Displacement mechanisms of enhanced heavy oil recovery by alkaline flooding in a micromodel--颗粒学报PARTICUOLOGY

Dong, M., Liu, Q., & Li, A. (2012). Displacement mechanisms of enhanced heavy oil recovery by alkaline flooding in a micromodel. Particuology, 10(3), 298–305. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.partic.2011.09.008

Displacement mechanisms of enhanced heavy oil recovery by alkaline flooding in a micromodel

Mingzhe Dong ^{a b *}, Qiang Liu ^c, Aifen Li ^a

a College of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East), Qingdao, Shandong 255666, China
b Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, University of Calgary, Calgary AB T2N 1N4, Canada
c Brenntag Canada Inc., Calgary AB T2C 0A8, Canada

10.1016/j.partic.2011.09.008

Volume 10, Issue 3, June 2012, Pages 298-305

Received 17 June 2011, Accepted 23 September 2011, Available online 24 January 2012.

E-mail: Mingzhe.dong@ucalgary.ca

Highlights

► An enhanced oil recovery (EOR) method by alkaline flooding for heavy oils was studied in a micromodel, revealing two underlying mechanisms may be at work, i.e., in situ water-in-oil (W/O) emulsion formation and oil-in-water (O/W) emulsion formation with the aid of surfactant.

► The two mechanisms are applicable for different reservoir conditions.

Abstract

Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) by alkaline flooding for conventional oils has been extensively studied. For heavy oils, investigations are very limited due to the unfavorable mobility ratio between the water and oil phases. In this study, the displacement mechanisms of alkaline flooding for heavy oil EOR are investigated by conducting flood tests in a micromodel. Two different displacement mechanisms are observed for enhancing heavy oil recovery. One is in situ water-in-oil (W/O) emulsion formation and partial wettability alteration. The W/O emulsion formed during the injection of alkaline solution plugs high permeability water channels, and pore walls are altered to become partially oil-wetted, leading to an improvement in sweep efficiency and high tertiary oil recovery. The other mechanism is the formation of an oil-in-water (O/W) emulsion. Heavy oil is dispersed into the water phase by injecting an alkaline solution containing a very dilute surfactant. The oil is then entrained in the water phase and flows out of the model with the water phase.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Micromodel; Immiscible displacement; Enhanced oil recovery; Emulsion flow; Alkaline flooding

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