Abstract
There are many processes the oil industry used to recover more oil from the reservoir after the natural energy is depleted. In this research work, ultrasound energy has been tested as a method of improving oil recovery after waterflooding. The method used in this research work was a numerical simulation using MATLAB Reservoir Simulation Toolbox (MRST-2017a). Ultrasound energy source equation was incorporated into the residual energy equation in the MRST. Acoustic attenuation pressure equation was modelled as part of the residual pressure equation in the MRST. Effect of ultrasound waves on pore wall deformation was also modelled from waves stress equation. Two-phase (oil/water) black oil model was used to simulate fluid flow. Results obtained from the simulation runs show that the ultrasound energy has an impact on reservoir performance i.e. increase in fluid flowrates and pore pressure and temperature rise which led to oil viscosity reduction and consequently improve mobility ratio. However, attenuation of ultrasound energy increases with propagation distance, but this effect was compensated by increasing the intensity of the ultrasound power. Though, high power intensity induced stress on the reservoir pore throat. Results obtained also show that high porosity and permeability values affect the performance of the acoustic energy basically due to an increase in the rate of waves absorption. Key words: Ultrasound energy, improved oil recovery, reservoir simulation toolbox, MATLAB.  
Highlights
Recovering a substantial part of oil reserve has become a great challenge to the oil industry
Both the pressures and flowrate continue to decline with time from the initial values to zero when no ultrasound
When ultrasound energy is absorbed by a medium, the sound energy is converted into heat energy
Summary
Recovering a substantial part of oil reserve has become a great challenge to the oil industry. There are many research works on improving the recovery factor of reservoir oil. Most methods of improving oil recovery factor presently used by industries are associated with some challenges and limitations. The quest by researchers to develop more effective, efficient and economical ways of improving oil recovery has led to the invention and innovation of various techniques of enhancing reservoir oil production. After the natural energy locked up in the reservoir (in-situ energy) is depleted, the common practice by E&P operators to augment the primary energy is pressure maintenance, which is basically water injection or gas injection. General practice is; water is injected through injection well(s) to the production zone or gas is injected
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