoir