Numerical study of the impact of surfactant/polymer flooding on different reservoir wetting phases.

Abstract

Production of oil and gas by primary drive mechanism has always remained unsatisfactory since a greater percentage of the oil remains in the reservoir. Across the industry and academia various enhanced oil recovery interventions are been sought after to help recover more and more hydrocarbons from the reservoir. A simulation study is conducted using the UTCHEM simulator to help understand the mechanism that affect the various wetting characteristics of the rock and fluid to help better understand and tailor make interventions pertaining to surfactant polymer flooding. From the study it was concluded that; for a polymer/surfactant flood, Oil recovery is a function of wettability and it increases with increasing tendency of water wetting characteristics. However this basic deduction is appreciably sensitive to the initial water saturation before the flood and only slightly sensitive to the viscosity of oil.