Injection Front Research Articles

The Time-Varying Characteristics of Relative Permeability in Oil Reservoirs with Gas Injection

Relative permeability is a critical parameter in reservoir numerical simulation and production prediction, intimately associated with reservoir architecture and fluid property. During gas injection development, substantial alterations in reservoir properties and fluid phase behavior induce dynamic changes in relative permeability. Clearly characterizing the time-varying features of relative permeability is very useful for an understanding of how gas injection influences fluid mobility within the reservoir and enhances recovery rates. In this paper, core displacement experiments are firstly conducted to obtain the characteristics of the relative permeability of oil and gas under various development stages and displacement conditions, further delineating the comprehensive shifts in reservoir properties at different gas injection stages. Subsequently, a novel reservoir numerical simulation method is proposed that considers the spatial and temporal segmentation of relative permeability curves in the reservoir simulation. Finally, a practical application is presented to clarify the effects of injection and production parameters on the development performance of gas flooding oil reservoirs. The results show the following: (i) Significant time-varying characteristics of relative permeability occur throughout gas injection development, in the early stages of gas injection, where most of the reservoir is at the gas injection front, and a rightward shift in relative oil and gas permeability indicates that gas injection promotes oil mobility. Conversely, in the later stages of gas injection, as the reservoir reaches the trailing edge of gas injection, the change trend in relative oil and gas permeability reverses, shifting leftward, thereby exacerbating the gas breakout phenomena. (ii) Increasing the rate of gas injection causes relative oil and gas permeability to move leftward, effectively enhancing the gas volume sweep coefficient and microscopic oil displacement efficiency at lower injection speeds while reducing development performance at higher injection speeds. (iii) An increase in gas injection pressure causes relative oil and gas permeability to shift rightward, and although it reduces residual oil saturation and enhances microscopic oil displacement efficiency, it also intensifies gas breakout phenomena and lowers the gas volume sweep coefficient. This paper provides theoretical guidance and technical support for the design of gas injection strategies, optimization of injection and production parameters, and production forecasting.

Turunan Radial dari Anomali Gravitasi untuk Identifikasi Injeksi Air pada Reservoir

Time Lapse micro-gravity or 4D microgravity has been developed and applied for various purposes related to the dynamics change beneath the earth's surface. The principle is a repeated and periodic measurement to determine the change in gravity value at time interval as a yield of the dynamics changes in the density change of the subsurface. This method can be used for monitoring and identify water or gas injections in reservoirs. Mass density taht changes due to gas injection provide changes in the values of gravity over time. This change allows us to identify the dynamics of gas movement in reservoir. A reservoir model has been made in this research with gas injected in reservoir bulk. The time lapse gravity respons value is calculated numerically. Oil-gas contact is an edge between gas injection front with oil which move direction away from injection point. The first and second radial derivatives of 4D gravity can provide as a front of the gas movement in the reservoir. A radial derivatives is a horizontal derivative of gravity anomaly along radial direction from a point which selected as a entre of the anomaly. The second radial derivative is derivative of radial deriative. Radial derivatives value of this model response have range of 20 microGals/m and second radial derivative has a values of 0.05 microGals/m2. Graphics of absolute value of radial derivative and second radial derivative of 4D gravity anomaly seemingly correlated with the oil-gas contact of reservoir models. Radial derivative and second radial derivative has been proven as new available method wich has ability to shows a boundary of a horizontal layer with vertical density contrast. Keywords: Radial derivatives, reservoir, gas injection.

Extensive tip-splitting of injected organic liquid into an aqueous viscoelastic fluid

The injection of a fluid into another fluid causes a spatiotemporal pattern along the injection front. Viscous fingering is a well-known example when the replaced material is a viscous fluid. Notably, most fluids are, in reality, viscoelastic, i.e., they behave as an elastic solid over short timescales. For this reason, it is important to study the situation when the replaced fluid is viscoelastic. In this study, we observed a dynamics of fluids when an incompressible organic liquid was injected into an oleophilic Hele–Shaw cell filled with an aqueous viscoelastic fluid made of a wormlike micellar solution. We found extensive tip splitting of the injection front, which led to thin fingers with a characteristic size comparable to four times the cell thickness. We examined the material properties and suggest that the thin fingering pattern observed in our system is due to the delamination of viscoelastic fluid from the bottom substrate surface. Our result shows that the effect of interfacial energy in the existing solid layer should be considered in the injection process.

Fracture Parameters Optimization and Field Application in Low-Permeability Sandstone Reservoirs under Fracturing Flooding Conditions

To solve engineering problems in the production process after fracturing and flooding of low-permeability sandstone reservoirs, such as rapid water-cut rise and low water flooding efficiency, a method for optimizing the fracture parameters of low-permeability sandstone reservoirs under fracturing flooding conditions was proposed. A rock property test experiment was first carried out, the fracturing coefficient was defined, and an evaluation method for the brittleness index of low-permeability sandstone was established to optimize the perforation location of the fracturing reservoir. A productivity numerical model for the two-phase flow of oil–water in matrix–fracture media was established to optimize the fracture morphology under fracturing flooding conditions. The results showed that the quartz content, Young’s modulus, and peak stress mainly affected the fracturing coefficient of rock and are the key indicators for evaluating the brittleness of low-permeability sandstone reservoirs. For production wells in the direction of minimum horizontal principal stress, the swept area of water flooding should be expanded, fracture length should be optimized to 90 m, and fracture conductivity should be 20 D·cm. For fracturing production wells in the direction of maximum horizontal principal stress, the advancing speed of the water injection front should be slowed down to reduce the risk of water channeling in injection-production wells. The optimized fracture length was 80 m, and the fracture conductivity was 25 D·cm. The application of these findings can markedly improve oil production and provide a reference for optimizing the fracture parameters of low-permeability sandstone reservoirs under fracturing flooding conditions.

Spatially controlled, bipolar, cortical stimulation with high-capacitance, mechanically flexible subdural surface microelectrode arrays.

Most neuromodulation approaches rely on extracellular electrical stimulation with penetrating electrodes at the cost of cortical damage. Surface electrodes, in contrast, are much less invasive but are challenged by the lack of proximity to axonal processes, leading to poor resolution. Here, we demonstrate that high-density (40-μm pitch), high-capacitance (>1 nF), single neuronal resolution PEDOT:PSS electrodes can be programmed to shape the charge injection front selectively at depths approaching 300 micrometers with a lateral resolution better than 100 micrometers. These electrodes, patterned on thin-film parylene substrate, can be subdurally implanted and adhere to the pial surface in chronic settings. By leveraging surface arrays that are optically transparent with PEDOT:PSS local interconnects and integrated with depth electrodes, we are able to combine surface stimulation and recording with calcium imaging and depth recording to demonstrate these spatial limits of bidirectional communication with pyramidal neurons in mouse visual cortex both laterally and at depth from the surface.

Modeling the Effects of Drift Shell Splitting in Two Case Studies of Simultaneous Observations of Substorm‐Driven Pi1B and IPDP‐Type EMIC Waves

AbstractIntervals of pulsations of diminishing periods (IPDPs) are a subtype of electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves that can be triggered by substorm onset. Pi1B waves are ultralow frequency (ULF) broadband bursts that are well correlated with substorm onset. IPDPs are associated with increased fluxes of 40–60 keV substorm‐injected protons which undergo gradient‐curvature drifting and interact with the cold plasmasphere population. While particle trajectories and the generation of IPDPs have been modeled in the past, those models neglect the role that drift shell splitting plays in the process. This research investigates the different pathways that Pi1B and IPDPs take from their shared origin in substorm onset to their distinct observations on the ground, including the effects of drift shell splitting en route. This paper presents two case studies using data from an array of four ground‐based Antarctic magnetometers that cover the evening sector, as well as in situ magnetometer data, proton fluxes, and proton pitch angles from the Van Allen Probes spacecraft. These observations identify a separation in geomagnetic latitude between Pi1Bs and IPDPs, and pinpoint a separation in magnetic local time (MLT). From these observations we model the drift shell splitting which injected particles undergo post‐onset. This study shows that simulations that incorporate drift shell splitting across a full injection front are dominated by injection boundary effects, and that the inclusion of drift shell splitting introduces a slight horizontal component to the time axis of the time–frequency dependence of the IPDPs.

Effect of CO2 flooding in an oil reservoir with strong bottom-water drive in the Tahe Oilfield, Tarim Basin, Northwest China

The dissolution and diffusion of CO2 in oil and water and its displacement mechanism were investigated by laboratory experiment and numerical simulation for Block 9 in the Tahe oilfield, a sandstone oil reservoir with strong bottom-water drive in Tarim Basin, Northwest China. Such parameters were analyzed as solubility ratio of CO2 in oil, gas and water, interfacial tension, in-situ oil viscosity distribution, remaining oil saturation distribution, and oil compositions. The results show that CO2 flooding could control water coning and increase oil production. In the early stage of the injection process, CO2 expanded vertically due to gravity differentiation, and extended laterally under the action of strong bottom water in the intermediate and late stages. The CO2 got enriched and extended at the oil-water interface, forming a high interfacial tension zone, which inhibited the coning of bottom water to some extent. A miscible region with low interfacial tension formed at the gas injection front, which reduced the in-situ oil viscosity by about 50%. The numerical simulation results show that enhanced oil recovery (EOR) is estimated at 5.72% and the oil exchange ratio of CO2 is 0.17 t/t.

Electron Energization Signatures in Traveling Kinetic Alfvén Waves at Storm Time Injection Fronts

AbstractThe properties of traveling kinetic Alfvén waves (KAWs) and their role in energizing electrons in the inner magnetosphere during a geomagnetic storm are examined using measurements from the Van Allen Probes and Gyrofluid‐Kinetic Electron (GKE) model simulations. Traveling KAWs occur in the vicinity of energetic plasma injection fronts in association with magnetic field dipolarizations. The KAWs coincide with energized field‐aligned electrons at energies ≲1 keV. By using observational constraints and incorporating hot and cold electron populations, the GKE simulations are able to reproduce the observed energized electron distribution signatures. The modeling results demonstrate the crucial importance of cold electrons for best observational agreement. The results show that the electron response to KAWs can be substantially different for opposing current regions and are a sensitive function of the cold electron relative density.

Localized Excitation of Electromagnetic Ion Cyclotron Waves From Anisotropic Protons Filtered by Magnetic Dips

AbstractThe excitation of electrostatic and/or electromagnetic waves in the plasma universe is often associated with anisotropic velocity distributions of charged particles. In Earth's inner magnetosphere, this anisotropy can gradually develop as particles injected from the magnetotail drift around the Earth at different speeds depending on their energy and pitch angle. Here, we show that the perpendicular‐moving and bouncing ions can be separated more abruptly near the injection front. These pitch‐angle filters are localized magnetic dip structures formed by the diamagnetic behavior of the injected particles, which can trap perpendicular‐moving ions and allow bouncing ions to overtake. The resulting ion anisotropy facilitates the rapid generation of electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves, which in turn can largely reshape the Van Allen radiation belts. This scenario is examined by case and statistical observations, together with numerical simulations that reproduce most of the observational signatures, to support the causal relationship between magnetic dips, anisotropic ion distributions, and localized excitation of EMIC waves. Our study highlights the important roles of magnetic dips in the inner magnetospheric dynamics, as pitch‐angle filters of the injected ions and traveling hotspots of EMIC wave activities.

A Rapid Localized Deceleration of Earth's Radiation Belt Relativistic Electrons Driven by Storm Proton Injection

AbstractEarth's radiation belt relativistic electron dropouts frequently occur during the main phase of geomagnetic storms, which have been partially attributed to the ring current ion enhancements causing geomagnetic field reconfigurations. In contrast to early studies on the global radiation belt response to the ring current buildup on a timescale of several hours, we here describe a rapid, localized, significant decay of relativistic electrons driven by freshly injected energetic protons during the 27 May 2017 geomagnetic storm. Near the proton injection front, the magnetic field lines were stretched outward, with an inferred migration of their equatorial crossings by ∼0.5 RE during several minutes. Because of the betatron and Fermi decelerations, the relativistic electron fluxes decreased by 2–3 orders of magnitude with pitch‐angle distributions evolving from pancake/flat‐top type to cigar type. This rapid localized response pattern of relativistic electrons could be general over strong particle injections during both geomagnetic storms and substorms.

Water injection front estimation of oil fields to reduce risks of sharp water flooding

At the fields of Rosneft Oil and Gas Company, effective technologies are used to increase oil production and oil recovery ratio. To this end, systematic work is carried out to extract hard-to-recover oil reserves. Side boreholes (BS) cutting, which helps to increase oil recovery and actually replaces well compaction. Piezometric and unprofitable wells, as well as wells with leaking production strings, are identified when selecting candidate wells for planning BS and horizontal wells (HW). Maps of residual oil-saturated thicknesses are also considered, according to which localization zones of oil reserves not involved in the development are determined, in order to select areas for drilling. For rational selection of measures, forecasting of drilling results should be carried out using a hydrodynamic model and full seismic studies. First of all, the proximity of the water injection front from the existing injection pool of wells is determined in order to avoid the risks of sharp watering.

On Stability of a Water Injection Front in High Temperature Rock

On Stability of a Water Injection Front in High Temperature Rock

A multiscale study on the effects of dynamic capillary pressure in two-phase flow in porous media

Capillary pressure is usually considered as a function of the rock and fluid properties, and saturation. However, recent studies have shown that capillary forces also are a function of the rate of change of saturation. Moreover, although it was observed that dynamic forces are highly scale dependent, the role of these effects in large-scale flow practices is still unclear. In this study, using an innovative numerical simulation approach, the impact of the mentioned parameters was studied in a highly heterogeneous oil reservoir that is under waterflooding process. It is observed that the role of dynamic capillary pressure, using routinely measured dynamic capillary coefficient values, is not important in large-scale problems. However, it would be important in the higher capillary coefficient values that are several orders of magnitude larger than the values reported in previous experimental studies. Furthermore, the role of rock heterogeneity is discussed and it is shown that neglecting the dynamic capillary effects in heterogeneous media may lead to misleading results in the prediction of the injection front behavior in the reservoir. The dynamic capillary effects, by lowering the imbibition capillary pressure in the front, leads to more frontal movement of the injection fluid. Also, it is shown that the dynamic effects are more sensible at points close to the injection wells in homogenous reservoirs, but, in the heterogenous models it is more dependent on rock properties than the distance from the injection wells.

A Census of Plasma Waves and Structures Associated With an Injection Front in the Inner Magnetosphere

AbstractNow that observations have conclusively established that the inner magnetosphere is abundantly populated with kinetic electric field structures and nonlinear waves, attention has turned to quantifying the ability of these structures and waves to scatter and accelerate inner magnetospheric plasma populations. A necessary step in that quantification is determining the distribution of observed structure and wave properties (e.g., occurrence rates, amplitudes, and spatial scales). Kinetic structures and nonlinear waves have broadband signatures in frequency space, and consequently, high‐resolution time domain electric and magnetic field data are required to uniquely identify such structures and waves as well as determine their properties. However, most high‐resolution fields data are collected with a strong bias toward high‐amplitude signals in a preselected frequency range, strongly biasing observations of structure and wave properties. In this study, an ∼45 min unbroken interval of 16,384 samples/s field burst data, encompassing an electron injection event, is examined. This data set enables an unbiased census of the kinetic structures and nonlinear waves driven by this electron injection, as well as determination of their “typical” properties. It is found that the properties determined using this unbiased burst data are considerably different than those inferred from amplitude‐biased burst data, with significant implications for wave‐particle interactions due to kinetic structures and nonlinear waves in the inner magnetosphere.

The Radial Propagation Characteristics of the Injection Front: A Statistical Study Based On BD‐IES and Van Allen Probes Observations

AbstractElectron flux measurements outside geosynchronous orbit (GSO) obtained by the BeiDa Imaging Electron Spectrometer instrument on board a 55° inclined GSO satellite and inside GSO obtained by the Van Allen Probes are analyzed to investigate the temporal and spatial evolutions of the substorm injection region. In 1 year data started from October 2015, 63 injection events are identified. First, our study shows that the injection signatures can be detected in a large radial extent in one single event, for example, from L ∼ 4.1 to L ∼ 9.3. Second, injection onset times are derived from the energy dispersion of particle injection signatures of each satellite. The difference of the onset times among satellites reveals that the injection boundary, termed as “injection front” in this paper, can propagate both earthward and tailward with a speed varying from a few km/s to ∼100 km/s. Third, evolutions of the upper‐cutoff magnetic moments (μuc) of injected electrons are analyzed, upon which the injection events are classified into two categories. In one category, the μuc observed by two radially separated satellites are equal taking into account the error caused by the finite width of energy channels, whereas in the other category, μuc at lower L shells are smaller than those at higher L shells.

Pattern of a confined chemical garden controlled by injection speed.

Pattern of confined chemical garden was controlled by the speed of injected fluid, and their mechanism is discussed. A confined chemical garden system was constructed where an aqueous solution of cobalt chloride was injected into a cell filled with sodium silicate solution. The reaction of these two solutions resulted in the formation of precipitation. The viscosities of the prepared aqueous solutions were set to be similar in order to rule out the possibility of Saffman-Taylor instability. The injection front showed three distinctive patterns: algaes, shells, and filaments, which were dependent on injection speed. The injection pressure and the spatio-temporal pattern of the injected fluid were measured, and a significant increase in the injection pressure was observed when the filament pattern appeared, which indicated the existence of thin lubrication layer between the precipitation and the substrate. The filament pattern was further analyzed quantitatively, and the number of active filaments was determined to be proportional to the injection speed. A mathematical model was constructed that considered both the viscous effect from the thin lubrication layer and the Laplace pressure. This model successfully reproduced the characteristic filament dynamics.

Diffusive scattering of electrons by electron holes around injection fronts

AbstractVan Allen Probes have detected nonlinear electrostatic spikes around injection fronts in the outer radiation belt. These spikes include electron holes (EH), double layers, and more complicated solitary waves. We show that EHs can efficiently scatter electrons due to their substantial transverse electric fields. Although the electron scattering driven by EHs is diffusive, it cannot be evaluated via the standard quasi‐linear theory. We derive analytical formulas describing local electron scattering by a single EH and verify them via test particle simulations. We show that the most efficiently scattered are gyroresonant electrons (crossing EH on a time scale comparable to the local electron gyroperiod). We compute bounce‐averaged diffusion coefficients and demonstrate their dependence on the EH spatial distribution (latitudinal extent and spatial filling factor) and individual EH parameters (amplitude of electrostatic potential, velocity, and spatial scales). We show that EHs can drive pitch angle scattering of 5 keV electrons at rates 10−2−10−4 s−1 and, hence, can contribute to electron losses and conjugated diffuse aurora brightenings. The momentum and pitch angle scattering rates can be comparable, so that EHs can also provide efficient electron heating. The scattering rates driven by EHs at L shells L ∼ 5–8 are comparable to those due to chorus waves and may exceed those due to electron cyclotron harmonics.

Electron holes in the outer radiation belt: Characteristics and their role in electron energization

AbstractVan Allen Probes have detected electron holes (EHs) around injection fronts in the outer radiation belt. Presumably generated near equator, EHs propagate to higher latitudes potentially resulting in energization of electrons trapped within EHs. This process has been recently shown to provide electrons with energies up to several tens of keV and requires EH propagation up to rather high latitudes. We have analyzed more than 100 EHs observed around a particular injection to determine their kinetic structure and potential energy sources supporting the energization of trapped electrons. EHs propagate with velocities from 1000 to 20,000 km/s (a few times larger than the thermal velocity of the coldest background electron population). The parallel scale of observed EHs is from 0.3 to 3 km that is of the order of hundred Debye lengths. The perpendicular to parallel scale ratio is larger than one in a qualitative agreement with the theoretical scaling relation. The amplitudes of EH electrostatic potentials are generally below 100 V. We determine the properties of the electron population trapped within EHs by making use of the Bernstein‐Green‐Kruskal analysis and via analysis of EH magnetic field signatures. The density of the trapped electron population is on average 20% of the background electron density. The perpendicular temperature of the trapped population is on average 300 eV and is larger for faster EHs. We show that energy losses of untrapped electrons scattered by EHs in the inhomogeneous background magnetic field may balance the energization of trapped electrons.

IMPROVEMENT OF OIL RECOVERY OF THE FLOODED LAYERS AT FORMATION HYDRAULIC FRACTURING

An approach has been found for realization of the formation hydraulic fracturing operations in the zones of the injected waters front taking into consideration this front type. The effectiveness of FHF in the zones of the formation with a static water injection front is proved.

Assessment of the recovery and front contrast of CO2 EOR and sequestration in a new gas condensate reservoir by compositional simulation and seismic modeling

While mature oil reservoirs and aquifers are considered to be good potential candidates for CO2 sequestration, we proposed and investigated an alternative which combines CO2 sequestration and CO2 EOR at the very start of production in a gas condensate reservoir. First, we established a co-simulation workflow with a combination of compositional reservoir simulation and synthetic seismic simulation. Next, we conducted compositional reservoir simulation and synthetic seismic simulation in a five-spot well pattern to investigate whether seismic data can monitor the CO2 front and gas condensate bank with CO2 injected from the very beginning of well production. Then, we compared the compositional simulation results with the seismic simulation results. Although the density contrast among reservoir gas, injected CO2, and condensate is lower than the density contrast in the case of CO2 sequestration in aquifers, the seismic signal may have the potential to capture this smaller difference, monitor the CO2 injection front, and locate the condensate zone, depending on the temperature, pressure and phase properties. When no adequate data are available for reservoir characterization at an early period of production, the seismic data is the only direct measurement of inter-well properties. It may be very valuable for reservoir characterization and for the evaluation of the condensate block. It can serve as the basis for time-lapse monitoring. We compare production by natural depletion with production by CO2 EOR and sequestration started at the very beginning of well production. It shows that the latter will speed up the recovery process and increase the recovery rate while simultaneously storing a large amount of CO2 in the reservoir.