Study on the influence of SARA fraction in heavy oil on the oil recovery during water flooding by experiments and the molecular dynamics simulation

Abstract

W/O emulsification in the J-7 reservoir has been regarded as the main reason for enhancing oil recovery. Therefore, in this article, the chemical structures of SARA fractions of JD-1 crude oil were obtained through characterization experiments, and the effect of the influence of SARA fractions on the W/O emulsification and the oil recovery by using emulsification experiments, interfacial experiments, emulsification experiments, and water flooding experiments. Results showed from emulsification experiments that the emulsification degree of the simulated oil containing asphaltenes was higher than other simulated oils. All emulsions of SARA fractions after emulsifying were W/O emulsions, but compared with other components, the performance of emulsions of asphaltenes was the best. The viscosity of emulsions reached 8.16–18.38 times that of simulated oil, the average size of was only 0.68 μm, and the stability was also very good. From interface tension and expansion modulus experiments, it can be seen that after adding asphaltenes, the decrease degree of interface tension and the increased degree of expansion modulus were the most. The result of molecules dynamic simulations showed that the adsorption force on the oil-water interface of asphaltenes was greater than other components. The water flooding experiments found the recovery of the simulated oil containing asphaltenes reached 43.81%, which was higher than other simulated oil, indicating that the easier W/O emulsification was formed, the recovery rate was higher.