Heavy-oil recovery by in-situ emulsion formation

SPE Journal

Volumn 17, Issue 2, 2012, Pages 326-334

  Kumar, R ^a   Dao, E ^a   Mohanty, K K ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

CRUDE OIL; EMULSIFICATION; FLOODS; OIL WELL FLOODING; OSTWALD RIPENING; PETROLEUM RESERVOIR ENGINEERING; PETROLEUM RESERVOIRS; RECOVERY; SECONDARY RECOVERY; SODIUM CARBONATE; SODIUM COMPOUNDS; VISCOSITY;

BEHAVIOR EXPERIMENTS; EMULSION FORMATION; HEAVY OIL RECOVERY; HEAVY OIL RESERVOIRS; HYDROPHILIC SURFACTANTS; LOW CONCENTRATIONS; OIL-IN-WATER (O/W) EMULSION; ORIGINAL OIL IN PLACES;

HEAVY OIL PRODUCTION;

EID: 84863003651     PISSN: 1086055X     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.2118/129914-PA     Document Type: Article

References (31)

1. Bryan, J. and Kantzas, A. 2007. Enhanced Heavy-Oil Recovery by Alkali- Surfactant Flooding. Paper SPE 110738 presented at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, Anaheim, California, USA, 11-14 November. http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/110738-MS.
2. Bryan, J., Mai, A., and Kantzas, A. 2008. Investigation into the Process Responsible for Heavy Oil Recovery by Alkali-Surfactant Flooding. Paper SPE 113993 presented at the SPE/DOE Symposium on Improved Oil Recovery, Tulsa, 20-23 April. http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/113993- MS.
3. Flaaten, A.K., Nguyen, Q.P., Zhang, J., Mohammadi, H., and Pope, G.A. 2010. Alkaline/Surfactant/Polymer Chemical Flooding Without the Need for Soft Water. SPE J. 15 (1): 184-196. SPE-116754-PA. http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/116754- PA.
4. Hallam, R.J., Plekenbrock, E.J., Abou-Sayed, A.S., et al. 1992. Resource Description and Development Potential of the Ugnu Reservoir, North Slope, Alaska. SPE Form Eval 7 (3): 211-218. SPE-21779-PA. http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/ 21779-PA. (Pubitemid 23557894)
5. Healy, R.N. and Reed, R.L. 1977. Immiscible Microemulsion Flooding. SPE J. 17 (2): 129-139. SPE-5817-PA. http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/5817- PA.
6. Hirasaki, G.J., Miller, C.A., and Puerto, M. 2008. Recent Advances in Surfactant EOR. Paper SPE 115386 presented at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, Denver, 21-24 September. http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/ 115386-MS.
7. Jennings, H.Y. Jr. 1966. Waterflood Behavior of High Viscosity Crudes in Preserved Soft and Unconsolidated Cores. J Pet Technol 18 (1): 116-120. SPE-1202-PA. http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/1202-PA.
8. Kumar, M., Hoang, V., Satik, C., and Rojas, D.H. 2008. High-Mobility- Ratio Water Flood Performance Prediction: Challenges and New Insights. SPE Res Eval & Eng 11 (1): 186-196. SPE-97671-PA. http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/97671- PA. (Pubitemid 351447676)
9. Le Guen, S.S. and Kovscek, A.R. 2006. Nonequilibrium Effects During Spontaneous Imbibition. Transport Porous Media 63 (1): 127-146. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11242-005-3327-4.
10. Lenormand, R., Touboul, E., and Zarcone, C. 1988. Numerical models and experiments on immiscible displacements in porous media. J. Fluid Mech. 189: 165-187. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0022112088000953.
11. Liu, Q., Dong, M., and Ma, S. 2006a. Alkaline/Surfactant Flood Potential in Western Canadian Heavy Oil Reservoirs. Paper SPE 99791 presented at the SPE/DOE Symposium on Improved Oil Recovery, Tulsa, 22-26 April. http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/99791-MS.
12. Liu, Q., Dong, M., Yue, X., and Hou, J. 2006b. Synergy of alkali and surfactant in emulsification of heavy oil in brine. Colloids Surf., A 273 (1-3): 219-228. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.colsurfa.2005.10.016. (Pubitemid 43005089)
13. Liu, Y. and Buckley, J.S. 1997. Evolution of Wetting Alteration by Adsorption From Crude Oil. SPE Form Eval 12 (1): 5-12. SPE-28970-PA. http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/28970-PA.
14. Mai, A. and Kantzas, A. 2008. Improved Heavy Oil Recovery by Low Rate Waterflooding. Paper SPE 117648 presented at the SPE/PS/CHOA International Thermal Operations and Heavy Oil Symposium, Calgary, 20-23 October. http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/117648-MS.
15. Maini, B.B. 1998. Is it Futile to Measure Relative Permeability for Heavy Oil Reservoirs. J Can Pet Technol 37 (4): 56-62.
16. Marques, C., Castanier, L.M., and Kovscek, A.R. 2009. Thaw Front Dynamics and Super Insulated Wells for Thermal Recovery in Cold Environments. Paper SPE 121059 presented at the SPE Western Regional Meeting, San Jose, California, USA, 24-26 March. http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/121059-MS.
17. Martin, F.D. and Oxley, J.C. 1985. Effect of Various Alkaline Chemicals on Phase Behavior of Surfactant/Brine/Oil Mixtures. Paper SPE 13575 presented at the SPE Oilfield and Geothermal Chemistry Symposium, Phoenix, Arizona, USA, 9-11 April. http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/13575- MS.
18. Mattax, C.C. and Kyte, J.R. 1962. Imbibition Oil Recovery From Fractured, Water-Drive Reservoir. SPE J. 2 (2): 177-184. SPE-187-PA. http://dx.doi.org/10. 2118/187-PA.
19. Miller, K.A. 2006. Improving the State of the Art of Western Canadian Heavy Oil Waterflood Technology. J Can Pet Technol 45 (4): 7-11. (Pubitemid 43813208)
20. Nelson, R.C. and Pope, G.A. 1978. Phase Relationships in Chemical Flooding. SPE J. 18 (5): 325-338. SPE-6773-PA. http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/6773- PA.
21. Peyton, H.R. 1970. Arctic Engineering. J Pet Technol 22 (9): 1076-1082. SPE-2701-PA. http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/2701-PA.
22. Pope, G.A., Wang, B., and Tsaur, K. 1979. A Sensitivity Study of Micellar/Polymer Flooding. SPE J. 19 (6): 357-368. SPE-7079-PA. http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/7079-PA.
23. Rekvig, L., Kranenburg, M., Hafskjold, B., and Smit, B. 2003. Effect of surfactant structure on interfacial properties. Europhys. Lett. 63 (6): 902. http://dx.doi.org/10.1209/epl/i2003-00607-5.
24. Rosen, M.J. 2004. Surfactants and Interfacial Phenomena, third edition. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
25. Ruckenstein, E. 1996. Microemulsions, Macroemulsions, and the Bancroft Rule. Langmuir 12 (26): 6351-6353. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/la960849m. (Pubitemid 126637952)
26. Salager, J.-L., Márquez, L., Peña, A.A., Rondón, M., Silva, F., and Tyrode, E. 2000. Current Phenomenological Know-How and Modeling of Emulsion Inversion. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 39 (8): 2665-2676. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/ie990778x. (Pubitemid 30646625)
27. Schembre, J.M. and Kovscek, A.R. 2003. A technique for measuring twophase relative permeability in porous media via X-ray CT measurements. J. Pet. Sci. Eng. 39 (1-2): 159-174. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0920-4105(03)00046-9. (Pubitemid 36911120)
28. Thomas, S. and Ali, S.M.F. 2001. Micellar Flooding and ASP-Chemical Methods for Enhanced Oil Recovery. J Can Pet Technol 40 (2). JCPT Paper No. 01-02-04. http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/01-02-04.
29. Unconventional Fuels Task Force. 2007. U.S. Heavy Oil Resource Potential. Fact Sheet, Office of Petroleum Reserves - Strategic Unconventional Fuels, DOE, Washington, DC (June 2007). http://fossil.energy.gov/programs/reserves/npr/ Heavy-Oil-Fact-Sheet.pdf.
30. Wang, J., Dong, M., and Asghari, K. 2006. Effect of Oil Viscosity on Heavy-Oil/Water Relative Permeability Curves. Paper SPE 99763 presented at the SPE/DOE Symposium on Improved Oil Recovery, Tulsa, 22-26, April. http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/99763-MS.
31. Wilson, E.D. 1972. Some Aspects Of Arctic Oil Pipe Line Research. Paper SPE 7261 presented at the Annual Technical Meeting, Calgary, 16-19 May. http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/7261.