Skip to main content
OSTI.GOVU.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information
 

Impact of Polymer Rheology on Gel Treatment Performance of Horizontal Wells with Severe Channeling

Journal Article · · SPE Journal
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2118/209190-pa· OSTI ID:1981034
 [1];  [2];  [2]
  1. Missouri University of Science and Technology (Corresponding author)
  2. Missouri University of Science and Technology
+ Show Author Affiliations

Summary

Gel treatment has been a cost-effective method to control the conformance of a reservoir with severe heterogeneity problems. The water channels in such reservoirs can be classified as open fractures or high permeability porous media with pore-throat network. Many simulation studies have been conducted to discuss gel treatment performance for conformance control. However, nobody considered the polymer rheology difference in open fractures and porous media in simulation. Previous simulation studies also ignored the residual resistance factor as a function of rock permeability rather than a constant parameter. In this study, a conceptual simulation model was established to simulate the linear flow system for the reservoir with horizontal wells considering the two factors mentioned above. The results demonstrate that the gel treatment always provides the better placement results in the open fracture type channel than pore-throat network type channel. Moreover, it is very necessary to consider residual resistance factor as a function of permeability, which is based on the experimental results and can provide much greater plugging efficiency in the higher permeable channels than constant residual resistance factor. Sensitivity analysis studies and multifactor analysis indicate that increasing oil viscosity and permeability ratio has a strong positive influence on conformance control results, which indicate in-situ gel treatment can be better applied in heavy or viscous oil reservoirs with fracture-like channels. Besides, the results also indicate that in reservoirs with severe channeling problem where channel velocity was high, the differences of gelant placement and profile improvement in models with two different types of channels could be enlarged greatly.

Research Organization:
Univ. of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Fossil Energy (FE)
DOE Contract Number:
FE0031606
OSTI ID:
1981034
Journal Information:
SPE Journal, Vol. 27, Issue 02; ISSN 1086-055X
Publisher:
Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (35)

Comprehensive Guidelines for the Application of In-Situ Polymer Gels for Injection Well Conformance Improvement Based on Field Projects conference April 2016
Field and Lab Experience with a Successful Preformed Particle Gel Conformance Control Technology conference March 2013
A comprehensive review of polyacrylamide polymer gels for conformance control journal August 2015
Molecular Interpretation of Several Different Properties of Flow of Coiled Polymer Solutions Through Porous Media in Oil Recovery Conditions conference January 1981
Mechanistic Interpretation and Utilization of Viscoelastic Behavior of Polymer Solutions for Improved Polymer-Flood Efficiency conference April 2008
Produced water treatment technologies journal July 2012
Gel Performance Simulations and Laboratory/Field Studies to Design Water Conformance Treatments in Eastern Venezuelan HPHT Reservoirs conference April 2004
Numerical Simulation of Single-Well Polymer Gel Treatments in Heterogeneous Formations conference April 1990
A comprehensive evaluation of the parameters that affect the performance of in-situ gelation system journal August 2018
Impact of Fracture Growth on Well Injectivity and Reservoir Sweep during Waterflood and Chemical EOR Processes conference October 2011
Impact of Rheology Models on Horizontal Well Polymer Flooding in a Heavy Oil Reservoir on Alaska North Slope: A Simulation Study conference August 2021
Gel Placement in Production Wells journal November 1993
Applied Technologies and Prospects of Conformance Control Treatments in China journal February 2010
The Effect of Polymer Rheology and Induced Fracturing on Injectivity and Pressure-Transient Behavior journal September 2016
Control Of Water Mobility Using Polymers and Multivalent Cations conference April 1974
Effect of Rheology on Gel Placement journal May 1991
Placement of Gels To Modify Injection Profiles conference April 1988
An Experimental Study of Non-Newtonian Polymer Rheology Effects on Oil Recovery and Injectivity journal November 1990
Washout of Cr(III)-Acetate-HPAM Gels from Fractures conference February 2003
Disproportionate Permeability Reduction With Pore-Filling Gels journal March 2009
Potential for Polymer Flooding Reservoirs with Viscous Oils conference April 2010
New Insights Into Polymer Rheology in Porous Media journal November 2010
A Strategy for Attacking Excess Water Production journal August 2003
Injectivity Characteristics of EOR Polymers conference September 2008
A Comparison of Polymer Flooding With In-Depth Profile Modification journal July 2012
Injectivity Characteristics of EOR Polymers journal October 2009
The Behavior of Partially Hydrolyzed Polyacrylamide Solutions in Porous Media journal February 1970
Simulation Model for Predicting Placement of Gels conference January 1994
A New Conformance-Improvement-Treatment Chromium(III) Gel Technology conference April 1988
When and Where Relative Permeability Modification Water-Shutoff Treatments Can Be Successfully Applied conference April 2006
More Than 12 Years of Experience with a Successful Conformance-Control Polymer Gel Technology conference June 2000
Key Aspects of Project Design for Polymer Flooding at the Daqing Oilfield journal December 2008
Pore-Scale Investigation of Micron-Size Polyacrylamide Elastic Microspheres (MPEMs) Transport and Retention in Saturated Porous Media journal April 2014
Flow of Polyacrylamide Polymers in the Near-Wellbore-Region, Rheological Behavior within Induced Fractures and Near-Wellbore Area conference September 2013
Hydrodynamic Retention and Rheology of EOR Polymers in Porous Media conference April 2015

Similar Records

CONFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT USING GELS
Technical Report · 2003 · OSTI ID:824385
Aperture-Tolerant, Chemical-Based Methods to Reduce Channeling
Technical Report · 2007 · OSTI ID:925461
CONFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT USING GELS
Technical Report · 2004 · OSTI ID:823024

Related Subjects

Engineering