Scale-up of miscible flood processes for heterogeneous reservoirs. Second annual report
Progress is reported for a comprehensive investigation of the scaling behavior of gas injection processes in heterogeneous reservoirs. The interplay of phase behavior, viscous fingering, gravity segregation, capillary imbibition and drainage, and reservoir heterogeneity is examined in a series of simulations and experiments. Use of streamtube to model multiphase flow is demonstrated to be a fast and accurate approach for displacements that are dominated by reservoir heterogeneity. The streamtube technique is particularly powerful for multiphase compositional displacements because it represents the effects of phase behavior with a one-dimensional flow and represents the effects of heterogeneity through the locations of streamtubes. A new approach for fast calculations of critical tie-lines directly from criticality conditions is reported. A global triangular structure solution for four-component flow systems, whose tie-lies meet at the edge of a quaternary phase diagram or lie in planes is presented. Also demonstrated is the extension of this solution to multicomponent systems under the same assumptions. The interplay of gravity, capillary and viscous forces on final residual oil saturation is examined experimentally and theoretically. The analysis of vertical equilibrium conditions for three-phase gravity drainage shows that almost all oil can be recovered from the top part of a reservoir. The prediction of spreading and stability of thin film is performed to investigate three-phase gravity drainage mechanisms. Finally, experimental results from gravity drainage of crude oil in the presence of CO{sub 2} suggest that gravity drainage could be an efficient oil recovery process for vertically fractured reservoirs.
- Research Organization:
- Stanford Univ., CA (United States). Dept. of Petroleum Engineering
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- FG22-92BC14852
- OSTI ID:
- 10120428
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/BC/14852--10; ON: DE95000132
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Scale-up of miscible flood processes for heterogeneous reservoirs. 1993 annual report
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