Experimental investigation of the displacement flow mechanism and oil recovery in primary polymer flood operations.

Oluyemi, Gbenga; Oyeneyin, Babs; Balogun, Yakubu; Mahon, Ruissein

Abstract

Polymer flooding is a mature chemical enhanced oil recovery method employed in oilfields at pilot testing and field scales. Although results from these applications empirically demonstrate the higher displacement efficiency of polymer flooding over waterflooding operations, the fact remains that not all the oil will be recovered. Thus, continued research attention is needed to further understand the displacement flow mechanism of the immiscible process and the rock–fluid interaction propagated by the multiphase flow during polymer flooding operations. In this study, displacement sequence experiments were conducted to investigate the viscosifying effect of polymer solutions on oil recovery in sandpack systems. The history matching technique was employed to estimate relative permeability, fractional flow and saturation profile through the implementation of a Corey-type function. Experimental results showed that in the case of the motor oil being the displaced fluid, the XG 2500 ppm polymer achieved a 47.0% increase in oil recovery compared with the waterflood case, while the XG 1000 ppm polymer achieved a 38.6% increase in oil recovery compared with the waterflood case. Testing with the motor oil being the displaced fluid, the viscosity ratio was 136 for the waterflood case, 18 for the polymer flood case with XG 1000 ppm polymer and 9 for the polymer flood case with XG 2500 ppm polymer. Findings also revealed that for the waterflood cases, the porous media exhibited oil-wet characteristics, while the polymer flood cases demonstrated water-wet characteristics. This paper provides theoretical support for the application of polymer to improve oil recovery by providing insights into the mechanism behind oil displacement.

Citation

MAHON, R., OLUYEMI, G., OYENEYIN, B. and BALOGUN, Y. 2021. Experimental investigation of the displacement flow mechanism and oil recovery in primary polymer flood operations. SN applied sciences [online], 3(5), article 557. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42452-021-04360-7

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 9, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Apr 14, 2021
• Publication Date: May 31, 2021
• Deposit Date: May 13, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: May 13, 2021
• Journal: SN Applied Sciences
• Print ISSN: 2523-3963
• Electronic ISSN: 2523-3971
• Publisher: Springer
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 3
• Issue: 5
• Article Number: 557
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42452-021-04360-7
• Keywords: Polymer flooding; Relative permeability; Wettability; History matching; Oil recovery
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/1309026