Eventos Anais de eventos
COBEM 2023
27th International Congress of Mechanical Engineering
Numerical Investigation of Water Alternating Gas Injection Ratios on Multiphase Flow in Porous Media for Enhanced Oil Recovery
Submission Author:
Vinicius Rafael de Freitas , DF , Brazil
Co-Authors:
Vinicius Rafael de Freitas, Adriano Rosa, Eugenio Fortaleza, Rafael Valladares de Almeida
Presenter: Vinicius Rafael de Freitas
doi://10.26678/ABCM.COBEM2023.COB2023-1594
Abstract
Enhanced oil recovery techniques are widely used in real oil fields, with Water Alternating Gas (WAG) injection being one of the most employed methods due to its simplicity and low-cost application. In addition to mitigating the Saffman-Taylor instability, WAG injection can lead to better oil recovery, matching better mobility control and allowing previously trapped zones to be swept through better microscopic displacement. In this work, we investigate the effects of different WAG ratios on multiphase flow in porous media, with a focus on enhanced oil recovery. Our objective is to optimize oil production by gaining a better understanding on the factors that impact oil production. We use OpenFOAM, an open-source CFD software, to numerically simulate the flow of oil, water, and gas through a porous media, using a finite-volume discretization methodology. We examine a range of different injection schedules, including classic injection schemes, such as gas flooding, water flooding, and common WAG ratios (1:1, 1:4, and 4:1) and non-traditional WAG ratios, to study their effects on oil production total, flow pattern, and investigate the formation of viscous fingering at the interface between the phases. Our findings indicate that the gas phase exhibits a propensity to explore specific regions within the reservoir, while the water phase efficiently displaces the remaining oil from these areas. Therefore, the combination of these effects can lead to optimal oil production.
Keywords
WAG, Oil reservoirs, EOR, multiphase flow, OpenFOAM
