Carbon dioxide for the recovery of crude oil. Annual report, November 1978-November 1979

Technical Report · Fri Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1980

OSTI ID:5172691

Doscher, T M

The displacement of residual oil to waterflooding by miscible fluid injection has been studied using scaled physical models of line-drive systems. The effects of flow rate, mobility ratio, and density ratio, were investigated. This work was a first step in an overall program of studying miscible displacement in particular by carbon dioxide, of residual oil as a process for recovering additional crude oil from reservoirs which had been waterflooded. The ratios of gravitational and viscous forces which exist in tertiary recovery operations, using carbon dioxide as a recovery reagent, were approximated in a scaled physical model at ambient pressure and temperature. The viscosity ratio was now very unfavorable and displacement of moveable water was inefficient. Consequently, the displacement of the residual oil by the solvent, which was simulating the role of carbon dioxide, was also poor. The recovery efficiency could not be improved by reasonable increases in the fluid velocity because the unfavorable mobility-caused viscous fingering was so dominant. Insomuch as carbon dioxide flooding, an imperfectly miscible recovery process, cannot be expected to perform as well as a perfectly miscible recovery process, these experiments point to the need for imposing a strong measure of mobility control if the injection of carbon dioxide is to achieve widespread usage for the recovery of residual oil.

• Research Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AM03-76SF00113
• OSTI ID: 5172691
• Report Number(s): DOE/SF/0113-4
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020300* -- Petroleum-- Drilling & Production
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON DIOXIDE
CARBON DIOXIDE INJECTION
CARBON OXIDES
CHALCOGENIDES
CONTROL
DENSITY
ENERGY SOURCES
ENHANCED RECOVERY
FLOW RATE
FLUID INJECTION
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
MISCIBLE-PHASE DISPLACEMENT
MOBILITY
OIL WELLS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PETROLEUM
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
RESIDUAL PETROLEUM
WELL STIMULATION
WELLS