Use of silica gel for improving waterflooding performance of bottom-water reservoirs

Abstract

This research addresses the problem of waterflooding a medium-gravity of oil-bearing formation with a water leg, and offers recommendations for process selection. In many reservoirs the presence of a bottom-water zone results in a very poor areal and vertical sweep efficiencies. However, waterflooding still remains the most widely used oil-recovery technique for these reservoirs. Waterflood performance in these reservoirs can be improved greatly with effective methods of partially plugging the bottom-water zone. One such method is the use of CO 2-activated silica gel as a blocking agent in the presence of a bottom-water zone. Thirteen large-model experiments were conducted using silica gel, to study the effect of oil-to-water zone permeability contrast and thickness ratio, oil viscosity, and CO 2 injection. A qualitative comparison is made to show the relative merit of CO 2-activated silica gel injection among other mobility control agents. Several runs were conducted to study silica gel rheology both in presence and in absence of CO 2.