Abstract
ABSTRACT Microfluidic devices are a new platform for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) assays. The application of Colloidad Dispersion Gels (CDG) injection method has been proposed in recent years. However, the mechanism of oil recovery enhancement has not been completely elucidated. Its purpose is to mobilize oil by decreasing the permeability of channeled zones. The success of injection depends on the characteristics of water, the porous medium and the oil. Therefore, a successful injection in a reservoir can be different in another, hence the importance of a methodology for assessment prior to injection. This work applies micro and nanotechnology techniques to develop microfluidic chips used in EOR tests. EOR chips simulate the phenomena that occur in micro-nano scale reservoirs. Experiments analyzed multiphase flows in porous media inside chips. Generally, the first step of the experiments corresponds to fill the microchannels with water and then oil (1 poral volume 1PV). Second, water-injection takes place at constant flow rate until oil recovery ceases. Finally, either polymer or CDG is injected and their behavior is studied by digital image analysis. Results allowed obtaining graphs of oil residual saturation versus time for pore volumes of fluid used in EOR. The optimum configurations of the microchannels showed 80% of residual oil saturation after water injection.
Highlights
IntroductionThe ability to reduce the amount of oil that remains in a particular well becomes increasingly important as global oil supplies decrease
Microfluidic devices are a new platform for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) assays
This paper aims to find a microchip configuration that traps between 30 and 80% oil after water injection
Summary
The ability to reduce the amount of oil that remains in a particular well becomes increasingly important as global oil supplies decrease. There are three stages for oil recovery: primary depletion, secondary recovery process and tertiary or enhanced oil recovery. Between the 50 and 70% of the original oil remains in the oil field after primary and secondary oil recovery techniques have been exhausted [2]. There is huge interest in recovering the remaining-trapped oil in the reservoir. The techniques used range from improved secondary flooding method to enhanced methods. The distinction between the classifications of the methods usually refers to the target oil that the process seeks to recover. In improved recovery the aim is to increase the oil sweep efficiency, whereas in tertiary recovery the aim is to mobilize and recover residual of capillary trapped oil [1]. The tertiary oil recovery has various approaches that are chemical, thermal and gas. A combination of the last two has been proposed recently Multi
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