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Impact of Rheology Models on Horizontal Well Polymer Flooding in a Heavy Oil Reservoir on Alaska North Slope: A Simulation Study

Conference · · Proceedings - Offshore Technology Conference
DOI:https://doi.org/10.4043/31087-ms· OSTI ID:1827059
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [6]
  1. Missouri University of Science and Technology; University of Alaska Fairbanks
  2. Missouri University of Science and Technology
  3. New Mexico Petroleum Recovery Research Center
  4. University of Alaska Fairbanks
  5. Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory
  6. Reservoir Experts, LLC/Hilcorp Alask, LLC
+ Show Author Affiliations

Polymer rheology can have either a positive or a negative effect on polymer flooding performance under varied circumstances. Many researchers have studied the effect of polymer rheology in a vertical well, but no field scale studies have been conducted to investigate whether polymer rheology is beneficial to polymer flooding in heavy oil reservoirs developed by horizontal wells. In this paper, we conducted a numerical simulation study to examine the effect of HPAM polymer rheology on a polymer flooding pilot, which is the first-ever project conducted on a heavy oil reservoir from Alaska North Slope (ANS) developed by horizontal wells. Three rheology types were considered in the study including the apparent viscosity measured during core flooding of using a HPAM polymer, the bulk viscosity measured with a viscometer, and a Newtonian flow model. The results suggest that using the bulk viscosity in simulation underestimates the conformance control and the water-oil-ratio reduction capability of the HPAM polymer solution. When the apparent viscosity is used, the incremental oil and sweep were largely increased, and the optimal recovery period of polymer flooding was extended greatly, especially for the heterogeneous formations. Therefore, the rheology type of polymer plays a significant role in the incremental oil recovery and injection profile of the horizontal well system given the pilot test conditions. This study has provided practical guidance to field operators for the ongoing polymer flooding pilot on ANS and will also provide valuable information for other polymer projects conducted in similar conditions.

Research Organization:
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Fossil Energy (FE), Oil & Natural Gas
DOE Contract Number:
FE0031606
OSTI ID:
1827059
Conference Information:
Journal Name: Proceedings - Offshore Technology Conference Journal Volume: 2021
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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