Abstract
Carbonated water injection (CWI) is a CO2-augmented water injection strategy that leads to increased oil recovery with added advantage of safe storage of CO2 in oil reservoirs. In CWI, CO2 is used efficiently (compared to conventional CO2 injection) and hence it is particularly attractive for reservoirs with limited access to large quantities of CO2, e.g. offshore reservoirs or reservoirs far from large sources of CO2. We present the results of a series of CWI coreflood experiments using water-wet and mixed-wet Clashach sandstone cores and a reservoir core with light oil (n-decane), refined viscous oil and a stock-tank crude oil. The experiments were carried out to assess the performance of CWI and to quantify the level of additional oil recovery and CO2 storage under various experimental conditions. We show that the ultimate oil recovery by CWI is higher than the conventional water flooding in both secondary and tertiary recovery methods. Oil swelling as a result of CO2 diffusion into the oil and the subsequent oil viscosity reduction and coalescence of the isolated oil ganglia are amongst the main mechanisms of oil recovery by CWI that were observed through the visualisation experiments in high-pressure glass micromodels. There was also evidence of a change in the rock wettability that could also influence the oil recovery. The coreflood test results also reveal that the CWI performance is influenced by oil viscosity, core wettability and the brine salinity. Higher oil recovery was obtained with the mixed-wet core than the water-wet core, with light oil than with the viscous oil and low salinity carbonated brine than high-salinity carbonated brine. At the end of the flooding period, an encouraging amount of the injected CO2 was stored in the brine and the remaining oil in the form of stable dissolved CO2. The experimental results clearly demonstrate the potential of CWI for improving oil recovery as compared with the conventional water flooding (secondary recovery) or as a water-based EOR (enhanced oil recovery) method for watered out reservoirs.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Explore related subjects
Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Bando S. et al.: Viscosity of aqueous NaCl solutions with dissolved CO2 at (30 to 60) °C and (10 to 20) MPa. J. Chem. Eng. Data 49, 1328–1332 (2004)
Browning, D.R.: CO2 corrosion in the Anadarko Basin. SPE12608. In: SPE Deep Drilling and Production Symposium, Amarillo, Texas (1984)
Buckley J.S. et al.: Influence of eectrical surface charges on the wetting properties of crude oils. Soc. Pet. Eng. Form. Eval. 4, 240–332 (1989)
Buckley J.S., Liu Y.: Some mechanisms of crude oil/brine/solid interactions. J. Pet. Sci. Eng. 20, 155–160 (1998)
Burton, M., Bryant, S.L.: Eliminating buoyant migration of sequestered CO2 through surface dissolution: implementation costs and technical challenges. In: SPE Annual Technical Conference And Exhibition, Anaheim, California, USA (2007)
Chang Y.B., Coats B.K., Nolen J.S.: A compositional model for CO2 floods including CO2 solubility in water. SPE 35164 SPE Reserv. Eng. 1(2), 155–160 (1998)
Donaldson, E.C., Thomas, R.D.: Microscopic observations of oil displacement in water-wet and oil-wet systems. SPE 3555. In: SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, New Orleans (1971)
Garcia, J.E.: Density of aqueous solutions of CO2. Paper LBNL-49023. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley (2001). http://repositories.cdlib.org/lbnl/LBNL-49023
Hebach A. et al.: Density of water + carbon dioxide at elevated pressures: measurements and correlation. J. Chem. Eng. Data 49, 950–953 (2004)
Hickok C.W. et al.: Progress review of the K&S carbonated waterflood project. SPE 1474. J. Pet. Technol. 12(12), 20–24 (1960)
Hickok, C.W., et al.: Case histories of carbonated waterfloods in dewey-bartlesville field. SPE 333. In: SPE Secondary Recovery Symposium, Wichita Falls, Texas (1962)
Holm, L.W.: CO2 Requirements in CO2 slug and carbonated water oil recovery process. Producers Monthly, September (1963)
IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme: http://www.co2captureandstorage.info. Accessed 15 July 2009
International Energy Annual 2006: http://www.eia.doe.gov/iea/overview.html. Accessed 19 Feb 2009
IPCC Fourth Assessment Report Working Group III Report: Climate change 2007. Mitigation of climate change (2007)
Jerauld G.R., Rathmell J.J.: Wettability and relative permeability of Prudhoe Bay: a case study in mixed-wet reservoirs. SPE Reserv. Eng. 58, 58–65 (1997)
Klins M.A.: Carbon dioxide flooding basic mechanisms and project design. International Human Resources Development Corporation, Boston (1984)
Klins, M.A., Farouq Ali, S.M.: Oil production in shallow reservoirs by carbon dioxide injection. SPE Eastern Regional Meeting, Columbus, SPE 10374 (1981)
Martin, J.W.: Additional oil production through flooding with carbonated water. Producers Monthly (1951)
McFarlane, R.M, Breston, J.N., Neil, D.C.: Oil recovery from cores when flooded with carbonated water and liquid CO2. Producers Monthly, pp. 23–35 (1952)
Miller, J.A., Jones, R.A.: A laboratory study to determine physical characteristics of heavy oil after CO2 saturation. In: SPE/DOE Second Joint Symposium on Enhanced Oil Recovery of SPE, Tulsa, SPE9789 (1981)
Morrow, N.R.: Wettability and its effect on oil recovery. J. Pet. Technol. 42, 1476–1484. (Trans. AIME 289) (1990)
Ramsay H.J.J., Small F.R.: Use of carbon dioxide for water injectivity improvement. J. Pet. Technol. 16, 25–31 (1964)
Riazi, M., et al.: Oil recovery improvement using CO2-enriched water injection. In: EUROPEC/EAGE Conference and Exhibition, Amsterdam, SPE 121170 (2009)
Ross, G.D., et al.: The dissolution effect of CO2-brine systems on the permeability of U.K. and North Sea calcareous sandstones. In: SPE EOR Symposium, Tulsa, Oklahoma (1982)
Salathiel R.A.: Oil recovery by surface film drainage in mixed wettability rocks. J. Pet. Technol. 25, 1216–1224 (1973)
Sayegh S.G. et al.: Rock/fluid interactions of carbonated brines in a sandstone reservoir: Pembina Cardium, Alberta, Canada. SPE Form. Eval. 5(4), 399–405 (1990)
Sohrabi, M., et al.: Carbonated water injection for oil recovery and CO2 storage. In: Sustainable Energy UK Conference: Meeting the Science and Engineering Challenge, Oxford, UK (2008)
Sohrabi, M., et al.: Mechanisms of Oil Recovery by Carbonated Water Injection, SCA2009-26, International Symposium of the Society of Core Analysis (2009)
Tang G.Q., Morrow N.R.: Influence of brine composition and fines migration on crude oil brine rock interactions and oil recovery. J. Pet. Sci. Eng. 24, 99–111 (1999)
2008 Worldwide EOR Survey. Oil Gas J. 106(15) (2008)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sohrabi, M., Kechut, N.I., Riazi, M. et al. Coreflooding Studies to Investigate the Potential of Carbonated Water Injection as an Injection Strategy for Improved Oil Recovery and CO2 Storage. Transp Porous Med 91, 101–121 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-011-9835-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-011-9835-5