Abstract
Microfluidics methods offer possibilities for visual observations of oil recovery processes. Good control over test parameters also provides the opportunity to conduct tests that simulate representative reservoir conditions. This paper presents a setup and procedure development for microfluidic oil recovery tests at elevated temperature and pressure. Oil recovery factors and displacement patterns were determined in single- or two-step recovery tests using two crude oils, high salinity salt solutions and low salinity surfactant solutions. Neither the displacement pattern nor the recovery factor was significantly affected by the pressure range tested here. Increasing temperature affected the recovery factor significantly, but with opposite trends for the two tested crude oils. The difference was justified by changes in wettability alteration, due to variations in the amounts and structure of the acidic and basic oil fractions. Low salinity surfactant solutions enhanced the oil recovery for both oils.
Highlights
Microfluidics methods offer possibilities for visual observations of oil recovery processes
The steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) process was simulated using a micromodel as a reservoir with injecting steam[25], and the oil recovery dynamics and the efficiency of an alkaline steam additive was studied
To assess the effect of pressure on the recovery process, crude oil A was displaced by high salinity brine with sodium chloride (HS-Na) in different systems where the outlet is open to atmosphere or goes through pressure relief valves of 2 and 10 bar
Summary
Microfluidics methods offer possibilities for visual observations of oil recovery processes. Core flooding experiments are the classical way of performing oil recovery studies by displacing oil from saturated rock samples using various flooding approaches An advantage of this method includes the possibility to perform measurements at elevated temperatures and pressures, i.e., similar to reservoir conditions. They investigated the behavior of the residual oil at 200 °C, as the relevant temperature in steam injection applications, and showed that the remaining oil saturation decreased with increasing temperature In another investigation, the steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) process was simulated using a micromodel as a reservoir with injecting steam[25], and the oil recovery dynamics and the efficiency of an alkaline steam additive was studied. Wegner and Ganzer[15] investigated the effect of salinity, surfactant concentration, injection rate and temperature (up to 50 °C) on oil displacement by surfactant solutions
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