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Effect of WAG injection and rock wettability on oil recovery during carbon dioxide flooding

Conference ·
OSTI ID:7076468
Previous studies to determine the extent of oil trapping by water during CO/sub 2/ WAG flooding have shown that rock wettability strongly affects this trapping. A significant trapping occurs in preferentially water-wet rock, and less trapping occurs in oil-wet rock. However, data on trapping in mixed-wettability rock appears to be unavailable in the literature. This paper presents laboratory results of Devonian crude oil displacement from watered-out Berea ad reservoir cores using continuous CO/sub 2/ injection, single-slug CO/sub 2/ injection (followed by water) and CO/sub 2/ WAG injection at miscible reservoir conditions of 120/sup 0/F and 2500 psig. The reservoir cores used in this study were mixed-wettability (Devonian and Muddy formations) and oil-wet (Tensleep formation). The Berea cores used had their wettability artificially altered to simulate these natural wettabilities. The techniques to alter wettability are described in the paper. They included treatment of the rock with crude oil, asphaltenes and silane solutions. The x-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopic method for measuring carbon content of rock surface was used to provide a qualitative measure of wettability of the rock samples.
Research Organization:
Unocal Corp.
OSTI ID:
7076468
Report Number(s):
CONF-861080-
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English