CO₂ injection and
phase behavior
Karim Shamilov
EOR
274.21E
01 INtroduction
Classification
Table of 02
contents Experiment in Mao-3
03
PHASE BEHAVIOR OF
04 CRUDE OIL
Introduction
Displacement of reservoir crude oil by CO2 is a
complex process that includes mass transfer,
capillary forces, and gravitational effects. Partial
or complete miscibility of CO2 with oil entails a
change in its rheological properties and
contributes to its ability to flush previously
immoveable oil from the reservoir. Fluid
saturation conditions in the reservoir and prior
moveable oil displacement and recovery have
significant impacts on the process of displacing
additional oil with the aid of CO2.
Carbonated water injection
In CWI, CO2 exists as a dissolved
phase and not as a free phase;
thus, it eliminates some
challenges encountered in
CO2 injection such as poor
sweep efficiency and gravity
segregation. In CWI, the density
and viscosity of water become
higher than normal due to the
CO2 dissolution, thereby
reducing the gravity segregation
and channeling effect
CO2 phase behavior
The CO2 phase behavior is highly dependent
on temperature and pressure of the
reservoir. Figure 1 represents a phase
diagram illustrating that CO2 injection can
be sustained under different forms such as
liquid, gas or supercritical fluid, all of which
depend on the two factors P and T. Other
properties that are affected by P and T
include viscosity, where rising temperatures
can reduce it significantly. Additional
properties include gas compressibility factor
and density. It is recommended for CO2 to
be in the gaseous or supercritical form
while injected.
CO2–WAG Injection
CO2–WAG injection is a combination of
conventional waterflooding and CO2 gas
injection. The CO2–WAG injection mechanism has
its own characteristics for miscible or immiscible
displacement conditions. Miscible displacement
results in higher oil-displacement ratios than
immiscible conditions. Oil sweep efficiency is
higher for miscible conditions, where it involves
an increase in filtration resistance, with three-
phase filtration taking place in the formation.
The feasibility of using CO2 immiscible oil
displacement, even though it is less effective, is
due to its lower process costs and the lower
injection pressures involved.
Holm and Josendal classified the
mechanism of CO2 flooding into six
types: solution gas drive, immiscible
CO2 drive, light hydrocarbon=CO2
miscible drive, hydrocarbon vaporization
drive, multiple-contact, dynamic miscible
drive and direct miscible CO2 drive
Three aspects of the phase behavior of
CO2 and oil mixtures are very important
to an understanding of CO2 flooding
processes: the solubility of CO2 in
crude oil, the swelling effect of CO2
in crude oil and the reduction in
viscosity of crude oil with additional
of CO2.
Next data is belong to
Mao3 Oildield.
To improve the understanding of the oil recovery
mechanisms and feasibility of CO2 flooding in
China, based on the oil and gas of Mao-3
oilfields, phase behavior of the CO2 and crude
oil system was investigated. Parameters like
saturated pressure, volume factor, gas oil ratio,
and viscosity were measured and their
relationships analyzed.
Experiment
The experiment was perfor
RUSKA-2730 high pressure
temperature visual PVT app
produced by Ruska Compan
Figure illustrates the PVT s
entire assembly was enclos
heated bath to maintain th
temperature.
The crude oil and gas used in the experiment was obtained from Mao-3 oilfield.
Reservoir temperature and reservoir pressure are 140C and 42 MPa. Table 1 shows
the components of the reservoir fluids.
Dissolving Capacity
For the dead oil, the initial gas injection is CO2; while for the live oil, the initial gas
injection is natural gas. As a result, the solubility of the dead oil and live oil is
relatively different; it can be seen from the slopes of the two curves. For the same
injection volume of gas, bubble point pressure of the live oil is higher than that of
the dead oil. To some extent, it could be concluded that the solubility of the natural
gas is lower than that of the CO2 in the oil.
Dissolving Capacity
Figure 3 shows the relationship of the bubble point pressure and GOR of the dead
oil. Apparently, the bubble point pressure is linearly proportional to GOR, with
correlation coefficients of above 0.99, both for dead oil and live oil.
Consequently, it can be concluded that solubility of the CO2 is higher
than that of the natural gas in the oil under the same pressure.
Specifically, GOR of the dead oil and live oil under reservoir pressure
are 368 m3 =m3 and 323 m3 =m3 , respectively, which means that
both dead oil and live oil and CO2 has great mutual solubility. It is
beneficial for the improvement of the crude oil physical properties and
effect of gas dissolution.
Swelling Capacity
Figure 4 is the relationship of the pressure
and volume factor of the dead oil after
fourth CO2 injection. Obviously, as the
volume of CO2 injection increases, volume
factor increases.
● The dramatic change of the volume
factor indicates that CO2 begins to
separate from the oil under this
pressure, which is generally called
saturation pressure. Apparently, as
CO2 content increases in the oil,
volume factor increases under the
same pressure. Actually volume
swelling is one of the major
mechanisms of CO2 flooding.
Figure 5 shows the relationship of pressure and
relative volume of the dead oil after the fourth CO2
injection. It is clearly that when pressure is above
saturated pressure, relative volume of the crude oil
decreases linearly with the increase of pressure
from 1, while when pressure is below saturated
pressure, relative volume of the crude oil increases
sharply with the decrease of pressure. The
corresponding pressure of the abrupt change point
is the saturated pressure, it can also be seen that
the curves become smoother as more and more
CO2 injected in the oil.
RESULT
In addition, from Figures 2–5, it can also be seen
that crude oil volume increases 54.9% compared
to the initial volume of dead oil, which indicates
that CO2 could expand the crude oil greatly and
increase formation energy effectively. Therefore,
volumetric expansion is one of the main
mechanisms of enhancement of oil recovery for
CO2 flooding in this reservoir.
Viscosity Reduction
Capacity
Results show that crude oil of Mao-3 reservoir and
CO2 has great mutual dissolution, under reservoir
conditions GOR could reach to 368 m3 =m3 and
323 m3 =m3 , respectively, crude oil volume
increases 54.9%, and the range of viscosity
reduction is about 74%, which means that CO2
could greatly expand the oil and reduce the oil
viscosity.
THANKS FOR
ATTENTION
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