Development of More-Efficient Gas Flooding Applicable to Shallow Reservoirs. Semi-Annual Report for the Period January 1, 2001 - June 30, 2001

摘要

The objective of this research is to widen the applicability of gas flooding to shallow oil reservoirs by reducing the pressure required for miscibility using gas enrichment and increasing sweep efficiency with foam. Task 1 examines the potential for improved oil recovery with enriched gases. Subtask 1.1 examines the effect of dispersion processes on oil recovery and the extent of enrichment needed in the presence of dispersion. Subtask 1.2 develops a fast, efficient method to predict the extent of enrichment needed for crude oils at a given pressure. Task 2 develops improved foam processes to increase sweep efficiency in gas flooding. Subtask 2.1 comprises mechanistic experimental studies of foams with N(sup 2) gas. Subtask 2.2 conducts experiments with CO(sup 2) foam. Subtask 2.3 develops and applies a simulator for foam processes in field application. Regarding Task 1, several key results are described in this report relating to subtask 1.1. In particular, we show how for slimtube experiments, oil recoveries do not increase significantly with enrichments greater than the MME.