Mobility control and micellar-polymer flooding

Journal Article · Mon May 24 04:00:00 EDT 1982 · Oil Gas J.; (United States)

OSTI ID:5236891

Kamath, K I; Marsden, Jr, S S

Micellar-polymer flooding, as originally conceived, is the displacement of the immobile residual oil and the mobile water from a waterflooded oil reservoir by an amphipathic solvent (miscible with both oil and water) whose mobility is lower than the minimum combined mobility of the reservoir fluids. The major difference between micellar-polymer flooding and alcohol flooding is that the latter does not consider mobility control as a separate variable. Though considerable research and numerous field tests, (including some with Federal government support), have been conducted on oil recovery by micellar flooding and its many variations, the role of mobility control in this process is unclear. A constraint of obvious significance to mobility control is the viscosity of the oil; the aqueous phase (brine) viscosity shows little or no variation from reservoir to reservoir. Among other important parameters involved in mobility control are the oil/water relative permeabilities of the reservoir rock, which determine the fluid mobilities. This work attempts to correlate micellar solution viscosity, which is amenable to control in flood design, with oil viscosity, which is beyond such control in relation to flood performance. 12 references.

• OSTI ID: 5236891
• Journal Information: Oil Gas J.; (United States), Journal Name: Oil Gas J.; (United States) Vol. 80:21; ISSN OIGJA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020300* -- Petroleum-- Drilling & Production
BRINES
COLLOIDS
CONTROL
CORRELATIONS
DISPERSIONS
EMULSIONS
ENERGY SOURCES
ENGINEERING
ENHANCED RECOVERY
FLUID INJECTION
FLUIDS
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
MASS TRANSFER
MICROEMULSION FLOODING
MICROEMULSIONS
MISCIBLE-PHASE DISPLACEMENT
OIL WELLS
PERMEABILITY
PETROLEUM
PROCESS CONTROL
RECOVERY
RESERVOIR ENGINEERING
RESERVOIR FLUIDS
RESERVOIR ROCK
RESIDUAL PETROLEUM
VISCOSITY
WELLS