Modeling the Combined Effects of Water Salinity and Polymer Rheology on the Performance of Polymer Flooding and In-Depth Gel Treatment
- Authors
- T. K. Khamees (Missouri University of Science and Technology) | R. E. Flori (Missouri University of Science and Technology)
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.2118/190046-MS
- Document ID
- SPE-190046-MS
- Publisher
- Society of Petroleum Engineers
- Source
- SPE Western Regional Meeting, 22-26 April, Garden Grove, California, USA
- Publication Date
- 2018
- Document Type
- Conference Paper
- Language
- English
- ISBN
- 978-1-61399-599-0
- Copyright
- 2018. Society of Petroleum Engineers
- Disciplines
- 4 Facilities Design, Construction and Operation, 1.8 Formation Damage, 5.4.1 Waterflooding, 4.1.2 Separation and Treating, 1.8 Formation Damage, 5.7.2 Recovery Factors, 5.4 Improved and Enhanced Recovery, 4.1 Processing Systems and Design, 5.7 Reserves Evaluation, 5 Reservoir Desciption & Dynamics, 5.3.6 Chemical Flooding Methods (e.g., Polymer, Solvent, Nitrogen, Immiscible CO2, Surfactant, Vapex)
- Keywords
- Polymer flooding, Water salinity, In-depth gel treatment, Polymer rheology, Numerical modeling
- Downloads
- 1 in the last 30 days
- 154 since 2007
- Show more detail
- View rights & permissions
SPE Member Price: | USD 9.50 |
SPE Non-Member Price: | USD 28.00 |
Assessment of the potential of polymer flooding and gel treatment to investigate their roles of improving sweep efficiency requires an accurate modeling of polymer rheology (polymer viscosity versus shear rate) coupled with the effects of water salinity. A 3-D simulation model that represent quarter of five-spot pattern with one injector and one producer was utilized to run different scenarios using 1,000 ppm partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM) polymer solution with brine varying in salinities from 2,000 to ppm using UTGEL simulator. The in-situ gelation system consisted of HPAM as a polymer solution, trivalent chromium (Cr3+) as a crosslinker, and malonate ion as a delaying ligand. A unified viscosity model (UVM) developed by Delshad et al. (2008) that covers a full spectrum of Newtonian, shear-thinning, and shear-thickening behaviors was used to model the polymer rheology during polymer flooding and gel treatment and the results were compared with running the same scenarios assuming shear- thinning behavior only. Input parameters that relates the effects of salinity on both polymer viscosity and polymer adsorption were obtained. Finally, the effect of the presence of divalent cations such as Ca2+, Mg2+ in the reservoir brine were also investigated.
In this study, we demonstrated that using polymer solutions that have viscoelastic characteristic such as HPAM can indeed increase recovery more than shear-thinning behavior only, and more importantly was the effect of gel rheology on the gelation process of the gel system. Thus, oil recovery factor was always higher when considering UVM compared to shear-thinning behavior only. In addition, increasing the salinity of the injected water decreases the viscosity and increases the adsorption of polymer solution; therefore, the higher the brine salinity, the lower the recovery factor. A further enhancement of the recovery factor was achieved using low-salinity chase water flooding. This improvement was more noticeable when the initial salinity of the model was very high (i.e., 20,000 ppm). In addition, the effects of lowering chase water salinity were more pronounced with polymer flooding compared to gel treatment. Moreover, the treatments were less efficient when the hardness was high in the reservoir brine. Finally, low-salinity chase water flooding reverse the effect of the presence of divalent cations in the reservoir brine.
File Size | 2 MB | Number of Pages | 32 |
Ali, M. and Ben Mahmud, H. 2015. The Effects of Concentration and Salinity on Polymer Adsorption Isotherm at Sandstone Rock Surface. Materials Sci & Eng 78 (1). http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1757-899X/78/1/012038.
Alotaibi, M.B.,Azmy, R.M., and Nasr-El-Din, H.A. 2010. A Comprehensive EOR Study Using Low Salinity Water in Sandstone Reservoirs. Presented at the SPE Improved Oil Recovery, Tulsa. Oklahoma, 24-28 April. SPE-129976-MS. https://doi.org/10.2118/129976-MS.
Al-Sofi, A.M.,LaForce, T., and Blunt, M.J. 2009. Sweep Impairment Due to Polymers Shear Thinning. Presented at the SPE Middle East Oil and Gas Show and Conference, Kingdom of Bahrain. 15-18 March. SPE-120321-MS. http://doi.org/10.2118/120321-MS.
Asghari, K. 2002. Performance and Properties of KUSP1-BORIC Acid Gel System for Permeability Modification Purposes. J Petrol Sci & Tech 20 (9-10): 1141–1150. http://dx.doi.org/10.1081/LFT-120003702.
Brattekas, B., Graue, A., and Seright, R.S. 2016. Low-Salinity Chase Waterfloods Improve Performance of Cr(III)- Acetate Hydrolyzed Polyacrylamide Gel in Fractured Cores. SPE Res Eval & Eng 19 (02). SPE-173749-PA. https://doi.org/10.2118/173749-PA.
Broseta, D., Marquer, O., Alain, Z.. 2000. Shear Effect on Polyacrylamide/Chromium (III) Acetate Gelation. SPE Res Eval & Eng 3 (03): 204–208. https://doi.org/10.2118/64500-PA.
Chauveteau, G. 1981. Molecular Interpretaion of Several Different Properties of Flow of Coiled Polymer Solutions through Porous Media in Oil Recovery Conditions. Presented at the SPE 56th Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, San Antonio, Texas, 5-7 October. SPE-10060-MS. https://doi.org/10.2118/10060-MS.
Clarke, A., Howe, A.M.,Mitchell, J.. 2016. How Viscoelastic Polymer Flooding Enhances Displacement Efficiency. SPEJ. 21 (03): 675–687. https://doi.org/10.2118/174654-PA.
Dang, T.Q.C., Chen, Z., Nguyen, T.B.N.. 2015. Rheological Modeling and Numerical Simulation of HPAM Polymer Viscosity in Porous Media. Energy Sources 37 (20): 2189–2197. http://doi.org/10.1080/15567036.2011.624156.
Delshad, M., Kim, D.H.,Magbagbeola, O.A.. 2008. Mechanistic Interpretation and Utilization of Viscoelastic Behavior of Polymer Solutions for Improved Polymer-Flood Efficiency. Presented at the 2008 SPE/DOE Improved Oil Recovery Symposium, Tulsa, Oklahoma, 19-23 April. SPE-113620-MS. http://doi.org/10.2118/113620-MS.
Dong, H.Z.,Fang, S.F.,Wang, D.M.. 2008. Review of Practical Experience and Management by Polymer Flooding at Daqing. Presented at 2008 SPE/DOE Improved Oil Recovery Symposium, Tulsa, Oklahoma, 19-23 April. SPE-114342-MS. https://doi.org/10.2118/114342-MS.
Garver, F.J.,Sharma, M.M., and Pope, G.A. 1989. The Competition for Chromium between Xanthan Biopolymer and Resident Clays in Sandstones. Presented at the SPE 64th Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, San Antonio, Texas, 8-11 October. SPE-19632-MS. https://doi.org/10.2118/SPE-19632-MS.
Grattoni, C.A.,Al-Sharji, H.H.,Yang, C.. 2001. Rheology and Permeability of Crosslinked Polyacrylamide Gel. J Colloid & Interface Sci 240 (02): 601–607. https://doi.org/10.1006/jcis.2001.7633.
Huh, C. and Pope, G.A. 2008. Residual Oil Saturation from Polymer Floods: Laboratory Measurements and Theortical Interpretation. Presented at the SPE Improved Oil Recovery Symposium, Tulsa, OK. 19-23 April. SPE-113417-MS. https://doi.org/10.2118/113417-MS.
Jennings, R.R.,Rogers, J.H., and West, T.J. 1970. Factors Influencing Mobility Control by Polymer Solutions. J Pet Technol 23 (03): 391–401. https://doi.org/10.2118/2867-PA.
Jia, H., Zhao, J.Z.,Jin, F.Y.. 2012. New Insights into the Gelation Behavior of Polyethleneimine Crosslinking Partially Hydrolyzed Polyacrylamide Gels. Ind & Eng Chem Research 51 (38): 12155–12166. https://dx.doi.org/10.1021/ie301818f.
Kim, D.H, Lee S.,Ahn, C.H.. 2010. Development of a Viscoelastic Property Database for EOR Polymers. Presented at the SPE Improved Oil Recovery Symposium, Tulsa, Oklahoma, 24-28 April. SPE-129971-MS. https://doi.org/10.2118/129971-MS.
Lee, K.S. 2011. Performance of a Polymer Flood with Shear-Thinning Fluid in Heterogeneous Layered Systems with Crossflow. Energies, 4 (8): 1112–1128. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/en4081112.
Li, Z. and Delshad, M. 2014. Development of an Analytical Injectivity Model for Non-Newtonian Polymer Solution. SPE J. 19 (03): 381–389. http://doi.org/10.2118/163672-PA.
Liu, Y, Bai, B., and Shuler, P.J. 2006. Application and Development of Chemical-Based Conformance Control Treatments in China Oil Fields. Presented at the SPE/DOE Symposium on Improved Oil Recovery, Tulsa, Oklahoma, 22-26 April. SPE-99641-MS. https://doi.org/10.2118/99641-MS.
Lockhart, T.P. 1994. Chemical Properties of Chromium/Polyacrylamide Gels. SPE Advanced Technol 2 (02): 199–205. https://doi.org/10.2118/20998-PA.
Lotfollahi, M., Farajzadeh, R., Delshad, M.. 2016. Mechanistic Simulation of Polymer Injectivity in Field Tests. SPE J. 21 (04): 1178–1191. http://doi.org/10.2118/174665-PA.
Manichand, R.N. and Seright, R. 2014. Field vs. Laboratory Polymer-Retention Values for a Polymer Flood in the Tambaredjo Field. SPE Res Eval & Eng 17 (03): 314–325. https://doi.org/10.2118/169027-PA.
Meter, D.M. and Bird, R.B. 1964. Tube flow of non-Newtonian polymer Solutions: PART I. Laminar flow and rheological models. AIChE J. 10 (06): 878–881. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/aic.690100619.
Mohammadi, H. and Jerauld, G.R. 2012. Mechanistic Modeling of the Benefit of Combining Polymer with Low Salinity Water for Enhanced Oil Recovery. Presented at the Eighteenth SPE Improved Oil Recovery Symposium, Tulsa, Oklahoma, 14-18 April. SPE-153161-MS. https://doi.org/10.2118/153161-MS.
Mungan, N. 1969. Rheology and Adsorption of Aqueous Polymer Solutions. J Can Pet Technol 8 (02): 45–50. http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/69-02-01.
Seright, R.S. 1991. Effect of Rheology on Gel Placement. SPE Res Eng 6 (02): 212–218. https://doi.org/10.2118/18502-PA.
Seright, R.S.,Seheult, J.M., and Talashek, T. 2009. Injectivity Characteristics of EOR Polymers. SPE Res Eval & Eng 12 (05): 783–792. https://doi.org/10.2118/115142-PA.
Seright, R.S.,Fan, T., Wavrik, K. E.. 2010. New Insights into Polymer Rheology in Porous Media. Presented at the 2010 SPE Improved Oil Recovery Symposium, Tulsa, Oklahoma, 24-28 April. SPE-129200-MS. https://doi.org/10.2118/129200-MS.
Seright, R. S, Zhang, G., Akanni, O.. 2012. A Comparison of Polymer Flooding with In-Depth Profile Modification. J Can Pet Techno 51 (05): 393–402. https://doi.org/10.2118/146087-PA.
Sharma, A., Delshad, M., Huh, C.. 2011. A Practical Method to Calculate Polymer Viscosity Accurately in Numerical Reservoir Simulators. Presented at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, Denver, Colorado, 30 October-2 November. SPE-147239-MS. https://doi.org/10.2118/147239-MS.
Tu, T.N. and Wisup, B. 2011. Investigating the Effect of Polymer Gels Swelling Phenomenon under Reservoir Conditions on Polymer Conformance Control Process. Presented at the International Petroleum Technology Conference, Bangkok, Thailand, 15-17 November. IPTC-14673-MS. http://dx.doi.org/10.2523/14673-MS.
Urbissinova, T.S.,Trivedi, J., and Kuru, E. 2010. Effect of Elasticity during Viscoelastic Polymer Flooding: A possible Mechanism of Increasing the Sweep Efficiency. J Can Pet Technol 49 (12): 49–56. https://doi.org/10.2118/133471-PA.
Wang, D., Xia, H., Liu, Z.. 2001. Study of the Mechanism of Polymer Solution with Visco-Elastic Behavior Increasing Microscopic Oil Displacement Efficiency and the Forming of Steady ‘Oil Threads’ Flow Channels. Presented at the SPE Asia Pacific Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition, Jakarta, Indonesia, 17-19 April. SPE-68723-MS. https://doi.org/10.2118/68723-MS.
Zamani, N., Bondino, I., Kaufmann, R.. 2015. Effect of porous media properties on the onset of polymer extensional viscosity. J Petrol Sci & Eng 133: 483–495. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2015.06.025.