TOPIC 1: MODELING OF CHEMICAL FLOODING

WITH DESIGN PROCEDURE AND CRITERIA AND

ALKALINE FLOODING

NAME : JAHANZEB CHANNA

ROLL NO : 16ME-PET-S06

Institute of Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering

Mehran University of Engineering and Technology
Jamshoro, Sindh, Pakistan.

CHEMICAL FLOODING FOR

ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY

Application of these methods is usually limited by the cost of the

chemicals and their adsorption and loss onto the rock of the oil
containing formation.
Due to technical and economic considerations, chemical flooding,
especially polymer flooding and ASP injection, is currently
considered as the preferred tertiary oil recovery technique.

MAIN SEGMENT:
Chemical selected should not affect the physical & chemical
properties of the oilfield.
After chemical flooding, crude oil is extracted, and the chemical
waste, oil sludge and water in the residual liquid is then treated
according to environmental protection standards. The treated
water is recycled and reused for tertiary oil recovery and the oil
sludge is disposed.

CHEMICAL FLOODING FOR

ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY

Surfactants to lower the interfacial tension between

the oil and water or change the wettability of the
rock .
Water soluble polymers to increase the viscosity of the
water .
Surfactants to generate foams or emulsions .
Polymer gels for blocking or diverting flow.
Alkaline chemicals such as sodium carbonate to react
with crude oil to generate soap and increase pH .
Combinations of chemicals and methods.

SCREENING CRITERIA OF
CHEMICAL FLOODING

POLYMER ENHANCED OIL

RECOVERY

Polymer augmented water flooding consists of adding

water soluble polymers to the water before it is injected
into the reservoir.
In polymer flooding, the polymers used reduces the
"surface tension" between the oil and the oil-containing
rock within the oil reservoir, "freeing" the trapped oil
making it easier to flow to the production wells .
Polyacrylamide powder or "PAM" is a non-toxic powder that
is having long-chain molecule is used in polymer flooding .

BENEFITS ;

Improved oil recovery

Increased "sweep efficiency"
Significantly less water required when compared with
typica waterflooding & steam injection

The added PAM increases the viscosity of the water to

that of a gel making the oil and water greatly improving
the efficiency of the water flood.

LIMITATION:

High oil viscosities require a higher polymer

concentration. Results are normally better if the polymer
flood is started before the water-oil ratio becomes
excessively high.

Clays increase polymer adsorption.

Some heterogeneity is acceptable, but avoid extensive

fractures. If fractures are present, the cross linked or
gelled polymer techniques may be applicable.

Three potential ways for more efficient oil recovery ;

[1] Through the effects of polymers on fractional flow,
[2] By decreasing the water/oil mobility ratio,
[3] By diverting injected water from zones that have been
swept.

MOBILITY RATIO:

To get a low mobility factor, the viscosity of water should be

increased.
Water salinity. The water salinity has a great effect on
mobility, adsorption and permeability reduction features of
polymers.
Adding salt to polymer solutions leads to the change in shape
of molecules where its shape transforms from inflated to
spherical form.

SCREENING CRITERIA OF
POLYMER FLOODING

SURFACTANT FOR ENHANCED

OIL RECOVERY
SURFACTANTS:
Surfactant are substance that absorb
to surface or interfaces, causing a marked
decrease in the surface tension . OR
A surfactant reduces the oil-water interfacial
tension and increases the oil displacement
efficiency
SURFACE TENSION:

The molecules at the surface do not have

other molecules on all sides of them and
therefore are pulled inwards.
This creates some internal pressure and
forces liquid surfaces to contract to the
minimal area.

SURFACTANT STRUCTURE

All surfactants are characterized by having two regions in

their molecular structure:
A) A hydrophobic group, such as a hydrocarbon chain,
that has no affinity for aqueous solvents
B) A hydrophilic group that has an affinity for water.
A molecular or ion that possesses this type of structure is
termed amphipathic (amphiphilic).

Hydrophilic heads
(Cationic, anionic
and natural)
Hydrophobic tails
(hydrocarbons)

CLASSIFICATION SURFACTANT
STRUCTURE

Surfactants are usuallyorganic compoundsthat are

amphiphilic, meaning they contain bothhydrophobic
groups (theirtails) andhydrophilicgroups (theirheads).
Therefore, a surfactant contains both a water-insoluble
(or oil-soluble) component and a water-soluble
component.
Surfactants will diffuse in water andadsorbatinterfaces
between air and water or at the interface between oil and
water, in the case where water is mixed with oil.
Most commonly, surfactants are classified according to polar
head group.
A non-ionic surfactant has no charged groups in its head. The
head of an ionic surfactant carries a net positive, or negative
charge.
If the charge is negative, the surfactant is more specifically
called anionic; if the charge is positive, it is called cationic. If a
surfactant contains a head with two oppositely charged groups,
it is termed zwitterionic.

PROPERTIES OF
SURFACTANT
CRITICAL MICELLE CONCENTRATION(CMC)

CMC: Concentration of surfactants at

which it begin to form micelles.
Increasing concentration of surfactant
in water slowly forming a layer on the
surface and eventually forming micelles
at or above the CMC

THE MECHANISM FOR

SOLUBILIZATION

Solubilization can be defined as the spontaneous

dissolving of a substance by reversible interaction with
the micelles of a surfactant in water to form a
thermodynamically stable isotropic solution with reduced
thermodynamic activity of the solubilized material.
At surfactant concentrations above the cmc the solubility
increases linearly with the concentration of surfactant,
indicating that solubilization is related to micellization.
The lower is the CMC value and higher the aggregation
number , the more stable are the micelles.

SCREENING CRITERIA OF
SURFACTANT

ALKALINE FLOODING FOR

ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY
QUESTION; WHAT IS ALKALINE FLOODING?

It is an EOR method in which an alkaline

chemical such as Sodium hydroxide, Sodium.
Orthosillicate or Sodium carbonate is injected
during polymer flooding or water flooding
Operations.
Alkaline flooding is also known as Caustic
flooding.

QUESTION; HOW THIS WORKS INSIDE THE

RESERVOIR?

The alkaline chemicals reacts with certain types

of oil, forming surfactants inside the reservoir.
Eventually, the surfactants reduce the interfacial
tension between oil and water and trigger an
increase in oil production.
Wetting characteristics of the reservoir also can
change due to Formation of surfactants inside
the reservoir or it can be due to some other
reasons.

CONSIDERATIONS FOR USING..

Alkaline flooding is not recommended for

carbonate reservoirs due to the abundance
ofCalcium.
The mixture between the alkaline chemical and
the calcium ions can produce.
Hydroxide precipitation that may damage the
formation.

CRITERIA FOR USING

CRUDE OIL

Gravity
Viscosity

RESERVOIR

Avg. K
Depth
Temp.

13 35 API
<200 cp

>20 md
<about 9000 ft
<200 *F preferred

ADVANTAGES AND LATEST

TECHNOLOGY

Alkaline flooding is usually more efficient if the acid

content of the reservoir oil is Relatively high.
A new modification to the process is the addition of
surfactant and polymer to the alkali,
Giving rise to an Alkaline-surfactant-polymer(ASP) EOR
method.
This method has shown to be an effective, less costly form
of micelle-polymer flooding.

PROBLEM IN USING

Scaling and plugging in the producing

wells.

High caustic consumption.

TOPIC 2: VISCOSITY AND DENSITY

OF MICROEMULSION AND THEIR
MECHANICAL DISPLACEMENT

INTRODUCTION

Oil recovery consider in three stages;

PRIMARY RECOVERY: Oil produces from the reservoir by the
pressure of natural gas.

SECONDARY RECOVERY: When the pressure decrease to a

point where it is no longer capable to expelling the oil. So
water is injected to repressurized the reservoir.
Average recovery from an both method is about 35%of oil-inplace.
Applying the TERTIARY RECOVERY (EOR) to get at least
remaining part of oil-in-place.
EOR (ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY): It is the implementation of
various techniques for increasing the amount of crude oil that
can be extracted from an oil field. Enhanced oil recovery is
also called improved oil recovery or tertiary recovery

EOR divided into three group;

A)THERMAL PROCESS: In-Situ Combustion, Steam Injection & Wet
Combustion method fall into thermal process.

B) CHEMICAL FLOODING PROCESS: Caustic Flooding , Surfactant

Flooding ,Micellar Polymer Flooding into the 2 nd category.
C) GAS INJECTION: Miscible Gas injection and Immiscible Gas
Injection into 3rd category.

After the water flooding, residual oil in discontinuous form and

trapped into pores of the reservoir rock.
Because of two forces act on the oil are viscous forces and
capillary forces which are called ratio of capillary number (CN).
In the end of secondary recovery stage Capillary pressure
decreases and reached upto the 10 -6 .
In order to get an production to increase the Capillary number
around 10-3 to 10-2 , which decrease the interfacial tension at
the oil interface.
Surfactant are used.

SURFACTANT IN OIL RECOVERY

A Micro emulsion as a thermodynamically stable

and isotropic dispersion of two relatively
immiscible liquid consisting of one or both liquid
to stabilize the interfacial film of surface active
molecules.
Micro emulsion classified as a water in oil or oil
in water depending upon dispersed and
continuous phase.

WHAT IS MICRO EMULSION

The concept of micro emulsion first time

introduced by schulman and his coworker in 1943.
They explain micro emulsion are
spontaneously formed by uptake of water
or oil due to the negative transient
interfacial tension, which allow the free
energy to decrease as the total oil/water
interfacial area.

PROPERTIES AND
CHARACTERISTICS

Surfactant solution used for improved oil

recovery up to the high (2.0-10.0)% and
low up to the (0.1-0.2)% of surfactant
concentration.
In low concentration system, the ultralow
interfacial tension occur.
In high concentration system, a middle
Micro emulsion
are form that is in
equilibrium with excess oil and brine.
Basic component of Micro emulsion are
surfactant , water , oil , alcohol and salt.

CAUSE OF LOW OIL RECOVERY

HOW TO INCREASE OIL RECOVERY?

These oil are entrapped by capillary forces.

If a surfactant solution is inject to lower the interfacial
tension of the oil from its value
20-30 m N/m to 10-3 m
N/m, the oil is mobilized and can move through a narrow
necks of the pores.
Mobilized oil from an oil bank and this approaching to
production well.
Capillary forces are responsible responsible for entrapping
the large amount of oil in the form of oil ganglia with in the
pores of the rock reservoir.
Interfacial tension at the oil/brine interface which play an
important dominate role in controlling capillary forces
should be reduced by facto 10,000 to a value of 10-3 to 104 m N/m to achieved appropriate surfactant formation.

INCREASE EFFECT MICRO EMULSION

BY ADDING OTHER CHEMICALS

A polymer slug is used for mobility control (to

make water more viscous) immediately follow
after injection of the surfactant.
During this process the diplace oil in droplet
form which coalesce and form an oil bank.
Once oil bank formed in the reservoir, so it is
propagated through the porous medium with
minimum restriction of oil at trailing edge of the
oil bank.

EFFECT BY VISCOSITY AND

DENSITY

Interfacial tension and Interfacial

viscosity another parameter that
influence the oil recovery is the surface
charge at the oil/brine and rock brine
interfaces.
It has been show that high surface charge
density leads to lower interfacial tension,
so that consequently high recoveryof oil.

It is well established that ultralow interfacial

tension play an important role in oil
displacement process.
The magnitude of an interfacial tension can be
effected by the surface concentration of
surfactant, surface charge density and
solubilization of oil or brine.
The effective ness of surfactant formulation for
EOR depend upon the magnitude of
solubilization.
Interfacial charge density is an important factor
in lowering the interfacial tension.

By injecting a chemical slug of complete

miscibility with both oil and brine present in the
reservoir, 100% recovery oil should be possible
Therefore, the maximum oil recovery may be
due to the combine effect of these all processes
occuring at optimum recovery.