Eventos Anais de eventos
COBEM 2017
24th ABCM International Congress of Mechanical Engineering
SIMULATION OF MACRO-EMULSION FLOW IN STRATIFIED RESERVOIRS CONSIDERING CAPILLARY EFFECTS
Submission Author:
Ranena V. Ponce F. , RJ
Co-Authors:
Helena Lima, Marcio CARVALHO, Ranena V. Ponce F.
Presenter: Ranena V. Ponce F.
doi://10.26678/ABCM.COBEM2017.COB17-0716
Abstract
Oil-water emulsion injection has shown significant potential as Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) method. Experimental results showed that droplet size, drop concentration and local capillary number as the most relevant parameters affecting emulsion performance as water phase mobility control agent. Emulsion injection and production predictions in real reservoirs requires deep understanding of their flow at pore scale and the underlying mechanisms responsible for the macroscopic improved oil recovery. Ponce et al. (2017) developed a macroscopic model to represent emulsions flow in porous media by relative permeability curves parametrization as function of emulsion concentration and local capillary number. In this work, gravitational effects were incorporated into the model in order to evaluate vertical sweep efficiency of water alternating emulsion injection (WAE) in highly heterogeneous reservoirs. Parametric analysis on time for emulsion injection, emulsion bank size and local capillary number was performed in 2D and 3D simulations models to explore WAE performance. Results showed that extra oil recoveries higher than waterflooding may be reached even with reduced emulsion bank size. Oil production acceleration was observed under WAE processes with early emulsion injection. 3D simulations results showed the significant potential of emulsions to enhance vertical sweep efficiency in stratified reservoirs.
Keywords
Emulsion, Enhanced oil recovery, Mobility Control, Reservoir Simulation
