CO2 Injection and Enhanced Oil Recovery in Ohio Oil Reservoirs—An Experimental Approach to Process Understanding

Manoj Kumar Valluri,Kishore Mohanty,Jimin Zhou,Srikanta Mishra

doi:10.3390/en13236215

Manoj Kumar Valluri, Kishore Mohanty + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/en13236215

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Journal: Energies	Publication Date: Nov 26, 2020
Citations: 3	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: The University of Texas at Austin, Battelle

Abstract

Process understanding of CO2 injection into a reservoir is a crucial step for planning a CO2 injection operation. CO2 injection was investigated for Ohio oil reservoirs which have access to abundant CO2 from local coal-fired power plants and industrial facilities. In a first of its kind study in Ohio, lab-scale core characterization and flooding experiments were conducted on two of Ohio’s most prolific oil and gas reservoirs—the Copper Ridge dolomite and Clinton sandstone. Reservoir properties such as porosity, permeability, capillary pressure, and oil–water relative permeability were measured prior to injecting CO2 under and above the minimum miscibility pressure (MMP) of the reservoir. These evaluations generated reservoir rock-fluid data that are essential for building reservoir models in addition to providing insights on injection below and above the MMP. Results suggested that the two Ohio reservoirs responded positively to CO2 injection and recovered additional oil. Copper Ridge reservoir’s incremental recovery ranged between 20% and 50% oil originally in place while that of Clinton sandstone ranged between 33% and 36% oil originally in place. It was also deduced that water-alternating-gas injection schemes can be detrimental to production from tight reservoirs such as the Clinton sandstone.

Highlights

The technology used for CO2 sequestration in deep geologic formations is currently in the demonstration phase while no country has yet put in place a comprehensive framework to support the scaling-up of carbon capture and storage (CCS) to meet the climate targets set by the Paris agreement [1] In the interim, the utilization of captured CO2 from anthropogenic sources for improving oil recovery can bridge the gap between the present day research and pilot stage to a fully developed and commercialized CCS stage [2]
The Clinton sandstone was found to be tighter than the Copper Ridge dolomite, which was expected based on a survey of previous literature [12,14,16]
While most sandstone reservoirs have higher porosities and permeabilities, the Clinton sandstone found in eastern Ohio is very tight and it is commonly explored via hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, which is uncommon for sandstone reservoirs [17]

Summary

Introduction

The technology used for CO2 sequestration in deep geologic formations is currently in the demonstration phase while no country has yet put in place a comprehensive framework to support the scaling-up of carbon capture and storage (CCS) to meet the climate targets set by the Paris agreement [1] In the interim, the utilization of captured CO2 from anthropogenic sources for improving oil recovery can bridge the gap between the present day research and pilot stage to a fully developed and commercialized CCS stage [2].

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Conclusion