Enhance Oil Production Research Articles

Investigating Synergistic Effects Of Surfactants And Nanoparticles On Emulsion Stability

A challenge of making oil production viable is emerging with time because most of the oil reserves have been exploited using primary and secondary recovery methods. Chemicals such as surfactants have been used to increase oil production through a method called chemical enhanced oil recovery. However, the application of this method is experiencing difficulties because of excessive use of surfactants that not only has negative effect on the economics of the project, but also poses severe environmental concerns. Another method that is being widely proposed is to apply emulsion flooding to enhance oil production. In order to maximize the impact of this method and as a result achieve higher oil recovery factor, it is vital to maintain the stability of the emulsion used. One of the claimed methods to improve the stability of emulsion is the application of synergistic effect between nanoparticles (NPs) and surfactants. This article aims on investigating the stability of emulsion using bottle test when applying the synergistic effect between NPs and surfactants with varying concentrations of the NPs, and surfactant charge. An anionic surfactant - sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) and a cationic surfactant - cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) have been utilized in this study. Nano-silica was selected as the NPs used in this study. It was found that synergistic effect is more prominent between SDS and nano-silica with decrease in emulsion phase height percentage (measure of emulsion stability) going down to 22% compared with 43% for combination of CTAB and nano-silica, and 51% in case of using only surfactants. This has proved that the synergistic effect is beneficial in enhancing the emulsion stability, which can be implemented in the application of emulsion flooding where the stability of the emulsion is crucial.

Potential Materials for Enhanced Oil Production from Northern oilfield, Thailand

One of enhanced oil recovery techniques to produce more oil production is surfactant flooding. The surfactants are considered as the effective chemicals used in oilfield in Thailand. It is used to lower the interfacial tension (IFT) of two fluids and to increase mobility in the reservoir. For this study, various chemicals such as amine, fatty alcohol and glycerine are applied as the surfactants to reduce IFT between oil and water. Therefore, the aim of this work is to investigate the potential chemicals and measure the IFT reduction based on the conditions of subsurface at the oilfield in Thailand. These parameters such as temperature, pressure as well as the concentration of surfactant are adjusted to investigate the effects on IFT reduction. From the results, it is reported that pressure from 1, 000 to 2, 000 psi and temperature varied from 70 °C to 90 °C can reduce IFT insignificantly. However, types of chemicals and surfactant concentration are the main parameters that impact on the IFT reduction. Monoethanolamine at 4.0 wt. % can greatly decrease IFT up to 87 % for surfactant concentration. Finally, the results can be applied to use in the real field for enhanced oil production in Thailand.

Production performance by polymer conformance control in ultra-low permeability heterogeneous sandstone reservoirs produced under their natural energy

For ultra-low permeability and highly heterogeneous sandstone reservoirs, fluid channeling along the high permeability layer leads to a rapid decrease of reservoir pressure coupled with very low sweep efficiency. As an effective conformance control technology, advanced polymer injection can enhance oil production from ultra-low permeability heterogeneous sandstone reservoirs, not only through conformance control but also through increasing reservoir energy. In order to simulate the reservoir energy storage capacity during the polymer injection stage as well as accurately control the energy release rate during the production stage, a novel experimental setup is assessed in this study. Partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM) is used as the polymer conformance control solution. Artificial heterogeneous sandstone cores are used to perform a series of polymer conformance control followed by production under the natural energy of the model reservoir. The effect of polymer injection volume and its concentration on polymer retention and plugging ability are investigated. Without polymer injection, the initial volume of produced liquid is large, however rapidly declines leading to a poor overall oil recovery. This trend accurately captures field performance. Upon advanced polymer injection, although the initial volume of produced liquid relatively decreased, the decline in the rate of liquid production decreases. The reservoir pressure in the later stages of production could still be maintained at a relatively higher level. Subsequently, the production period is prolonged, leading to a significant increase in oil recovery. The increase in the polymer injection volume or polymer concentration delayed polymer evolution from the reservoir, suggesting enhanced polymer plugging ability. Optimal polymer volume of 0.3–0.6 PV at its optimal concentration of 3000 mg/L corresponding to highest oil recovery is attained at the reservoir conditions. In this study, advanced polymer injection is proved to be a feasible technology to significantly improve the sweep efficiency in ultra-low permeability heterogeneous sandstone reservoirs. By controlling the appropriate polymer injection volume and its concentration, the highest recovery of a certain reservoir can be reached. For the oilfield engineers, by virtue of its ability to faithfully capture field trends, the proposed experimental setup may offer a reliable method to determine the optimal polymer injection volume and concentration for given reservoir conditions and characteristics.

Characterization of Crude Oils through Alkyl Chain-Based Separation by Gel Permeation Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry

The complexity of petroleum crude oils requires a combination of analytical techniques to produce the in-depth compositional knowledge needed to enhance oil production or develop optimal refining s...

Ability of green cover from sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia Scop.) and dog rose (Rosa canina L.) to control erosion and improve soil organic carbon and nitrogen stocks in terraces of Northwest Turkey

The main aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of green cover and afforestation on soil properties, erosion susceptibility, as well as soil organic carbon (SOC) and soil total nitrogen (STN) contents and stock capacities. Mineral soil samples from two soil depths (0–10 cm and 10–20 cm) were obtained from a bare soil plot (BSP), a young forest plot (7-year-old juvenile cover; YFP), a mature forest plot (MFP) used as a reference control, a young forest plot with sainfoin green cover (YFP + S), and a young forest plot with dog rose green cover (YFP + R). The soil samples were analyzed for pH, water holding capacity (WHC), soil texture, dispersion ratio, bulk density, SOC, STN, and soil extractable P and K. Soil bulk density, soil volume, and the SOC and STN were used to calculate the mean SOC and STN stocks. Results showed that afforestation and green cover significantly influenced the chemical and physical properties of the soil, reduced its dispersion ratio, and increased its SOC and STN stock capacities (P < 0.05). The mean SOC stock was highest for MFP (39.7 t C ha−1), followed by YFP + R (37.1 t C ha−1), YFP + S (35.7 t C ha−1), YFP (22.1 t C ha−1), and BSP (10.9 t C ha−1). However, the mean STN stock was highest for YFP + S (2.40 t N ha−1), followed by MFP (2.25 t N ha−1), YFP + R (2.08 t N ha−1), YFP (1.88 t N ha−1), and BSP (0.55 t N ha−1). These results indicate that with proper care and management, natural or artificial leguminous and shrub species can provide year-round soil protection and minimize soil erosion in black pine plantation terraces. Growing these species could enhance soil productivity by increasing soil organic matter, improving the soil structure, and increasing the water holding capacity and nutrient retention of the soil.

Enhanced oil recovery: Potential for oil production development in Fang oilfield, Thailand

Fang oilfield is a small onshore reservoir in Thailand containing oil with gravity ranging from 20-40 °API and viscosity of approximately 10-120 cp. The depth of this field is from 300-1,200 meters and the sand thickness is varied from of 1 to 7 meters. For over 60 years of natural production, the field has low oil recovery. The difficulty has been attributed to the unfavorable production. Waterflooding, a secondary recovery, has been studied and the results show that the recovery can increase 4-6%. However, the production can be enhanced more with the tertiary recovery methods or enhanced oil recovery (EOR) which are recommended to increase oil production in this challenging field. However, the proper technologies have not been studied for commercial production yet. These technologies can be thermal recovery, gas injection, microbial enhanced oil recovery and chemical methods. Therefore, it will be the objective of this work to review and screen the EOR method to fit well with oil production in Fang oilfield in order to increase oil production. From this EOR screening, the main results from this study reveal that chemical injection is more appropriate for this field than other techniques because of reservoir characteristics and reservoir fluids. Based on the types of oil and composition in the oil, adding alkaline solution and surfactant can improve oil recovery because they can reduce interfacial tension of oil and to make the mobility higher. On the other hand, for other techniques, thermal recovery can increase mobility because of wax formation but it has higher cost. CO2 injection can increase more oil production. Nevertheless, the sources of CO2 has less supply and is expensive. Now, microbial enhanced oil recovery is on the beginning state and can provide the good potential. Consequently, based on the revision and screening method, the chemical method provide the higher commercial potential and feasibility to enhance oil production in Fang oilfield and the result of this study can be applied to design the plan of oil production operation in the oilfield in the future.

Performance evaluation of nitrogen-assisted steam flooding process in heavy oil reservoir via numerical simulation

In this study, numerical simulation studies have been conducted to enhance oil production in X1 heavy oil reservoir using nitrogen-assisted steam injection processes. Five types of nitrogen-assisted steam flooding methods—steam flooding, steam flooding coupled with continuous nitrogen injection, coupled with intermittent nitrogen injection, coupled with nitrogen slug injection, and nitrogen flooding—have been carried out to investigate the effect of nitrogen-assisted steam flooding method on production performance. In numerical simulation study, the STARS module is applied to implement history-matching of production data, and good agreement has been achieved. Next, the orthogonal design principle is adopted to optimize the scheme of nitrogen-assisted steam flooding. The results show that steam flooding assisted by intermittent nitrogen injection is the most suitable method. In the end, the plan of nitrogen-assisted steam flooding of X1 reservoir has been designed and the oil production rate in the next 5 years has been predicted.

Monitoring the fate of injected CO2 using geodetic techniques

Geodetic methods comprise one class of geophysical data that are sensitive to changes in effective pressure within operating reservoirs, albeit indirectly through induced deformation. Geodetic observations, which have observation intervals that vary from seconds to days, weeks, or months, generally provide more frequent sampling compared to existing geophysical methodologies (such as seismic time-lapse monitoring), which typically invoke repeat times of months to years. These differences in sampling intervals are primarily due to the extensive effort, and hence cost, of conducting geophysical field operations, which often precludes executing a large number of surveys. Satellite-based interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) is cost effective and used in many applications, including monitoring the injection of carbon dioxide (CO2) for both long-term storage and enhanced oil production. An application to the geologic sequestration of CO2 in Algeria revealed northwest migration along a fault/fracture zone intersected by the injection well. A study in a Texas field demonstrated that enhanced oil recovery utilizing CO2 leads to observable surface deformation that may be used to characterize the sequestered CO2 and to estimate the pressure changes within the reservoir induced by injection and production.

Analysis of Isotopically-labeled Monogalactosyldiacylglycerol Molecular Species from [14C]Acetate-Labeled Tobacco Leaves.

Plant lipid metabolism is a dynamic network where synthesis of essential membrane lipids overlaps with synthesis of valuable storage lipids (e.g., vegetable oils). Monogalactosyldiacylglycerol (MGDG) is a key component of the chloroplast membrane system required for photosynthesis and is produced by multiple pathways within the lipid metabolic network. The bioengineering of plants to enhance oil production can alter lipid metabolism in unexpected ways which may not be apparent by static quantification of lipids, but changes to lipid metabolic flux can be traced with isotopic labeling commonly with [14C]acetate. Because lipid classes such as MGDG are composed of many different molecular species, full analysis of metabolically labeled lipids requires separation and quantification of the individually labeled molecular species which is traditionally performed by thin layer chromatography. Here we present a reverse phase HPLC method for the separation of MGDG molecular species from tobacco leaves in under 35 min. The quantification of each 14C-labeled molecular species was accomplished by an in-line flow radio detector. This method of analysis for [14C]Acetate labeled MGDG molecular species by radio-HPLC provides a rapid, high throughput, and reliable analytical approach to identify changes in MGDG metabolism due to bioengineering or other perturbations of metabolism.

Estimation of carbon dioxide injection into reservoirs potential to enhance oil production and reduce CO2 emissions to the atmosphere

The carbon dioxide injection into mature oil reservoirs makes it possible to increase the oil recovery and reduce CO2 emissions to the atmosphere. The analysis of the CO2-EOR method applicability on a given reservoir requires forecasting of the production most often conducted with the use of compositional simulators with a high degree of complexity. Due to the increasing popularity of the CO2-EOR method a new methodology for preliminary evaluation of its impact on the oil recovery based on the material balance equation was proposed in this paper. On the basis of the proposed methodology the novel computer application was developed. The obtained results indicate that the developed solution makes it possible to quickly and effectively estimate the potential of the carbon dioxide injection into oil reservoirs to achieve a synergistic environmental effect. [Received: July 19, 2019; Accepted: August 12, 2019]

A simulation-based method to determine the coefficient of hyperbolic decline curve for tight oil production

Tight oil reservoirs are characterized by the ultra low porosity and permeability, making it a great challenge to enhance oil production. Owing to the fast development in hydraulic fracturing technology of horizontal wells, tight oil has been widely explored in North America. Individual wells have a long term of low production after a rapid production decline. This causes low cumulative production in tight oil reservoirs. A rate decline curve is the most common method to forecast their production rates. The forecast can provide useful information during decision making on future development of production wells. In this paper, a relationship is developed between the parameters of a hyperbolic decline curve and the reservoir/fracture properties when a reservoir simulation model is used based on the data from a real field. Understanding of this relationship improves the application of the hyperbolic decline curve and provides a useful reference to forecast production performance in a more convenient and efficient way. Cited as : Yu, Y., Chen, Z., Xu, J. A simulation-based method to determine the coefficient of hyperbolic decline curve for tight oil production. Advances in Geo-Energy Research, 2019, 3(4): 375-380, doi: 10.26804/ager.2019.04.04

Water Shutoff with Polymer in the Alvheim Field

Summary The Alvheim Field, offshore Norway, has subsea wells with long horizontal branches completed with sand screens. After 10 years of production, water production starts to constrain the oil production. Mechanical water shutoff is not possible in these wells; hence, other methods are of interest. In a well workover in 2013, two high-viscosity polymer pills were bullheaded and squeezed into the reservoir. The well productivity was reduced by approximately 50% and the water cut dropped, suggesting potentially higher oil recovery. A research study was started with the objectives of understanding the changed well performance and whether polymer bullheading can be a future method to reduce water production and enhance oil production. An experimental laboratory program started with filtration tests of polymer solutions on the basis of the polymer used in the well operation. Coreflood experiments were performed by injecting polymer into two parallel-mounted cores and then back producing these individually with either water or oil. Several combinations of parallel cores were tested with polymer injection: high vs. low permeability, high oil saturation vs. low oil saturation, outcrop sandstone vs. Alvheim core, and two different polymer formulations. The polymer formulation as used in the well operation demonstrated the plugging of standard filters with filter size larger than the reservoir pore sizes, but it did not plug the cores. The polymer formulation as used in the well gave a better disproportionate permeability reduction (DPR) than the alternative polymer variant with similar viscosity. A theoretical model for the shear rate in the porous media matched the experimentally measured data excellently. The core results show a stable permeability-reduction factor of 100 to 450 for water, while a factor of only 2 to 10 and decreasing with time for oil. The achieved DPR ratio of 45 to 80 is better than the trend from earlier published results. The DPR as measured in the laboratory was next integrated into the reservoir model as part of the history match of the treated well. The Alvheim field has several reservoir zones separated with thin shales, and this reservoir zonation seems key for this enhanced-oil-recovery (EOR) method to work. The laboratory work, the reservoir studies, and the field experience all point to a possible robust and simple EOR method for Alvheim and similar oil fields. Future work includes more research and maturing a new polymer pilot on Alvheim.

Evaluating the potential for oil recovery by imbibition and time-delay effect in tight reservoirs during shut-in

When stimulated only by natural energy, tight oil reservoirs have low production efficiency. Improving the potential for oil recovery by imbibition is essential to enhancing oil production. Shut-in is an effective way to make good use of the potential for oil recovery by imbibition. In this study, imbibition experiments and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) testing were combined to reveal the characteristics of spontaneous imbibition and the T2 value of the oil recovery potential by imbibition in tight oil reservoirs. The main factors affecting the potential for oil recovery by imbibition were studied. We also discussed the relationship between clay minerals and the potential for oil recovery by imbibition, especially the time-delay effect of imbibition displacement. A modified model based on the static balance time for spontaneous imbibition was proposed to calculate the field shut-in time. The results show that the static spontaneous imbibition balance time of tight oil reservoirs are significantly different in various zones. The oil recovery by imbibition has an obvious time-delay effect and it could put the oil in non-movable pores under natural conditions to use. Internal conditions like microscopic pore structure and the type of clay minerals affect the oil recovery by imbibition on small pores (T2 < 100 ms). External conditions like reservoir temperature, pressure, and bedding affect oil recovery by imbibition in small and large pores. The clay minerals expand after the interaction between fracturing fluids and rock. Meanwhile, oil is discharged with compression of those pore space. To optimize the shut-in time of a tight reservoir, these effects of clay behavior can suggest good practices in hydraulic fracturing.

Agroforestry: A Supplementary Tool for Biodiversity Conservation and Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation

Biodiversity loss and climate change are the major global problems threating livelihoods in developing countries. Agroforestry as an integrated land use system has been proved to reduce these problems. However, contributions of agroforestry for conservation of flora and fauna biodiversity and reduction climate change impacts faced empirical evidence. This paper aimed to provide empirical information on role of agroforestry for conservation of flora and fauna biodiversity and climate change mitigation and adaptation. The result reveled that agroforestry has played a greater role for conservation of fauna and native flora diversity and mitigation of CO 2 than monocroping and open cereal based agriculture but less than natural forest. The tree components of agroforestry are important for biodiversity conservation, CO 2 sequestration and climate change adaptation. CO 2 sequestration through above and ground biomass, offsetting CO 2 emission from deforestation and microclimate modification are major climate change mitigation effect. Provision of numerous ecosystem services such as food, fodder and fuel wood, income source, enhancing soil productivity, protecting pest and increased resistance to diseases help community to sustain changing climate effects.. Hence, considerable attentions need to be given to agroforestry to contribute considerable benefit in conservation of biodiversity, and climate change mitigation and adaptation next to forest. Keywords : Agroforestry, flora and fauna diversity, mitigation of CO 2 , ecosystem services. DOI : 10.7176/JNSR/9-19-07 Publication date :October 31 st 2019

Experimental investigation on new derived natural surfactant: wettability alteration, IFT reduction, and core flooding in oil wet carbonate reservoir

ABSTRACT It is necessary to enhance oil production from reservoir due to increase of the fossil fuel consumption that results of industrial life development. Surfactant flooding is a popular method to enhance oil recovery by IFT reduction and wettability alteration. In this study, a new natural surfactant that extracted from Cordia myxa leaf is used for surfactant flooding. The effect of this natural surfactant on IFT and wettability is investigated experimentally. Then, surfactant flooding is applied in a carbonate core sample. The results show the IFT of solution was reduced from 33/28mN/M at 0 wt% to 16.24 mN/M at 6 wt% by increasing natural surfactant concentration. More than, contact angle was decreased from 137.05° at 0 wt. % to 130.65° at 5.5 wt. %. The core flooding results show C. myxa flooding increased 27% more oil recovery compared to water flooding and reduced residual oil saturation in porous media. The results show C. myxa can be applicable as a green surfactant for enhancing oil recovery.

Enhancing total fracture surface area in naturally fractured unconventional reservoirs via model predictive control

In naturally fractured unconventional reservoirs, naturally present fractures will interact with hydraulic fractures, and divert fracture propagation. Because of complex fracture growth, the ultimate goal of hydraulic fracturing operation in naturally fractured unconventional reservoirs should be changed from achieving the desired fracture geometry to maximizing the total fracture surface area (TFSA) for given fracturing resources, as it will allow more drainage area available for oil recovery. Unfortunately, there are no such techniques available to develop pumping schedules to maximize TFSA for given fracturing resources in naturally fractured unconventional reservoirs. Motivated by this, in this work, we will develop a new model-based pumping schedule by utilizing a recently developed unconventional complex fracture propagation model called Mangrove as our virtual experiment describing complex fracture networks by accounting for the interaction between hydraulic fractures and natural fractures. Initially, using the simulation data from Mangrove, a reduced-order model (ROM) is constructed, which is then used to develop a Kalman filter utilizing the available measurement to estimate the unmeasurable ROM states. Then, we propose a model-based feedback control system to determine the fracturing fluid pumping schedule that maximizes TFSA, which will lead to an enhanced oil production rate from naturally fractured unconventional reservoirs. We demonstrate that by using the proposed control scheme, TFSA can be greatly enhanced which will lead to an oil production rate greater than those of existing pumping schedules which were developed without considering natural fractures.

Advances in ultrasonic production units for enhanced oil recovery in China.

With the development of oil recovery technology, ultrasonic technology has been involved in oil production and oilfield development. The mechanism of ultrasonic wave plugging in near well is different from the conventional oil recovery technology. Ultrasonic oil production technique is an effective method to enhance oil production with low cost, good applicability, and no environmental pollution. The core part of ultrasonic oil production equipment for Enhanced Oil Recovery is a high-power ultrasonic transducer. The continuous high-power ultrasound is used to treat the reservoir, which changes the pore structure, the physical property and the state of the fluid, thus improving the permeability and flows conditions of the reservoir, and increasing the oil yield and oil recovery. Ultrasonic oil recovery equipment includes the generation of high-power ultrasonic signals, long-distance transmission and the conversion of electrical energy to acoustic energy. In this paper, state-of-the-art on the development of ultrasonic oil production devices for Enhanced Oil Recovery in China is introduced. The purpose of this paper is to provide a reference for the development of high-power ultrasonic oil extraction equipment and its promotion in tertiary oil recovery technology.

Enhancing Oil Production Using Silica-Based Nanofluids: Preparation, Stability, and Displacement Mechanisms

A novel two-step preparation of a silica nanofluid (Si-NF) with potential for light oil recovery is herein presented. It was observed that a Si-NF, prepared by dispersing silica nanoparticles (Si-NPs) in poly(vinyl alcohol) (1%) under carbon dioxide gas bubbling, is stable for 30 days at a temperature as high as 55 °C without any visible sedimentation. Unstable Si-NFs formed siliceous gels whose strength depends on Si-NP load. The spectral characterization revealed that prepared Si-NFs consisted of silanols, carbonyls, and alcohols. As part of an effort to enhance the light oil production (API 31°), 1, 0.5, and 0.1 wt % Si-NPs were injected in waterflooded Berea sandstone at 55 °C. An increase in oil as high as 7.6% was achieved for the Si-NF with the highest Si-NP load (1 wt % Si-NP). Oil production encompassed the discontinuity of Si-NFs, channel plugging, wettability, and interfacial tension alterations.

Oil Recovery Mechanisms During Sequential Injection of Chelating Agent Solutions Into Carbonate Rocks

Chelating agent solutions have been proposed as effective fluids for enhancing oil production. Different recovery mechanisms are reported for increasing the oil recovery during chelating agent flooding. The aims of this work are to identify the possible recovery mechanisms during chelating agent flooding in carbonate reservoirs and to investigate the in situ CO2 generation as a potential recovery mechanism during the injection of chelating agent solutions into carbonate reservoirs. The contribution of CO2 on enhancing the oil recovery was determined using experimental measurements and analytical calculations. Several measurements were conducted to study the contribution of each mechanism on enhancing the oil recovery. Coreflooding tests, zeta potential measurements, CO2 generation, and interfacial tension (IFT) experiments were carried out. Also, analytical models were utilized to determine the impact of the injected chemicals on reducing the capillary pressure and improving the flow conditions. In flooding tests, two chemicals (EDTA and GLDA) were injected in a sequential mode and the chemical concentration was increased gradually. In addition, a comparative study was performed to evaluate the effectiveness of EDTA and GLDA solutions to enhance oil recovery. Several parameters were investigated in this paper including incremental oil recovery, in situ CO2 generation, hydrocarbon swelling, IFT, wettability alteration, permeability enhancement, productivity index, and chemical cost. The obtained results show that GLDA chelating agent has better performance than EDTA solutions for enhancing the oil recovery when the same concentrations are used. Also, the in situ generation of CO2 shows a significant impact on improving the oil recovery from carbonate reservoirs during chelating agent flooding. In the literature, the reported recovery mechanisms of using chelating agents are the IFT reduction, wettability alteration, and rock dissolution. Based on this work, injecting chelating agent solutions at low pH can lead to involve additional recovery mechanisms due to the CO2 generation, the additional mechanisms are hydrocarbon swelling, viscosity and density reduction, and oil vaporization.

Enhanced Oil Recovery by Polymer Flooding: Direct, Low-Cost Visualization in a Hele–Shaw Cell

We designed a hands-on laboratory exercise to demonstrate why injecting an aqueous polymer solution into an oil reservoir (commonly known as “polymer flooding”) enhances oil production. Students are split into three groups of two to three. Each group is assigned to a packed Hele–Shaw cell pre-saturated with oil, our laboratory model of an oil reservoir, and is given an aqueous solution of known polymer concentration to inject into the model reservoir to “push” the oil out. At selected intervals, students record the oil produced, take photos of the cell using their smartphones, and demarcate the invading polymer front on an acetate sheet. There is ample time for students to observe the experiments of other groups and compare the different flow patterns that arise from different polymer concentrations. Students share their results with other groups at the end of the session, which require effective data presentation and communication. Both the in-session tasks and data sharing require team work. While this experiment was designed for a course on Enhanced Oil Recovery for final year undergraduate and MSc students in petroleum engineering, it can be readily adapted to courses on groundwater hydrology or subsurface transport by selecting different test fluids.