Modification of chemical and physical factors in steamflood to increase heavy oil recovery
Three aspects of vapor-liquid flow in porous media were addressed: (i) Extension of a previous vapor-liquid model for solution gas-drive to a water liquid-water vapor (steam) system in a pore network; (ii) Visualization of steam injection in Hele-Shaw cells and glass micromodels; and (iii) Macroscopic description of concurrent vapor-liquid flow in porous media. Significant progress was made in the study of reservoir heterogeneity and its effects on flow processes. The authors have considered three general areas: (i) The representation of naturally fractured systems; (ii) The large-scale averaging (derivation of pseudo-functions) for displacement in macroscopically heterogeneous systems; and (iii) The study of parallel flow, typically encountered in long and narrow reservoirs. The third area of research in this report involves chemical additives for the improvement of recovery efficiencies. The authors have been studying the following three aspects: (i) Caustic additives at elevated temperatures; (ii) Foam generation; and (iii) Non-Newtonian flow in porous media. The study of caustic injection at elevated temperatures, specifically the silica dissolution and caustic consumption, has been terminated. A technical report will summarize the results obtained. Here, the authors address the remaining aspects (ii) and (iii). 107 refs., 87 figs., 4 tabs.
- Research Organization:
- University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA (USA). Dept. of Chemical Engineering
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- FG22-90BC14600
- OSTI ID:
- 5857895
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/BC/14600-8; ON: DE91002234
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Modification of reservoir chemical and physical factors in steamfloods to increase heavy oil recovery
Modification of reservoir chemical and physical factors in steamfloods to increase heavy oil recovery. [Quarterly report], January 1--March 31, 1997
Related Subjects
OIL WELLS
STEAM INJECTION
ADDITIVES
FLOW MODELS
BUBBLES
CAUSTIC FLOODING
DISSOLUTION
DRAINAGE
EFFICIENCY
EQUILIBRIUM
FLOW VISUALIZATION
FLUID FLOW
FOAMS
FRACTALS
FRACTURED RESERVOIRS
GAS INJECTION
HYDROXIDES
NITROGEN
NUCLEATION
OPTIMIZATION
PERMEABILITY
PETROLEUM
POROUS MATERIALS
PROGRESS REPORT
RESERVOIR ENGINEERING
SANDSTONES
SILICA
STEAM
SURFACTANTS
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
THERMAL RECOVERY
VISCOSITY
WATER
CHALCOGENIDES
COLLOIDS
DISPERSIONS
DOCUMENT TYPES
ELEMENTS
ENERGY SOURCES
ENGINEERING
ENHANCED RECOVERY
FLUID INJECTION
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
MATERIALS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MINERALS
NONMETALS
OXIDE MINERALS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
RECOVERY
ROCKS
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
SILICON COMPOUNDS
SILICON OXIDES
WATERFLOODING
WELLS
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