Capillary and viscous forces during CO2 flooding in tight reservoirs (2025)

Authors

• Chuanbao ZhangExploration and Development Research Institute, Shengli Oilfield Company, SINOPEC, Dongying 257015, P. R. China
• Qingfu ZhangExploration and Development Research Institute, Shengli Oilfield Company, SINOPEC, Dongying 257015, P. R. China
• Wendong Wang*Key Laboratory of Unconventional Oil & Gas Development, Ministry of Education, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, P. R. China; School of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, P. R. China (Email: wwdong@upc.edu.cn)
• Qiuheng XieKey Laboratory of Unconventional Oil & Gas Development, Ministry of Education, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, P. R. China; School of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, P. R. China
• Yuliang SuKey Laboratory of Unconventional Oil & Gas Development, Ministry of Education, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, P. R. China; School of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, P. R. China
• Atif ZafarDepartment of Petroleum Technology, University of Karachi, University Road, Karachi 75270, Pakistan

Keywords:

Abstract

In this study, the multiphase multicomponent Shan-Chen lattice Boltzmann method isemployed to analyze the impact of capillary force on oil-CO2-water fluid flow and enhancedoil recovery. Various sizes of the single throat are designed to simulate the interactionbetween displacing and displaced phases as well as their mechanical equilibrium. Severalsensitivities are taken into account, such as wettability, miscibility, interfacial tension, andpore aperture. Based on the objective reservoir conditions, supercritical CO2 as an injectionfluid is adopted to study the influence of different displacement patterns on the mechanicalequilibrium in both homogenous and heterogeneous porous media, in which enhanced oilrecovery is also quantitatively estimated. The results show that the water-alternating-gasinjection pattern reduces the moving speed of the leading edge by increasing the sweptarea of the residual oil, and inhibits the breakthrough effect of the gas, making it theoptimal displacement method in terms of the degree of oil production. Compared with theresults of different displacement patterns, the enhanced oil recovery of water-alternatinggasinjection is the highest, followed by supercritical CO2 flooding after water flooding,and lastly, continuous supercritical CO2 flooding.

Cited as:Zhang, C., Zhang, Q., Wang, W., Xie, Q., Su, Y., Zafar, A. Capillary and viscous forces during CO2 flooding in tight reservoirs. Capillarity, 2022, 5(6): 105-114. https://doi.org/10.46690/capi.2022.06.01

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