Simulation Study of Enhanced Oil Recovery by Alkaline Flooding in a Mature Oil Field
Abstract: Oil reserves that are available all over the world are explored and commercialised to obtain the fossil fuels it contains. Over the years, due to production, these reserves tend to deplete which leads to a drive to either discover new reserves or come up with much effective method to extract the fossil fuels. Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) is carried out to extract the remaining oil that is trapped in it as residual oil and unable to be recovered through primary and secondary recovery mechanism. Alkaline flooding is not only one of the cheapest EOR methods but also one of the most economical method to recover oil as it is easily acquired and is not a very complex substance. The basic concept of alkaline flooding is to inject the alkaline at a certain concentration and rate into the reservoir and this in return reacts with the oil acid to produce soap which is an in-situ surfactant. Due to this reaction, the generated surfactant reduces the interfacial tension (IFT) between the oil and the reservoir rocks which leads to the increase in sweep efficiency. In this study, the objective is to evaluate the effect of altering the alkaline concentration, flow rate and flow period by constructing a simulation model using the reservoir fluid and rock date in Computer Modelling Software (CMG). Sensitivity analysis was performed and the outcomes demonstrated that well pattern and perforation layer has a significant influence on production besides the varying alkaline parameters which also increases production.
Keywords: Enhanced oil recovery; EOR, tertiary recovery, alkaline flooding, interfacial tension; IFT, simulation, CMG, STARS
