A numerical simulation investigation on low permeability reservoirs air flooding: Oxidation reaction models and factors

Abstract

A precise oxidation reaction model determines the reliability of numerical simulation results and the prediction of field performance of air injection-based enhanced oil recovery (EOR). By reviewing the classical oxidation reaction model and combining with geological characteristics of a low permeability reservoir, this work creatively divides pseudo-components and temperature regions and further proposes the improved low temperature oxidation (LTO), middle temperature oxidation (MTO), and high temperature oxidation (HTO) numerical models with chemical reaction coefficients. The EOR effects of reservoir temperature, permeability, air flow rate and bottom hole pressure during LTO and full temperature regions are determined on the basis of a 3D reservoir simulation model via CMG STARS. The results show that peak oil production rates of N2 flooding and LTO are 17.70 and 29.97 m3/d, respectively. The cumulative oil production in LTO stage is about 35%, which is higher than that in N2 flooding. The oxygen addition reaction in LTO stage can release much heat and increase sweep efficiency from thermal expansion and viscosity reduction. The peak oil production rates of LTO and full temperature oxidation (FTO) reactions are 42.16 and 44.34 m3/d, respectively, and the cumulative oil production of the FTO model was about 17% higher than that of LTO. The FTO model could more truly reflect the production performance during air flooding of low permeability oil reservoir. Strong oxygen consumption capacity and significant heat release effects can be observed under higher initial temperature, permeability, air flow rate, and lower bottom hole pressure. Thermal flooding and flue gas flooding are the main EOR mechanisms in FTO process. Considering the inescapable field problem of gas channeling, thorough contact between oil and air can be promoted by artificially preheating oil reservoir and adjusting air injection rate and pressure. Thus, oil recovery can be further improved under the premise of ensuring the safety of field application of air flooding technique.