Enhance Oil Recovery for Steam Flooding: Low-Temperature Oxidative Decomposition of Heavy Oil with Air Injection

Abstract

With the increasing demand of energy, technical research of how to enhance oil recovery of steam flooding for heavy oil reservoirs has attracted widespread attention at present. Air-injection is an effective technology that has been used to improve the development effect of steam flooding in heavy oil reservoirs. The low-temperature oxidation (LTO) reaction and the high-temperature combustion reaction are the main mechanisms of air-injection technology. The high-temperature combustion reaction can decompose the heavy component in heavy oil, but it requires a higher-temperature condition, which the steam flooding process cannot offer. In addition, the LTO reaction between air and heavy oil consumes the O2, so the safety risk of explosion caused by the mixture of O2 and hydrocarbon gas can be eliminated. Nevertheless, oil viscosity will increase. During the steam flooding process, an aquathermolysis reaction occurs between heavy oil and high-temperature water, which decreases the content of the heavy compon...