Field-scale simulation of chemical flooding
A three-dimensional compositional chemical flooding simulator (UTCHEM) has been improved. The new mathematical formulation, boundary conditions, and a description of the physicochemical models of the simulator are presented. This improved simulator has been used for the study of the low tension pilot project at the Big Muddy field near Casper, Wyoming. Both the tracer injection conducted prior to the injection of the chemical slug, and the chemical flooding stages of the pilot project, have been analyzed. Not only the oil recovery but also the tracers, polymer, alcohol and chloride histories have been successfully matched with field results. Simulation results indicate that, for this fresh water reservoir, the salinity gradient during the preflush and the resulting calcium pickup by the surfactant slug played a major role in the success of the project. In addition, analysis of the effects of the crossflow on the performance of the pilot project indicates that, for the well spacing of the pilot, crossflow does not play as important a role as it might for a large-scale project. To improve the numerical efficiency of the simulator, a third order convective differencing scheme has been applied to the simulator. This method can be used with non-uniform mesh, and therefore is suited for simulation studies of large-scale multiwell heterogeneous reservoirs. Comparison of the results with one and two dimensional analytical solutions shows that this method is effective in eliminating numerical dispersion using relatively large grid blocks. Results of one, two and three-dimensional miscible water/tracer flow, water flooding, polymer flooding, and micellar-polymer flooding test problems, and results of grid orientation studies, are presented.
- Research Organization:
- Texas Univ., Austin, TX (USA)
- OSTI ID:
- 6347638
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Thesis (Ph.D)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Modelling and scale-up of chemical flooding
Analysis of the low-tension pilot at Big Muddy field, Wyoming
Related Subjects
OIL WELLS
WATERFLOODING
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
WYOMING
ALCOHOLS
BOUNDARY CONDITIONS
CHLORIDES
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
ENHANCED RECOVERY
MICROEMULSION FLOODING
ONE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
PETROLEUM
POLYMERS
SALINITY
SIMULATORS
SURFACTANTS
THREE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
TWO-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
U CODES
WELL SPACING
ANALOG SYSTEMS
CHLORINE COMPOUNDS
COMPUTER CODES
ENERGY SOURCES
FEDERAL REGION VIII
FLUID INJECTION
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
FUNCTIONAL MODELS
HALIDES
HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
HYDROXY COMPOUNDS
MISCIBLE-PHASE DISPLACEMENT
NORTH AMERICA
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
RECOVERY
USA
WELLS
020300* - Petroleum- Drilling & Production