WorldWideScience

Sample records for oil recovery performance

  1. Performance experimental investigation of novel multifunctional nanohybrids on enhanced oil recovery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gharibshahi, Reza; Jafari, Arezou; Omidkhah, Mohammadreza; Nezhad, Javad Razavi

    2018-01-01

    The unique characteristics of materials at the nanoscale make them a good candidate to use in the enhanced oil recovery (EOR) processes. Therefore, in this study, the effect of functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotube/silica nanohybrids on the oil recovery factor is investigated experimentally and nanofluids were injected into a glass micromodel for the first time. The nanohybrids synthesized by using sol-gel method. Micromodels as microscale apparatuses considered as 2D porous medium. Because they enable visual observation of phase displacement behavior at the pore scale. Distillated water used as the dispersion medium of nanoparticles for nanofluids preparation. A series of runs designed for flooding operations included water injection, carbon nanotube/water injection and two nanohybrids with different weight of MWCNT to the overall weight of the nanohybrid structure (10% and 70%) into the distilled water. Also, the oil recovery factor was considered as the goal parameter to compare the results. It has been found that functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotube/silica nanohybrids have a great potential in enhanced oil recovery processes. Results showed that addition of nanohybrids into distillate water causes enhancement of sweep efficiency. In other words, the fingering effect decreases and higher surface of porous medium is in contact with the injected fluid. So the higher amount of oil can produce from the porous medium consequently. By injecting nanofluid with 0.1 wt. % of carbon nanotube, the oil recovery factor increases about 11 % in comparison with water injection alone. Also by increasing the weight of MWCNT to the overall weight of the nanohybrid structure from 10% to 70%, the oil recovery factor increases from 35% to 39%.

  2. Neuro-Simulation Tool for Enhanced Oil Recovery Screening and Reservoir Performance Prediction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Soheil Bahrekazemi

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Assessment of the suitable enhanced oil recovery method in an oilfield is one of the decisions which are made prior to the natural drive production mechanism. In some cases, having in-depth knowledge about reservoir’s rock, fluid properties, and equipment is needed as well as economic evaluation. Both putting such data into simulation and its related consequent processes are generally very time consuming and costly.  In order to reduce study cases, an appropriate tool is required for primary screening prior to any operations being performed, to which leads reduction of time in design of ether pilot section or production under field condition. In this research, two different and useful screening tools are presented through a graphical user interface. The output of just over 900 simulations and verified screening criteria tables were employed to design the mentioned tools. Moreover, by means of gathered data and development of artificial neural networks, two dissimilar screening tools for proper assessment of suitable enhanced oil recovery method were finally introduced. The first tool is about the screening of enhanced oil recovery process based on published tables/charts and the second one which is Neuro-Simulation tool, concerns economical evaluation of miscible and immiscible injection of carbon dioxide, nitrogen and natural gas into the reservoir. Both of designed tools are provided in the form of a graphical user interface by which the user, can perceive suitable method through plot of oil recovery graph during 20 years of production, costs of gas injection per produced barrel, cumulative oil production, and finally, design the most efficient scenario.

  3. Carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery performance according to the literature

    Science.gov (United States)

    Olea, Ricardo A.

    2017-07-17

    IntroductionThe need to increase the efficiency of oil recovery and environmental concerns are bringing to prominence the use of carbon dioxide (CO2) as a tertiary recovery agent. Assessment of the impact of flooding with CO2 all eligible reservoirs in the United States not yet undergoing enhanced oil recovery (EOR) requires making the best possible use of the experience gained in 40 years of applications. Review of the publicly available literature has located relevant CO2-EOR information for 53 units (fields, reservoirs, pilot areas) in the United States and 17 abroad.As the world simultaneously faces an increasing concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere and a higher demand for fossil fuels, the CO2-EOR process continues to gain popularity for its efficiency as a tertiary recovery agent and for the potential for having some CO2 trapped in the subsurface as an unintended consequence of the enhanced production (Advanced Resources International and Melzer Consulting, 2009). More extensive application of CO2-EOR worldwide, however, is not making it significantly easier to predict the exact outcome of the CO2 flooding in new reservoirs. The standard approach to examine and manage risks is to analyze the intended target by conducting laboratory work, running simulation models, and, finally, gaining field experience with a pilot test. This approach, though, is not always possible. For example, assessment of the potential of CO2-EOR at the national level in a vast country such as the United States requires making forecasts based on information already available.Although many studies are proprietary, the published literature has provided reviews of CO2-EOR projects. Yet, there is always interest in updating reports and analyzing the information under new perspectives. Brock and Bryan (1989) described results obtained during the earlier days of CO2-EOR from 1972 to 1987. Most of the recovery predictions, however, were based on intended injections of 30 percent the size of

  4. Tenth oil recovery conference

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sleeper, R.

    1993-01-01

    The Tertiary Oil Recovery Project is sponsored by the State of Kansas to introduce Kansas producers to the economic potential of enhanced recovery methods for Kansas fields. Specific objectives include estimation of the state-wide tertiary oil resource, identification and evaluation of the most applicable processes, dissemination of technical information to producers, occasional collaboration on recovery projects, laboratory studies on Kansas applicable processes, and training of students and operators in tertiary oil recovery methods. Papers have been processed separately for inclusion on the data base

  5. Enzymes for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nasiri, Hamidreza

    2011-04-15

    Primary oil recovery by reservoir pressure depletion and secondary oil recovery by waterflooding usually result in poor displacement efficiency. As a consequence there is always some trapped oil remaining in oil reservoirs. Oil entrapment is a result of complex interactions between viscous, gravity and capillary forces. Improving recovery from hydrocarbon fields typically involves altering the relative importance of the viscous and capillary forces. The potential of many EOR methods depends on their influence on fluid/rock interactions related to wettability and fluid/fluid interactions reflected in IFT. If the method has the potential to change the interactions favorably, it may be considered for further investigation, i.e. core flooding experiment, pilot and reservoir implementation. Enzyme-proteins can be introduced as an enhanced oil recovery method to improve waterflood performance by affecting interactions at the oil-water-rock interfaces. An important part of this thesis was to investigate how selected enzymes may influence wettability and capillary forces in a crude oil-brine-rock system, and thus possibly contribute to enhanced oil recovery. To investigate further by which mechanisms selected enzyme-proteins may contribute to enhance oil recovery, groups of enzymes with different properties and catalytic functions, known to be interfacially active, were chosen to cover a wide range of possible effects. These groups include (1) Greenzyme (GZ) which is a commercial EOR enzyme and consists of enzymes and stabilizers (surfactants), (2) The Zonase group consists of two types of pure enzyme, Zonase1 and Zonase2 which are protease enzymes and whose catalytic functions are to hydrolyze (breakdown) peptide bonds, (3) The Novozyme (NZ) group consists of three types of pure enzyme, NZ2, NZ3 and NZ6 which are esterase enzymes and whose catalytic functions are to hydrolyze ester bonds, and (4) Alpha-Lactalbumin ( -La) which is an important whey protein. The effect of

  6. Biochemically enhanced oil recovery and oil treatment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Premuzic, Eugene T.; Lin, Mow

    1994-01-01

    This invention relates to the preparation of new, modified organisms, through challenge growth processes, that are viable in the extreme temperature, pressure and pH conditions and salt concentrations of an oil reservoir and that are suitable for use in microbial enhanced oil recovery. The modified microorganisms of the present invention are used to enhance oil recovery and remove sulfur compounds and metals from the crude oil.

  7. Belarus oil recovery. Final report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1994-07-01

    The Belarus Oil Recovery study was sponsored by the Danish Energy Agency and funded by the Danish State Oestlandepulje. The technical work was carried out by COWIconsult, the Danish Geological Survey, and Odin Energi in cooperation with the Belarus State Oil Company, Belorusneft. Belarus, a republic of the former USSR, is a landlocked country with limited and declining oil production. Oil production was initially established in Belarus in 1964, and 56 oil fields have been discovered to date. Production reached a peak of approximately 60,000 barrels per day in the mid 70's, but current production is only about 15,000 bpd, well below the required amount for self sufficiency. The intent of this feasibility study was to determine ways of improving the production potential of the oil fields of Belarus with western technology in order to make Belarus less dependent on other energy resources and on outside supplies of hydrocarbons. All the oil fields in Belarus are located in the Pripyat Basin. The structural complexity of the fields under study coupled with the rather poor reservoir quality have resulted in low oil recoveries, and the aim of the study is to recommend technology which might improve the performance of these reservoirs. Improved well stimulation and water injection using modern western technology is likely to improve recovery from these reservoirs. If this technology proves successful in these fields, then it could be applied to the other larger oil fields in Belarus. It is anticipated that the documented results would enable financing full scale implementation of the technology utilised which could contribute toward the solution of Belarus' energy requirements. (EG)

  8. Compositional modification of crude oil during oil recovery

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhu, Yangming; Weng, Huanxin [Department of Earth Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027 (China); Chen, Zulin; Chen, Qi [Petroleum Geochemistry Research Center, Jianghan Petroleum University, Jingzhou, Hubei (China)

    2003-05-01

    Ten crude oils from two recovery stages spanning 5-10-year interval of five productive wells in the Tarim Basin, northwest China were analyzed for their compositional modification during production process. Significant compositional changes in polar and nonpolar fractions between the previous oil samples and the latter ones were noted at both bulk and molecular level. The latter oil samples appear to contain more aromatic fraction and less asphaltenes and resin, and their gas chromatography (GC) data for whole oil show reduced alkanes with low molecular weight and enhanced high homologue relative to the previous oil samples. Compared with the oils collected from the previous recovery stage, the concentration of basic type of nitrogen-containing compounds and organic acids in oils from the latter recovery stage have a reducing trend, suggesting the occurrence of interaction between crude oil and reservoir rock.

  9. Recovery of oil from underground drill sites

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Streeter, W.S.; Hutchinson, T.S.; Ameri, S.; Wasson, J.A.; Aminian, K.

    1991-01-01

    This paper reports that a significant quantity of oil is left in reservoirs after conventional oil recovery techniques have been applied. In West Virginia and Pennsylvania alone, this oil has been estimated at over 4.5 billion barrels (0.72 billion m 3 ). Conventional recovery methods are already being used when applicable. But a new recovery method is needed for use in reservoirs that have been abandoned. One alternative method for recovery of the residual oil is known as oil recovery from underground drill sites. This recovery technology is a combination of proven methods and equipment from the petroleum, mining, and civil construction industries. Underground oil recovery can be an economically viable method of producing oil. This has been shown in producing fields, field tests, and feasibility, studies. Faced with decreasing domestic oil production, the petroleum industry should give serious consideration to the use of oil recovery from underground drill sites as a safe, practical, and environmentally sensitive alternative method of producing oil from many reservoirs

  10. Effect of ultrasonic intensity and frequency on oil/heavy-oil recovery from different wettability rocks

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Naderi, K.; Babadagli, T. [Society of Petroleum Engineers, Canadian Section, Calgary, AB (Canada)]|[Alberta Univ., Edmonton, AB (Canada)

    2008-10-15

    This study identified the mechanisms that are responsible for additional oil recovery that is often observed following an earthquake. It focused on the theory that harmonics of low frequency waves create high frequency waves as they penetrate into rock formations. A series of experiments were conducted on oil-wet rocks with high oil viscosities. The objective was to better understand how ultrasonic energy affects oil recovery at core and pore scale. Cylindrical sandstone cores were placed in imbibition cells to examine how the presence of initial water saturation can affect recovery, and how the recovery changes for different oil viscosities. An increase in oil recovery was observed with ultrasonic energy in all cases. The additional recovery with ultrasonic energy lessened as the oil viscosity increased. Ultrasonic intensity and frequency were shown to be critical to the performance, which is important since ultrasonic waves have limited penetration into porous medium. This is a key disadvantage for commercializing this promising process for well stimulation. Therefore, the authors designed a set-up to measure the ultrasonic energy penetration capacity in different media, notably air, water and slurry. The set-up could identify which types of reservoirs are most suitable for ultrasonic application. Imbibition experiments revealed that ultrasonic radiation increases recovery, and is much more significant in oil wet cases, where initial water saturation facilitate oil recovery. Higher frequency showed a higher rate of recovery compared to lower frequency, but the ultimate recovery was not changed substantially. 46 refs., 1 tab., 16 figs.

  11. Enhanced oil recovery program review

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1994-05-01

    Canada accounts for 40% of the global resources in heavy oils and oil sands bitumen, however, more than 90% of these resources need new and innovative technologies if they are to be made available at a competitive price. CANMET's Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) program was created in the late 1970s in response to the drive for energy self-sufficiency. Funding of the project is highly leveraged; industry funding towards projects supported under the CANMET Energy Conversion Program averaged over 300% annually since the previous review in 1990. Multi-client EOR technology projects include horizontal well technology, development of the vapour extraction process, and field testing of oil sands extraction technology. Direction and priorities of the program are established in consultation with the Minister's Advisory Council to CANMET (MNACC), industry and other performers and sponsors of enhanced oil recovery R and D. This review, including client feedback from interviews with several industry spokespersons, concluded that the program was well managed, and of high priority. Various options capable of meeting future needs were examined. Continuation of the current program, incorporating a number of significant changes, was recommended

  12. Increasing oil recovery from heavy oil waterfloods

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Brice, B.W. [Society of Petroleum Engineers, Canadian Section, Calgary, AB (Canada)]|[BP Exploration, Calgary, AB (Canada)

    2008-10-15

    In an effort to optimize waterflood strategies in Alaska, the authors examined the results of up to 50 years of waterflooding on 166 western Canadian waterfloods recovering oil of less than 30 degrees API. The study determined the best operating practices for heavy oil waterflooding by investigating the difference between waterflooding of heavy oil and lighter oil counterparts. Operators of light oil waterflooding are advised to begin waterflooding early and maintain the voidage replacement ratio (VRR) at 1. However, this study showed that it is beneficial to delay the start of waterflooding until a certain fraction of the original oil in place was recovered. Varying the VRR was also shown to correlate with increased ultimate recovery. This statistical study of 166 western Canadian waterfloods also examined the effect of injection strategy and the effect of primary production before waterflooding. Some pre-waterflood production and under injection time is advantageous for ultimate recovery by waterfloods. Specific recommendations were presented for waterfloods in reservoirs with both high and low API gravity ranges. Each range showed a narrow sweet spot window where improved recovery occurred. 27 refs., 13 figs.

  13. Free gold recovery by coal-oil agglomeration

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kotze, W.; Petersen, F.W. [Cape Technikon Cape Town (South Africa). Dept. of Chemical Engineering

    2000-02-01

    The gold mining industry has mainly relied upon the use of highly polluting chemicals, such as mercury and cyanide to recover gold from its ores. The Coal Gold Agglomeration (CGA) process was developed some years ago and has the advantage in that gold is recovered by a procedure which has little or no negative impact on the environment. A gold ore containing liberated gold particles is contacted with coal-oil agglomerates, whereby the gold is recovered into the coal/oil phase. Laboratory scale batch tests were performed on an artificial mixture gold slurry and gold recoveries of up to 85% were found under optimized conditions. By recycling the coal/oil phase, it was found that the gold loading onto the agglomerates was increased. Tests performed on an industrial ore yielded slightly lower gold recoveries, and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis on the coal/oil phase showed that minerals other than gold were recovered into this phase. A comparative study was conducted whereby the CGA process was compared to mercury amalgamation. Gold recoveries obtained through amalgamation were 15% lower than by the agglomeration process, which indicates that this process can be considered favourably as an alternative to amalgamation. 16 refs., 2 figs., 6 tabs.

  14. Numerical approach for enhanced oil recovery with surfactant flooding

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sadegh Keshtkar

    2016-03-01

    concentration and performance variable (cumulative oil recovery are studied. Finally, the comparison of oil recovery between water-flooding and surfactant-flooding was done. The results showed higher oil recovery with changes in capillary number when the partition coefficient is greater than unity. Increasing oil viscosity resulted in decreasing the oil recovery by changing in fractional flow. Moreover, it was concluded that the oil recovery was enhanced by increasing surfactant injection concentration. The oil recovery was increased when surfactant was injected to the system and this result was obtained by comparing water-flooding and surfactant-flooding.

  15. Fluid diversion in oil recovery

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nimir, Hassan B.

    1999-01-01

    In any oil recovery process, large scale heterogeneities, such as fractures, channels, or high-permeability streaks, can cause early break through of injected fluid which will reduce oil recovery efficiency. In waterflooding, enhanced oil recovery, and acidizing operations, this problem is particularly acute because of the cost of the injected fluid. On the other hand coping with excess water production is always a challenging task for field operators. The cost of handling and disposing produced water can significantly shorten the economic production life of an oil well. The hydrostatic pressure created by high fluid levels in a well (water coning) is also detrimental to oil production. In this paper, the concept of fluid diversion is explained. Different methods that are suggested to divert the fluid into the oil-bearing-zones are briefly discussed, to show their advantages and disadvantages. Methods of reducing water production in production well are also discussed. (Author)

  16. Mechanical recovery of oil in ice

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Solsberg, L.B.; McGrath, M.

    1992-01-01

    A literature review was performed on the mechanical systems used for removing oil in ice. The most promising spill cleanup techniques were identified along with recommendations for future work. Catalogued data in the review focused on skimmers, of which rope mop machines were considered as having the most versatile approach. The performance of the Foxtail VAB 8-14 skimmer was then assessed in North Slope crude oil and diesel fuel at a test site in Alaska. The skimmer operates through a remote power pack and pump, and incorporates eight vertically oriented rope mops. It weighs 900 kg and is suspended from a crane when deployed. Three independent test parameters were measured: oil type, slick thickness, and ice cover. A test strategy was devised to isolate the effects of individual parameters on skimming in order to optimize machine performance. Skimmer performance was based on the percent oil in the recovered oil/water mixture and the net oil collection rate. Skimmer performance was found to be optimal at rope mop speeds of 0.2-0.3 m/s in medium range viscosity oils. The unit tested was significantly less effective in diesel. Overall, the Foxtail skimmer was found to comprise an oil recovery concept that has excellent potential and affords versatility for many oil-in-ice applications. 4 figs., 1 tab

  17. Recovery rates, enhanced oil recovery and technological limits.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muggeridge, Ann; Cockin, Andrew; Webb, Kevin; Frampton, Harry; Collins, Ian; Moulds, Tim; Salino, Peter

    2014-01-13

    Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) techniques can significantly extend global oil reserves once oil prices are high enough to make these techniques economic. Given a broad consensus that we have entered a period of supply constraints, operators can at last plan on the assumption that the oil price is likely to remain relatively high. This, coupled with the realization that new giant fields are becoming increasingly difficult to find, is creating the conditions for extensive deployment of EOR. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the nature, status and prospects for EOR technologies. It explains why the average oil recovery factor worldwide is only between 20% and 40%, describes the factors that contribute to these low recoveries and indicates which of those factors EOR techniques can affect. The paper then summarizes the breadth of EOR processes, the history of their application and their current status. It introduces two new EOR technologies that are beginning to be deployed and which look set to enter mainstream application. Examples of existing EOR projects in the mature oil province of the North Sea are discussed. It concludes by summarizing the future opportunities for the development and deployment of EOR.

  18. Thermal performance analysis of Brayton cycle with waste heat recovery boiler for diesel engines of offshore oil production facilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu, Xianglong; Gong, Guangcai; Wu, Yi; Li, Hangxin

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • Comparison of Brayton cycle with WHRB adopted in diesel engines with and without fans by thermal performance. • Waste heat recovery technology for FPSO. • The thermoeconomic analysis for the heat recovery for FPSO. - Abstract: This paper presents the theoretical analysis and on-site testing on the thermal performance of the waste heat recovery system for offshore oil production facilities, including the components of diesel engines, thermal boilers and waste heat boilers. We use the ideal air standard Brayton cycle to analyse the thermal performance. In comparison with the traditional design, the fans at the engine outlet of the waste heat recovery boiler is removed due to the limited space of the offshore platform. The cases with fan and without fan are compared in terms of thermal dynamics performance, energy efficiency and thermo-economic index of the system. The results show that the application of the WHRB increases the energy efficiency of the whole system, but increases the flow resistance in the duct. It is proved that as the waste heat recovery boiler takes the place of the thermal boiler, the energy efficiency of whole system without fan is slightly reduced but heat recovery efficiency is improved. This research provides an important guidance to improve the waste heat recovery for offshore oil production facilities.

  19. Simulation study of huff-n-puff air injection for enhanced oil recovery in shale oil reservoirs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hu Jia

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available This paper is the first attempt to evaluate huff-n-puff air injection in a shale oil reservoir using a simulation approach. Recovery mechanisms and physical processes of huff-n-puff air injection in a shale oil reservoir are investigated through investigating production performance, thermal behavior, reservoir pressure and fluid saturation features. Air flooding is used as the basic case for a comparative study. The simulation study suggests that thermal drive is the main recovery mechanism for huff-n-puff air injection in the shale oil reservoir, but not for simple air flooding. The synergic recovery mechanism of air flooding in conventional light oil reservoirs can be replicated in shale oil reservoirs by using air huff-n-puff injection strategy. Reducing huff-n-puff time is better for performing the synergic recovery mechanism of air injection. O2 diffusion plays an important role in huff-n-puff air injection in shale oil reservoirs. Pressure transmissibility as well as reservoir pressure maintenance ability in huff-n-puff air injection is more pronounced than the simple air flooding after primary depletion stage. No obvious gas override is exhibited in both air flooding and air huff-n-puff injection scenarios in shale reservoirs. Huff-n-puff air injection has great potential to develop shale oil reservoirs. The results from this work may stimulate further investigations.

  20. RESEARCH OIL RECOVERY MECHANISMS IN HEAVY OIL RESERVOIRS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Anthony R. Kovscek; William E. Brigham

    1999-06-01

    The United States continues to rely heavily on petroleum fossil fuels as a primary energy source, while domestic reserves dwindle. However, so-called heavy oil (10 to 20{sup o}API) remains an underutilized resource of tremendous potential. Heavy oils are much more viscous than conventional oils. As a result, they are difficult to produce with conventional recovery methods such as pressure depletion and water injection. Thermal recovery is especially important for this class of reservoirs because adding heat, usually via steam injection, generally reduces oil viscosity dramatically. This improves displacement efficiency. The research described here was directed toward improved understanding of thermal and heavy-oil production mechanisms and is categorized into: (1) flow and rock properties; (2) in-situ combustion; (3) additives to improve mobility control; (4) reservoir definition; and (5) support services. The scope of activities extended over a three-year period. Significant work was accomplished in the area of flow properties of steam, water, and oil in consolidated and unconsolidated porous media, transport in fractured porous media, foam generation and flow in homogeneous and heterogeneous porous media, the effects of displacement pattern geometry and mobility ratio on oil recovery, and analytical representation of water influx. Significant results are described.

  1. Flow behavior of N2 huff and puff process for enhanced oil recovery in tight oil reservoirs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lu, Teng; Li, Zhaomin; Li, Jian; Hou, Dawei; Zhang, Dingyong

    2017-11-16

    In the present work, the potential of N 2 huff and puff process to enhance the recovery of tight oil reservoir was evaluated. N 2 huff and puff experiments were performed in micromodels and cores to investigate the flow behaviors of different cycles. The results showed that, in the first cycle, N 2 was dispersed in the oil, forming the foamy oil flow. In the second cycle, the dispersed gas bubbles gradually coalesced into the continuous gas phase. In the third cycle, N 2 was produced in the form of continuous gas phase. The results from the coreflood tests showed that, the primary recovery was only 5.32%, while the recoveries for the three N 2 huff and puff cycles were 15.1%, 8.53% and 3.22%, respectively.The recovery and the pressure gradient in the first cycle were high. With the increase of huff and puff cycles, and the oil recovery and the pressure gradient rapidly decreased. The oil recovery of N 2 huff and puff has been found to increase as the N 2 injection pressure and the soaking time increased. These results showed that, the properly designed and controlled N 2 huff and puff process can lead to enhanced recovery of tight oil reservoirs.

  2. Viability of Biopolymers for Enhanced Oil Recovery

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Sveistrup, Marte; van Mastrigt, Frank; Norrman, Jens; Picchioni, Francesco; Paso, Kristofer

    2016-01-01

    Xanthan gum and scleroglucan are assessed as environmentally friendly enhanced oil recovery (EOR) agents. Viscometric and interfacial tension measurements show that the polysaccharides exhibit favorable viscosifying performance, robust shear tolerance, electrolyte tolerance, and moderate

  3. Synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles for oil-water interfacial tension reduction in enhanced oil recovery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soleimani, Hassan; Baig, Mirza Khurram; Yahya, Noorhana; Khodapanah, Leila; Sabet, Maziyar; Demiral, Birol M. R.; Burda, Marek

    2018-02-01

    Nanoparticles show potential use in applications associated with upstream oil and gas engineering to increase the performance of numerous methods such as wettability alteration, interfacial tension reduction, thermal conductivity and enhanced oil recovery operations. Surface tension optimization is an important parameter in enhanced oil recovery. Current work focuses on the new economical method of surface tension optimization of ZnO nanofluids for oil-water interfacial tension reduction in enhanced oil recovery. In this paper, zinc oxide (ZnO) nanocrystallites were prepared using the chemical route and explored for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). Adsorption of ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) on calcite (111) surface was investigated using the adsorption locator module of Materials Studio software. It was found that ZnO nanoparticles show maximum adsorption energy of - 253 kcal/mol. The adsorption of ZnO on the rock surface changes the wettability which results in capillary force reduction and consequently increasing EOR. The nanofluids have been prepared by varying the concentration of ZnO nanoparticles to find the optimum value for surface tension. The surface tension (ST) was calculated with different concentration of ZnO nanoparticles using the pendant drop method. The results show a maximum value of ST 35.57 mN/m at 0.3 wt% of ZnO NPs. It was found that the nanofluid with highest surface tension (0.3 wt%) resulted in higher recovery efficiency. The highest recovery factor of 11.82% at 0.3 wt% is due to the oil/water interfacial tension reduction and wettability alteration.

  4. Effects of Microwave Radiation on Oil Recovery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Esmaeili, Abdollah

    2011-12-01

    A variety of oil recovery methods have been developed and applied to mature and depleted reservoirs in order to improve the efficiency. Microwave radiation oil recovery method is a relatively new method and has been of great interest in the recent years. Crude oil is typically co-mingled with suspended solids and water. To increase oil recovery, it is necessary to remove these components. The separation of oil from water and solids using gravitational settling methods is typically incomplete. Oil-in-water and oil-water-solid emulsions can be demulsified and separated into their individual layers by microwave radiation. The data also show that microwave separation is faster than gravity separation and can be faster than conventional heating at many conditions. After separation of emulsion into water and oil layers, water can be discharged and oil is collected. High-frequency microwave recycling process can recover oil and gases from oil shale, residual oil, drill cuttings, tar sands oil, contaminated dredge/sediments, tires and plastics with significantly greater yields and lower costs than are available utilizing existing known technologies. This process is environmentally friendly, fuel-generating recycler to reduce waste, cut emissions, and save energy. This paper presents a critical review of Microwave radiation method for oil recovery.

  5. Principles of heavy oil recovery

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Szasz, S.E.; Thomas, G.W.

    1965-10-01

    Rising exploration costs have prompted greater interest in the large known deposits of heavy oil in North America. Because of high oil viscosities in such reservoirs, recoveries are poor, fluid drives are inefficient and production rates are uneconomical. Viscosity reduction can best be accomplished by heating the reservoir. The basic aspects of reservoir heating are reviewed and those processes which are of practical importance in heavy oil reservoirs are discussed. Wellbore heating frequently can be applied to heavy oil reservoirs to increase production rates. In hot waterflooding, the water requirements are much higher than an ordinary waterflood. Steam floods are more attractive, but operating costs are generally high. Conduction heating processes appear most promising. Among these is included the cyclic steam-soak process. A simple method is presented for estimating the performance from the first cycle of steam injection into the formation, assuming gravity as the only driving energy. An example calculation for a typical heavy oil reservoir is given. (26 refs.)

  6. Steam injection for heavy oil recovery: Modeling of wellbore heat efficiency and analysis of steam injection performance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gu, Hao; Cheng, Linsong; Huang, Shijun; Li, Bokai; Shen, Fei; Fang, Wenchao; Hu, Changhao

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • A comprehensive mathematical model was established to estimate wellbore heat efficiency of steam injection wells. • A simplified approach of predicting steam pressure in wellbores was proposed. • High wellhead injection rate and wellhead steam quality can improve wellbore heat efficiency. • High wellbore heat efficiency does not necessarily mean good performance of heavy oil recovery. • Using excellent insulation materials is a good way to save water and fuels. - Abstract: The aims of this work are to present a comprehensive mathematical model for estimating wellbore heat efficiency and to analyze performance of steam injection for heavy oil recovery. In this paper, we firstly introduce steam injection process briefly. Secondly, a simplified approach of predicting steam pressure in wellbores is presented and a complete expression for steam quality is derived. More importantly, both direct and indirect methods are adopted to determine the wellbore heat efficiency. Then, the mathematical model is solved using an iterative technique. After the model is validated with measured field data, we study the effects of wellhead injection rate and wellhead steam quality on steam injection performance reflected in wellbores. Next, taking cyclic steam stimulation as an example, we analyze steam injection performance reflected in reservoirs with numerical reservoir simulation method. Finally, the significant role of improving wellbore heat efficiency in saving water and fuels is discussed in detail. The results indicate that we can improve the wellbore heat efficiency by enhancing wellhead injection rate or steam quality. However, high wellbore heat efficiency does not necessarily mean satisfactory steam injection performance reflected in reservoirs or good performance of heavy oil recovery. Moreover, the paper shows that using excellent insulation materials is a good way to save water and fuels due to enhancement of wellbore heat efficiency

  7. Recovery of hydrocarbon oils

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1941-02-10

    A process is disclosed for recovery of hydrocarbon oils, especially lubricating oils or diesel oils, through pressure hydrogenation of distillation, extraction of hydrogenation products from coal or coaly materials or from oils such as mineral oils or tars in liquid phase by use in a reaction vessel of fixed-bed catalysts, characterized in that as starting material is employed material which has been freed of asphaltic and resinous material by hydrogenation refining, vacuum-steam distillation, treatment with hydrogen-rich hydrocarbons (hydroforming), or sulfuric acid.

  8. Biosurfactants and their role in oil recovery

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    McInerney, Michael J. [University of Oklahoma (United States)

    2011-07-01

    This paper presents the role of biosurfactants in oil recovery. Types of biosurfactants include, among others, lipopeptides, rhamnolipids, sophorolipids. The process of oil recovery and the involvement of microbes are explained. The objective is to know if lipopeptide biosurfactants lower interfacial tension. Fatty acid composition is important for lipopeptide biosurfactant activity and microbial surfactants are hydrophilic and Interfacial Tension (IFT) values are high. Examples of biosurfactants with lower IFT values with mixtures are also given. An experiment was conducted to determine whether lipopeptides recovery entrapped oil or not. The procedure and experimental setup are shown. It is seen that with higher concentration of biosurfactants, the percentage of residual oil recovery is higher. Another experiment was conducted to see if biosurfactants greater than 40 mg/l can be produced in oil reservoirs. The experimental design and the analysis with the results are given. It was seen that more oil was produced. Conclusions from the study were, among other findings, that, in situ biosurfactant production and inoculation are possible.

  9. Application of Biosurfactants Produced by Pseudomonas putida using Crude Palm Oil (CPO) as Substrate for Crude Oil Recovery using Batch Method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suryanti, V.; Handayani, D. S.; Masykur, A.; Septyaningsih, I.

    2018-03-01

    The application of biosurfactants which have been produced by Pseudomonas putida in nutrient broth medium supplemented with NaCl and crude palm oil (CPO) for oil recovery has been evaluated. The crude and purified biosurfactants have been examined for oil recovery from a laboratory oil-contaminated sand in agitated flask (batch method). Two synthetic surfactants and water as control was also performed for oil recovery as comparisons. Using batch method, the results showed that removing ability of crude oil from the oil-contaminated sand by purified and crude biosurfactants were 79.40±3.10 and 46.84±2.23 %, respectively. On other hand, the recoveries obtained with the SDS, Triton X-100 and water were 94.33±0.47, 74.84±7.39 and 34.42±1.21%respectively.

  10. Enhanced Oil Recovery with Surfactant Flooding

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sandersen, Sara Bülow

    , thus reducing the interfacial tension (IFT) to ultra low (0.001 mN/m), which consequently will mobilize the residual oil and result in improved oil recovery. This EOR technology is, however, made challenging by a number of factors, such as the adsorption of surfactant and co-surfactant to the rock...... be resistant to and remain active at reservoir conditions such as high temperatures, pressures and salinities. Understanding the underlying mechanisms of systems that exhibit liquid-liquid equilibrium (e.g. oil-brine systems) at reservoir conditions is an area of increasing interest within EOR. This is true...... studied. The effect of increased pressure became more significant when combined with increasing temperature. The experiments performed on the oil/ seawater systems were similar to the high pressure experiments for the surfactant system discussed above. Oil was contacted with different brine solutions...

  11. The potential of Bacillus licheniformis strains for in situ enhanced oil recovery

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yakimov, Michail M.; Timmis, Kenneth N. [Microbial Ecology Group, Division of Microbiology, GBF-National Research Centre for Biotechnology, Braunschweig (Germany); Amro, Mohammed M.; Kessel, Dagobert G. [German Petroleum Institute, Clausthal-Zellerfeld (Germany); Bock, Michael; Boseker, Klaus [BGR, Federal Institute for Geoscience and Natural Resources, Hannover (Germany); Fredrickson, Herbert L. [Environmental Laboratory, Waterways Experimental Station, USAGE, Vicksburg, MS (United States)

    1997-07-15

    The ability of microorganisms isolated from oil reservoirs to increase oil recovery by in situ growth and metabolism following the injection of laboratory grown microbial cells and nutrients were studied. Four strains isolated from Northern German oil reservoirs at depths of 866 to 1520 m, and identified as Bacillus licheniformis, were characterized taxonomically and physiologically. All strains grew on a variety of substrates at temperatures of up to 55C and at salinities of up to 12% NaCl. Extracellular polymer production occurred both aerobically and anaerobically over a wide range of temperatures, pressures and salinities, though it was optimal at temperatures around 50C and at salinities between 5 and 10% NaCl. Strain BNP29 was able to produce significant amounts of biomass, polymer, fermentation alcohols and acids in batch culture experiments under simulated reservoir conditions. Oil recovery (core flooding) experiments with strain BNP29 and a sucrose-based nutrient were performed with lime-free and lime-containing, oil-bearing sandstone cores. Oil recovery efficiencies varied from 9.3 to 22.1% of the water flood residual oil saturation. Biogenic acid production that accompanied oil production, along with selective plugging, are important mechanisms leading to increased oil recovery, presumably through resulting changes in rock porosity and alteration of wettability. These data show that strain BNP29 exhibits potential for the development of enhanced oil recovery processes

  12. Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR by Miscible CO2 and Water Flooding of Asphaltenic and Non-Asphaltenic Oils

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Edwin A. Chukwudeme

    2009-09-01

    Full Text Available An EOR study has been performed applying miscible CO2 flooding and compared with that for water flooding. Three different oils are used, reference oil (n-decane, model oil (n-C10, SA, toluene and 0.35 wt % asphaltene and crude oil (10 wt % asphaltene obtained from the Middle East. Stearic acid (SA is added representing a natural surfactant in oil. For the non-asphaltenic oil, miscible CO2 flooding is shown to be more favourable than that by water. However, it is interesting to see that for first years after the start of the injection (< 3 years it is shown that there is almost no difference between the recovered oils by water and CO2, after which (> 3 years oil recovery by gas injection showed a significant increase. This may be due to the enhanced performance at the increased reservoir pressure during the first period. Maximum oil recovery is shown by miscible CO2 flooding of asphaltenic oil at combined temperatures and pressures of 50 °C/90 bar and 70 °C/120 bar (no significant difference between the two cases, about 1% compared to 80 °C/140 bar. This may support the positive influence of the high combined temperatures and pressures for the miscible CO2 flooding; however beyond a certain limit the oil recovery declined due to increased asphaltene deposition. Another interesting finding in this work is that for single phase oil, an almost linear relationship is observed between the pressure drop and the asphaltene deposition regardless of the flowing fluid pressure.

  13. Improved heavy oil recovery by low rate waterflooding

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mai, A. [Laricina Energy Ltd., Calgary, AB (Canada); Kantzas, A. [Calgary Univ., AB (Canada). Tomographic Imaging and Porous Media Laboratory

    2008-10-15

    Waterflooding techniques are frequently used to recover oil in low viscosity or marginal heavy oil reservoirs. This paper described a low-rate waterflooding oil recovery mechanism. The mechanism was determined by examining the effect of sand permeability on the impact of viscous force contributions. Changes in permeability and injection rates parameters were studied in order to evaluate the significance of imbibition, and a method of quantifying the effect of capillary forces was presented. The mechanism was demonstrated in an experimental study that used sand packs of varying permeabilities wet-packed into cores with overburden pressures. A fixed injection rate was used to investigate waterflooding in the different permeability systems with 2 different oils. Overall recovery rates were examined as a function of injection velocity. An analysis of normalized oil production rates demonstrated that viscous forces are more important during the early phases of waterflooding. The study showed that breakthrough oil recovery values increased with higher permeability values. However, when injection rates were reduced to low frontal velocity values, the correlation between sand permeability and breakthrough oil recovery resulted in low permeability rates. Lower permeability porous media resulted in more restrictive flow conditions. However, the capillary force components increased as a result of the smaller pore sizes, which in turn led to enhanced water imbibition and higher oil recovery values after water breakthrough. It was concluded that waterflooding rates can be modified later in the recovery process in order to improve final oil recovery values. 21 refs., 3 tabs., 11 figs.

  14. Oil spill recovery technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nash, J.; Cooper, W.; Nee, V.; Nigim, H.

    1992-01-01

    Current deficiencies in oil spill cleanup processes have resulted in research and development of new cleanup technologies at the University of Notre Dame. Emphasis on reducing, reusing and recycling equipment and waste at a cleanup site has prompted advances in oil recovery technology as well as improvement in sorbent materials. (author)

  15. Combustion for Enhanced Recovery of Light Oil at Medium Pressures

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Khoshnevis Gargar, N.

    2014-01-01

    Using conventional production methods, recovery percentages from oil reservoirs range from 5% for difficult oil to 50% for light oil in highly permeable homogeneous reservoirs. To increase the oil recovery factor, enhanced oil recovery (EOR) methods are used. We distinguish EOR that uses chemical

  16. Using Polymer Alternating Gas to Enhance Oil Recovery in Heavy Oil

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Yongzhi; Li, Weirong; Zhou, Tiyao; Dong, Zhenzhen

    2018-02-01

    CO2 has been used to recover oil for more than 40 years. Currently, about 43% of EOR production in U.S. is from CO2 flooding. CO2 flooding is a well-established EOR technique, but its density and viscosity nature are challenges for CO2 projects. Low density (0.5 to 0.8 g/cm3) causes gas to rise upward in reservoirs and bypass many lower portions of the reservoir. Low viscosity (0.02 to 0.08 cp) leads to poor volumetric sweep efficiency. So water-alternating-gas (WAG) method was used to control the mobility of CO2 and improve sweep efficiency. However, WAG process has some other problems in heavy oil reservoir, such as poor mobility ratio and gravity overriding. To examine the applicability of carbon dioxide to recover viscous oil from highly heterogeneous reservoirs, this study suggests a new EOR method--polymer-alternating gas (PAG) process. The process involves a combination of polymer flooding and CO2 injection. To confirm the effectiveness of PAG process in heavy oils, a reservoir model from Liaohe Oilfield is used to compare the technical and economic performance among PAG, WAG and polymer flooding. Simulation results show that PAG method would increase oil recovery over 10% compared with other EOR methods and PAG would be economically success based on assumption in this study. This study is the first to apply PAG to enhance oil recovery in heavy oil reservoir with highly heterogeneous. Besides, this paper provides detailed discussions and comparison about PAG with other EOR methods in this heavy oil reservoir.

  17. Novel approaches to microbial enhancement of oil recovery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kryachko, Yuriy

    2018-01-20

    Microbially enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) was shown to be feasible in a number of laboratory experiments and field trials. However, it has not been widely used in the oil industry because necessary conditions cannot always be easily established in an oil reservoir. Novel approaches to MEOR, which are based on newly discovered biosurfactant-mediated MEOR-mechanisms, are discussed in this review. Particularly, the possibility of combining MEOR with chemical enhancement of oil recovery in heterogeneous oil reservoirs, which involves rock surface wettability shifts and emulsion inversions, is discussed. In wider (centimeter/millimeter-scale) rock pores, the activity of (bio)surfactants and microbial cells attached to oil may allow releasing trapped oil blobs through oil-in-water emulsification. After no more oil can be emulsified, the addition of alkali or surfactants, which turn rock surface oil-wet, may help release oil droplets trapped in narrow (micrometer-scale) pores through coalescence of the droplets and water-in-oil emulsification. Experiments demonstrating the possibility of (bio)surfactant-mediated enhancement of immiscible gas-driven oil recovery are also reviewed. Interestingly, very low (bio)surfactant concentrations were shown to be needed for enhancement of immiscible gas-driven oil recovery. Some possible side effects of MEOR, such as unintended bioplugging and microbially influenced corrosion (MIC), are discussed as well. Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  18. Oil recovery from refinery oily sludge via ultrasound and freeze/thaw.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Ju; Li, Jianbing; Thring, Ronald W; Hu, Xuan; Song, Xinyuan

    2012-02-15

    The effective disposal of oily sludge generated from the petroleum industry has received increasing concerns, and oil recovery from such waste was considered as one feasible option. In this study, three different approaches for oil recovery were investigated, including ultrasonic treatment alone, freeze/thaw alone and combined ultrasonic and freeze/thaw treatment. The results revealed that the combined process could achieve satisfactory performance by considering the oil recovery rate and the total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) concentrations in the recovered oil and wastewater. The individual impacts of five different factors on the combined process were further examined, including ultrasonic power, ultrasonic treatment duration, sludge/water ratio in the slurry, as well as bio-surfactant (rhamnolipids) and salt (NaCl) concentrations. An oil recovery rate of up to 80.0% was observed with an ultrasonic power of 66 W and an ultrasonic treatment duration of 10 min when the sludge/water ratio was 1:2 without the addition of bio-surfactant and salt. The examination of individual factors revealed that the addition of low concentration of rhamnolipids (treatment process. The experimental results also indicated that ultrasound and freeze/thaw could promote the efficiency of each other, and the main mechanism of oil recovery enhancement using ultrasound was through enhanced desorption of petroleum hydrocarbons (PHCs) from solid particles. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  19. Environmentally responsive surface-modified silica nanoparticles for enhanced oil recovery

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Behzadi, Abed; Mohammadi, Aliasghar

    2016-01-01

    Environmentally responsive surface-modified nanoparticles are colloidal nanoparticles coated with, at least, two physicochemically distinct surface groups. Recent advances in the synthesis and production of nanoparticles have enabled the production of environmentally responsive surface-modified nanoparticles with both hydrophilic and hydrophobic surface groups. These nanoparticles act like colloidal surfactants. In this paper, environmentally responsive surface-modified silica nanoparticles are synthesized and used for enhancement of oil recovery. For this purpose, silica nanoparticles are coated with polyethylene glycol chains as hydrophilic agent and propyl chains as hydrophobic agent at various quantities, and their ability to modulate oil–water interface properties and oil recovery is examined. Oil–water interfacial tension and water surface tension are decreased by 50 % in the presence of silica nanoparticles coated with both agents. Measuring oil-drop contact angle on oil-wetted glass slides and carbonate rock sections, after aging in various surface-modified silica nanofluids, indicates that the wettability of various oil-wetted surfaces is modified from strongly oil-wet to water-wet. Flooding nanofluids to glass micro-models and pore-level investigations demonstrate that surface modification of silica nanoparticles, specially, with both hydrophilic and hydrophobic agents improves considerably their performance in increasing oil recovery and wettability alteration.

  20. Environmentally responsive surface-modified silica nanoparticles for enhanced oil recovery

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Behzadi, Abed; Mohammadi, Aliasghar, E-mail: amohammadi@sharif.edu [Sharif University of Technology, Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

    2016-09-15

    Environmentally responsive surface-modified nanoparticles are colloidal nanoparticles coated with, at least, two physicochemically distinct surface groups. Recent advances in the synthesis and production of nanoparticles have enabled the production of environmentally responsive surface-modified nanoparticles with both hydrophilic and hydrophobic surface groups. These nanoparticles act like colloidal surfactants. In this paper, environmentally responsive surface-modified silica nanoparticles are synthesized and used for enhancement of oil recovery. For this purpose, silica nanoparticles are coated with polyethylene glycol chains as hydrophilic agent and propyl chains as hydrophobic agent at various quantities, and their ability to modulate oil–water interface properties and oil recovery is examined. Oil–water interfacial tension and water surface tension are decreased by 50 % in the presence of silica nanoparticles coated with both agents. Measuring oil-drop contact angle on oil-wetted glass slides and carbonate rock sections, after aging in various surface-modified silica nanofluids, indicates that the wettability of various oil-wetted surfaces is modified from strongly oil-wet to water-wet. Flooding nanofluids to glass micro-models and pore-level investigations demonstrate that surface modification of silica nanoparticles, specially, with both hydrophilic and hydrophobic agents improves considerably their performance in increasing oil recovery and wettability alteration.

  1. Enhanced Oil Recovery: Aqueous Flow Tracer Measurement

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Joseph Rovani; John Schabron

    2009-02-01

    A low detection limit analytical method was developed to measure a suite of benzoic acid and fluorinated benzoic acid compounds intended for use as tracers for enhanced oil recovery operations. Although the new high performance liquid chromatography separation successfully measured the tracers in an aqueous matrix at low part per billion levels, the low detection limits could not be achieved in oil field water due to interference problems with the hydrocarbon-saturated water using the system's UV detector. Commercial instrument vendors were contacted in an effort to determine if mass spectrometry could be used as an alternate detection technique. The results of their work demonstrate that low part per billion analysis of the tracer compounds in oil field water could be achieved using ultra performance liquid chromatography mass spectrometry.

  2. β-Cyclodextrin associated polymeric systems: Rheology, flow behavior in porous media and enhanced heavy oil recovery performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wei, Bing

    2015-12-10

    This proof of concept research evaluates an approach to improve the enhanced heavy oil recovery performance of conventional polymers. Three associated polymeric systems, based on hydrolyzed polyacrylamide, xanthan gum, and a novel hydrophobic copolymer, were proposed in this work. The results of the theoretically rheology study indicate that these systems offer superior viscoelasticity and pronounced shear-thinning behavior due to the "interlocking effect". As a result of the surfactant collaboration, the dynamic interfacial tension between oil and polymer solution can be reduced by two orders of magnitude. Sandpack flooding tests demonstrated the capacity of the developed systems in mobility control during propagating in porous media, and the adsorption behavior was represented by the thickness of the adsorbed layer. The relationship between microscopic efficiency and capillary number indicated that the associated systems can significantly reduce the residual oil saturation due to the synergistic effect of the mobility reduction and surface activity, and the overall recovery efficiency was raised by 2-20% OOIP compared to the baseline polymers. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Engineering the biosynthesis of novel rhamnolipids in Escherichia coli for enhanced oil recovery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Han, L; Liu, P; Peng, Y; Lin, J; Wang, Q; Ma, Y

    2014-07-01

    The interfacial tension of rhamnolipids and their applications in enhanced oil recovery are dependent on their chemical structures and compositions. To improve their performances of interfacial tension and enhanced oil recovery, the engineered strategies were applied to produce novel rhamnolipids with different chemical structures and compositions. By introducing different key genes for rhamnolipid biosynthesis, Escherichia coli was firstly constructed to produce rhamnolipids that showed different performances in interfacial tension from those from Pseudomonas aeruginosa due to the different fatty acyl compositions. Then, the mutant RhlBs were created by directed evolution and subsequent site-directed mutagenesis and resulted in the production of the novel rhamnolipids with the different performances in interfacial tension as well as enhanced oil recovery. Lastly, computational modelling elucidates that the single amino acid mutation at the position 168 in RhlB would change the volume of binding pocket for substrate and thus affect the selectivity of rhamnolipid formation in E. coli. The novel rhamnolipids that showed the improved performances of interfacial tension and the potential different applications in enhanced oil recovery were successfully produced by engineered E. coli. This study proved that the combination of metabolic engineering and protein engineering is an important engineered strategy to produce many novel metabolites in micro-organisms. © 2014 The Society for Applied Microbiology.

  4. DEVELOPMENT OF BIOSURFACTANT-MEDIATED OIL RECOVERY IN MODEL POROUS SYSTEMS AND COMPUTER SIMULATIONS OF BIOSURFACTANT-MEDIATED OIL RECOVERY

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    M.J. McInerney; S.K. Maudgalya; R. Knapp; M. Folmsbee

    2004-05-31

    Current technology recovers only one-third to one-half of the oil that is originally present in an oil reservoir. Entrapment of petroleum hydrocarbons by capillary forces is a major factor that limits oil recovery (1, 3, 4). Hydrocarbon displacement can occur if interfacial tension (IFT) between the hydrocarbon and aqueous phases is reduced by several orders of magnitude. Microbially-produced biosurfactants may be an economical method to recover residual hydrocarbons since they are effective at low concentrations. Previously, we showed that substantial mobilization of residual hydrocarbon from a model porous system occurs at biosurfactant concentrations made naturally by B. mojavensis strain JF-1 if a polymer and 2,3-butanediol were present (2). In this report, we include data on oil recovery from Berea sandstone experiments along with our previous data from sand pack columns in order to relate biosurfactant concentration to the fraction of oil recovered. We also investigate the effect that the JF-2 biosurfactant has on interfacial tension (IFT). The presence of a co-surfactant, 2,3-butanediol, was shown to improve oil recoveries possibly by changing the optimal salinity concentration of the formulation. The JF-2 biosurfactant lowered IFT by nearly 2 orders of magnitude compared to typical values of 28-29 mN/m. Increasing the salinity increased the IFT with or without 2,3-butanediol present. The lowest interfacial tension observed was 0.1 mN/m. Tertiary oil recovery experiments showed that biosurfactant solutions with concentrations ranging from 10 to 60 mg/l in the presence of 0.1 mM 2,3-butanediol and 1 g/l of partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (PHPA) recovered 10-40% of the residual oil present in Berea sandstone cores. When PHPA was used alone, about 10% of the residual oil was recovered. Thus, about 10% of the residual oil recovered in these experiments was due to the increase in viscosity of the displacing fluid. Little or no oil was recovered at

  5. Feasibility of oil recovery by chemical flooding through horizontal wells

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    El-Abbas, A.M.; El-Sallaly, M. E.; Sayyouh, M. H.; El-Batanony, M. H.; Darwich, T. M.; Desouky, S. M. [Cairo Univ (Egypt)

    1998-12-31

    Crude oil production in the Gulf of Suez by polymer, surfactant, and surfactant/polymer flooding from a horizontal well in a scaled five-spot sandpacked model was studied. The suitability of the enhanced oil recovery predictive models, developed by the U.S. Department of Energy, was investigated for their ability to predict the experimental data and to assess the feasibility of oil recovery by chemical flooding. Good agreement was found between the predicted and experimental values. Experimental results showed that oil recovery was significantly affected by the physical properties of the crude oil and chemical solutions; that oil recovery was higher for a polymer flooding than for a surfactant flooding operation; and that oil recovery was improved by increasing the perforated length ratio up to a value of 0.81. A tendency for oil recovery to decrease was observed when the horizontal well was positioned below or above the central axis path of the formation at the advanced injection stages; and oil recovery by surfactant or polymer flooding was significantly affected by the onset timing of the surfactant or polymer slug injection. The oil-water bank stability in surfactant and polymer flooding processes was found to be dependent on slug size and slug injection time. 23 refs., 1 tab., 17 figs.

  6. Microbial enhanced oil recovery and compositions therefor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bryant, Rebecca S.

    1990-01-01

    A method is provided for microbial enhanced oil recovery, wherein a combination of microorganisms is empirically formulated based on survivability under reservoir conditions and oil recovery efficiency, such that injection of the microbial combination may be made, in the presence of essentially only nutrient solution, directly into an injection well of an oil bearing reservoir having oil present at waterflood residual oil saturation concentration. The microbial combination is capable of displacing residual oil from reservoir rock, which oil may be recovered by waterflooding without causing plugging of the reservoir rock. Further, the microorganisms are capable of being transported through the pores of the reservoir rock between said injection well and associated production wells, during waterflooding, which results in a larger area of the reservoir being covered by the oil-mobilizing microorganisms.

  7. Refined reservoir description to maximize oil recovery

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Flewitt, W.E.

    1975-01-01

    To assure maximized oil recovery from older pools, reservoir description has been advanced by fully integrating original open-hole logs and the recently introduced interpretive techniques made available through cased-hole wireline saturation logs. A refined reservoir description utilizing normalized original wireline porosity logs has been completed in the Judy Creek Beaverhill Lake ''A'' Pool, a reefal carbonate pool with current potential productivity of 100,000 BOPD and 188 active wells. Continuous porosity was documented within a reef rim and cap while discontinuous porous lenses characterized an interior lagoon. With the use of pulsed neutron logs and production data a separate water front and pressure response was recognized within discrete environmental units. The refined reservoir description aided in reservoir simulation model studies and quantifying pool performance. A pattern water flood has now replaced the original peripheral bottom water drive to maximize oil recovery

  8. Microbial enhanced oil recovery: Entering the log phase

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bryant, R.S.

    1995-12-31

    Microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) technology has advanced internationally since 1980 from a laboratory-based evaluation of microbial processes to field applications. In order to adequately support the decline in oil production in certain areas, research on cost-effective technologies such as microbial enhanced oil recovery processes must focus on both near-term and long-term applications. Many marginal wells are desperately in need of an inexpensive improved oil recovery technology today that can assist producers in order to prevent their abandonment. Microbial enhanced waterflooding technology has also been shown to be an economically feasible technology in the United States. Complementary environmental research and development will also be required to address any potential environmental impacts of microbial processes. In 1995 at this conference, the goal is to further document and promote microbial processes for improved oil recovery and related technology for solving environmental problems.

  9. Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) by miscible CO{sub 2} and water flooding of asphaltenic and non-asphaltenic oils

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chukwudeme, E. A.; Hamouda, A. A. [Department of Petroleum Engineering, University of Stavanger, 4036 Stavanger (Norway)

    2009-07-01

    An EOR study has been performed applying miscible CO{sub 2} flooding and compared with that for water flooding. Three different oils are used, reference oil (n-decane), model oil (n-C10, SA, toluene and 0.35 wt % asphaltene) and crude oil (10 wt % asphaltene) obtained from the Middle East. Stearic acid (SA) is added representing a natural surfactant in oil. For the non-asphaltenic oil, miscible CO{sub 2} flooding is shown to be more favourable than that by water. However, it is interesting to see that for first years after the start of the injection (< 3 years) it is shown that there is almost no difference between the recovered oils by water and CO{sub 2}, after which (> 3 years) oil recovery by gas injection showed a significant increase. This may be due to the enhanced performance at the increased reservoir pressure during the first period. Maximum oil recovery is shown by miscible CO{sub 2} flooding of asphaltenic oil at combined temperatures and pressures of 50 {sup o}C/90 bar and 70 {sup o}C/120 bar (no significant difference between the two cases, about 1%) compared to 80 {sup o}C/140 bar. This may support the positive influence of the high combined temperatures and pressures for the miscible CO{sub 2} flooding; however beyond a certain limit the oil recovery declined due to increased asphaltene deposition. Another interesting finding in this work is that for single phase oil, an almost linear relationship is observed between the pressure drop and the asphaltene deposition regardless of the flowing fluid pressure. (author)

  10. BIOTIGER, A NATURAL MICROBIAL PRODUCT FOR ENHANCED HYDROCARBON RECOVERY FROM OIL SANDS.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Brigmon, R; Topher Berry, T; Whitney Jones, W; Charles Milliken, C

    2008-05-27

    BioTiger{trademark} is a unique microbial consortia that resulted from over 8 years of extensive microbiology screening and characterization of samples collected from a century-old Polish waste lagoon. BioTiger{trademark} shows rapid and complete degradation of aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, produces novel surfactants, is tolerant of both chemical and metal toxicity and shows good activity at temperature and pH extremes. Although originally developed and used by the U.S. Department of Energy for bioremediation of oil-contaminated soils, recent efforts have proven that BioTiger{trademark} can also be used to increase hydrocarbon recovery from oil sands. This enhanced ex situ oil recovery process utilizes BioTiger{trademark} to optimize bitumen separation. A floatation test protocol with oil sands from Ft. McMurray, Canada was used for the BioTiger{trademark} evaluation. A comparison of hot water extraction/floatation test of the oil sands performed with BioTiger{trademark} demonstrated a 50% improvement in separation as measured by gravimetric analysis in 4 h and a five-fold increase at 25 hr. Since BioTiger{trademark} performs well at high temperatures and process engineering can enhance and sustain metabolic activity, it can be applied to enhance recovery of hydrocarbons from oil sands or other complex recalcitrant matrices.

  11. Performance and thermal decomposition analysis of foaming agent NPL-10 for use in heavy oil recovery by steam injection

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhao Fa-Jun

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Foaming agents, despite holding potential in steam injection technology for heavy oil recovery, are still poorly investigated. In this work, we analyzed the performance of the foaming agent NPL-10 in terms of foam height and half-life under various conditions of temperature, pH, salinity, and oil content by orthogonal experiments. The best conditions of use for NPL-10 among those tested are T=220°C, pH 7, salinity 10000 mg·L–1 and oil content 10 g·L–1. Thermal decomposition of NPL-10 was also studied by thermogravimetric and differential thermal analyses. NPL-10 decomposes above 220°C, and decomposition is a two-step process. The kinetic triplet (activation energy, kinetic function and pre-exponential factor and the corresponding rate law were calculated for each step. Steps 1 and 2 follow kinetics of different order (n = 2 and ½, respectively. These findings provide some criteria for the selection of foaming agents for oil recovery by steam injection.

  12. Enhanced oil recovery by CO{sub 2} injection

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Moctezuma Berthier, Andres E. [Instituto Mexicano del Petroleo, Mexico, D.F. (Mexico)

    2008-07-15

    Firstly are presented some basic concepts on the enhanced oil recovery; then a description is made of where the oil deposits in Mexico are located; comments are made over what has been done in Mexico in terms of enhanced oil recovery, the projects of the Instituto Mexicano del Petroleo that have dealt with the subject of enhanced oil recovery, and finally an approach is presented towards the problem of oil recovery using CO{sub 2}. [Spanish] Primeramente se presentan unos conceptos basicos sobre la recuperacion mejorada de petroleo; luego se hace una descripcion de donde se encuentran los yacimientos de petroleo en Mexico; se comenta sobre que se ha hecho en Mexico en terminos de recuperacion mejorada de petroleo; se mencionan los proyectos del Instituto Mexicano del Petroleo que han abordado el tema de la recuperacion mejorada del petroleo y por ultimo se presenta un enfoque hacia el problema de la recuperacion del petroleo usando CO{sub 2}.

  13. Associating Polymer Networks Based on Cyclodextrin Inclusion Compounds for Heavy Oil Recovery

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xi Li

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available This work evaluates an approach to improve the enhanced heavy oil recovery performance of hydrophobic associating polymer. A polymeric system based on water-soluble hydrophobic associating polymer (WSHAP and cyclodextrin (CD polymer was proposed in this work. Addition of CD polymer to WSHAP forms interpolymer bridges by inclusion of CD groups with hydrophobic tails, and thereby the network structure is strengthened. The proposed system offers good viscoelasticity, pronounced shear thinning, and interesting viscosity-temperature relations. Sand pack tests indicated that the proposed system can build high resistance factor during the propagation in porous media, and its moderate adsorption phenomenon was represented by the thickness of the adsorbed layer. The relationship between effective viscosity and oil recovery increment indicated that the proposed system can significantly reduce the residual oil saturation due to the “piston-like” propagation. The overall oil recovery was raised by 5.7 and 24.5% of the original oil in place compared with WSHAP and partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM, respectively.

  14. A multi-stage oil-water-separating process design for the sea oil spill recovery robot

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Min-ge; Wu, Jian-guo; Lin, Xinhua; Wang, Xiao-ming

    2018-03-01

    Oil spill have the most common pollution to the marine ecological environment. In the late stage of physical method recovery, because of the thin oil and the strong sea breeze, the recovery vessels has low efficiency and high energy consumption. This paper develops a multi-stage oil-water-separating process carried by the sea oil spill recovery robot in severe conditions. This design consists of three separation process, among which both the first and third process adopt corrugated sheets horizontal oil-water separator, while the second is hydraulic rotary breaker. This design also equiptment with rectifier and cyclone separator and other important components. This process has high flexibility and high recovery efficiency. The implement effect is significant.

  15. Enhanced Oil Recovery with Application of Enzymes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Khusainova, Alsu

    Enzymes have recently been reported as effective enhanced oil recovery (EOR) agents. Both laboratory and field tests demonstrated significant increase in the ultimate oil production. Up to16% of additional oil was produced in the laboratory conditions and up to 269 barrels of additional oil per day...... were recovered in the field applications. The following mechanisms were claimed to be responsible for the enhancement of the oil production due to enzymes: wettability improvement of the rock surface; formation of the emulsions; reduction of oil viscosity; and removal of high molecular weight paraffins....... However, the positive effect of enzymes on oil recovery is not that obvious. In most of the studies commercial enzyme products composed of enzymes, surfactants and stabilisers were used. Application of such samples makes it difficult to assign a positive EOR effect to a certain compound, as several...

  16. Aerobic microbial enhanced oil recovery

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Torsvik, T. [Univ. of Bergen (Norway); Gilje, E.; Sunde, E.

    1995-12-31

    In aerobic MEOR, the ability of oil-degrading bacteria to mobilize oil is used to increase oil recovery. In this process, oxygen and mineral nutrients are injected into the oil reservoir in order to stimulate growth of aerobic oil-degrading bacteria in the reservoir. Experiments carried out in a model sandstone with stock tank oil and bacteria isolated from offshore wells showed that residual oil saturation was lowered from 27% to 3%. The process was time dependent, not pore volume dependent. During MEOR flooding, the relative permeability of water was lowered. Oxygen and active bacteria were needed for the process to take place. Maximum efficiency was reached at low oxygen concentrations, approximately 1 mg O{sub 2}/liter.

  17. Use of coal-oil agglomerates for particulate gold recovery

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Calvez, J.P.S.; Kim, M.J.; Wong, P.L.M.; Tran, T. [University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW (Australia). School of Chemical Engineering and Industrial Chemistry

    1998-09-01

    The underlying principles by which gold is recovered by coal-oil agglomerates was investigated. The effects of various parameters such as oil:coal ratios, agglomerate:ore ratios, pH and coal particle size on gold recovery were evaluated using synthetic gold bearing samples, bituminous coal, and diesel oil and kerosene. The effects of sulfides on gold recovery and the depth of gold particle penetration within the agglomerates were also investigated. Results showed that gold recovery was increased by increasing agglomerate:ore ratio, decreasing oil:coal ratio and decreasing coal particle size. There was no significant difference in gold recoveries at pH range of 4-12 and at up to 5% sulfides in the feed.

  18. Increased oil recovery: secondary and tertiary. Application and future prospect

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Whiting, R L

    1978-01-01

    Oil is initially produced using the nature reservoir pressure present, in a process called primary oil recovery. Secondary recovery uses artificial means to increase the natural reservoir pressure; tertiary, or enhanced oil recovery, uses a number of methods to enhance the flow characteristics of the oil. The scope for such techniques to increase the yield from oil fields in the US is estimated; the practicality of their application is shown to be particularly dependent upon pricing, taxation, and other existing policies. 16 references.

  19. Assessing the recovery of coastal wetlands from oil spills

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mendelssohn, I.A.; Hester, M.W.; Hill, J.M.

    1993-01-01

    The impact of oil spills on coastal environments and the ability of these systems to exhibit long-term recovery has received increased attention in recent years. Although oil spills can have significant short-term impacts on coastal marshes, the long-term effects and eventual recovery are not well documented. Estuarine marshes have sometimes been reported to exhibit slow recovery after oil spills, whereas in other instances they appear to have great resiliency, with complete recovery after one or two years. To document and understand this phenomenon better, we have investigated the long-term recovery of a south Louisiana estuarine marsh exposed to an accidental spill of crude oil. Although a pipeline rupture releasing Louisiana crude oil caused the near complete mortality of a brackish marsh dominated by Spartina patens and S. alterniflora, this marsh completely recovered four years after the spill with no differences in plant species cover between oiled and reference marshes. Remotely sensed imagery of the study site confirmed the relatively rapid recovery demonstrated by the ground truth data. Louisiana's coastal marshes are naturally experiencing rapid rates of deterioration. Land loss rates, determined from aerial imagery, at the spill site and adjacent reference areas before and after the spill demonstrated that the long-term loss rates were not affected by the spill event

  20. Habitat recovery in a crude oil-contaminated saltmarsh following biorestoration treatments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, K.; Cobanli, S.; Wohlgeschaffen, G.; Venosa, A.D.; Suidan, M.T.; Gauthier, J.; Tremblay, G.H.; Doe, K.

    2002-01-01

    A controlled experiment was performed in a Spartina alterniflora dominated salt marsh in Atlantic Canada in which crude oil was intentionally released. The objective was to assess the feasibility of in situ biostimulation strategies to enhance habitat recovery and to determine the nutrient enrichment in enhancing wetland restoration in the presence and absence of wetland plants. The following four experimental treatments were evaluated: (1) natural attenuation, (2) ammonium nitrate addition with intact plants, (3) ammonium nitrate addition with plants cut back to suppress plant activity, and (4) ammonium nitrate addition with intact plants and with tilling to enrich oxygen penetration. In addition, two unoiled treatments were performed, with and without nutrients. The success of the remedial actions was quantified by determining the rates of oil loss, the recovery of wetland plants and the reduction in interstitial water and sediment toxicity. Results indicated that biodegradation of alkanes and PAHs occurred, but the rates were not greatly enhanced by any of the evaluated treatments. There were other measures of habitat recovery besides the level of residual oil loss. These included alternative methods such as plant recovery, amphipod survival and growth, bacterial activity and physiology. The results were used to determine the total benefit of nutrient enrichment, till and phytoremediation as biorestoration strategies for wetlands impacted by an oil spill. It was concluded that natural attenuation is a feasible spill response option in north-temperate salt marsh environments. 22 refs., 7 figs

  1. Heavy Oil Recovery Ohmsett Test Report

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-06-01

    U.S. The first phase of separation is to refloat the oil for physical collection using a conveyor belt or rope mop oil skimmer. The open discharge is...inverted cone-shroud installed in the Frac tank for physical collection using a conveyor belt or rope mop oil skimmer. Heavy Oil Recovery Ohmsett Test...develop and test viable designs for systems which can detect and recover oil from subsurface environments. This is the second major report within this

  2. Nanofluid of graphene-based amphiphilic Janus nanosheets for tertiary or enhanced oil recovery: High performance at low concentration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luo, Dan; Wang, Feng; Zhu, Jingyi; Cao, Feng; Liu, Yuan; Li, Xiaogang; Willson, Richard C; Yang, Zhaozhong; Chu, Ching-Wu; Ren, Zhifeng

    2016-07-12

    The current simple nanofluid flooding method for tertiary or enhanced oil recovery is inefficient, especially when used with low nanoparticle concentration. We have designed and produced a nanofluid of graphene-based amphiphilic nanosheets that is very effective at low concentration. Our nanosheets spontaneously approached the oil-water interface and reduced the interfacial tension in a saline environment (4 wt % NaCl and 1 wt % CaCl2), regardless of the solid surface wettability. A climbing film appeared and grew at moderate hydrodynamic condition to encapsulate the oil phase. With strong hydrodynamic power input, a solid-like interfacial film formed and was able to return to its original form even after being seriously disturbed. The film rapidly separated oil and water phases for slug-like oil displacement. The unique behavior of our nanosheet nanofluid tripled the best performance of conventional nanofluid flooding methods under similar conditions.

  3. 26 CFR 1.43-4 - Qualified enhanced oil recovery costs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 26 Internal Revenue 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 true Qualified enhanced oil recovery costs. 1.43-4... TAXES Credits Against Tax § 1.43-4 Qualified enhanced oil recovery costs. (a) Qualifying costs—(1) In... “qualified enhanced oil recovery costs” if the amounts are paid or incurred with respect to an asset which is...

  4. Modification of chemical and physical factors in steamflood to increase heavy oil recovery

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yortsos, Yanis C.

    2000-01-19

    This report covers the work performed in the various physicochemical factors for the improvement of oil recovery efficiency. In this context the following general areas were studied: (1) The understanding of vapor-liquid flows in porous media, including processes in steam injection; (2) The effect of reservoir heterogeneity in a variety of foams, from pore scale to macroscopic scale; (3) The flow properties of additives for improvement of recovery efficiency, particularly foams and other non-Newtonian fluids; and (4) The development of optimization methods to maximize various measures of oil recovery.

  5. Use of polymers in oil recovery processes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stanislav, J.F.

    Water-soluble polymers are used extensively in various stages of gas and oil production operations, typical examples being enhanced oil recovery, water production control, and well drilling. A variety of polymetric materials, both naturally occurring and synthetic ones, are currently used; guar and cellulose derivatives, xanthan gum, polysaccharides, polyacrylamides and others. In this work, only the application of polymeric materials to enhanced recovery processes is discussed.

  6. Advanced Oil Recovery Technologies for Improved Recovery from Slope Basin Clastic Reservoirs, Nash Draw Brushy Canyon Pool, Eddy County, New Mexico

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Murphy, Mark B.

    1999-01-01

    The overall objective of this project is to demonstrate that a development program based on advanced reservoir management methods can significantly improve oil recovery at the Nash Draw Pool (NDP). The plan includes developing a control area using standard reservoir management techniques and comparing its performance to an area developed using advanced reservoir management methods. Specific goals are (1) to demonstrate that an advanced development drilling and pressure maintenance program can significantly improve oil recovery compared to existing technology applications and (2) to transfer these advanced methodologies to oil and gas producers in the Permian Basin and elsewhere throughout the U.S. oil and gas industry

  7. Development of More Effective Biosurfactants for Enhanced Oil Recovery/Advanced Recovery Concepts Awards

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    McInerney, M.J.; Marsh, T.L.; Zhang, X.; Knapp, R.M.; Nagle, Jr., D.P.; Sharma, P.K.; Jackson, B.E.

    2002-05-28

    The objectives of this were two fold. First, core displacement studies were done to determine whether microbial processes could recover residual oil at elevated pressures. Second, the importance of biosurfactant production for the recovery of residual oil was studies. In these studies, a biosurfactant-producing, microorganisms called Bacillus licheniformis strain JF-2 was used. This bacterium produces a cyclic peptide biosurfactant that significantly reduces the interfacial tension between oil and brine (7). The use of a mutant deficient in surfactant production and a mathematical MEOR simulator were used to determine the major mechanisms of oil recovery by these two strains.

  8. Investigating the effect of steam, CO{sub 2}, and surfactant on the recovery of heavy oil reservoirs

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tian, S.; He, S. [China Univ. of Petroleum, Beijing (China). MOE Key Laboratory of Petroleum Engineering; Qu, L. [Shengli Oil Field Co. (China)]|[SINOPEC, Shengli (China)

    2008-10-15

    This paper presented the results of a laboratory study and numerical simulation in which the mechanisms of steam injection with carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}) and surfactant were investigated. The incremental recoveries of 4 different scenarios were compared and analyzed in terms of phase behaviour. The study also investigated the effect of CO{sub 2} dissolution in oil and water; variation of properties of CO{sub 2}-oil phase equilibrium and CO{sub 2}-water phase equilibrium; variation of viscosity; and, oil volume and interfacial tension (IFT) during the recovery process. The expansion of a steam and CO{sub 2} front was also examined. A field application case of a horizontal well in a heavy oil reservoir in Shengli Oilfield in China was used to determine the actual dynamic performance of the horizontal well and to optimize the injection parameters of the CO{sub 2} and surfactant. The study revealed that oil recovery with the simultaneous injection of steam, CO{sub 2} and surfactant was higher than that of steam injection, steam with CO{sub 2} and steam with surfactant. The improved flow performance in super heavy oil reservoirs could be attributed to CO{sub 2} dissolution in oil which can swell the oil and reduce oil viscosity significantly. The proportion of CO{sub 2} in the free gas phase, oil phase and water phase varies with changes in reservoir pressure and temperature. CO{sub 2} decreases the temperature of the steam slightly, while the surfactant decreases the interfacial tension and helps to improve oil recovery. The study showed that the amount of injected CO{sub 2} and steam has a large effect on heavy oil recovery. Although oil production was found to increase with an increase in injected amounts, the ratio of oil to injected fluids must be considered to achieve optimum recovery. High steam quality and temperature can also improve super heavy oil recovery. The oil recovery was less influenced by the effect of the surfactant than by the effect of CO{sub 2

  9. Discussion of the feasibility of air injection for enhanced oil recovery in shale oil reservoirs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hu Jia

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Air injection in light oil reservoirs has received considerable attention as an effective, improved oil recovery process, based primarily on the success of several projects within the Williston Basin in the United States. The main mechanism of air injection is the oxidation behavior between oxygen and crude oil in the reservoir. Air injection is a good option because of its wide availability and low cost. Whether air injection can be applied to shale is an interesting topic from both economic and technical perspectives. This paper initiates a comprehensive discussion on the feasibility and potential of air injection in shale oil reservoirs based on state-of-the-art literature review. Favorable and unfavorable effects of using air injection are discussed in an analogy analysis on geology, reservoir features, temperature, pressure, and petrophysical, mineral and crude oil properties of shale oil reservoirs. The available data comparison of the historically successful air injection projects with typical shale oil reservoirs in the U.S. is summarized in this paper. Some operation methods to improve air injection performance are recommended. This paper provides an avenue for us to make use of many of the favorable conditions of shale oil reservoirs for implementing air injection, or air huff ‘n’ puff injection, and the low cost of air has the potential to improve oil recovery in shale oil reservoirs. This analysis may stimulate further investigation.

  10. Enhanced oil recovery: an update review

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alvarado, V.; Manrique, E.

    2010-01-01

    With the decline in oil discoveries during the last decades it is believed that Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) technologies will play a key role to meet the energy demand in years to come. This paper presents a comprehensive review of EOR status and opportunities to increase final recovery factors in reservoirs ranging from extra heavy oil to gas condensate. Specifically, the paper discusses EOR status and opportunities organized by reservoir lithology (sandstone and carbonates formations and turbiditic reservoirs to a lesser extent) and offshore and onshore fields. Risk and rewards of EOR methods including growing trends in recent years such as CO 2 injection, high pressure air injection (HPAI) and chemical flooding are addressed including a brief overview of CO 2 -EOR project economics. (authors)

  11. OPTICAL FIBER SENSOR TECHNOLOGIES FOR EFFICIENT AND ECONOMICAL OIL RECOVERY

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Anbo Wang; Kristie L. Cooper; Gary R. Pickrell

    2003-06-01

    Efficient recovery of petroleum reserves from existing oil wells has been proven to be difficult due to the lack of robust instrumentation that can accurately and reliably monitor processes in the downhole environment. Commercially available sensors for measurement of pressure, temperature, and fluid flow exhibit shortened lifetimes in the harsh downhole conditions, which are characterized by high pressures (up to 20 kpsi), temperatures up to 250 C, and exposure to chemically reactive fluids. Development of robust sensors that deliver continuous, real-time data on reservoir performance and petroleum flow pathways will facilitate application of advanced recovery technologies, including horizontal and multilateral wells. This is the final report for the four-year program ''Optical Fiber Sensor Technologies for Efficient and Economical Oil Recovery'', funded by the National Petroleum Technology Office of the U.S. Department of Energy, and performed by the Center for Photonics Technology of the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Virginia Tech from October 1, 1999 to March 31, 2003. The main objective of this research program was to develop cost-effective, reliable optical fiber sensor instrumentation for real-time monitoring of various key parameters crucial to efficient and economical oil production. During the program, optical fiber sensors were demonstrated for the measurement of temperature, pressure, flow, and acoustic waves, including three successful field tests in the Chevron/Texaco oil fields in Coalinga, California, and at the world-class oil flow simulation facilities in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Research efforts included the design and fabrication of sensor probes, development of signal processing algorithms, construction of test systems, development and testing of strategies for the protection of optical fibers and sensors in the downhole environment, development of remote monitoring capabilities allowing real

  12. Influence of Oil Viscosity on Alkaline Flooding for Enhanced Heavy Oil Recovery

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yong Du

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Oil viscosity was studied as an important factor for alkaline flooding based on the mechanism of “water drops” flow. Alkaline flooding for two oil samples with different viscosities but similar acid numbers was compared. Besides, series flooding tests for the same oil sample were conducted at different temperatures and permeabilities. The results of flooding tests indicated that a high tertiary oil recovery could be achieved only in the low-permeability (approximately 500 mD sandpacks for the low-viscosity heavy oil (Zhuangxi, 390 mPa·s; however, the high-viscosity heavy oil (Chenzhuang, 3450 mPa·s performed well in both the low- and medium-permeability (approximately 1000 mD sandpacks. In addition, the results of flooding tests for the same oil at different temperatures also indicated that the oil viscosity put a similar effect on alkaline flooding. Therefore, oil with a high-viscosity is favorable for alkaline flooding. The microscopic flooding test indicated that the water drops produced during alkaline flooding for oils with different viscosities differed significantly in their sizes, which might influence the flow behaviors and therefore the sweep efficiencies of alkaline fluids. This study provides an evidence for the feasibility of the development of high-viscosity heavy oil using alkaline flooding.

  13. Thermal enhanced oil recovery in Indonesia. Prospect of HTGR application

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rahman, M.; Sumardiono; Lasman, A.N.; Sudarto; Prihardany, D.

    1997-01-01

    In the next future, Indonesia will face oil scarcity. The present reserves are estimated to be depleted in 20 years. However, after primary and secondary recovery processes, there are still more than 50% of original oil in place remaining in the reservoir, and this could be recovered by using tertiary recovery method or which is known as enhanced oil recovery (EOR) processes. Among the three major methods of EOR, steam flooding is a thermal recovery method into which High Temperature Reactor (HTR) module can be integrated for producing steam. However, the feasibility of application of HTR as an alternative to conventional oil-fired steam generator will depend strongly on the price of oil. This paper discusses EOR screening for Indonesian oil fields to identify the appropriate oil reservoirs for steam flooding application as well as the possibility of steam supply by HTR module. Also reviewed is the previous study on HTR application for Duri Steam Flood Project. (author). 8 refs, 6 figs, 5 tabs

  14. Molecular design of high performance zwitterionic liquids for enhanced heavy-oil recovery processes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martínez-Magadán, J M; Cartas-Rosado, A R; Oviedo-Roa, R; Cisneros-Dévora, R; Pons-Jiménez, M; Hernández-Altamirano, R; Zamudio-Rivera, L S

    2018-03-01

    Branched gemini zwitterionic liquids, which contain two zwitterionic moieties of linked quaternary-ammonium and carboxylate groups, are proposed as chemicals to be applied in the Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) from fractured carbonate reservoirs. The zwitterionic moieties are bridged between them through an alkyl chain containing 12 ether groups, and each zwitterionic moiety has attached a long alkyl tail including a CC double bond. A theoretical molecular mechanism over which EOR could rest, consisting on both the disaggregation of heavy oil and the reservoir-rock wettability alteration, was suggested. Results show that chemicals can both reduce the viscosity and remove heavy-oil molecules from the rock surface. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  15. Enhanced oil recovery using local alkaline | Akpoturi | Nigerian ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Improvement in productivity is one of the Oil and Gas industry's biggest challenges. About 60% of crude Oil still lay trapped in the reservoir even after primary and secondary recovery process have been completed, hence the need for a method that further improves recovery. In this study, flooding experiment was conducted ...

  16. ECOLOGY SAFETY TECHNOLOGIES OF UNCONVENTIONAL OIL RESERVES RECOVERY FOR SUSTAINABLE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Viacheslav Zyrin

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available The problem of effective technology for heavy oil recovery nowadays has a great importance, because of worsening geological conditions of the developed deposits, decreasing recovery factor, increasing the part of heavy oil. For the future sustainable development of oil producing industry the involved technologies must require energy effectiveness and ecological safety. The paper proves the enhanced oil recovery methods necessity for heavy oil deposits, highlighted thermal technologies as the most effective. But traditional thermal treatment technologies is a source of air pollutant emission, such as CO, NO etc. The calculation of emissions for traditional steam generator is provided. Besides, the paper shows the effectiveness of electrical enhanced oil recovery methods. The advantages of associated gas as a fuel for cogeneration plants is shown. The main approaches to implementation of carbon dioxide sequestration technologies in the oil and gas industry of Russia are defined. Conceptual view of СО2-EOR technologies potential within the context of sustainable development of oil and gas industry are presented. On the basis of the conducted research a number of scientific research and practical areas of the CCS technology development are revealed.

  17. Air injection low temperature oxidation process for enhanced oil recovery from light oil reservoirs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tunio, A.H.; Harijan, K.

    2010-01-01

    This paper represents EOR (Enhanced Oil Recovery) methods to recover unswept oil from depleted light oil reservoirs. The essential theme here is the removal of oxygen at LTO (Low Temperature Oxidation) from the injected air for a light oil reservoir by means of some chemical reactions occurring between oil and oxygen. In-situ combustion process, HTO (High Temperature Oxidation) is not suitable for deep light oil reservoirs. In case of light oil reservoirs LTO is more suitable to prevail as comparative to HTO. Few laboratory experimental results were obtained from air injection process, to study the LTO reactions. LTO process is suitable for air injection rate in which reservoir has sufficiently high temperature and spontaneous reaction takes place. Out comes of this study are the effect of LTO reactions in oxygen consumption and the recovery of oil. This air injection method is economic compared to other EOR methods i.e. miscible hydrocarbon gas, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide flooding etc. This LTO air injection process is suitable for secondary recovery methods where water flooding is not feasible due to technical problems. (author)

  18. Global sensitivity analysis of Alkali-Surfactant-Polymer enhanced oil recovery processes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Carrero, Enrique; Queipo, Nestor V.; Pintos, Salvador; Zerpa, Luis E. [Applied Computing Institute, Faculty of Engineering, University of Zulia, Zulia (Venezuela)

    2007-08-15

    After conventional waterflooding processes the residual oil in the reservoir remains as a discontinuous phase in the form of oil drops trapped by capillary forces and is likely to be around 70% of the original oil in place (OOIP). The EOR method so-called Alkaline-Surfactant-Polymer (ASP) flooding has been proved to be effective in reducing the oil residual saturation in laboratory experiments and field projects through reduction of interfacial tension and mobility ratio between oil and water phases. A critical step for the optimal design and control of ASP recovery processes is to find the relative contributions of design variables such as, slug size and chemical concentrations, in the variability of given performance measures (e.g., net present value, cumulative oil recovery), considering a heterogeneous and multiphase petroleum reservoir (sensitivity analysis). Previously reported works using reservoir numerical simulation have been limited to local sensitivity analyses because a global sensitivity analysis may require hundreds or even thousands of computationally expensive evaluations (field scale numerical simulations). To overcome this issue, a surrogate-based approach is suggested. Surrogate-based analysis/optimization makes reference to the idea of constructing an alternative fast model (surrogate) from numerical simulation data and using it for analysis/optimization purposes. This paper presents an efficient global sensitivity approach based on Sobol's method and multiple surrogates (i.e., Polynomial Regression, Kriging, Radial Base Functions and a Weighed Adaptive Model), with the multiple surrogates used to address the uncertainty in the analysis derived from plausible alternative surrogate-modeling schemes. The proposed approach was evaluated in the context of the global sensitivity analysis of a field scale Alkali-Surfactant-Polymer flooding process. The design variables and the performance measure in the ASP process were selected as slug size

  19. Spectral Induced Polarization (SIP) monitoring during Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery (MEOR)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heenan, J. W.; Ntarlagiannis, D.; Slater, L. D.

    2010-12-01

    Jeffrey Heenan, Dimitrios Ntarlagiannis, Lee Slater Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Rutgers University, Newark NJ Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery (MEOR) is an established, cost effective, method for enhancing tertiary oil recovery. Although not commonly used for shallow heavy oils, it could be a viable alternative since it can offer sustainable economic recovery and minimal environmental impact. A critical component of successful MEOR treatments is accurate, real time monitoring of the biodegradation processes resulting from the injection of microbial communities into the formation; results of recent biogeophysical research suggest that minimally-invasive geophysical methods could significantly contribute to such monitoring efforts. Here we present results of laboratory experiments, to assess the sensitivity of the spectral induced polarization method (SIP) to MEOR treatments. We used heavy oil, obtained from a shallow oilfield in SW Missouri, to saturate three sand columns. We then followed common industry procedures,and used a commercially available microbial consortia, to treat the oil columns. The active MEOR experiments were performed in duplicate while a control column maintained similar conditions, without promoting microbial activity and oil degradation. We monitored the SIP signatures, between 0.001 Hz and 1000 Hz, for a period of six months. To support the geophysical measurements we also monitored common geochemical parameters, including pH, Eh and fluid conductivity, and collected weekly fluid samples from the outflow and inflow for further analysis; fluid samples were analyzed to confirm that microbes actively degraded the heavy oils in the column while destructive analysis of the solid materials was performed upon termination of the experiment. Preliminary analysis of the results suggests that SIP is sensitive to MEOR processes. In both inoculated columns we recorded an increase in the low frequency polarization with time; measureable

  20. An experimental and theoretical study to relate uncommon rock/fluid properties to oil recovery. Final report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Watson, R.

    1995-07-01

    Waterflooding is the most commonly used secondary oil recovery technique. One of the requirements for understanding waterflood performance is a good knowledge of the basic properties of the reservoir rocks. This study is aimed at correlating rock-pore characteristics to oil recovery from various reservoir rock types and incorporating these properties into empirical models for Predicting oil recovery. For that reason, this report deals with the analyses and interpretation of experimental data collected from core floods and correlated against measurements of absolute permeability, porosity. wettability index, mercury porosimetry properties and irreducible water saturation. The results of the radial-core the radial-core and linear-core flow investigations and the other associated experimental analyses are presented and incorporated into empirical models to improve the predictions of oil recovery resulting from waterflooding, for sandstone and limestone reservoirs. For the radial-core case, the standardized regression model selected, based on a subset of the variables, predicted oil recovery by waterflooding with a standard deviation of 7%. For the linear-core case, separate models are developed using common, uncommon and combination of both types of rock properties. It was observed that residual oil saturation and oil recovery are better predicted with the inclusion of both common and uncommon rock/fluid properties into the predictive models.

  1. Chemical and Microbial Characterization of North Slope Viscous Oils to Assess Viscosity Reduction and Enhanced Recovery

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shirish Patil; Abhijit Dandekar; Mary Beth Leigh

    2008-12-31

    A large proportion of Alaska North Slope (ANS) oil exists in the form of viscous deposits, which cannot be produced entirely using conventional methods. Microbially enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) is a promising approach for improving oil recovery for viscous deposits. MEOR can be achieved using either ex situ approaches such as flooding with microbial biosurfactants or injection of exogenous surfactant-producing microbes into the reservoir, or by in situ approaches such as biostimulation of indigenous surfactant-producing microbes in the oil. Experimental work was performed to analyze the potential application of MEOR to the ANS oil fields through both ex situ and in situ approaches. A microbial formulation containing a known biosurfactant-producing strain of Bacillus licheniformis was developed in order to simulate MEOR. Coreflooding experiments were performed to simulate MEOR and quantify the incremental oil recovery. Properties like viscosity, density, and chemical composition of oil were monitored to propose a mechanism for oil recovery. The microbial formulation significantly increased incremental oil recovery, and molecular biological analyses indicated that the strain survived during the shut-in period. The indigenous microflora of ANS heavy oils was investigated to characterize the microbial communities and test for surfactant producers that are potentially useful for biostimulation. Bacteria that reduce the surface tension of aqueous media were isolated from one of the five ANS oils (Milne Point) and from rock oiled by the Exxon Valdez oil spill (EVOS), and may prove valuable for ex situ MEOR strategies. The total bacterial community composition of the six different oils was evaluated using molecular genetic tools, which revealed that each oil tested possessed a unique fingerprint indicating a diverse bacterial community and varied assemblages. Collectively we have demonstrated that there is potential for in situ and ex situ MEOR of ANS oils. Future work

  2. BioTiger{sup TM} : a natural microbial product for enhanced hydrocarbon recovery from oil sands

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Brigmon, R.L.; Berry, C.J.; Milliken, C.E.; Jones, W. [Savannah River National Laboratory, Aiken, SC (United States)

    2008-07-01

    This presentation discussed the feasibility of using BioTiger{sup TM} technology to increase hydrocarbon recovery from oil sands. This enhanced ex situ oil recovery processes was initially developed and used by the United States Department of Energy for bioremediation of soils contaminated with oil, but it may also be used to optimize bitumen separation. BioTiger was described as being a unique microbial consortia that has resulted from nearly a decade of extensive microbiology screening and characterization of samples collected from an old waste lagoon. The technology offers rapid and complete degradation of aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons and produces new surfactants. It is tolerant of both chemical and metal toxicity and has good activity at high temperatures at extreme pH levels. A flotation test protocol with oil sands from Fort McMurray, Alberta was used for the BioTiger evaluation. A comparison of hot water extraction/flotation test of the oil sands performed with BioTiger showed a 50 per cent improvement in separation as measured by gravimetric analysis. BioTiger is well suited for enhanced hydrocarbon recovery from oil sands because it performs well at high temperatures. 8 figs.

  3. Development of More Effective Biosurfactants for Enhanced Oil Recovery/Advanced Recovery Concepts Awards; SEMIANNUAL

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McInerney, M.J.; Marsh, T.L.; Zhang, X.; Knapp, R.M.; Nagle, Jr. D.P.; Sharma, P.K.; Jackson, B.E.

    2002-01-01

    The objectives of this were two fold. First, core displacement studies were done to determine whether microbial processes could recover residual oil at elevated pressures. Second, the importance of biosurfactant production for the recovery of residual oil was studies. In these studies, a biosurfactant-producing, microorganisms called Bacillus licheniformis strain JF-2 was used. This bacterium produces a cyclic peptide biosurfactant that significantly reduces the interfacial tension between oil and brine (7). The use of a mutant deficient in surfactant production and a mathematical MEOR simulator were used to determine the major mechanisms of oil recovery by these two strains

  4. Study on Dynamic Characteristics of Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Yang; Shi, Fang; Qin, Wuying; Yan, Jing

    2018-01-01

    With the rapid development of economy, the demand for oil is increasing day by day. MEOR has the advantages of low cost and no pollution to the environment, attracted widespread attention. In this paper, the dynamic characteristics of microbial enhanced oil recovery were studied by laboratory experiments. The result showed that all the microbial flooding recovery rate could reach more than 5%, and the total recovery could reach more than 35% and if the injection period of microbial composite system was advanced, the whole oil displacement process could be shortened and the workload would be reduced.

  5. Improving Energy Efficiency In Thermal Oil Recovery Surface Facilities

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Murthy Nadella, Narayana

    2010-09-15

    Thermal oil recovery methods such as Cyclic Steam Stimulation (CSS), Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) and In-situ Combustion are being used for recovering heavy oil and bitumen. These processes expend energy to recover oil. The process design of the surface facilities requires optimization to improve the efficiency of oil recovery by minimizing the energy consumption per barrel of oil produced. Optimization involves minimizing external energy use by heat integration. This paper discusses the unit processes and design methodology considering thermodynamic energy requirements and heat integration methods to improve energy efficiency in the surface facilities. A design case study is presented.

  6. Closed Process of Shale Oil Recovery from Circulating Washing Water by Hydrocyclones

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yuan Huang

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The conventional oil recovery system in the Fushun oil shale retorting plant has a low oil recovery rate. A large quantity of fresh water is used in the system, thereby consuming a considerable amount of water and energy, as well as polluting the environment. This study aims to develop a closed process of shale oil recovery from the circulating washing water for the Fushun oil shale retorting plant. The process would increase oil yield and result in clean production. In this process, oil/water hydrocyclone groups were applied to decrease the oil content in circulating water and to simultaneously increase oil yield. The oil sludge was removed by the solid/liquid hydrocyclone groups effectively, thereby proving the smooth operation of the devices and pipes. As a result, the oil recovery rate has increased by 5.3 %, which corresponds to 230 tonnes a month.

  7. Recovery of aroma compounds from orange essential oil

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Haypek E.

    2000-01-01

    Full Text Available The objective of this work was to study the recovery of aroma compounds present in the orange essential oil using experimental data from CUTRALE (a Brazilian Industry of Concentrated Orange Juice. The intention was to reproduce the industrial unit and afterwards to optimize the recovery of aroma compounds from orange essential oil by liquid-liquid extraction. The orange oil deterpenation was simulated using the commercial software PRO/II 4.0 version 1.0. The UNIFAC model was chosen for the calculation of the activity coefficients.

  8. Three approaches for estimating recovery factors in carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Verma, Mahendra K.

    2017-07-17

    PrefaceThe Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 authorized the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to conduct a national assessment of geologic storage resources for carbon dioxide (CO2) and requested the USGS to estimate the “potential volumes of oil and gas recoverable by injection and sequestration of industrial carbon dioxide in potential sequestration formations” (42 U.S.C. 17271(b)(4)). Geologic CO2 sequestration associated with enhanced oil recovery (EOR) using CO2 in existing hydrocarbon reservoirs has the potential to increase the U.S. hydrocarbon recoverable resource. The objective of this report is to provide detailed information on three approaches that can be used to calculate the incremental recovery factors for CO2-EOR. Therefore, the contents of this report could form an integral part of an assessment methodology that can be used to assess the sedimentary basins of the United States for the hydrocarbon recovery potential using CO2-EOR methods in conventional oil reservoirs.

  9. Sleeving-back of horizontal wells to control downstream oil saturation and improve oil recovery

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Greaves, M.; Saghr, A. M. [Bath Univ (United Kingdom)

    1998-12-31

    Air injection has become popular as an enhanced recovery technology, applicable over a wide variety of reservoir conditions including heavy, medium and light oils. One problem observed in light oil reservoirs is the tendency to desaturate the oil layer downstream of the moving front. This is particularly common in the case of thermal recovery processes. In this experiment designed to study ways to restrict the de-saturation of the oil layer, a modified horizontal producer well, incorporating a `sleeve-back` principal was used. The objective was to replicate the `toe-to-heel` displacement process occurring during heavy oil recovery, wherein downstream oil is essentially immobile due to its high viscosity. The `sleeve-back` of the well was achieved using a co-aligned, two-well assembly, so that the upstream section of the horizontal producer well was active, and continuously adjusted during propagation of the combustion front. The use of this continuous `sleeve-back` operation to control the level of de-saturation in the downstream section of a sand pack was successful as confirmed by the very high oil recovery achieved, equivalent to 93.5 per cent of oil in place. The level of CO{sub 2} production was also very high. The `sleeve-back` of the horizontal producer well made the light oil in-situ combustion more efficient compared to what would be expected in a fully-open well. The `sleeve-back` of the well also produced thermal contours in the sand pack that closely resembled those observed with heavy, highly viscous oil. By sealing-off the otherwise open well in the downstream part of the reservoir, the de-saturation of the oil layer was prevented. 9 refs., 4 tabs., 9 figs.

  10. Chemical process for improved oil recovery from Bakken shale

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shuler, Patrick; Tang, Hongxin; Lu, Zayne [ChemEOR Inc (United States); Tang, Youngchun [Power Environmental Energy Research Institute (United States)

    2011-07-01

    This paper presents the new chemically-improved oil recovery process (IOR) process for Bakken formation reservoirs. A custom surfactant agent can be used in standard hydraulic fracturing treatments in the Bakken to increase oil recovery. The rock formation consists of three members: the lower shale, middle dolostone and the upper shale. The dolostone was deposited as a coastal carbonate during shallower water and the shales were deposited in a relatively deep marine condition. With the widespread advent of horizontal well drilling and large-volume hydraulic fracturing treatments, production from the Bakken has become very active. The experimental results exhibited that specialized surfactant formulations will interact with this mixed oil-wet low permeability middle member to produce more oil. It was also observed that oil recovery by spontaneous imbibition was fast and significant. The best surfactant found in this study is compatible with a common fracture fluid system.

  11. Characterization and Alteration of Wettability States of Alaskan Reserviors to Improve Oil Recovery Efficiency (including the within-scope expansion based on Cyclic Water Injection - a pulsed waterflood for Enhanced Oil Recovery)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Abhijit Dandekar; Shirish Patil; Santanu Khataniar

    2008-12-31

    Numerous early reports on experimental works relating to the role of wettability in various aspects of oil recovery have been published. Early examples of laboratory waterfloods show oil recovery increasing with increasing water-wetness. This result is consistent with the intuitive notion that strong wetting preference of the rock for water and associated strong capillary-imbibition forces gives the most efficient oil displacement. This report examines the effect of wettability on waterflooding and gasflooding processes respectively. Waterflood oil recoveries were examined for the dual cases of uniform and non-uniform wetting conditions. Based on the results of the literature review on effect of wettability and oil recovery, coreflooding experiments were designed to examine the effect of changing water chemistry (salinity) on residual oil saturation. Numerous corefloods were conducted on reservoir rock material from representative formations on the Alaska North Slope (ANS). The corefloods consisted of injecting water (reservoir water and ultra low-salinity ANS lake water) of different salinities in secondary as well as tertiary mode. Additionally, complete reservoir condition corefloods were also conducted using live oil. In all the tests, wettability indices, residual oil saturation, and oil recovery were measured. All results consistently lead to one conclusion; that is, a decrease in injection water salinity causes a reduction in residual oil saturation and a slight increase in water-wetness, both of which are comparable with literature observations. These observations have an intuitive appeal in that water easily imbibes into the core and displaces oil. Therefore, low-salinity waterfloods have the potential for improved oil recovery in the secondary recovery process, and ultra low-salinity ANS lake water is an attractive source of injection water or a source for diluting the high-salinity reservoir water. As part of the within-scope expansion of this project

  12. Acoustic wave emission for enhanced oil recovery (WAVE.O.R.)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reichmann, S.; Amro, M.; Giese, R.; Jaksch, K.; Krauss, F.; Krueger, K.; Jurczyk, A.

    2016-09-01

    In the project WAVE.O.R the potential of acoustic waves to enhance oil recovery was reviewed. The project focused on laboratory experiments of the oil displacement in sandstone cores under acoustic stimulation. Additionally, the Seismic Prediction While Drilling (SPWD) borehole device prototype was set up for a feasibility field test. The laboratory experiments showed that, depending on the stimulation frequency, acoustic stimulation allows for an enhanced oil recovery. For single frequency stimulation a mean increase of 3 % pore volumes was observed at distinguished frequencies. A cyclic stimulation, where two of these frequencies were combined, an increase of 5% pore volume was observed. The SPWD borehole device was tested and adjusted during feasibility tests in the GFZ underground laboratory in the research and education mine ''Reiche Zeche'' of the TU Bergakademie Freiberg and in the GFZ KTB-Deep Laboratory in Windischeschenbach. The first successful test of the device under realistic conditions was performed at the test site ''Piana di Toppo'' of the OGS Trieste, Italy.

  13. Integration of Gas Enhanced Oil Recovery in Multiphase Fermentations for the Microbial Production of Fuels and Chemicals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pedraza-de la Cuesta, Susana; Keijzers, Lore; van der Wielen, Luuk A M; Cuellar, Maria C

    2018-04-01

    In multiphase fermentations where the product forms a second liquid phase or where solvents are added for product extraction, turbulent conditions disperse the oil phase as droplets. Surface-active components (SACs) present in the fermentation broth can stabilize the product droplets thus forming an emulsion. Breaking this emulsion increases process complexity and consequently the production cost. In previous works, it has been proposed to promote demulsification of oil/supernatant emulsions in an off-line batch bubble column operating at low gas flow rate. The aim of this study is to test the performance of this recovery method integrated to a fermentation, allowing for continuous removal of the oil phase. A 500 mL bubble column is successfully integrated with a 2 L reactor during 24 h without affecting cell growth or cell viability. However, higher levels of surfactants and emulsion stability are measured in the integrated system compared to a base case, reducing its capacity for oil recovery. This is related to release of SACs due to cellular stress when circulating through the recovery column. Therefore, it is concluded that the gas bubble-induced oil recovery method allows for oil separation and cell recycling without compromising fermentation performance; however, tuning of the column parameters considering increased levels of SACs due to cellular stress is required for improving oil recovery. © 2018 The Authors. Biotechnology Journal Published by Wiley-VCHVerlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  14. Offshore oil spill recovery operations in the Persian Gulf

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Williams, H.D.; Gangsaas, G.K.

    1993-01-01

    On or about January 25, 1991, Iraqi forces in Kuwait discharged more than 4 million barrels of Kuwait crude oil into the Persian Gulf. The counterclockwise current carried the resulting slick southeastward along the coast of Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Arabian oil company, Aramco, chartered the multiclassed tanker and response vessel Al Waasit, based in Dubai, to assist in the offshore recovery operation. The Al Waasit's response resulted in the offshore recovery of about 100,000 barrels of oil during a 42-day period, without a recovery system failure. The authors both served on board Al Waasit as operations managers during this response operation

  15. Polymeric surfactants for enhanced oil recovery : A review

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Raffa, Patrizio; Broekhuis, Antonius A.; Picchioni, Francesco

    Chemical enhanced oil recovery (EOR) is surely a topic of interest, as conventional oil resources become more scarce and the necessity of exploiting heavy and unconventional oils increases. EOR methods based on polymer flooding, surfactant-polymer flooding and alkali-surfactant-polymer flooding are

  16. Play-level distributions of estimates of recovery factors for a miscible carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery method used in oil reservoirs in the conterminous United States

    Science.gov (United States)

    Attanasi, E.D.; Freeman, P.A.

    2016-03-02

    In a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) study, recovery-factor estimates were calculated by using a publicly available reservoir simulator (CO2 Prophet) to estimate how much oil might be recovered with the application of a miscible carbon dioxide (CO2) enhanced oil recovery (EOR) method to technically screened oil reservoirs located in onshore and State offshore areas in the conterminous United States. A recovery factor represents the percentage of an oil reservoir’s original oil in place estimated to be recoverable by the application of a miscible CO2-EOR method. The USGS estimates were calculated for 2,018 clastic and 1,681 carbonate candidate reservoirs in the “Significant Oil and Gas Fields of the United States Database” prepared by Nehring Associates, Inc. (2012).

  17. Method for enhanced oil recovery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Comberiati, Joseph R.; Locke, Charles D.; Kamath, Krishna I.

    1980-01-01

    The present invention is directed to an improved method for enhanced recovery of oil from relatively "cold" reservoirs by carbon dioxide flooding. In oil reservoirs at a temperature less than the critical temperature of 87.7.degree. F. and at a pore pressure greater than the saturation pressure of carbon dioxide at the temperature of the reservoir, the carbon dioxide remains in the liquid state which does not satisfactorily mix with the oil. However, applicants have found that carbon dioxide can be vaporized in situ in the reservoir by selectively reducing the pore pressure in the reservoir to a value less than the particular saturated vapor pressure so as to greatly enhance the mixing of the carbon dioxide with the oil.

  18. Tomatoes in oil recovery. [Plant waste additives improve yield

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1981-01-01

    The waste from processing tomato, squash and pepper stalks found unexpected use in recovery of oil. Even a negligible amount thereof in an aqueous solution pumped into an oil-bearing formation turned out to be sufficient to increase the yield. Substances of plant origin, which improve dramatically the oil-flushing properties of water, not only increase the recovery of oil, but reduce the volume of fluid to be pumped into the stratum. The staff of the Institute of Deep Oil and Gas Deposits of the Azerbaijan Academy of Sciences, who proved the technological and economical advantages of using the waste from plant processing, transmitted their findings to the oil workers of Baku. The scientists have concluded that there is a good raw material base in this republic for utilizing this method on oil-bearing formations.

  19. Oil Recovery Increases by Low-Salinity Flooding: Minnelusa and Green River Formations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Eric P. Robertson

    2010-09-01

    Waterflooding is by far the most widely used method in the world to increase oil recovery. Historically, little consideration has been given in reservoir engineering practice to the effect of injection brine composition on waterflood displacement efficiency or to the possibility of increased oil recovery through manipulation of the composition of the injected water. However, recent work has shown that oil recovery can be significantly increased by modifying the injection brine chemistry or by injecting diluted or low salinity brine. This paper reports on laboratory work done to increase the understanding of improved oil recovery by waterflooding with low salinity injection water. Porous media used in the studies included outcrop Berea sandstone (Ohio, U.S.A.) and reservoir cores from the Green River formation of the Uinta basin (Utah, U.S.A.). Crude oils used in the experimental protocols were taken from the Minnelusa formation of the Powder River basin (Wyoming, U.S.A.) and from the Green River formation, Monument Butte field in the Uinta basin. Laboratory corefloods using Berea sandstone, Minnelusa crude oil, and simulated Minnelusa formation water found a significant relationship between the temperature at which the oil- and water-saturated cores were aged and the oil recovery resulting from low salinity waterflooding. Lower aging temperatures resulted in very little to no additional oil recovery, while cores aged at higher temperatures resulted in significantly higher recoveries from dilute-water floods. Waterflood studies using reservoir cores and fluids from the Green River formation of the Monument Butte field also showed significantly higher oil recoveries from low salinity waterfloods with cores flooded with fresher water recovering 12.4% more oil on average than those flooded with undiluted formation brine.

  20. Cost Effective Surfactant Formulations for Improved Oil Recovery in Carbonate Reservoirs

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    William A. Goddard; Yongchun Tang; Patrick Shuler; Mario Blanco; Yongfu Wu

    2007-09-30

    This report summarizes work during the 30 month time period of this project. This was planned originally for 3-years duration, but due to its financial limitations, DOE halted funding after 2 years. The California Institute of Technology continued working on this project for an additional 6 months based on a no-cost extension granted by DOE. The objective of this project is to improve the performance of aqueous phase formulations that are designed to increase oil recovery from fractured, oil-wet carbonate reservoir rock. This process works by increasing the rate and extent of aqueous phase imbibition into the matrix blocks in the reservoir and thereby displacing crude oil normally not recovered in a conventional waterflood operation. The project had three major components: (1) developing methods for the rapid screening of surfactant formulations towards identifying candidates suitable for more detailed evaluation, (2) more fundamental studies to relate the chemical structure of acid components of an oil and surfactants in aqueous solution as relates to their tendency to wet a carbonate surface by oil or water, and (3) a more applied study where aqueous solutions of different commercial surfactants are examined for their ability to recover a West Texas crude oil from a limestone core via an imbibition process. The first item, regarding rapid screening methods for suitable surfactants has been summarized as a Topical Report. One promising surfactant screening protocol is based on the ability of a surfactant solution to remove aged crude oil that coats a clear calcite crystal (Iceland Spar). Good surfactant candidate solutions remove the most oil the quickest from the surface of these chips, plus change the apparent contact angle of the remaining oil droplets on the surface that thereby indicate increased water-wetting. The other fast surfactant screening method is based on the flotation behavior of powdered calcite in water. In this test protocol, first the calcite

  1. Bluebell Field, Uinta Basin: reservoir characterization for improved well completion and oil recovery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Montgomery, S.L.; Morgan, C.D.

    1998-01-01

    Bluefield Field is the largest oil-producing area in the Unita basin of northern Utah. The field inclucdes over 300 wells and has produced 137 Mbbl oil and 177 bcf gas from fractured Paleocene-Eocene lacustrine and fluvial deposits of the Green River and Wasatch (Colton) formations. Oil and gas are produced at depths of 10 500-13 000 ft (3330-3940 m), with the most prolific reservoirs existing in over-pressured sandstones of the Colton Formation and the underlying Flagstaff Member of the lower Green River Formation. Despite a number of high-recovery wells (1-3 MMbbl), overall field recovery remains low, less than 10% original oil in place. This low recovery rate is interpreted to be at least partly a result of completion practices. Typically, 40-120 beds are perforated and stimulated with acid (no proppant) over intervals of up to 3000 ft (900 m). Little or no evaluation of individual beds is performed, preventing identification of good-quality reservoir zones, water-producing zones, and thief zones. As a result, detailed understanding of Bluebell reservoirs historically has been poor, inhibiting any improvements in recovery strategies. A recent project undertaken in Bluebell field as part of the U.S. Department of Energy's Class 1 (fluvial-deltaic reservoir) Oil Demonstration program has focused considerable effort on reservoir characterization. This effort has involved interdisciplinary analysis of core, log, fracture, geostatistical, production, and other data. Much valuable new information on reservoir character has resulted, with important implications for completion techniques and recovery expectations. Such data should have excellent applicability to other producing areas in the Uinta Basin withi reservoirs in similar lacustrine and related deposits.Bluebell field is the largest oil-producing area in the Uinta basin of northern Utah. The field includes over 300 wells and has produced 137 MMbbl oil and 177 bcf gas from fractured Paleocene-Eocene lacustrine

  2. Development of More Effective Biosurfactants for Enhanced Oil Recovery

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    McInerney, J.J.; Han, S.O.; Maudgalya, S.; Mouttaki, H.; Folmsbee, M.; Knapp, R.; Nagle, D.; Jackson, B.E.; Stuadt, M.; Frey, W.

    2003-01-16

    The objectives of this were two fold. First, core displacement studies were done to determine whether microbial processes could recover residual oil at elevated pressures. Second, the importance of biosurfactant production for the recovery of residual oil was studies. In these studies, a biosurfactant-producing, microorganisms called Bacillus licheniformis strain JF-2 was used. This bacterium produces a cyclic peptide biosurfactant that significantly reduces the interfacial tension between oil and brine (7). The use of a mutant deficient in surfactant production and a mathematical MEOR simulator were used to determine the major mechanisms of oil recovery by these two strains.

  3. Study on incineration technology of oil gas generated during the recovery process of oil spill

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hou, Shuhn-Shyurng; Ko, Yung-Chang; Lin, Ta-Hui

    2011-01-01

    The objective of this study is to design, set up and operate an incinerator system capable of providing clean exhaust and safety control for burning oil gas generated during the recovery process of oil spill in Taiwan. In this study, we successfully develop a vertical-type incinerator, which consists of five oil gas burners with entrained primary air, a pilot burner, and an auxiliary burner. The incinerator system is equipped with necessary control units in order to achieve safe, easy, fast, and efficient operation. Flame appearance, flue gas temperature and CO emission of the incinerator system for burning oil gas are reported and discussed. Under the long-term operation, it is found that the new designed incinerator is satisfactory for burning oil gas with low supply pressure at various compositions and supply rates during the recovery process of oil spill. It is noteworthy that the results obtained herein are of great significance to provide a good guidance for those who need to design, set up and operate an incinerator system providing clean exhaust and safety control for burning oil gas generated during the recovery process of oil spill in a polluted site with a large area.

  4. Study on incineration technology of oil gas generated during the recovery process of oil spill

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hou, Shuhn-Shyurng [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kun Shan University, Tainan 71003 (China); Ko, Yung-Chang [China Steel Corporation, Kaohsiung 81233 (China); Lin, Ta-Hui [Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 70101 (China)

    2011-03-15

    The objective of this study is to design, set up and operate an incinerator system capable of providing clean exhaust and safety control for burning oil gas generated during the recovery process of oil spill in Taiwan. In this study, we successfully develop a vertical-type incinerator, which consists of five oil gas burners with entrained primary air, a pilot burner, and an auxiliary burner. The incinerator system is equipped with necessary control units in order to achieve safe, easy, fast, and efficient operation. Flame appearance, flue gas temperature and CO emission of the incinerator system for burning oil gas are reported and discussed. Under the long-term operation, it is found that the new designed incinerator is satisfactory for burning oil gas with low supply pressure at various compositions and supply rates during the recovery process of oil spill. It is noteworthy that the results obtained herein are of great significance to provide a good guidance for those who need to design, set up and operate an incinerator system providing clean exhaust and safety control for burning oil gas generated during the recovery process of oil spill in a polluted site with a large area. (author)

  5. Increasing CO2 storage in oil recovery

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jessen, K.; Kovscek, A.R.; Orr, F.M. Jr.

    2005-01-01

    Oil fields offer a significant potential for storing CO 2 and will most likely be the first large scale geological targets for sequestration as the infrastructure, experience and permitting procedures already exist. The problem of co-optimizing oil production and CO 2 storage differs significantly from current gas injection practice due to the cost-benefit imbalance resulting from buying CO 2 for enhanced oil recovery projects. Consequently, operators aim to minimize the amount of CO 2 required to sweep an oil reservoir. For sequestration purposes, where high availability of low cost CO 2 is assumed, the design parameters of enhanced oil recovery processes must be re-defined to optimize the amount of CO 2 left in the reservoir at the time of abandonment. To redefine properly the design parameters, thorough insight into the mechanisms controlling the pore scale displacement efficiency and the overall sweep efficiency is essential. We demonstrate by calculation examples the different mechanisms controlling the displacement behavior of CO 2 sequestration schemes, the interaction between flow and phase equilibrium and how proper design of the injection gas composition and well completion are required to co-optimize oil production and CO 2 storage. [Author

  6. Increasing CO2 storage in oil recovery

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jessen, Kristian; Kovscek, Anthony R.; Orr, Franklin M.

    2005-01-01

    Oil fields offer a significant potential for storing CO 2 and will most likely be the first large scale geological targets for sequestration as the infrastructure, experience and permitting procedures already exist. The problem of co-optimizing oil production and CO 2 storage differs significantly from current gas injection practice due to the cost-benefit imbalance resulting from buying CO 2 for enhanced oil recovery projects. Consequently, operators aim to minimize the amount of CO 2 required to sweep an oil reservoir. For sequestration purposes, where high availability of low cost CO 2 is assumed, the design parameters of enhanced oil recovery processes must be re-defined to optimize the amount of CO 2 left in the reservoir at the time of abandonment. To redefine properly the design parameters, thorough insight into the mechanisms controlling the pore scale displacement efficiency and the overall sweep efficiency is essential. We demonstrate by calculation examples the different mechanisms controlling the displacement behavior of CO 2 sequestration schemes, the interaction between flow and phase equilibrium and how proper design of the injection gas composition and well completion are required to co-optimize oil production and CO 2 storage

  7. Managing Injected Water Composition To Improve Oil Recovery: A Case Study of North Sea Chalk Reservoirs

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zahid, Adeel; Shapiro, Alexander; Stenby, Erling Halfdan

    2012-01-01

    of the temperature dependence of the oil recovery indicated that the interaction of the ions contained in brine with the rock cannot be the only determining mechanism of enhanced recovery. We observed no substitution of Ca2+ ions with Mg2+ ions at high temperatures for both rocks. Not only the injection brine......In recent years, many core displacement experiments of oil by seawater performed on chalk rock samples have reported SO42–, Ca2+, and Mg2+ as potential determining ions for improving oil recovery. Most of these studies were carried out with outcrop chalk core plugs. The objective of this study...... is to investigate the potential of the advanced waterflooding process by carrying out experiments with reservoir chalk samples. The study results in a better understanding of the mechanisms involved in increasing the oil recovery with potential determining ions. We carried out waterflooding instead of spontaneous...

  8. Sports massage with ozonised oil or non-ozonised oil: Comparative effects on recovery parameters after maximal effort in cyclists.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paoli, Antonio; Bianco, Antonino; Battaglia, Giuseppe; Bellafiore, Marianna; Grainer, Alessandro; Marcolin, Giuseppe; Cardoso, Claudia C; Dall'aglio, Roberto; Palma, Antonio

    2013-11-01

    To study the effects of passive rest (PR) and sports massage with (SMOZO) and without (SM) ozonised oil on sports performance psycho-physiological indices in competitive amateur cyclists after 3 pre-fatiguing Wingate cycle and post-recovery ramp tests. An intra-subjects experimental design with repeated measures. Department of Human Anatomy and Physiology, University of Padua. Fifteen male competitive cyclists (age: 27 ± 3.5 years, body weight: 77.6 ± 8.3 kg, height: 178 ± 7.7 cm) were studied. Subjects' power output (P), heart rate (HR), Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) score and blood lactate (BL) clearance in response to PR, SMOZO and SM recoveries were compared. There were no significant differences in cyclists' heart rate patterns in the three experimental conditions (p > 0.05). After SMOZO recovery, athletes showed a higher Pmax (p oil during sports massage increases blood lactate removal, improves performance and reduces the perception of fatigue in cyclists from 3 Wingate tests. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. 26 CFR 1.43-1 - The enhanced oil recovery credit-general rules.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 26 Internal Revenue 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 true The enhanced oil recovery credit-general rules. 1... INCOME TAXES Credits Against Tax § 1.43-1 The enhanced oil recovery credit—general rules. (a) Claiming the credit—(1) In general. The enhanced oil recovery credit (the “credit”) is a component of the...

  10. Experimental and numerical modeling of heavy-oil recovery by electrical heating

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hascakir, B.; Akin, S. [Middle East Technical Univ., Ankara (Turkey); Babadagli, T. [Alberta Univ., Edmonton, AB (Canada)

    2008-10-15

    This study examined the applicability of electrical heating as a heavy oil recovery system in 2 heavy oil fields in Turkey. The physical and chemical properties of samples from the 2 fields were compiled and measured. The samples were then subjected to electrical heating. A retort technique was used to determine oil recovery performance under various conditions. Different types of iron powders were also applied in order to reduce oil viscosity. In situ viscosity reduction levels during the heating process were measured using a history matching procedure that considered data obtained during the laboratory experiments. The study demonstrated that the addition of iron power to the oil samples caused the polar components of the oil to decrease. Oil viscosity was strongly influenced by the magnetic fields created by the iron powders. An analysis of the experimental data showed that significant viscosity reductions of 88 per cent were obtained for the samples when iron additions of 0.5 per cent were used. Data from the experiments were used to develop mathematical models in order to consider thermal diffusion coefficients, oil viscosity, and relative permeability parameters. It was concluded that the cost of producing 1 barrel of oil using the method cost approximately US $5. After a period of 70 days, 320 barrels of petroleum were produced using the method. Oil production rates increased to 440 barrels over the same time period when iron additions were used. 30 refs., 6 tabs., 12 figs.

  11. Effect of capillary number on the oil recovery using oil-water emulsion injection in core flooding experiments

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Guillen Nunez, Victor Raul; Carvalho, Marcio da Silveira [Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), RJ (Brazil). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering], E-mail: msn@puc-rio.br; Basante, Vladimir Alvarado [University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY (United States). Dept. of Chemical/Petroleum Engineering], E-mail: valvard@uwyo.edu

    2010-07-01

    The Water injection flooding is a common method to improve reservoir sweep and pressure maintenance. The heavy-oil-recovery efficiency is in part limited by the high water-to-oil mobility ratio. Several enhanced oil recovery methods are being developed as more efficient alternatives to water flooding. Dispersion injection, in particular oil-water emulsion injection, has been tried with relative success as an enhanced oil recovery method, but the technique is not fully developed or understood. If emulsion injection proves to be an effective EOR method, its use would bring the added benefit of disposing produced water with small oil content that could be modified to serve as the injected oil-water emulsion. The use of such methods requires a detailed analysis of the different flow regimes of emulsions through the porous space of a reservoir rock. If the drop size of the disperse phase is of the same order of magnitude as the pore size, the drops may agglomerate and partially block water flow through pores. This flow regime may be used to control the mobility of the injected liquid, leading to higher recovery factor. We have shown in recent experiments of oil displacement in a sandstone core that, the oil recovery factor could be raised from approximately 40 %, obtained with water injection only, up to approximately 75 % by alternating water and emulsion injection. Although these results clearly show the improvement in the recovery factor, the mechanisms responsible for the phenomenon have not been clearly elucidated. In this work, two sandstone cores were used to demonstrate the effect of flow rate (capillary number) on the mobility control by emulsion injection. Figure 1 shows a schematic representation of the experiment set-up. The experiments show that raising the flow rate by a factor of 10 (0.03 ml/min to 0.3 ml/min), the oil recovered factor decreases considerably. (author)

  12. Research Progress in Carbon Dioxide Storage and Enhanced Oil Recovery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Keliang; Wang, Gang; Lu, Chunjing

    2018-02-01

    With the rapid development of global economy, human beings have become highly dependent upon fossil fuel such as coal and petroleum. Much fossil fuel is consumed in industrial production and human life. As a result, carbon dioxide emissions have been increasing, and the greenhouse effects thereby generated are posing serious threats to environment of the earth. These years, increasing average global temperature, frequent extreme weather events and climatic changes cause material disasters to the world. After scientists’ long-term research, ample evidences have proven that emissions of greenhouse gas like carbon dioxide have brought about tremendous changes to global climate. To really reduce carbon dioxide emissions, governments of different countries and international organizations have invested much money and human resources in performing research related to carbon dioxide emissions. Manual underground carbon dioxide storage and carbon dioxide-enhanced oil recovery are schemes with great potential and prospect for reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Compared with other schemes for reducing carbon dioxide emissions, aforementioned two schemes exhibit high storage capacity and yield considerable economic benefits, so they have become research focuses for reducing carbon dioxide emissions. This paper introduces the research progress in underground carbon dioxide storage and enhanced oil recovery, pointing out the significance and necessity of carbon dioxide-driven enhanced oil recovery.

  13. Experimental Study of Enhancing Oil Recovery with Weak Base Alkaline/Surfactant/Polymer

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dandan Yin

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Na2CO3 was used together with surfactant and polymer to form the Alkaline/Surfactant/Polymer (ASP flooding system. Interfacial tension (IFT and emulsification of Dagang oil and chemical solutions were studied in the paper. The experiment results show that the ASP system can form super-low interfacial tension with crude oil and emulsified phase. The stability of the emulsion is enhanced by the Na2CO3, surfactant, and the soap generated at oil/water contact. Six core flooding experiments are conducted in order to investigate the influence of Na2CO3 concentration on oil recovery. The results show the maximum oil recovery can be obtained with 0.3 wt% surfactant, 0.6 wt% Na2CO3, and 2000 mg/L polymer. In a heterogeneous reservoir, the ASP flooding could not enhance the oil recovery by reducing IFT until it reaches the critical viscosity, which indicates expanding the sweep volume is the premise for reducing IFT to enhance oil recovery. Reducing or removing the alkali from ASP system to achieve high viscosity will reduce oil recovery because of the declination of oil displacement efficiency. Weak base ASP alkali can ensure that the whole system with sufficient viscosity can start the medium and low permeability layers and enhance oil recovery even if the IFT only reaches 10−2 mN/m.

  14. Simulation study to determine the feasibility of injecting hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide and nitrogen gas injection to improve gas and oil recovery oil-rim reservoir

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eid, Mohamed El Gohary

    reservoir management methodology to maximize both fluid recovery and free up currently injected HC gases for domestic consumption. Moreover, this study identified the main uncertainty parameters impacting the gas and oil production performance with all proposed alternatives. Maximizing both fluids oil and gas in oil rim reservoir are challenging. The reservoir heterogeneity will have a major impact on the performance of non hydrocarbon gas flooding. Therefore, good reservoir description is a key to achieve acceptable development process and make reliable prediction. The lab study data were used successfully to as a tool to identify the range of uncertainty parameters that are impacting the hydrocarbon recovery.

  15. Selection and application of microorganisms to improve oil recovery

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Almeida, P.F.; Moreira, R.S.; Almeida, R.C.C.; Guimaraes, A.K.; Carvalho, A.S. [Laboratorio de Biotecnologia e Ecologia de Microrganismos da Universidade Federal da Bahia, Avenida Reitor Miguel Calmon, s/n, Vale do Canela, CEP 41.160-100 Salvador BA (Brazil); Quintella, C.; Esperidia, M.C.A. [Instituto de Quimica da Universidade Federal da Bahia, Rua Barao de Geremoabo, s/n, Campus Universitario de Ondina, CEP 40.170-290, Salvador BA (Brazil); Taft, C.A. [Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Fisicas, Rua Xavier Sigaud, 150, Urca, 22290-180, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)

    2004-08-01

    Microbial enhanced oil recovery (Meor) is an incontestably efficient alternative to improve oil recovery, especially in mature fields and in oil reservoirs with high paraffinic content. This is the case for most oil fields in the Reconcavo basin of Bahia, Brazil. Given the diverse conditions of most oil fields, an approach to apply Meor technology should consider primarily: (i) microbiological studies to select the appropriate microorganisms and (ii) mobilization of oil in laboratory experiments before oil field application. A total of 163 bacterial strains, selectively isolated from various sources, were studied to determine their potential to be used in Meor. A laboratory microbial screening based on physiological and metabolic profiles and growth rates under conditions representative for oil fields and reservoirs revealed that 10 bacterial strains identified as Pseudomonas aeruginosa (2), Bacillus licheniformis (2), Bacillus brevis (1), Bacillus polymyxa (1), Micrococcus varians (1), Micrococcus sp. (1), and two Vibrio species demonstrated potential to be used in oil recovery. Strains of B. licheniformis and B. polymyxa produced the most active surfactants and proved to be the most anaerobic and thermotolerant among the selected bacteria. Micrococcus and B. brevis were the most salt-tolerant and polymer producing bacteria, respectively, whereas Vibrio sp. and B. polymyxa strains were the most gas-producing bacteria. Three bacterial consortia were prepared with a mixture of bacteria that showed metabolic and technological complementarity and the ability to grow at a wide range of temperatures and salinity characteristics for the oil fields in Bahia, Brazil. Oil mobilization rates in laboratory column experiments using the three consortia of bacteria varied from 11.2 to 18.3 % [v/v] of the total oil under static conditions. Consortia of B. brevis, B. icheniformis and B. polymyxa exhibited the best oil mobilization rates. Using these consortia under anaerobic

  16. SOVENT BASED ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY FOR IN-SITU UPGRADING OF HEAVY OIL SANDS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Munroe, Norman

    2009-01-30

    With the depletion of conventional crude oil reserves in the world, heavy oil and bitumen resources have great potential to meet the future demand for petroleum products. However, oil recovery from heavy oil and bitumen reservoirs is much more difficult than that from conventional oil reservoirs. This is mainly because heavy oil or bitumen is partially or completely immobile under reservoir conditions due to its extremely high viscosity, which creates special production challenges. In order to overcome these challenges significant efforts were devoted by Applied Research Center (ARC) at Florida International University and The Center for Energy Economics (CEE) at the University of Texas. A simplified model was developed to assess the density of the upgraded crude depending on the ratio of solvent mass to crude oil mass, temperature, pressure and the properties of the crude oil. The simplified model incorporated the interaction dynamics into a homogeneous, porous heavy oil reservoir to simulate the dispersion and concentration of injected CO2. The model also incorporated the characteristic of a highly varying CO2 density near the critical point. Since the major challenge in heavy oil recovery is its high viscosity, most researchers have focused their investigations on this parameter in the laboratory as well as in the field resulting in disparaging results. This was attributed to oil being a complex poly-disperse blend of light and heavy paraffins, aromatics, resins and asphaltenes, which have diverse behaviors at reservoir temperature and pressures. The situation is exacerbated by a dearth of experimental data on gas diffusion coefficients in heavy oils due to the tedious nature of diffusivity measurements. Ultimately, the viscosity and thus oil recovery is regulated by pressure and its effect on the diffusion coefficient and oil swelling factors. The generation of a new phase within the crude and the differences in mobility between the new crude matrix and the

  17. Procurement guideline for oil recovery boats; Oeljyntorjuntaveneen hankintaohje

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pajala, J.

    2011-12-15

    These guidelines have been compiled to assist in the procurement of oil recovery boats, with the intention of ensuring that new boats meet the future needs of oil spill response operations and that procurement will be carried out in a manner that is economically sound and technologically well-founded. Furthermore, the guidelines are intended to encourage the development and adoption of new solutions for oil recovery boats. The issues covered by these guidelines include: Multiple uses of boats, classification of boats and class-specific requirements, the principle of sustainable development and the boats' lifecycle, qualification to be set for the crews, procurement timeline, regulations and guidelines, inspections and approvals. (orig.)

  18. Hydrophobically associated polymers for wettability alteration and enhanced oil recovery – Article review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A.N. El-hoshoudy

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Crude oil and other petroleum products are crucial to the global economy today due to increasing energy demand approximately (∼1.5% per year and significant oil remaining after primary and secondary oil recovery (∼45–55% of original oil in place, OOIP, which accelerates the development of enhanced oil recovery (EOR technologies to maximize the recovered oil amount by non-conventional methods as polymer flooding. This review discusses enhanced oil recovery methods specially polymer flooding techniques and their effects on rock wettability alteration.

  19. Mechanisms of microbial oil recovery by Clostridium acetobutylicum and Bacillus strain JF-2

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Marsh, T.L.; Zhang, X.; Knapp, R.M.; McInerney, M.J.; Sharma, P.K.; Jackson, B.E.

    1995-12-31

    Core displacement experiments at elevated pressures were conducted to determine whether microbial processes are effective under conditions that simulate those found in an actual oil reservoir. The in-situ growth of Clostridium acetobutylicum and Bacillus strain JF-2 resulted in the recovery of residual oil. About 21 and 23% of the residual oil was recovered by C. acetobutylicum and Bacillus strain JF-2, respectively. Flooding cores with cell-free culture fluids of C. acetobutylicum with and without the addition of 50 mM acetone and 100 mM butanol did not result in the recovery of residual oil. Mathematical simulations showed that the amount of gas produced by the clostridial fermentation was not showed that the amount of gas produced by the clostridial fermentation was not sufficient to recover residual oil. Oil recovery by Bacillus strain JF-2 was highly correlated to surfactant production. A biosurfactant-deficient mutant of strain JF-2 was not capable of recovering residual oil. These data show that surfactant production is an important mechanism for microbially enhanced oil recovery. The mechanism for oil recovery by C. acetobutylicum is not understood at this time, but the production of acids, solvents, or gases alone cannot explain the observed increases in oil recovery by this organism.

  20. Chemically evolving systems for oil recovery enhancement in heavy oil deposits

    Science.gov (United States)

    Altunina, L. K.; Kuvshinov, I. V.; Kuvshinov, V. A.; Stasyeva, L. A.

    2017-12-01

    This work presents the results of laboratory studies and field tests of new physicochemical technologies for enhanced oil recovery of heavy oil fields under natural development conditions and with thermal-steam stimulation using oil-displacing "smart" systems. The systems are based on surfactants and buffer systems. Their rheological and acid-base properties can be regulated by their chemical evolution directly in the formation. Field tests of the technologies carried out on high-viscosity oil deposit in the Usinskoye oilfield have shown that the EOR technologies are environmentally friendly and technologically effective.

  1. Research on oil recovery mechanisms in heavy oil reservoirs

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kovscek, Anthony R.; Brigham, William E., Castanier, Louis M.

    2000-03-16

    The research described here was directed toward improved understanding of thermal and heavy-oil production mechanisms and is categorized into: (1) flow and rock properties, (2) in-situ combustion, (3) additives to improve mobility control, (4) reservoir definition, and (5) support services. The scope of activities extended over a three-year period. Significant work was accomplished in the area of flow properties of steam, water, and oil in consolidated and unconsolidated porous media, transport in fractured porous media, foam generation and flow in homogeneous and heterogeneous porous media, the effects of displacement pattern geometry and mobility ratio on oil recovery, and analytical representation of water influx.

  2. An extended model for ultrasonic-based enhanced oil recovery with experimental validation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mohsin, Mohammed; Meribout, Mahmoud

    2015-03-01

    This paper suggests a new ultrasonic-based enhanced oil recovery (EOR) model for application in oil field reservoirs. The model is modular and consists of an acoustic module and a heat transfer module, where the heat distribution is updated when the temperature rise exceeds 1 °C. The model also considers the main EOR parameters which includes both the geophysical (i.e., porosity, permeability, temperature rise, and fluid viscosity) and acoustical (e.g., acoustic penetration and pressure distribution in various fluids and mediums) properties of the wells. Extended experiments were performed using powerful ultrasonic waves which were applied for different kind of oils & oil saturated core samples. The corresponding results showed a good matching with those obtained from simulations, validating the suggested model to some extent. Hence, a good recovery rate of around 88.2% of original oil in place (OOIP) was obtained after 30 min of continuous generation of ultrasonic waves. This leads to consider the ultrasonic-based EOR as another tangible solution for EOR. This claim is supported further by considering several injection wells where the simulation results indicate that with four (4) injection wells; the recovery rate may increase up-to 96.7% of OOIP. This leads to claim the high potential of ultrasonic-based EOR as compared to the conventional methods. Following this study, the paper also proposes a large scale ultrasonic-based EOR hardware system for installation in oil fields. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. Bacterial community diversity in a low-permeability oil reservoir and its potential for enhancing oil recovery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xiao, Meng; Zhang, Zhong-Zhi; Wang, Jing-Xiu; Zhang, Guang-Qing; Luo, Yi-Jing; Song, Zhao-Zheng; Zhang, Ji-Yuan

    2013-11-01

    The diversity of indigenous bacterial community and the functional species in the water samples from three production wells of a low permeability oil reservoir was investigated by high-throughput sequencing technology. The potential of application of indigenous bacteria for enhancing oil recovery was evaluated by examination of the effect of bacterial stimulation on the formation water-oil-rock surface interactions and micromodel test. The results showed that production well 88-122 had the most diverse bacterial community and functional species. The broth of indigenous bacteria stimulated by an organic nutrient activator at aerobic condition changed the wettability of the rock surface from oil-wet to water-wet. Micromodel test results showed that flooding using stimulated indigenous bacteria following water flooding improved oil recovery by 6.9% and 7.7% in fractured and unfractured micromodels, respectively. Therefore, the zone of low permeability reservoir has a great potential for indigenous microbial enhanced oil recovery. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Quantification of oil recovery efficiency, CO 2 storage potential, and fluid-rock interactions by CWI in heterogeneous sandstone oil reservoirs

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Seyyedi, Mojtaba; Sohrabi, Mehran; Sisson, Adam

    2017-01-01

    Significant interest exists in improving recovery from oil reservoirs while addressing concerns about increasing CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere. The combination of Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) and safe geologic storage of CO2 in oil reservoirs is appealing and can be achieved by carbonated (CO...... for oil recovery and CO2 storage potential on heterogeneous cores. Since not all the oil reservoirs are homogenous, understanding the potential of CWI as an integrated EOR and CO2 storage scenario in heterogeneous oil reservoirs is essential....

  5. SolarOil Project, Phase I preliminary design report. [Solar Thermal Enhanced Oil Recovery project

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Baccaglini, G.; Bass, J.; Neill, J.; Nicolayeff, V.; Openshaw, F.

    1980-03-01

    The preliminary design of the Solar Thermal Enhanced Oil Recovery (SolarOil) Plant is described in this document. This plant is designed to demonstrate that using solar thermal energy is technically feasible and economically viable in enhanced oil recovery (EOR). The SolarOil Plant uses the fixed mirror solar concentrator (FMSC) to heat high thermal capacity oil (MCS-2046) to 322/sup 0/C (611/sup 0/F). The hot fluid is pumped from a hot oil storage tank (20 min capacity) through a once-through steam generator which produces 4.8 MPa (700 psi) steam at 80% quality. The plant net output, averaged over 24 hr/day for 365 days/yr, is equivalent to that of a 2.4 MW (8.33 x 10/sup 6/ Btu/hr) oil-fired steam generator having an 86% availability. The net plant efficiency is 57.3% at equinox noon, a 30%/yr average. The plant will be demonstrated at an oilfield site near Oildale, California.

  6. Acoustic wave emission for enhanced oil recovery (WAVE.O.R.)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Reichmann, S.; Amro, M. [TU Bergakademie, Freiberg (Germany); Giese, R.; Jaksch, K.; Krauss, F.; Krueger, K.; Jurczyk, A. [Helmholtz-Zentrum Potsdam - Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum GFZ, Potsdam (Germany)

    2016-09-15

    In the project WAVE.O.R the potential of acoustic waves to enhance oil recovery was reviewed. The project focused on laboratory experiments of the oil displacement in sandstone cores under acoustic stimulation. Additionally, the Seismic Prediction While Drilling (SPWD) borehole device prototype was set up for a feasibility field test. The laboratory experiments showed that, depending on the stimulation frequency, acoustic stimulation allows for an enhanced oil recovery. For single frequency stimulation a mean increase of 3 % pore volumes was observed at distinguished frequencies. A cyclic stimulation, where two of these frequencies were combined, an increase of 5% pore volume was observed. The SPWD borehole device was tested and adjusted during feasibility tests in the GFZ underground laboratory in the research and education mine ''Reiche Zeche'' of the TU Bergakademie Freiberg and in the GFZ KTB-Deep Laboratory in Windischeschenbach. The first successful test of the device under realistic conditions was performed at the test site ''Piana di Toppo'' of the OGS Trieste, Italy.

  7. The PTRC : a world leader in enhanced heavy oil recovery

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kristoff, B.; Knudsen, R.; Asghari, K. [Petroleum Technology Research Centre, Regina, SK (Canada); Pappas, E.S. [Saskatchewan Research Council, Saskatoon, SK (Canada)

    2006-07-01

    The Petroleum Technology Research Centre (PTRC) fosters knowledge and progressive technologies to enhance the recovery of petroleum. This paper discussed the PTRC's leadership in enhanced heavy oil recovery, with particular reference to core research program such as heavy oil (post) cold flow; enhanced waterflooding; miscible/immiscible solvent injection; and near-wellbore conformance control. Other projects that were presented included a joint implementation of vapour extraction project (JIVE); and the IEA greenhouse gas (GHG) Weyburn-Midale carbon dioxide monitoring and storage project. The JIVE project will develop, demonstrate and evaluate solvent vapour extraction processes for enhanced oil recovery in heavy oil reservoirs. The GHG Weyburn-Midale project, launched in 2000, studies carbon dioxide injection and storage in partially depleted oil reservoirs. It was concluded that the PTRC continues to develop technologies to meet the world's energy requirements while mitigating both immediate and long-term environmental impacts. 4 figs.

  8. Biosurfactants production and possible uses in microbial enhanced oil recovery and oil pollution remediation: a review

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Banat, I.M.

    1995-01-01

    Surfactants are widely used for various purposes in industry, but for many years were mainly chemically synthesized. It has only been in the past few decades that biological surface-active compounds (biosurfactants) have been described. Biosurfactants are gaining prominence and have already taken over for a number of important industrial uses, due to their advantages of biodegradability, production on renewable resources and functionality under extreme conditions; particularly those pertaining during tertiary crude-oil recovery. Conflicting reports exist concerning their efficacy and the economics of both their production and application. The limited successes and applications for biosurfactants production, recovery, use in oil pollution control, oil storage tank clean-up and enhanced oil-recovery are reviewed from the technical point of view. (author)

  9. Microbial Activation of Bacillus subtilis-Immobilized Microgel Particles for Enhanced Oil Recovery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Son, Han Am; Choi, Sang Koo; Jeong, Eun Sook; Kim, Bohyun; Kim, Hyun Tae; Sung, Won Mo; Kim, Jin Woong

    2016-09-06

    Microbially enhanced oil recovery involves the use of microorganisms to extract oil remaining in reservoirs. Here, we report fabrication of microgel particles with immobilized Bacillus subtilis for application to microbially enhanced oil recovery. Using B. subtilis isolated from oil-contaminated soils in Myanmar, we evaluated the ability of this microbe to reduce the interfacial tension at the oil-water interface via production of biosurfactant molecules, eventually yielding excellent emulsification across a broad range of the medium pH and ionic strength. To safely deliver B. subtilis into a permeable porous medium, in this study, these bacteria were physically immobilized in a hydrogel mesh of microgel particles. In a core flooding experiment, in which the microgel particles were injected into a column packed with silica beads, we found that these particles significantly increased oil recovery in a concentration-dependent manner. This result shows that a mesh of microgel particles encapsulating biosurfactant-producing microorganisms holds promise for recovery of oil from porous media.

  10. Coal-oil assisted flotation for the gold recovery

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sen, S.; Seyrankaya, A.; Cilingir, Y. [Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir (Turkey). Mining Engineering Department

    2005-09-01

    Using coal-oil agglomeration method for free or native gold recovery has been a research subject for many researchers over the years. In this study, a new approach 'coal-oil assisted gold flotation' was used to recover gold particles. The coal-oil-gold agglomeration process considers the preferential wetting of coal and gold particles. The method takes advantage of the greater hydrophobicity and oleophilicity of coal and gold compared to that the most gangue materials. Unlike the previous studies about coal-oil-gold agglomeration, this method uses a very small amount of coal and agglomerating agents. Some experiments were conducted on synthetic gold ore samples to reveal the reaction of the coal-oil assisted gold flotation process against the size and the number of gold particles in the feed. It was observed that there is no significant difference in process gold recoveries for feeds assaying different Au. Although there was a slight decrease for coarse gold particles, the process seems to be effective for the recovery of gold grains as coarse as 300 {mu} m. The decrease in the finest size ({lt} 53 {mu} m) is considered to be the decrease in the collision efficiency between the agglomerates and the finest gold particles. The effect of changing coal quantity for constant ore and oil amounts was also investigated. The experiments showed that the process gives very similar results for both artificial and natural ore samples; the best results have been obtained by using 30/1 coal-oil ratio.

  11. Development of alkaline/surfactant/polymer (ASP flooding technology for recovery of Karazhanbas oil

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Birzhan Zhappasbaev

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available The tertiary oil recovery methods like alkaline, surfactant and polymer (ASP flooding are very perspective in order to achieve the synergetic effect out of the different impacts which are caused by these chemicals, which affect oil and water filtration in the reservoir and increase oil recovery. In this communication, we consider the applicability of hydrophobically modified polyampholyte – poly(hexadecylaminocrotonatebetaine (PHDACB as ASP flooding agent for recovery of oil from Karazhanbas oilfield. As “polysoap”, the aqueous solution of PHDACB dissolved in aqueous KOH was used. This system combines the advantages of alkaline, surfactant and polymer and exhibits the synergistic effect. The laboratory results showed that the ASP flooding considerably increases the oil recovery in addition to water flooding. In perspective, the ASP flooding may substitute the steam injection and other thermal enhanced oil recovery (EOR technologies.

  12. Visualized study of thermochemistry assisted steam flooding to improve oil recovery in heavy oil reservoir with glass micromodels

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lyu, X.; Liu, Huiqing; Pang, Zhanxi; Sun, Zhixue

    2018-01-01

    Steam channeling, one serious problem in the process of steam flooding in heavy oil reservoir, decreases the sweep efficiency of steam to cause a lower oil recovery. Viscosity reducer and nitrogen foam, two effective methods to improve oil recovery with different mechanism, present a satisfactory

  13. Optimization of parameters for enhanced oil recovery from enzyme treated wild apricot kernels.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rajaram, Mahatre R; Kumbhar, Baburao K; Singh, Anupama; Lohani, Umesh Chandra; Shahi, Navin C

    2012-08-01

    Present investigation was undertaken with the overall objective of optimizing the enzymatic parameters i.e. moisture content during hydrolysis, enzyme concentration, enzyme ratio and incubation period on wild apricot kernel processing for better oil extractability and increased oil recovery. Response surface methodology was adopted in the experimental design. A central composite rotatable design of four variables at five levels was chosen. The parameters and their range for the experiments were moisture content during hydrolysis (20-32%, w.b.), enzyme concentration (12-16% v/w of sample), combination of pectolytic and cellulolytic enzyme i.e. enzyme ratio (30:70-70:30) and incubation period (12-16 h). Aspergillus foetidus and Trichoderma viride was used for production of crude enzyme i.e. pectolytic and cellulolytic enzyme respectively. A complete second order model for increased oil recovery as the function of enzymatic parameters fitted the data well. The best fit model for oil recovery was also developed. The effect of various parameters on increased oil recovery was determined at linear, quadric and interaction level. The increased oil recovery ranged from 0.14 to 2.53%. The corresponding conditions for maximum oil recovery were 23% (w.b.), 15 v/w of the sample, 60:40 (pectolytic:cellulolytic), 13 h. Results of the study indicated that incubation period during enzymatic hydrolysis is the most important factor affecting oil yield followed by enzyme ratio, moisture content and enzyme concentration in the decreasing order. Enzyme ratio, incubation period and moisture content had insignificant effect on oil recovery. Second order model for increased oil recovery as a function of enzymatic hydrolysis parameters predicted the data adequately.

  14. Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery: 3D Simulation with Gravity Effects

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Sidsel Marie; Jessen, K.; Shapiro, Alexander

    2010-01-01

    Microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) utilizes the activity of microorganisms, where microorganisms simultaneously grow in a reservoir and convert substrate into recovery enhancing products (usually, surfactants). In order to predict the performance of a MEOR process, a simulation tool is required...... using an operator splitting technique. To the best of our knowledge, this has resulted in the first full 3D MEOR streamline simulator. For verification purposes, we compare results from our streamline MEOR simulator to those of a conventional finite difference approach for 1D and 2D displacement...

  15. Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery and Wettability Research Program. Annual report, FY 1991

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bala, G.A.; Barrett, K.B.; Eastman, S.L.; Herd, M.D.; Jackson, J.D.; Robertson, E.P.; Thomas, C.P.

    1993-09-01

    This report covers research results for fiscal year 1991 for the Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery (MEOR) and Wettability Research Program conducted by EG&G Idaho, Inc. at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory ONEL) for the US Department of Energy Idaho Field Office (DOE-ID). The program is funded by the Assistant Secretary of Fossil Energy, and managed by DOE-ID and the Bartlesville Project Office (BPO). The objectives of this multi-year program are to develop MEOR systems for application to reservoirs containing medium to heavy crude oils and to design and implement an industry cost-shared field demonstration project of the developed technology. An understanding of the controlling mechanisms will first be developed through the use of laboratory scale testing to determine the ability of microbially mediated processes to recover oil under reservoir conditions and to develop the design criteria for scale-up to the field. Concurrently with this work, the isolation and characterization of microbial species collected from various locations including target oil field environments is underway to develop more effective oil recovery systems for specific applications. Research focus includes the study of biogenic product and formation souring processes including mitigation and prevention. Souring research performed in FY 1991 also included the development of microsensor probe technology for the detection of total sulfide in collaboration with the Montana State University Center for Interfacial Microbial Process Engineering (CIMPE). Wettability research is a multi-year collaborative effort with the New Mexico Petroleum Recovery Research Center (NMPRRC) at the New Mexico institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, NM to evaluate reservoir wettability and its effects on oil recovery. Results from the wettability research will be applied to determine if alteration of wettability is a significant contributing mechanism for MEOR systems.

  16. Biosurfactant production by Bacillus subtilis B30 and its application in enhancing oil recovery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al-Wahaibi, Yahya; Joshi, Sanket; Al-Bahry, Saif; Elshafie, Abdulkadir; Al-Bemani, Ali; Shibulal, Biji

    2014-02-01

    The fermentative production of biosurfactants by Bacillus subtilis strain B30 and the evaluation of biosurfactant based enhanced oil recovery using core-flood were investigated. Different carbon sources (glucose, sucrose, starch, date molasses, cane molasses) were tested to determine the optimal biosurfactant production. The isolate B30 produced a biosurfactant that could reduce the surface tension and interfacial tension to 26.63±0.45 mN/m and 3.79±0.27 mN/m, respectively in less than 12h in both glucose or date molasses based media. A crude biosurfactant concentration of 0.3-0.5 g/l and critical micelle dilution (CMD) values of 1:8 were observed. The biosurfactants gave stable emulsions with wide range of hydrocarbons including light and heavy crude oil. The biosurfactants were partially purified and identified as a mixture of lipopeptides similar to surfactin, using high performance thin layer chromatography and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The biosurfactants were stable over wide range of pH, salinity and temperatures. The crude biosurfactant preparation enhanced light oil recovery by 17-26% and heavy oil recovery by 31% in core-flood studies. The results are indicative of the potential of the strain for the development of ex situ microbial enhanced oil recovery processes using glucose or date molasses based minimal media. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  17. Experimental study on electromagnetic-assisted ZnO nanofluid flooding for enhanced oil recovery (EOR).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adil, Muhammad; Lee, Keanchuan; Mohd Zaid, Hasnah; Ahmad Latiff, Noor Rasyada; Alnarabiji, Mohamad Sahban

    2018-01-01

    Recently, nano-EOR has emerged as a new frontier for improved and enhanced oil recovery (IOR & EOR). Despite their benefits, the nanoparticles tend to agglomerate at reservoir conditions which cause their detachment from the oil/water interface, and are consequently retained rather than transported through a porous medium. Dielectric nanoparticles including ZnO have been proposed to be a good replacement for EOR due to their high melting point and thermal properties. But more importantly, these particles can be polarized under electromagnetic (EM) irradiation, which provides an innovative smart Nano-EOR process denoted as EM-Assisted Nano-EOR. In this study, parameters involved in the oil recovery mechanism under EM waves, such as reducing mobility ratio, lowering interfacial tensions (IFT) and altering wettability were investigated. Two-phase displacement experiments were performed in sandpacks under the water-wet condition at 95°C, with permeability in the range of 265-300 mD. A crude oil from Tapis oil field was employed; while ZnO nanofluids of two different particle sizes (55.7 and 117.1 nm) were prepared using 0.1 wt. % nanoparticles that dispersed into brine (3 wt. % NaCl) along with SDBS as a dispersant. In each flooding scheme, three injection sequential scenarios have been conducted: (i) brine flooding as a secondary process, (ii) surfactant/nano/EM-assisted nano flooding, and (iii) second brine flooding to flush nanoparticles. Compare with surfactant flooding (2% original oil in place/OOIP) as tertiary recovery, nano flooding almost reaches 8.5-10.2% of OOIP. On the other hand, EM-assisted nano flooding provides an incremental oil recovery of approximately 9-10.4% of OOIP. By evaluating the contact angle and interfacial tension, it was established that the degree of IFT reduction plays a governing role in the oil displacement mechanism via nano-EOR, compare to mobility ratio. These results reveal a promising way to employ water-based ZnO nanofluid for

  18. Experimental study on electromagnetic-assisted ZnO nanofluid flooding for enhanced oil recovery (EOR)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahmad Latiff, Noor Rasyada; Alnarabiji, Mohamad Sahban

    2018-01-01

    Recently, nano-EOR has emerged as a new frontier for improved and enhanced oil recovery (IOR & EOR). Despite their benefits, the nanoparticles tend to agglomerate at reservoir conditions which cause their detachment from the oil/water interface, and are consequently retained rather than transported through a porous medium. Dielectric nanoparticles including ZnO have been proposed to be a good replacement for EOR due to their high melting point and thermal properties. But more importantly, these particles can be polarized under electromagnetic (EM) irradiation, which provides an innovative smart Nano-EOR process denoted as EM-Assisted Nano-EOR. In this study, parameters involved in the oil recovery mechanism under EM waves, such as reducing mobility ratio, lowering interfacial tensions (IFT) and altering wettability were investigated. Two-phase displacement experiments were performed in sandpacks under the water-wet condition at 95°C, with permeability in the range of 265–300 mD. A crude oil from Tapis oil field was employed; while ZnO nanofluids of two different particle sizes (55.7 and 117.1 nm) were prepared using 0.1 wt. % nanoparticles that dispersed into brine (3 wt. % NaCl) along with SDBS as a dispersant. In each flooding scheme, three injection sequential scenarios have been conducted: (i) brine flooding as a secondary process, (ii) surfactant/nano/EM-assisted nano flooding, and (iii) second brine flooding to flush nanoparticles. Compare with surfactant flooding (2% original oil in place/OOIP) as tertiary recovery, nano flooding almost reaches 8.5–10.2% of OOIP. On the other hand, EM-assisted nano flooding provides an incremental oil recovery of approximately 9–10.4% of OOIP. By evaluating the contact angle and interfacial tension, it was established that the degree of IFT reduction plays a governing role in the oil displacement mechanism via nano-EOR, compare to mobility ratio. These results reveal a promising way to employ water-based ZnO nanofluid

  19. Foam rheology in porous media and enhanced oil recovery potential

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Burley, R.

    1985-01-01

    Previous studies using foam as a mobility control agent in partially depleted oil wells have shown that foam has a potential for enhancing oil recovery after primary water flooding. The characteristics of foam as indicated by the results of several studies point to three potential applications of foam in oil recovery processes. These are: Improving the displacement efficiency of gas-drive processes (mobility control). Improving the sweep efficiency of other fluid injection processes (mobility control and flow impediment). Restricting the flow of undesired fluids and plugging of high permeable oil 'thief' zones (partial or total pore blockage). (author)

  20. Experimental study of solvent-based emulsion injection to enhance heavy oil recovery in Alaska North Slope area

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Qiu, F.; Mamora, D. [Texas A and M Univ., College Station, TX (United States)

    2010-07-01

    This study examined the feasibility of using a chemical enhanced oil recovery method to overcome some of the technical challenges associated with thermal recovery in the Alaska North Slope (ANS). This paper described the second stage research of an experimental study on nano-particle and surfactant-stabilized solvent-based emulsions for the ANS area. Four successful core flood experiments were performed using heavy ANS oil. The runs included water flooding followed by emulsion flooding; and pure emulsion injection core flooding. The injection rate and core flooding temperature remained constant and only 1 PV micro-emulsion was injected after breakthrough under water flooding or emulsion flooding. Oil recovery increased by 26.4 percent from 56.2 percent original oil in place (OOIP) with waterflooding to 82.6 percent OOIP with injection of emulsion following water flooding. Oil recovery was slightly higher with pure emulsion flooding, at 85.8 percent OOIP. The study showed that low permeability generally resulted in a higher shear rate, which is favourable for in-situ emulsification and higher displacement efficiency. 11 refs., 4 tabs., 20 figs.

  1. Biosurfactant and enhanced oil recovery

    Science.gov (United States)

    McInerney, Michael J.; Jenneman, Gary E.; Knapp, Roy M.; Menzie, Donald E.

    1985-06-11

    A pure culture of Bacillus licheniformis strain JF-2 (ATCC No. 39307) and a process for using said culture and the surfactant lichenysin produced thereby for the enhancement of oil recovery from subterranean formations. Lichenysin is an effective surfactant over a wide range of temperatures, pH's, salt and calcium concentrations.

  2. Recovery of oil from oil-in-water emulsion using biopolymers by adsorptive method.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elanchezhiyan, S Sd; Sivasurian, N; Meenakshi, Sankaran

    2014-09-01

    In the present study, it is aimed to identify, a low cost sorbent for the recovery of oil from oil-in-water emulsion using biopolymers such as chitin and chitosan. Chitin has the greater adsorption capacity than chitosan due to its hydrophobic nature. The characterizations of chitin and chitosan were done using FTIR, SEM, EDAX, XRD, TGA and DSC techniques. Under batch equilibrium mode, a systematic study was performed to optimize the various equilibrium parameters viz., contact time, pH, dosage, initial concentration of oil, and temperature. The adsorption process reached equilibrium at 40 min of contact time and the percentage removal of oil was found to be higher (90%) in the acidic medium. The Freundlich and Langmuir models were applied to describe the equilibrium isotherms and the isotherm constants were calculated. Thermodynamic parameters such as ΔG°, ΔH° and ΔS° were calculated to find out the nature of the sorption mechanism. The kinetic studies were investigated with reaction-based and diffusion-based models. The suitable mechanism for the removal of oil has been established. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. Miscible fluid displacement: an answer to increasing oil recovery

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rodriguez, N R; Rivera, R J

    1976-01-01

    This study presents the state of the art on miscible and miscible-type processes. It is well known that when these processes are applied under ideal laboratory conditions, the oil recovery obtained from linear cores approaches 100% of the total oil contained in the porous structure which is contacted by the displacing fluids. In the past few years, a worldwide shortage of crude oil supplies produced an increased interest in new oil recovery methods. Because of this situation, the oil industry turned its eyes back toward the miscible processes. This study discusses the following miscible fluid displacement processes: (1) high-pressure dry gas displacement; (2) enriched gas displacement; (3) GLP slug flooding; and (4) carbon dioxide displacement. In addition to the processes aforementioned, this work presents the main features of the micellar solution flooding process. (17 refs.)

  4. Application of the High Temperature Gas Cooled Reactor to oil shale recovery

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wadekamper, D.C.; Arcilla, N.T.; Impellezzeri, J.R.; Taylor, I.N.

    1983-01-01

    Current oil shale recovery processes combust some portion of the products to provide energy for the recovery process. In an attempt to maximize the petroleum products produced during recovery, the potentials for substituting nuclear process heat for energy generated by combustion of petroleum were evaluated. Twelve oil shale recovery processes were reviewed and their potentials for application of nuclear process heat assessed. The High Temperature Gas Cooled Reactor-Reformer/Thermochemical Pipeline (HTGR-R/TCP) was selected for interfacing process heat technology with selected oil shale recovery processes. Utilization of these coupling concepts increases the shale oil product output of a conventional recovery facility from 6 to 30 percent with the same raw shale feed rate. An additional benefit of the HTGR-R/TCP system was up to an 80 percent decrease in emission levels. A detailed coupling design for a typical counter gravity feed indirect heated retorting and upgrading process were described. Economic comparisons prepared by Bechtel Group Incorporated for both the conventional and HTGR-R/TCP recovery facility were summarized

  5. Experimental studies on the enhanced performance of lightweight oil recovery using a combined electrocoagulation and magnetic field processes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Yang; Yang, Jie; Jiang, Wenming; Chen, Yimei; Yang, Chaojiang; Wang, Tianyu; Li, Yuxing

    2018-08-01

    On marine oil spill, inflammable lightweight oil has characteristics of explosion risk and contamination of marine enviroment, therefore treatment of stable emulsion with micron oil droplets is urgent. This study aimed to propose a combined electrocoagulation and magnetic field processes to enhance performance of lightweight oil recovery with lower energy consumption. The effects of current density, electrolysis time, strength and direction of magnetic field on the overall treatment efficiency of the reactor were explored. Furthermore, the comparison between coupling device and only electrocoagulation through tracking oil removal in nine regions between the electrodes. The results were shown that the permanent magnets applied was found to enhance demulsification process within electrocoagulation reactor. For a given current density of 60 A m -2 at 16 min, Lorentz force downward was proved to promote the sedimentation of coagulants. As the magnetic field strength increases from 20 to 60 mT, oil removal efficiency was observed to increase and then decrease, and simultaneously energy consumption reduced and then present constantly. The results were found that the magnetic field strength of 40 mT was optimal within electrocoagulation reactor, which can not only diminishe difference of mass transfer rate along the height of vertical plate but also consume lowest energy. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. Enhanced Oil Recovery from Oil-wet Carbonate Rock by Spontaneous Imbibition of Aqueous Surfactant Solutions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Standnes, Dag Chun

    2001-09-01

    The main theme of this thesis is an experimental investigation of spontaneous imbibition (SI) of aqueous cationic surfactant solution into oil-wet carbonate (chalk- and dolomite cores). The static imbibition process is believed to represent the matrix flow of oil and water in a fractured reservoir. It was known that aqueous solution of C{sub 12}-N(CH{sub 3}){sub 3}Br (C12TAB) was able to imbibe spontaneously into nearly oil-wet chalk material, but the underlying mechanism was not understood. The present work was therefore initiated, with the following objectives: (1) Put forward a hypothesis for the chemical mechanism underlying the SI of C12TAB solutions into oil-wet chalk material based on experimental data and (2) Perform screening tests of low-cost commercially available surfactants for their ability to displace oil by SI of water into oil-wet carbonate rock material. It is essential for optimal use of the surfactant in field application to have detailed knowledge about the mechanism underlying the SI process. The thesis also discusses some preliminary experimental results and suggests mechanisms for enhanced oil recovery from oil-wet carbonate rock induced by supply of thermal energy.

  7. Assessment of Long-Term Research Needs for Shale-Oil Recovery (FERWG-III)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Penner, S.S.

    1981-03-01

    The Fossil Energy Research Working Group (FERWG), at the request of E. Frieman (Director, Office of Energy Research) and G. Fumich, Jr. (Assistant Secretary for Fossil Fuels), has reviewed and evaluated the U.S. programs on shale-oil recovery. These studies were performed in order to provide an independent assessment of critical research areas that affect the long-term prospects for shale-oil availability. This report summarizes the findings and research recommendations of FERWG.

  8. HEAVY AND THERMAL OIL RECOVERY PRODUCTION MECHANISMS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Anthony R. Kovscek; Louis M. Castanier

    2002-09-30

    The Stanford University Petroleum Research Institute (SUPRI-A) conducts a broad spectrum of research intended to help improve the recovery efficiency from difficult to produce reservoirs including heavy oil and fractured low permeability systems. Our scope of work is relevant across near-, mid-, and long-term time frames. The primary functions of the group are to conduct direction-setting research, transfer research results to industry, and educate and train students for careers in industry. Presently, research in SUPRI-A is divided into 5 main project areas. These projects and their goals include: (1) Multiphase flow and rock properties--to develop better understanding of the physics of displacement in porous media through experiment and theory. This category includes work on imbibition, flow in fractured media, and the effect of temperature on relative permeability and capillary pressure. (2) Hot fluid injection--to improve the application of nonconventional wells for enhanced oil recovery and elucidate the mechanisms of steamdrive in low permeability, fractured porous media. (3) Mechanisms of primary heavy oil recovery--to develop a mechanistic understanding of so-called ''foamy oil'' and its associated physical chemistry. (4) In-situ combustion--to evaluate the effect of different reservoir parameters on the insitu combustion process. (5) Reservoir definition--to develop and improve techniques for evaluating formation properties from production information. What follows is a report on activities for the past year. Significant progress was made in all areas.

  9. Effects of particle shape and size on nanofluid properties for potential Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tengku Mohd Tengku Amran

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Application of Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR in oil and gas industry is very important to increase oil recovery and prolong the lifetime of a reservoir but it has been very costly and losing properties of EOR agent due to harsh condition. Nanoparticles have been used in EOR application since they are not degradable in reservoir condition and used in smaller amount compared to polymer usage. Commonly, EOR techniques are focusing on increasing the sweep efficiency by controlling the mobility ratio between reservoir fluid and injected fluid. Thus, this research aimed to analyze the nanofluid viscosity at different particle size and shape, volumetric concentration and types of dispersing fluid, as well as to determine the oil recovery performance at different nanofluid concentration. The nanofluid viscosity was investigated at nanoparticle sizes of 15nm and 60nm and shapes of 15nm spherical-solid and porous. Five nanofluid samples with concentration ranging from 0.1wt.% to 7wt.% were used to investigate the effect of volumetric concentration. Distilled water, ethanol, ethylene glycol (EG and brine were used for the effect of dispersing fluids. Oil recovery was investigated at five different concentrations of nanofluid samples through flooding test. It was found that viscosity of nanofluid increased with decreasing particle size and increasing volumetric concentration. Solid shape particle and increasing dispersing fluid viscosity resulted in higher nanofluid viscosity. The higher the nanofluid concentration, the higher the oil recovery obtained. It can be concluded that nanofluid properties have been significantly affected by the environment and the particle used for potential EOR application.

  10. A New Screening Methodology for Improved Oil Recovery Processes Using Soft-Computing Techniques

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parada, Claudia; Ertekin, Turgay

    2010-05-01

    The first stage of production of any oil reservoir involves oil displacement by natural drive mechanisms such as solution gas drive, gas cap drive and gravity drainage. Typically, improved oil recovery (IOR) methods are applied to oil reservoirs that have been depleted naturally. In more recent years, IOR techniques are applied to reservoirs even before their natural energy drive is exhausted by primary depletion. Descriptive screening criteria for IOR methods are used to select the appropriate recovery technique according to the fluid and rock properties. This methodology helps in assessing the most suitable recovery process for field deployment of a candidate reservoir. However, the already published screening guidelines neither provide information about the expected reservoir performance nor suggest a set of project design parameters, which can be used towards the optimization of the process. In this study, artificial neural networks (ANN) are used to build a high-performance neuro-simulation tool for screening different improved oil recovery techniques: miscible injection (CO2 and N2), waterflooding and steam injection processes. The simulation tool consists of proxy models that implement a multilayer cascade feedforward back propagation network algorithm. The tool is intended to narrow the ranges of possible scenarios to be modeled using conventional simulation, reducing the extensive time and energy spent in dynamic reservoir modeling. A commercial reservoir simulator is used to generate the data to train and validate the artificial neural networks. The proxy models are built considering four different well patterns with different well operating conditions as the field design parameters. Different expert systems are developed for each well pattern. The screening networks predict oil production rate and cumulative oil production profiles for a given set of rock and fluid properties, and design parameters. The results of this study show that the networks are

  11. Recovery of mineral oil from waste emulsion using electrocoagulation method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Razali Mohd Najib

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a research to recover mineral oil from industrial waste emulsion. This research also evaluates the standard of water produced after the oil recovery. The ecosystem could be polluted if this waste is not treated prior to discharge. The equipment needed for this experiment is power supply (generator, connecting wire and metal plate for providing the coagulant. The chosen plates were aluminium and iron plate. The power supply will be connected to the plate producing anode (positive terminal and cathode (negative terminal. Both plates are immersed into a beaker containing waste emulsion. The charge supplied by the current will cause the aluminium or ferum to dissisipate and became ions. These ions will attract the oil to flock together and float at the surface. The water will then filter by using filter paper. Electrocoagulation was done without addition of chemical thus can prevent the hazard from the chemicals. The samples was sent for oil and grease test. The optimum time needed for recovery of oil was 3 hours. The percentage recovery reach constant trend of 95% afterwards. When the power consumption increases, the percentage recovery also increases. However, the current should be lower than 0.5 ampere as it is the limit that human body can withstand. Thus, power consumption of 27.5 Watt was chosen as optimum value. The oil recovery of at power consumption at 27.5W is 96%. The best plate in the process was the aluminium pair which can recover more than ferum plate. The present work concludes the promising future for waste water treatment by usage of electrocoagulation technique.

  12. Tracer monitoring of enhanced oil recovery projects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kleven R.

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available In enhanced oil recovery (EOR, chemicals are injected into the oil reservoir, either to increase macroscopic sweep efficiency, or to reduce remaining oil saturation in swept zones. Tracers can be used to identify reservoirs that are specifically suited for EOR operations. Injection of a selection of partitioning tracers, combined with frequent sample analysis of produced fluids, provides information suited for estimation of residual oil saturation. Tracers can also be used to evaluate and optimize the application of EOR chemicals in the reservoir. Suitable tracers will follow the EOR chemicals and assist in evaluation of retention, degradation or trapping. In addition to field applications, tracers also have a large potential as a tool to perform mechanistic studies of EOR chemicals in laboratory experiments. By labelling EOR chemicals with radioactive isotopes of elements such as H, C and S, detailed studies of transport mechanisms can be carried out. Co-injection of labelled compounds in dynamic flooding experiments in porous media will give information about retention or separation of the unique compounds constituting the chemical formulation. Separation of such compounds may be detrimental to obtaining the EOR effect expected. The paper gives new information of specific methods, and discusses current status for use of tracers in EOR operations.

  13. 1170-MW(t) HTGR-PS/C plant application study report: heavy oil recovery application

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rao, R.; McMain, A.T. Jr.

    1981-05-01

    This report describes the application of a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) which operates in a process steam/cogeneration (PS/C) mode in supplying steam for enhanced recovery of heavy oil and in exporting electricity. The technical and economic merits of an 1170-MW(t) HTGR-PS/C are compared with those of coal-fired plants and (product) oil-fired boilers for this application. The utility requirements for enhanced oil recovery were calculated by establishing a typical pattern of injection wells and production wells for an oil field similar to that of Kern County, California. The safety and licensing issues of the nuclear plant were reviewed, and a comparative assessment of the alternative energy sources was performed. Technically and economically, the HTGR-PS/C plant has attractive merits. The major offsetting factors would be a large-scale development of a heavy oil field by a potential user for the deployment of a 1170-MW(t) HTGR-PS/C; plant and the likelihood of available prime heavy oil fields for the mid-1990 operation

  14. High-order simulation of foam enhanced oil recovery

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Van der Meer, J.M.; Van Odyck, D.E.A.; Wirnsberger, P.; Jansen, J.D.

    2014-01-01

    If secondary hydrocarbon recovery methods fail because of the occurrence of gravity override or viscous fingering one can turn to an enhanced oil recovery method like the injection of foam. The generation of foam can be described by a set of partial differential equations with strongly nonlinear

  15. Oil pipeline performance review, 1990

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1990-01-01

    This paper reviews the environmental performance of Canadian oil pipelines in spill prevention and control in 1990 and compares it with that in 1989. In 1990, in-service length of the systems reporting increased to 34,907 km. Traffic volume was 235 million m 3 . Failures dropped 16% from 1989 to 36. Equipment failures accounted for 47%, corrosion for 22% and operational error for 19% of the failures. Repair, damage and clean-up costs were considerably higher at $5,302,000, of which one external corrosion failure contributed $4,500,000. The average spill size was 130 m 3 with 72 m 3 recovered for a 55.4% recovery rate. No injuries resulted from the failures. An 11 year statistical summary of oil pipeline performance data is included. 3 figs., 5 tabs

  16. Microfluidic diffusivity meter: a tool to optimize CO2 driven enhanced oil recovery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Puneeth, S. B.; Kim, Young Ho; Goel, Sanket

    2017-02-01

    As the energy demands continue to swell with growing population and there persists a lack of unexploited oilfields, the prime focus of any nation would be to maximize the oil recovery factor from existing oil fields. CO2-Enhanced oil recovery is a process to improve the recovery of crude oil from an oil field and works at high pressure and in very deep conditions. CO2 and oil are miscible at high pressure, resulting in low viscosity and oil swells. This swelling can be measured based on mathematical calculations in real time and correlated with the CO2 concentration. This process has myriad advantages over its counterparts which include being able to harness oil trapped in reservoirs besides being cheaper and more efficient. A Diffusivity meter is inevitable in the measurement of the diffusion co-efficient of two samples. Diffusivity meters currently available in the market are weighed down by disadvantages like the requirement of large samples for testing, high cost and complexity. This elicits the need for a Microfluidic based diffusivity meter capable of analyzing Nano-liter sample volumes besides being more precise and affordable. The scope of this work involves the design and development of a Microfluidic robust and inexpensive prototype diffusivity meter using a capillary tube and endorsing its performance by comparison of results with known diffusivity range and supervision of the results with an electronic microscope coupled to PC and Data Acquisition System. The prototype produced at the end of the work is expected to outweigh disadvantages in existing products in terms of sample size, efficiency and time saving.

  17. Application of nanotechnology for enhancing oil recovery – A review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chegenizadeh Negin

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Nanotechnology has attracted a great attention in enhancing oil recovery (EOR due to the cost-effective and environmental friendly manner. The size of nanoparticles for EOR usually is in a range of 1–100 nm, which may slightly differ from various international organisations. Nanoparticles exhibit significantly different properties compared to the same fine or bulk molecules because of much higher concentration of atoms at their surface as a result of ultra-small size. In particular, one of the most useful and fascinating properties of these particles is to creating a massive diffusion driving force due to the large surface area, especially at high temperatures. Previous studies have shown that nanoparticles can enhance oil recovery by shifting reservoir wettability towards more water-wet and reducing interfacial tension, yet this area is still open for discussion. It is worth noting that the potential of nanoparticles to reduce the oil viscosity, increase the mobility ratio, and to alter the reservoir permeability has not been investigated to date. Depending on the operational conditions of the EOR process, some nanoparticles perform more effectively than others, thus leading to different levels of enhanced recovery. In this study, we aim to provide a summary on each of the popular and available nanoparticles in the market and list their optimum operational conditions. We classified nanoparticles into the three categories of metal oxide, organic and inorganic particles in this article.

  18. 1D Simulations for Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery with Metabolite Partitioning

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Sidsel Marie; Shapiro, Alexander; Michelsen, Michael Locht

    2010-01-01

    We have developed a mathematical model describing the process of microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR). The one-dimensional isothermal model comprises displacement of oil bywater containing bacteria and substrate for their feeding. The bacterial products are both bacteria andmetabolites....... The characteristics for the water phase saturation profiles and the oil recovery curves are elucidated. However, the effect from the surfactant is not necessarily restricted to influence only interfacial tension, but it can also be an approach for changing, e.g., wettability. The distribution coefficient determines...... the time lag, until residual oil mobilization is initialized. It has also been found that the final recovery depends on the distance from the inlet before the surfactant effect takes place. The surfactant effect position is sensitive to changes in maximum growth rate, and injection concentrations...

  19. Enhanced heavy oil recovery for carbonate reservoirs integrating cross-well seismic–a synthetic Wafra case study

    KAUST Repository

    Katterbauer, Klemens

    2015-07-14

    Heavy oil recovery has been a major focus in the oil and gas industry to counter the rapid depletion of conventional reservoirs. Various techniques for enhancing the recovery of heavy oil were developed and pilot-tested, with steam drive techniques proven in most circumstances to be successful and economically viable. The Wafra field in Saudi Arabia is at the forefront of utilizing steam recovery for carbonate heavy oil reservoirs in the Middle East. With growing injection volumes, tracking the steam evolution within the reservoir and characterizing the formation, especially in terms of its porosity and permeability heterogeneity, are key objectives for sound economic decisions and enhanced production forecasts. We have developed an integrated reservoir history matching framework using ensemble based techniques incorporating seismic data for enhancing reservoir characterization and improving history matches. Examining the performance on a synthetic field study of the Wafra field, we could demonstrate the improved characterization of the reservoir formation, determining more accurately the position of the steam chambers and obtaining more reliable forecasts of the reservoir’s recovery potential. History matching results are fairly robust even for noise levels up to 30%. The results demonstrate the potential of the integration of full-waveform seismic data for steam drive reservoir characterization and increased recovery efficiency.

  20. Tax incentives and enhanced oil recovery techniques

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stathis, J.S.

    1991-05-01

    Tax expenditures-reductions in income tax liability resulting from a special tax provision-are often used to achieve economic and social objectives. The arguments for petroleum production tax incentives usually encompass some combination of enhancing energy security, rewarding risk, or generating additional investment in new technologies. Generally, however, some portion of any tax expenditure is spend on activities that would have occurred anyway. This paper is a review of tax incentives for petroleum production found two to be of questionable merit. Others, including tax preferences for enhanced oil recovery methods, which offered the potential for better returns on the tax dollar. Increased use of enhanced oil recovery techniques could lead to additional environmental costs, however, and these need to be factored into any cost-benefit calculation

  1. Microbial mineral illization of montmorillonite in low-permeability oil reservoirs for microbial enhanced oil recovery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cui, Kai; Sun, Shanshan; Xiao, Meng; Liu, Tongjing; Xu, Quanshu; Dong, Honghong; Wang, Di; Gong, Yejing; Sha, Te; Hou, Jirui; Zhang, Zhongzhi; Fu, Pengcheng

    2018-05-11

    Microbial mineral illization has been investigated for its role in the extraction and recovery of metals from ores. Here we report our application of mineral bioillization for the microbial enhanced oil recovery in low-permeability oil reservoirs. It aimed to reveal the etching mechanism of the four Fe (III)-reducing microbial strains under anaerobic growth conditions on the Ca-montmorillonite. The mineralogical characterization of the Ca-montmorillonite was performed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectrometer. Results showed that the microbial strains could efficiently reduce Fe (III) at an optimal rate of 71 %, and alter the crystal lattice structure of the lamella to promote the interlayer cation exchange, and to efficiently inhibit the Ca-montmorillonite swelling at an inhibitory rate of 48.9 %. Importance Microbial mineral illization is ubiquitous in the natural environment. Microbes in low-permeability reservoirs are able to enable the alteration of the structure and phase of the Fe-poor minerals by reducing Fe (III) and inhibiting clay swelling which is still poorly studied. This study aimed to reveal the interaction mechanism between Fe (III)-reducing bacterial strains and Ca-montmorillonite under anaerobic atmosphere, and to investigate the extent and rates of Fe (III) reduction and phase changes with their activities. Application of Fe (III)-reducing bacteria will provide a new way to inhibit clay swelling, to elevate reservoir permeability, and to reduce pore throat resistance after water flooding for enhanced oil recovery in low-permeability reservoirs. Copyright © 2018 American Society for Microbiology.

  2. Fine Formation During Brine-Crude Oil-Calcite Interaction in Smart Water Enhanced Oil Recovery for Caspian Carbonates

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Chakravarty, Krishna Hara; Fosbøl, Philip Loldrup; Thomsen, Kaj

    2015-01-01

    Modified sea water has been shown to affect the oil recovery fraction considerably during secondary and tertiary waterfloods. Available soluble potential ions (i.e. Ca2+, Mg2+ & SO42-) in the interacting waterflood (ITW) are suggested to play a key role in increasing the displacement efficiency...... of oil. In previous studies, compositions of injected waterfloods (IJW) have been correlated to the observed oil recovery. This study highlights differences between IJW and ITW for different studies reported in literature....

  3. Solar Thermal Enhanced Oil Recovery, (STEOR) Volume 1: Executive summary

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elzinga, E.; Arnold, C.; Allen, D.; Garman, R.; Joy, P.; Mitchell, P.; Shaw, H.

    1980-11-01

    Thermal enhanced oil recovery is widely used in California to aid in the production of heavy oils. Steam injection either to stimulate individual wells or to drive oil to the producing wells, is by far the major thermal process today and has been in use for over 20 years. Since steam generation at the necessary pressures (generally below 4000 kPa (580 psia)) is within the capabilities of present day solar technology, it is logical to consider the possibilities of solar thermal enhanced oil recovery (STEOR). The present project consisted of an evaluation of STEOR. Program objectives, system selection, trade-off studies, preliminary design, cost estimate, development plan, and market and economic analysis are summarized.

  4. Oil field experiments of microbial improved oil recovery in Vyngapour, West Siberia, Russia

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Murygina, V.P.; Mats, A.A.; Arinbasarov, M.U.; Salamov, Z.Z.; Cherkasov, A.B.

    1995-12-31

    Experiments on microbial improved oil recovery (MIOR) have been performed in the Vyngapour oil field in West Siberia for two years. Now, the product of some producing wells of the Vyngapour oil field is 98-99% water cut. The operation of such wells approaches an economic limit. The nutritious composition containing local industry wastes and sources of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium was pumped into an injection well on the pilot area. This method is called {open_quotes}nutritional flooding.{close_quotes} The mechanism of nutritional flooding is based on intensification of biosynthesis of oil-displacing metabolites by indigenous bacteria and bacteria from food industry wastes in the stratum. 272.5 m{sup 3} of nutritious composition was introduced into the reservoir during the summer of 1993, and 450 m3 of nutritious composition-in 1994. The positive effect of the injections in 1993 showed up in 2-2.5 months and reached its maximum in 7 months after the injections were stopped. By July 1, 1994, 2,268.6 tons of oil was produced over the base variant, and the simultaneous water extraction reduced by 33,902 m{sup 3} as compared with the base variant. The injections in 1994 were carried out on the same pilot area.

  5. Investigation of Chemical-Foam Design as a Novel Approach toward Immiscible Foam Flooding for Enhanced Oil Recovery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hosseini-Nasab, S M; Zitha, P L J

    2017-10-19

    Strong foam can be generated in porous media containing oil, resulting in incremental oil recovery; however, oil recovery factor is restricted. A large fraction of oil recovered by foam flooding forms an oil-in-water emulsion, so that costly methods may need to be used to separate the oil. Moreover, strong foam could create a large pressure gradient, which may cause fractures in the reservoir. This study presents a novel chemical-foam flooding process for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) from water-flooded reservoirs. The presented method involved the use of chemically designed foam to mobilize the remaining oil after water flooding and then to displace the mobilized oil to the production well. A blend of two anionic surfactant formulations was formulated for this method: (a) IOS, for achieving ultralow interfacial tension (IFT), and (b) AOS, for generating a strong foam. Experiments were performed using Bentheimer sandstone cores, where X-ray CT images were taken during foam generation to find the stability of the advancing front of foam propagation and to map the gas saturation for both the transient and the steady-state flow regimes. Then the proposed chemical-foam strategy for incremental oil recovery was tested through the coinjection of immiscible nitrogen gas and surfactant solutions with three different formulation properties in terms of IFT reduction and foaming strength capability. The discovered optimal formulation contains a foaming agent surfactant, a low IFT surfactant, and a cosolvent, which has a high foam stability and a considerably low IFT (1.6 × 10 -2 mN/m). Coinjection resulted in higher oil recovery and much less MRF than the same process with only using a foaming agent. The oil displacement experiment revealed that coinjection of gas with a blend of surfactants, containing a cosolvent, can recover a significant amount of oil (33% OIIP) over water flooding with a larger amount of clean oil and less emulsion.

  6. Improved Oil Recovery in Fluvial Dominated Deltaic Reservoirs of Kansas - Near-Term

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Green, Don W.; McCune, A.D.; Michnick, M.; Reynolds, R.; Walton, A.; Watney, L.; Willhite, G. Paul

    1999-01-01

    The objective of this project is to address waterflood problems of the type found in Morrow sandstone reservoirs in southwestern Kansas and in Cherokee Group reservoirs in southeastern Kansas. Two demonstration sites operated by different independent oil operators are involved in this project. The Stewart Field is located in Finney County, Kansas and is operated by PetroSantander, Inc. Te Nelson Lease is located in Allen County, Kansas, in the N.E. Savonburg Field and is operated by James E. Russell Petroleum, Inc. General topics to be addressed are (1) reservoir management and performance evaluation, (2) waterflood optimization, and (3) the demonstration of recovery processes involving off-the-shelf technologies which can be used to enhance waterflood recovery, increase reserves, and reduce the abandonment rate of these reservoir types. In the Stewart Project, the reservoir management portion of the project conducted during Budget Period 1 involved performance evaluation. This included (1) reservoir characterization and the development of a reservoir database, (2) volumetric analysis to evaluate production performance, (3) reservoir modeling, (4) laboratory work, (5) identification of operational problems, (6) identification of unrecovered mobile oil and estimation of recovery factors, and (7) Identification of the most efficient and economical recovery process. To accomplish these objectives the initial budget period was subdivided into three major tasks. The tasks were (1) geological and engineering analysis, (2) laboratory testing, and (3) unitization. Due to the presence of different operators within the field, it was necessary to unitize the field in order to demonstrate a field-wide improved recovery process. This work was completed and the project moved into Budget Period 2

  7. Simulations of Microbial-Enhanced Oil Recovery: Adsorption and Filtration

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Sidsel Marie; Nesterov, Igor; Shapiro, Alexander

    2014-01-01

    In the context of microbial-enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) with injection of surfactant-producing bacteria into the reservoir, different types of bacteria attachment and growth scenarios are studied using a 1D simulator. The irreversible bacteria attachment due to filtration similar to the deep bed...... applied to filtration model provides formation of two oil banks during recovery. This feature is not reproduced by application of REA model or DBF with growth in attached phase. This makes it possible to select a right model based on the qualitative analysis of the experimental data. A criterion...... is introduced to study the process efficiency: the dimensionless time at which average recovery between pure water injection and maximum surfactant effect is reached. This characteristic recovery period (CRP) was studied as a function of the different MEOR parameters such as bacterial activity, filtration...

  8. Starting up microbial enhanced oil recovery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Siegert, Michael; Sitte, Jana; Galushko, Alexander; Krüger, Martin

    2014-01-01

    This chapter gives the reader a practical introduction into microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) including the microbial production of natural gas from oil. Decision makers who consider the use of one of these technologies are provided with the required scientific background as well as with practical advice for upgrading an existing laboratory in order to conduct microbiological experiments. We believe that the conversion of residual oil into natural gas (methane) and the in situ production of biosurfactants are the most promising approaches for MEOR and therefore focus on these topics. Moreover, we give an introduction to the microbiology of oilfields and demonstrate that in situ microorganisms as well as injected cultures can help displace unrecoverable oil in place (OIP). After an initial research phase, the enhanced oil recovery (EOR) manager must decide whether MEOR would be economical. MEOR generally improves oil production but the increment may not justify the investment. Therefore, we provide a brief economical assessment at the end of this chapter. We describe the necessary state-of-the-art scientific equipment to guide EOR managers towards an appropriate MEOR strategy. Because it is inevitable to characterize the microbial community of an oilfield that should be treated using MEOR techniques, we describe three complementary start-up approaches. These are: (i) culturing methods, (ii) the characterization of microbial communities and possible bio-geochemical pathways by using molecular biology methods, and (iii) interfacial tension measurements. In conclusion, we hope that this chapter will facilitate a decision on whether to launch MEOR activities. We also provide an update on relevant literature for experienced MEOR researchers and oilfield operators. Microbiologists will learn about basic principles of interface physics needed to study the impact of microorganisms living on oil droplets. Last but not least, students and technicians trying to understand

  9. Enhanced oil recovery projects data base

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pautz, J.F.; Sellers, C.A.; Nautiyal, C.; Allison, E.

    1992-04-01

    A comprehensive enhanced oil recovery (EOR) project data base is maintained and updated at the Bartlesville Project Office of the Department of Energy. This data base provides an information resource that is used to analyze the advancement and application of EOR technology. The data base has extensive information on 1,388 EOR projects in 569 different oil fields from 1949 until the present, and over 90% of that information is contained in tables and graphs of this report. The projects are presented by EOR process, and an index by location is provided.

  10. Optimization of Offshore De-oiling Hydrocyclone Performance

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Yang, Zhenyu; Løhndorf, Petar Durdevic; Pedersen, Simon

    , along with the facts that the global oil demand will continuously grow by 7 mb/d to 2020 and exceed 99 mb/d in 2035, meanwhile, many production fields turn to be matured and thereby the water flooding technology is more and more employed as a key enhanced oil recovery solution for these fields [9]. Fig......One of the biggest environmental concerns in offshore oil & gas production is the quality of tremendous amounts of produced water discharged into the oceans. Today, in average three barrels of water are produced along with each barrel of oil [9]. This concern will become more severe in the future...... companies, Maersk Oil and Ramboll Oil & Gas A/S, launched a research project HTF-PDPWAC with total budget of 10 million dkk. One of the focuses of this project is to optimization of the de-oiling hydrocyclone performance in order to improve the produced water treatment quality without sacrificing...

  11. Carbon dioxide for enhanced oil recovery in Canada

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    McDonald, S.; Manbybura, F.; Sparks, N.

    1985-01-01

    This paper examines the potential for carbon dioxide as a major miscible solvent in Canada and describes Shell Canada's carbon dioxide exploration efforts over the last few years. Enhanced oil recovery, specifically miscible flooding, has been recognized as a technically and economically feasible method for adding reserves and productive capacity to Canada's light and medium oil. The fiscal regime has been altered by both the federal and provincial governments to encourage miscible flooding development. As a result many projects have been initiated with others being evaluated and designed. This paper analyzes the history and the direction of miscible flooding in the United States, where carbon dioxide is becoming the predominant miscible solvent. The potential for future use of carbon dioxide in Canada is specifically addressed: potential oil recovery solvent supply, and economics. Shell's carbon dioxide exploration play currently underway is also discussed.

  12. Microfluidics: an enabling screening technology for enhanced oil recovery (EOR).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lifton, Victor A

    2016-05-21

    Oil production is a critical industrial process that affects the entire world population and any improvements in its efficiency while reducing its environmental impact are of utmost societal importance. The paper reviews recent applications of microfluidics and microtechnology to study processes of oil extraction and recovery. It shows that microfluidic devices can be useful tools in investigation and visualization of such processes used in the oil & gas industry as fluid propagation, flooding, fracturing, emulsification and many others. Critical macro-scale processes that define oil extraction and recovery are controlled by the micro-scale processes based on wetting, adhesion, surface tension, colloids and other concepts of microfluidics. A growing number of research efforts demonstrates that microfluidics is becoming, albeit slowly, an accepted methodology in this area. We propose several areas of development where implementation of microfluidics may bring about deeper understanding and hence better control over the processes of oil recovery based on fluid propagation, droplet generation, wettability control. Studies of processes such as hydraulic fracturing, sand particle propagation in porous networks, high throughput screening of chemicals (for example, emulsifiers and surfactants) in microfluidic devices that simulate oil reservoirs are proposed to improve our understanding of these complicated physico-chemical systems. We also discuss why methods of additive manufacturing (3D printing) should be evaluated for quick prototyping and modification of the three-dimensional structures replicating natural oil-bearing rock formations for studies accessible to a wider audience of researchers.

  13. Improving Oil Recovery (IOR) with Polymer Flooding in a Heavy-Oil River-Channel Sandstone Reservoir

    OpenAIRE

    Lu, Hongjiang

    2009-01-01

    Most of the old oil fields in China have reached high water cut stage, in order to meet the booming energy demanding, oil production rate must be kept in the near future with corresponding IOR (Improving Oil Recovery) methods. Z106 oilfield lies in Shengli Oilfields Area at the Yellow River delta. It was put into development in 1988. Since the oil belongs to heavy oil, the oil-water mobility ratio is so unfavourable that water cut increases very quickly. Especially for reservoir Ng21, the san...

  14. Feasibility study of heavy oil recovery in the Midcontinent region (Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Olsen, D.K.; Johnson, W.I.

    1993-08-01

    This report is one of a series of publications assessing the feasibility/constraints of increasing domestic heavy oil production. Each report covers a select area of the United States. The Midcontinent (Kansas, Nssouri, Oklahoma) has produced significant oil, but contrary to early reports, the area does not contain the huge volumes of heavy oil that, along with the development of steam and in situ combustion as oil production technologies, sparked the area`s oil boom of the 1960s. Recovery of this heavy oil has proven economically unfeasible for most operators due to the geology of the formations rather than the technology applied to recover the oil. The geology of the southern Midcontinent, as well as results of field projects using thermal enhanced oil recovery (TEOR) methods to produce the heavy oil, was examined based on analysis of data from secondary sources. Analysis of the performance of these projects showed that the technology recovered additional heavy oil above what was produced from primary production from the consolidated, compartmentalized, fluvial dominated deltaic sandstone formations in the Cherokee and Forest City basins. The only projects producing significant economic and environmentally acceptable heavy oil in the Midcontinent are in higher permeability, unconsolidated or friable, thick sands such as those found in south-central Oklahoma. There are domestic heavy oil reservoirs in other sedimentary basins that are in younger formations, are less consolidated, have higher permeability and can be economically produced with current TEOR technology. Heavy oil production from the carbonates of central and wester Kansas has not been adequately tested, but oil production is anticipated to remain low. Significant expansion of Midcontinent heavy oil production is not anticipated because the economics of oil production and processing are not favorable.

  15. Recovery of seabirds following the Exxon Valdez oil spill

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wiens, J.A.

    1993-01-01

    Following the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989, over 35,000 dead birds were retrieved and overall mortality was estimated in the hundreds of thousands. These observations led to concerns about persistent impacts on seabirds, especially murres (Uria spp.). Surveys of attendance by murres at breeding colonies in the spill path in 1991, however, indicated no overall differences from prespill attendance levels. Investigations of habitat occupancy conducted shortly after the spill in 1989 showed that, of the 47 bird species examined, the majority were using areas of oil-affected habitats by late 1991, although a few species did not show clear signs of recovery at the end of the study. These species were primarily wintering and resident forms. Because habitat use by other ecologically similar species was not affected by the spill or they recovered rapidly, prospects for recovery of the species that continued to show evidence of oiling impacts on habitat use in late 1991 would seem to be good. Collectively, these studies indicate that concerns about long-term impacts of the Exxon Valdez oil spill on seabirds may not be justified, and that recovery in the use of habitats by many bird species and in colony attendance by murres appeared to be well advanced by late 1991

  16. An Exogenous Surfactant-Producing Bacillus subtilis Facilitates Indigenous Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Peike; Li, Guoqiang; Li, Yanshu; Li, Yan; Tian, Huimei; Wang, Yansen; Zhou, Jiefang; Ma, Ting

    2016-01-01

    This study used an exogenous lipopeptide-producing Bacillus subtilis to strengthen the indigenous microbial enhanced oil recovery (IMEOR) process in a water-flooded reservoir in the laboratory. The microbial processes and driving mechanisms were investigated in terms of the changes in oil properties and the interplay between the exogenous B. subtilis and indigenous microbial populations. The exogenous B. subtilis is a lipopeptide producer, with a short growth cycle and no oil-degrading ability. The B. subtilis facilitates the IMEOR process through improving oil emulsification and accelerating microbial growth with oil as the carbon source. Microbial community studies using quantitative PCR and high-throughput sequencing revealed that the exogenous B. subtilis could live together with reservoir microbial populations, and did not exert an observable inhibitory effect on the indigenous microbial populations during nutrient stimulation. Core-flooding tests showed that the combined exogenous and indigenous microbial flooding increased oil displacement efficiency by 16.71%, compared with 7.59% in the control where only nutrients were added, demonstrating the application potential in enhanced oil recovery in water-flooded reservoirs, in particular, for reservoirs where IMEOR treatment cannot effectively improve oil recovery.

  17. Oil companies push in-situ recovery

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McIntyre, H.

    1977-01-01

    Possibly, a third Athabaska tar-sand plant using surface mining will be built in the 1980's, but future development beyond that point will probably depend on in-situ recovery. The discussion of in-situ recovery focusses on the effect it will have on the Canadian chemical industry, for example, the market for sodium hydroxide. To obtain the highest yields of oil from bitumen, an external source of hydrogen is necessary; for example Syncrude imports natural gas to make hydrogen for desulphurization. Gasification of coal is a possible source of hydrogen. Research on hydrocracking is progressing. Use of a prototype CANDU OCR reactor to raise the hot steam necessary for in-situ recovery has been suggested. Venezuela is interested in Canadian upgrading technology. (N.D.H.)

  18. Modeling of the Temperature Field Recovery in the Oil Pool

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khabibullin, I. L.; Davtetbaev, A. Ya.; Mar'in, D. F.; Khisamov, A. A.

    2018-05-01

    This paper considers the problem on mathematical modeling of the temperature field recovery in the oil pool upon termination of injection of water into the pool. The problem is broken down into two stages: injection of water and temperature and pressure recovery upon termination of injection. A review of the existing mathematical models is presented, analytical solutions for a number of cases have been constructed, and a comparison of the analytical solutions of different models has been made. In the general form, the expression has been obtained that permits determining the temperature change in the oil pool upon termination of injection of water (recovery of the temperature field).

  19. MIOR - Microbial Improved Oil Recovery. Basics studies on the suitability of microorganisms for improved oil recovery. Final report; MIOR - Microbial Improved Oil Recovery. Grundlagen der Eignung von Mikroorganismen fuer die Verbesserung der Erdoelgewinnung. Abschlussbericht

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Naeveke, R. [Technische Univ. Braunschweig (Germany). Inst. fuer Mikrobiologie; Fischer, K. [Technische Univ. Braunschweig (Germany). Inst. fuer Mikrobiologie; Timmis, K.N. [Gesellschaft fuer Biotechnologische Forschung mbH, Braunschweig (Germany); Yakimov, M. [Gesellschaft fuer Biotechnologische Forschung mbH, Braunschweig (Germany); Kroeger, A. [Gesellschaft fuer Biotechnologische Forschung mbH, Braunschweig (Germany); Bosecker, K. [Bundesanstalt fuer Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe, Hannover (Germany); Kruckemeyer, I. [Bundesanstalt fuer Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe, Hannover (Germany); Mengel-Jung, G. [Bundesanstalt fuer Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe, Hannover (Germany); Bock, M. [Bundesanstalt fuer Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe, Hannover (Germany); Schink, B. [Konstanz Univ. (Germany). Fachgebiet Mikrobielle Oekologie; Denger, K. [Konstanz Univ. (Germany). Fachgebiet Mikrobielle Oekologie; Kessel, D. [Institut fuer Erdoel- und Erdgasforschung, Clausthal-Zellerfeld (Germany); Amro, M. [Institut fuer Erdoel- und Erdgasforschung, Clausthal-Zellerfeld (Germany); Jacobs, G. [Institut fuer Erdoel- und Erdgasforschung, Clausthal-Zellerfeld (Germany); Hoffmann, G.G. [Institut fuer Erdoel- und Erdgasforschung, Clausthal-Zellerfeld (Germany); Wagner, M. [Erdoel - Erdgas Gommern GmbH (Germany); Ziran, B. [Erdoel - Erdgas Gommern GmbH (Germany); Nowak, H.U. [Erdoel - Erdgas Gommern GmbH (Germany); Eins, I. [Erdoel - Erdgas Gommern GmbH (Germany); Rosenspiess, K. [Erdoel - Erdgas Gommern GmbH (Germany); Lungershausen, D. [Erdoel - Erdgas Gommern GmbH (Germany)

    1996-03-01

    Microbial improved oil recovery (MIOR) is the use of microorganisms or microbial products that are injected into the oil reservoir to improve oil flow. The aim of this project was the application of MIOR in case of clastic reservoir rocks of the type encountered typically in Northern Germany. Microorganisms were concentrated, insolated and characterized from samples that were taken from oil production wells, oil processing facilities and soil contaminated with hydrocarbons. More than 500 bacteria strains were investigated for ability to grow under anaerobic conditions, halotolerance, heat tolerance and production of substances that increase viscosity or are surface active. 39 strains were selected for specific tests and genetic investigations. The two bacteria strains Bacillus licheniformis BNP 29 and Sporohalobacter showed to the capable for MIOR. Dynamic flooding experiments were carried out under realistic reservoir conditions, in order to quantify the ability of the microorganisms to mobilize residual oil in place, as well as to investigate the oil mobilizing mechanisms in more detail. It could be shown that the injectivity and migration of the bacteria in porous media are ensured. The microorganisms are able to grow under reservoir conditions as present in oil reservoirs of Northern Germany. Their application in flooding experiments leads to a significant increase of oil recovery. The most important factors influencing the oil recovery are the reduction of the permeability of the reservoir pores and changes in the wettability because of the bacterial growth. A suitable nutrient medium with an acid buffer was developed for the application of MIOR in sandstone reservoirs. An executive summary is prublished in DGMK-Report 441-2/1. (orig.) [Deutsch] MIOR (microbial improved oil recovery)-Verfahren dienen dazu, den Entoelungsgrad einer Erdoellagerstaette durch den gezielten in-situ-Einsatz von geeigneten Mikroorganismen und deren Stoffwechselprodukten zu erhoehen

  20. Effect of a Dispersant Agent in Fine Coal Recovery from Washery Tailings by Oil Agglomeration (Preliminary Study)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yasar, Özüm; Uslu, Tuncay

    2017-12-01

    Among the fine coal cleaning methods, the oil agglomeration process has important advantages such as high process recovery, more clean product, simple dewatering stage. Several coal agglomeration studies have been undertaken recently and effects of different variables on the process performance have been investigated. However, unlike flotation studies, most of the previous agglomeration studies have not used dispersing agents to minimize slime coating effects of clays. In this study, agglomeration process was applied for recovery of fine coals from coal washery tailings containing remarkable amount of fine coal. Negative effect of fine clays during recovery was tried to be eliminated by using dispersing agent instead of de-sliming. Although ash reductions over 90 % were achieved, performance remained below expectations in terms of combustible matter recovery. However, this study is a preliminary one. It is considered that more satisfied results will be obtained in the next studies by changing the variables such as solid ratio, oil dosage, dispersant type and dosage.

  1. Constructive Activation of Reservoir-Resident Microbes for Enhanced Oil Recovery

    Science.gov (United States)

    DeBruyn, R. P.

    2017-12-01

    Microbial communities living in subsurface oil reservoirs biodegrade oil, producing methane. If this process could create methane within the waterflooded pore spaces of an oilfield, the methane would be expected to remain and occupy pore space, decreasing water relative permeability, diverting water flow, and increasing oil recovery by expanding the swept zone of the waterflood. This approach was tested in an oilfield in northern Montana. Preliminary assessments were made of geochemical conditions and microbiological habitations. Then, a formulation of microbial activators, with composition tailored for the reservoir's conditions, was metered at low rates into the existing injection water system for one year. In the field, the responses observed included improved oil production performance; a slight increase in injection pressure; and increased time needed for tracers to move between injection and producing wells. We interpret these results to confirm that successful stimulation of the microbial community caused more methane to be created within the swept zone of the waterflooded reservoir. When the methane exsolved as water flowed between high-pressure injection and low-pressure production wells, the bubbles occupied pore space, reducing water saturation and relative permeability, and re-directing some water flow to "slower" unswept rock with lower permeability and higher oil saturation. In total, the waterflood's swept zone had been expanded to include previously-unflooded rock. This technology was applied in this field after screening based on careful anaerobic sampling, advanced microbiological analysis, and the ongoing success of its waterflood. No reservoir or geological or geophysical simulation models were employed, and physical modifications to field facilities were minor. This technology of utilizing existing microbial populations for enhanced oil recovery can therefore be considered for deployment into waterfloods where small scale, advanced maturity, or

  2. Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery - Advanced Reservoir Simulation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Sidsel Marie

    the water phase. The biofilm formation implies that the concentration of bacteria near the inlet increases. In combination with surfactant production, the biofilm results in a higher surfactant concentration in the initial part of the reservoir. The oil that is initially bypassed in connection...... simulator. In the streamline simulator, the effect of gravity is introduced using an operator splitting technique. The gravity effect stabilizes oil displacement causing markedly improvement of the oil recovery, when the oil density becomes relatively low. The general characteristics found for MEOR in one......-dimensional simulations are also demonstrated both in two and three dimensions. Overall, this MEOR process conducted in a heterogeneous reservoir also produces more oil compared to waterflooding, when the simulations are run in multiple dimensions. The work presented in this thesis has resulted in two publications so far....

  3. Investigation of biosurfactant-producing indigenous microorganisms that enhance residue oil recovery in an oil reservoir after polymer flooding.

    Science.gov (United States)

    She, Yue-Hui; Zhang, Fan; Xia, Jing-Jing; Kong, Shu-Qiong; Wang, Zheng-Liang; Shu, Fu-Chang; Hu, Ji-Ming

    2011-01-01

    Three biosurfactant-producing indigenous microorganisms (XDS1, XDS2, XDS3) were isolated from a petroleum reservoir in the Daqing Oilfield (China) after polymer flooding. Their metabolic, biochemical, and oil-degradation characteristics, as well as their oil displacement in the core were studied. These indigenous microorganisms were identified as short rod bacillus bacteria with white color, round shape, a protruding structure, and a rough surface. Strains have peritrichous flagella, are able to produce endospores, are sporangia, and are clearly swollen and terminal. Bacterial cultures show that the oil-spreading values of the fermentation fluid containing all three strains are more than 4.5 cm (diameter) with an approximate 25 mN/m surface tension. The hydrocarbon degradation rates of each of the three strains exceeded 50%, with the highest achieving 84%. Several oil recovery agents were produced following degradation. At the same time, the heavy components of crude oil were degraded into light components, and their flow characteristics were also improved. The surface tension and viscosity of the crude oil decreased after being treated by the three strains of microorganisms. The core-flooding tests showed that the incremental oil recoveries were 4.89-6.96%. Thus, XDS123 treatment may represent a viable method for microbial-enhanced oil recovery.

  4. Increased Oil Recovery Prize for work on Troll; Fikk pris for Troll-arbeid

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Steensen, Anders J.

    2007-07-01

    Halliburton and Baker Hughes have developed tools that ensures increased oil recovery from the Troll platform. For this work, the companies were awarded the Increased Oil Recovery (IOR) Prize. Details on the technical principles are provided (ml)

  5. Effects of a dual-pump crude-oil recovery system, Bemidji, Minnesota, USA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Delin, Geoffrey N.; Herkelrath, William N.

    2014-01-01

    A crude-oil spill occurred in 1979 when a pipeline burst near Bemidji, MN. In 1998, the pipeline company installed a dual-pump recovery system designed to remove crude oil remaining in the subsurface at the site. The remediation from 1999 to 2003 resulted in removal of about 115,000 L of crude oil, representing between 36% and 41% of the volume of oil (280,000 to 316,000 L) estimated to be present in 1998. Effects of the 1999 to 2003 remediation on the dissolved plume were evaluated using measurements of oil thicknesses in wells plus measurements of dissolved oxygen in groundwater. Although the recovery system decreased oil thicknesses in the immediate vicinity of the remediation wells, average oil thicknesses measured in wells were largely unaffected. Dissolved-oxygen measurements indicate that a secondary plume was caused by disposal of the pumped water in an upgradient infiltration gallery; this plume expanded rapidly immediately following the start of the remediation in 1999. The result was expansion of the anoxic zone of groundwater upgradient and beneath the existing natural attenuation plume. Oil-phase recovery at this site was shown to be challenging, and considerable volumes of mobile and entrapped oil remain in the subsurface despite remediation efforts.

  6. Effective use of complex secondary recovery methods in operation of small oil fields

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ibragimov, M R; Akulov, V P; Khutorov, A M

    1966-11-01

    The North Sokhs Field, located in the southern part of the Fergen depression, is composed of many horizons and has an anticlinal structure. The eighth horizon has highest oil saturation, with an average porosity of 17% and permeability of 80 md. Poor oil recovery was initially obtained from this horizon because the basic producing mechanism was solution gas drive. In 1961, when reservoir pressure was 94 kg/cmU2D and gas factor was 700-800mU3D/ton, pressure maintenance was initiated by injection of gas to the structure. Gas injection improved oil recovery considerably; however, high gas-oil ratios appeared in several wells. Next, peripheral water injection was started, and continued simultaneously with gas injection. The simultaneous injection of gas and water almost doubled oil production. Because of continued, high produced gas/oil ratios, gas injection was eventually discontinued, while water injection was continued. Water injection is building up reservoir pressure and improving oil recovery.

  7. Foam-oil interaction in porous media: implications for foam assisted enhanced oil recovery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Farajzadeh, R; Andrianov, A; Krastev, R; Hirasaki, G J; Rossen, W R

    2012-11-15

    The efficiency of a foam displacement process in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) depends largely on the stability of foam films in the presence of oil. Experimental studies have demonstrated the detrimental impact of oil on foam stability. This paper reviews the mechanisms and theories (disjoining pressure, coalescence and drainage, entering and spreading of oil, oil emulsification, pinch-off, etc.) suggested in the literature to explain the impact of oil on foam stability in the bulk and porous media. Moreover, we describe the existing approaches to foam modeling in porous media and the ways these models describe the oil effect on foam propagation in porous media. Further, we present various ideas on an improvement of foam stability and longevity in the presence of oil. The outstanding questions regarding foam-oil interactions and modeling of these interactions are pointed out. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  8. Geomechanical Study of Bakken Formation for Improved Oil Recovery

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ling, Kegang; Zeng, Zhengwen; He, Jun; Pei, Peng; Zhou, Xuejun; Liu, Hong; Huang, Luke; Ostadhassan, Mehdi; Jabbari, Hadi; Blanksma, Derrick; Feilen, Harry; Ahmed, Salowah; Benson, Steve; Mann, Michael; LeFever, Richard; Gosnold, Will

    2013-12-31

    On October 1, 2008 US DOE-sponsored research project entitled “Geomechanical Study of Bakken Formation for Improved Oil Recovery” under agreement DE-FC26-08NT0005643 officially started at The University of North Dakota (UND). This is the final report of the project; it covers the work performed during the project period of October 1, 2008 to December 31, 2013. The objectives of this project are to outline the methodology proposed to determine the in-situ stress field and geomechanical properties of the Bakken Formation in Williston Basin, North Dakota, USA to increase the success rate of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing so as to improve the recovery factor of this unconventional crude oil resource from the current 3% to a higher level. The success of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing depends on knowing local in-situ stress and geomechanical properties of the rocks. We propose a proactive approach to determine the in-situ stress and related geomechanical properties of the Bakken Formation in representative areas through integrated analysis of field and well data, core sample and lab experiments. Geomechanical properties are measured by AutoLab 1500 geomechanics testing system. By integrating lab testing, core observation, numerical simulation, well log and seismic image, drilling, completion, stimulation, and production data, in-situ stresses of Bakken formation are generated. These in-situ stress maps can be used as a guideline for future horizontal drilling and multi-stage fracturing design to improve the recovery of Bakken unconventional oil.

  9. Heavy-oil recovery in naturally fractured reservoirs with varying wettability by steam solvent co-injection

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Al Bahlani, A. [Alberta Univ., Edmonton, AB (Canada); Babadagli, T. [Society of Petroleum Engineers, Canadian Section, Calgary, AB (Canada)]|[Alberta Univ., Edmonton, AB (Canada)

    2008-10-15

    Steam injection may not be an efficient oil recovery process in certain circumstances, such as in deep reservoirs, where steam injection may be ineffective because of hot-water flooding due to excessive heat loss. Steam injection may also be ineffective in oil-wet fractured carbonates, where steam channels through fracture zones without effectively sweeping the matrix oil. Steam flooding is one of the many solutions for heavy oil recovery in unconsolidated sandstones that is in commercial production. However, heavy-oil fractured carbonates are more challenging, where the recovery is generally limited only to matrix oil drainage gravity due to unfavorable wettability or thermal expansion if heat is introduced during the process. This paper proposed a new approach to improve steam/hot-water injection and efficiency for heavy-oil fractured carbonate reservoirs. The paper provided background information on oil recovery from fractured carbonates and provided a statement of the problem. Three phases were described, including steam/hot-waterflooding phase (spontaneous imbibition); miscible flooding phase (diffusion); and steam/hot-waterflooding phase (spontaneous imbibition or solvent retention). The paper also discussed core preparation and saturation procedures. It was concluded that efficient oil recovery is possible using alternate injection of steam/hot water and solvent. 43 refs., 1 tab., 13 figs.

  10. Investigation of Multiscale and Multiphase Flow, Transport and Reaction in Heavy Oil Recovery Process

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yortsos, Yanis C.; Akkutlu, Yucel; Amilik, Pouya; Kechagia, Persefoni; Lu, Chuan; Shariati, Maryam; Tsimpanogiannis, Ioannis; Zhan, Lang

    2000-01-19

    The emphasis of this work was on investigating the mechanisms and factors that control the recovery of heavy oil, with the objective to improve recovery efficiencies. For this purpose, the interaction of flow, transport and reaction at various scales (from the pore-network to the field scales) were studied. Particular mechanisms investigated included the onset of gas flow in foamy oil production and in in-situ steam drive, gravity drainage in steam process, the development of sustained combustion fronts and the propagation of foams in porous media. Analytical, computational and experimental methods were utilized to advance the state of the art in heavy oil recovery. Successful completion of this research was expected to lead to improvements in the recovery efficiency of various heavy oil processes.

  11. Optimization of Surfactant Mixtures and Their Interfacial Behavior for Advanced Oil Recovery

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Somasundaran, Prof. P.

    2001-02-27

    The goal of this report is to develop improved extraction processes to mobilize and produce the oil left untapped using conventional techniques. Current chemical schemes for recovering the residual oil have been in general less than satisfactory. High cost of the processes as well as significant loss of chemicals by adsorption on reservoir materials and precipitation has limited the utility of chemical-flooding operations. There is a need to develop cost-effective, improved reagent schemes to increase recovery from domestic oil reservoirs. The goal of the report was to develop and evaluate novel mixtures of surfactants for improved oil recovery.

  12. Numerical investigation of complex flooding schemes for surfactant polymer based enhanced oil recovery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dutta, Sourav; Daripa, Prabir

    2015-11-01

    Surfactant-polymer flooding is a widely used method of chemical enhanced oil recovery (EOR) in which an array of complex fluids containing suitable and varying amounts of surfactant or polymer or both mixed with water is injected into the reservoir. This is an example of multiphase, multicomponent and multiphysics porous media flow which is characterized by the spontaneous formation of complex viscous fingering patterns and is modeled by a system of strongly coupled nonlinear partial differential equations with appropriate initial and boundary conditions. Here we propose and discuss a modern, hybrid method based on a combination of a discontinuous, multiscale finite element formulation and the method of characteristics to accurately solve the system. Several types of flooding schemes and rheological properties of the injected fluids are used to numerically study the effectiveness of various injection policies in minimizing the viscous fingering and maximizing oil recovery. Numerical simulations are also performed to investigate the effect of various other physical and model parameters such as heterogeneity, relative permeability and residual saturation on the quantities of interest like cumulative oil recovery, sweep efficiency, fingering intensity to name a few. Supported by the grant NPRP 08-777-1-141 from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of The Qatar Foundation).

  13. The effect of ZnO nanoparticles on improved oil recovery in spontaneous imbibition mechanism of heavy oil production

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tajmiri, M.; Ehsani, M. R.; Mousavi, S. M.; Roayaei, E.; Emadi, A.

    2015-07-01

    Spontaneous imbibition (SI) gets a controversial subject in oil- wet carbonate reservoirs. The new concept of nanoparticles applications in an EOR area have been recently raised by researches about oil viscosity reduction and generate emulsion without surfactant. But a lot of questions have been remained about which nanoparticles can alter wettability from oil- wet to water- wet to improve oil recovery. This study introduces the new idea of adding ZnO nanoparticles (0.2%wt concentration) by experimental work on oil recovery. The main goals of this research were to prove that ZnO nanoparticles have the ability to reduce viscosity and also alter wettability. The ultimate objective was to determine the potential of these nanoparticles to imbibe into and displace oil. Through the use of Amott- cell, laboratory tests were conducted in two experiments on four cylindrical core samples (three sandstones and one carbonate) were taken from real Iranian heavy oil reservoir. In the first experiment, core samples were saturated by crude oil and in the second experiment, nanoparticles were flooding into core samples and then saturated by crude oil for about two weeks and after that they were immersed in distilled water and the amount of recovery was monitored during 30 days for both tests. We expected that ZnO nanoparticles decreased the surface tension which reduced the capillary forces through SI and wettability alteration took place towards a more water-wet system and caused the oil relative permeability to increase which dominated the gravitational forces to pull out the oil. Our results proved this expectation from ZnO nanoparticles clearly because carbonate core was oil- wet and the capillary pressure was high and negative to push water into the core so the original oil in place (OOIP) was zero whereas by adding ZnO nanoparticles OOIP was increased to 8.89%. SI yielded recovery values from 17.3, 2 and 15 without nanoparticles to 20.68, 17.57 and 36.2 % OOIP with

  14. A review on applications of nanotechnology in the enhanced oil recovery part B: effects of nanoparticles on flooding

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheraghian, Goshtasp; Hendraningrat, Luky

    2016-11-01

    Chemical flooding is of increasing interest and importance due to high oil prices and the need to increase oil production. Research in nanotechnology in the petroleum industry is advancing rapidly, and an enormous progress in the application of nanotechnology in this area is to be expected. The nanotechnology has been widely used in several other industries, and the interest in the oil industry is increasing. Nanotechnology has the potential to profoundly change enhanced oil recovery and to improve mechanism of recovery, and it is chosen as an alternative method to unlock the remaining oil resources and applied as a new enhanced oil recovery method in last decade. This paper therefore focuses on the reviews of the application of nanotechnology in chemical flooding process in oil recovery and reviews the applications of nanomaterials for improving oil recovery that have been proposed to explain oil displacement by polymer flooding within oil reservoirs, and also this paper highlights the research advances of polymer in oil recovery. Nanochemical flooding is an immature method from an application point of view.

  15. Studies on interfacial tension and contact angle of synthesized surfactant and polymeric from castor oil for enhanced oil recovery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Babu, Keshak; Pal, Nilanjan; Bera, Achinta; Saxena, V. K.; Mandal, Ajay

    2015-10-01

    New synthesized polymeric surfactants have immensely attracted the researchers for further development of chemical enhanced oil recovery method particularly in surfactant flooding. Contact angle and interfacial tension measurement tests are the effective ways to identify proper chemicals/surfactants for enhanced oil recovery by chemical/surfactant flooding. In the present study a new polymeric surfactant was synthesized from pre-synthesized sodium methyl ester sulfonate (surfactant) and acrylamide for application in chemical enhanced oil recovery. The synthesized surfactant and polymeric surfactant were used to measure interfacial tension between their aqueous phase and crude oil phase to investigate the efficiency of the surfactants in reduction of interfacial tension. The synthesized polymeric surfactant has also ability to control the mobility because of its viscous nature in aqueous solution. Contact angles of solid-crude oil-surfactant interface were also measured to study the effect of the synthesized surfactant and polymeric surfactant on wettability alteration mechanism. Synergistic effect was studied by using NaCl and synthesized surfactants on interfacial tension. Dynamic interfacial tensions of the surfactant and polymeric surfactant solutions with crude oil were measured at different NaCl concentrations. Interfacial tension was found to be lowered up to 10-2 to 10-3 mN/m which is effective for oil recovery. Measurement of contact angle indicates the wettability change of the quartz surface. Comparative studies on efficiencies of synthesized sodium methyl ester sulfonate surfactant and polymeric surfactant were also carried out with respect to interfacial tension reduction and contact angle change.

  16. The influence of diffusion and dispersion on heavy oil recovery by VAPEX

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Alkindi, A. [Imperial College, London (United Kingdom); Muggeridge, A. [Society of Petroleum Engineers, London (United Kingdom)]|[Imperial College, London (United Kingdom); Al-Wahaibi, Y. [Society of Petroleum Engineers, Dubai (United Arab Emirates)]|[Sultan Qaboos Univ., Muscat (Oman)

    2008-10-15

    Heavy oil recovery using vapour extraction (VAPEX) is a promising improved oil recovery technique. However, field application of this process has been limited due to concerns that favourable laboratory recoveries may not scale up to the field level. Previous laboratory studies of VAPEX in porous media have obtained much higher production rates than predicted either by analytic models derived from Hele-Shaw experiments or numerical simulation. The difference between experimental and simulation models has been explained by assuming greater mixing between vapour and oil than would be expected from molecular diffusion. Convective dispersion is a plausible justification for this increase. This paper investigated the role of convective dispersion on oil recovery by VAPEX using a combination of well characterized laboratory experiments and numerical simulation. So that all mechanisms contributing to increased-mixing apart from convective dispersion were eliminated, a first contact miscible fluid system was used. Longitudinal and transverse dispersion coefficients were experimentally measured as a function of flow-rate and viscosity ratio. VAPEX drainage experiments were then conducted over a range of injection rates. The paper also discussed the comparison of laboratory measurements of oil drainage rates with those predicted by the Butler-Mokrys analytical model and numerical simulation using either molecular diffusion or convective dispersion. Last, the paper discussed the use of the numerical model in investigating the impact of rate, well separation, and reservoir geometry on recovery. 21 refs., 4 tabs., 12 figs.

  17. Oil recovery with vinyl sulfonic acid-acrylamide copolymers

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Norton, C.J.; Falk, D.O.

    1973-12-18

    An aqueous polymer flood containing sulfomethylated alkali metal vinyl sulfonate-acrylamide copolymers was proposed for use in secondary or tertiary enhanced oil recovery. The sulfonate groups on the copolymers sustain the viscosity of the flood in the presence of brine and lime. Injection of the copolymer solution into a waterflooded Berea core, produced 30.5 percent of the residual oil. It is preferred that the copolymers are partially hydrolyzed.

  18. Using CO2 Prophet to estimate recovery factors for carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Attanasi, Emil D.

    2017-07-17

    IntroductionThe Oil and Gas Journal’s enhanced oil recovery (EOR) survey for 2014 (Koottungal, 2014) showed that gas injection is the most frequently applied method of EOR in the United States and that carbon dioxide (CO2 ) is the most commonly used injection fluid for miscible operations. The CO2-EOR process typically follows primary and secondary (waterflood) phases of oil reservoir development. The common objective of implementing a CO2-EOR program is to produce oil that remains after the economic limit of waterflood recovery is reached. Under conditions of miscibility or multicontact miscibility, the injected CO2 partitions between the gas and liquid CO2 phases, swells the oil, and reduces the viscosity of the residual oil so that the lighter fractions of the oil vaporize and mix with the CO2 gas phase (Teletzke and others, 2005). Miscibility occurs when the reservoir pressure is at least at the minimum miscibility pressure (MMP). The MMP depends, in turn, on oil composition, impurities of the CO2 injection stream, and reservoir temperature. At pressures below the MMP, component partitioning, oil swelling, and viscosity reduction occur, but the efficiency is increasingly reduced as the pressure falls farther below the MMP. CO2-EOR processes are applied at the reservoir level, where a reservoir is defined as an underground formation containing an individual and separate pool of producible hydrocarbons that is confined by impermeable rock or water barriers and is characterized by a single natural pressure system. A field may consist of a single reservoir or multiple reservoirs that are not in communication but which may be associated with or related to a single structural or stratigraphic feature (U.S. Energy Information Administration [EIA], 2000). The purpose of modeling the CO2-EOR process is discussed along with the potential CO2-EOR predictive models. The data demands of models and the scope of the assessments require tradeoffs between reservoir

  19. Evaluation of Reservoir Wettability and its Effect on Oil Recovery

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Buckley, Jill S.

    2002-01-29

    The objectives of this five-year project were: (1) to achieve improved understanding of the surface and interfacial properties of crude oils and their interactions with mineral surfaces, (2) to apply the results of surface studies to improve predictions of oil production from laboratory measurements, and (3) to use the results of this research to recommend ways to improve oil recovery by waterflooding.

  20. Geologic storage of carbon dioxide and enhanced oil recovery. I. Uncertainty quantification employing a streamline based proxy for reservoir flow simulation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kovscek, A.R.; Wang, Y.

    2005-01-01

    Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) is already injected into a limited class of reservoirs for oil recovery purposes; however, the engineering design question for simultaneous oil recovery and storage of anthropogenic CO 2 is significantly different from that of oil recovery alone. Currently, the volumes of CO 2 injected solely for oil recovery are minimized due to the purchase cost of CO 2 . If and when CO 2 emissions to the atmosphere are managed, it will be necessary to maximize simultaneously both economic oil recovery and the volumes of CO 2 emplaced in oil reservoirs. This process is coined 'cooptimization'. This paper proposes a work flow for cooptimization of oil recovery and geologic CO 2 storage. An important component of the work flow is the assessment of uncertainty in predictions of performance. Typical methods for quantifying uncertainty employ exhaustive flow simulation of multiple stochastic realizations of the geologic architecture of a reservoir. Such approaches are computationally intensive and thereby time consuming. An analytic streamline based proxy for full reservoir simulation is proposed and tested. Streamline trajectories represent the three-dimensional velocity field during multiphase flow in porous media and so are useful for quantifying the similarity and differences among various reservoir models. The proxy allows rational selection of a representative subset of equi-probable reservoir models that encompass uncertainty with respect to true reservoir geology. The streamline approach is demonstrated to be thorough and rapid

  1. Pore-Scale Investigation of Crude Oil/CO2 Compositional Effects on Oil Recovery by Carbonated Water Injection

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Seyyedi, Mojtaba; Sohrabi, Mehran

    2017-01-01

    where the oil has significant dissolved gases. In such studies, oil swelling and oil viscosity reduction had been introduced as the main mechanisms of additional oil recovery by CWI. However, in our direct flow visualization (micro model) studies reported here, we have used live crude oil, and we have...

  2. Enhanced oil recovery with surfactant flooding

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Buelow Sandersen, S.

    2012-05-15

    Understanding the underlying mechanisms of systems that exhibit liquid-liquid equilibrium (e.g. oil-brine systems) at reservoir conditions is an area of increasing interest within EOR. This is true both for complex surfactant systems as well as for oil and brine systems. It is widely accepted that an increase in oil recovery can be obtained through flooding, whether it is simple waterflooding, waterflooding where the salinity has been modified by the addition or removal of specific ions (socalled ''smart'' waterflooding) or surfactant flooding. High pressure experiments have been carried out in this work on a surfactant system (surfactant/ oil/ brine) and on oil/ seawater systems (oil/ brine). The high pressure experiments were carried out on a DBR JEFRI PVT cell, where a glass window allows observation of the phase behavior of the different systems at various temperatures and pressures inside the high pressure cell. Phase volumes can also be measured visually through the glass window using precision equipment. The surfactant system for which an experimental study was carried out consisted of the mixture heptane, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)/ 1-butanol/ NaCl/ water. This system has previously been examined at ambient pressures and temperatures but this has been extended here to pressures up to 400 bar and to slightly higher temperatures (40 deg. C, 45 deg. C and 50 deg. C). Experiments were performed at constant salinity (6.56 %), constant surfactant-alcohol ratio (SAR) but with varying water-oil ratios (WOR). At all temperatures it was very clear that the effect of pressure was significant. The system changed from the two phase region, Winsor II, to the three phase region, Winsor III, as pressure increased. Increasing pressures also caused a shift from the three phase region (Winsor III), to a different two phase region, (Winsor I). These changes in equilibrium phase behavior were also dependent on the composition of the system. A number of

  3. Impact of carbon nanotubes based nanofluid on oil recovery efficiency using core flooding

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soleimani, Hassan; Baig, Mirza Khurram; Yahya, Noorhana; Khodapanah, Leila; Sabet, Maziyar; Demiral, Birol M. R.; Burda, Marek

    2018-06-01

    This study aims to investigate the influence of carbon nanotubes based nanofluid on interfacial tension and oil recovery efficiency. Practically multi-walled carbon nanotubes were successfully synthesized using chemical vapour deposition technique and characterized using X-ray diffraction and Field Emission Scanning Electron microscope in order to understand its structure, shape, and morphology. Nanofluids are one of the interesting new agents for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) that can change the reservoir rock-fluid properties in terms of interfacial tension and wettability. In this work, different concentration of carbon nanotubes based fluids were prepared and the effect of each concentration on surface tension was determined using pendant drop method. After specifying the optimum concentration of carbon nanotubes based nanofluid, core flooding experiment was conducted by two pore volume of brine and two pore volume of nanofluid and then oil recovery factor was calculated. The results show that carbon nanotubes can bring in additional recovery factor of 18.57% in the glass bead sample. It has been observed that nanofluid with high surface tension value gives higher recovery. It was found that the optimum value of concentration is 0.3 wt% at which maximum surface tension of 33.46 mN/m and oil recovery factor of 18.57% was observed. This improvement in recovery factor can be recognized due to interfacial tension reduction and wettability alteration.

  4. OPTICAL FIBER SENSOR TECHNOLOGIES FOR EFFICIENT AND ECONOMICAL OIL RECOVERY

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    A. Wang; H. Xiao; R. May

    1999-10-29

    Efficient and complete recovery of petroleum reserves from existing oil wells has proven difficult due to a lack of robust instrumentation that can monitor processes in the downhole environment. Commercially available sensors for measurement of pressure, temperature, and fluid flow exhibit shortened lifetimes in the harsh downhole conditions, which are characterized by high pressures (up to 20 kpsi), temperatures up to 250 C, and exposure to chemically reactive fluids. Development of robust sensors that deliver continuous, real-time data on reservoir performance and petroleum flow pathways will facilitate application of advanced recovery technologies, including horizontal and multi-lateral wells. The main objective of the research program is to develop cost-effective, reliable fiber sensor instrumentation for real-time monitoring and /or control of various key parameters crucial to efficient and economical oil production. This report presents the detailed research work and technical progress from October 1, 1998 to September 30, 1999. The research performed over the first year of the program has followed the schedule as proposed, and solid research progress has been made in specification of the technical requirements, design and fabrication of the SCIIB sensor probes, development of the sensor systems, development of DSP-based signal processing techniques, and construction of the test systems. These technical achievements will significantly help to advance continued research on sensor tests and evaluation during the second year of the program.

  5. Microbial enhancement of oil recovery: Recent advances

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Premuzic, E.T.; Woodhead, A.D.; Vivirito, K.J. (eds.)

    1992-01-01

    During recent years, systematic, scientific, and engineering effort by researchers in the United States and abroad, has established the scientific basis for Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery (MEOR) technology. The successful application of MEOR technology as an oil recovery process is a goal of the Department of Energy (DOE). Research efforts involving aspects of MEOR in the microbiological, biochemical, and engineering fields led DOE to sponsor an International Conference at Brookhaven National Laboratory in 1992, to facilitate the exchange of information and a discussion of ideas for the future research emphasis. At this, the Fourth International MEOR Conference, where international attendees from 12 countries presented a total of 35 papers, participants saw an equal distribution between research'' and field applications.'' In addition, several modeling and state-of-the-art'' presentations summed up the present status of MEOR science and engineering. Individual papers in this proceedings have been process separately for inclusion in the Energy Science and Technology Database.

  6. Microbial enhanced heavy crude oil recovery through biodegradation using bacterial isolates from an Omani oil field.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al-Sayegh, Abdullah; Al-Wahaibi, Yahya; Al-Bahry, Saif; Elshafie, Abdulkadir; Al-Bemani, Ali; Joshi, Sanket

    2015-09-16

    Biodegradation is a cheap and environmentally friendly process that could breakdown and utilizes heavy crude oil (HCO) resources. Numerous bacteria are able to grow using hydrocarbons as a carbon source; however, bacteria that are able to grow using HCO hydrocarbons are limited. In this study, HCO degrading bacteria were isolated from an Omani heavy crude oil field. They were then identified and assessed for their biodegradation and biotransformation abilities under aerobic and anaerobic conditions. Bacteria were grown in five different minimum salts media. The isolates were identified by MALDI biotyper and 16S rRNA sequencing. The nucleotide sequences were submitted to GenBank (NCBI) database. The bacteria were identified as Bacillus subtilis and B. licheniformis. To assess microbial growth and biodegradation of HCO by well-assay on agar plates, samples were collected at different intervals. The HCO biodegradation and biotransformation were determined using GC-FID, which showed direct correlation of microbial growth with an increased biotransformation of light hydrocarbons (C12 and C14). Among the isolates, B. licheniformis AS5 was the most efficient isolate in biodegradation and biotransformation of the HCO. Therefore, isolate AS5 was used for heavy crude oil recovery experiments, in core flooding experiments using Berea core plugs, where an additional 16 % of oil initially in place was recovered. This is the first report from Oman for bacteria isolated from an oil field that were able to degrade and transform HCO to lighter components, illustrating the potential use in HCO recovery. The data suggested that biodegradation and biotransformation processes may lead to additional oil recovery from heavy oil fields, if bacteria are grown in suitable medium under optimum growth conditions.

  7. Investigation of Chemical-Foam Design as a Novel Approach toward Immiscible Foam Flooding for Enhanced Oil Recovery

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hosseini Nasab, S.M.; Zitha, P.L.J.

    2017-01-01

    Strong foam can be generated in porous media containing oil, resulting in incremental oil recovery; however, oil recovery factor is restricted. A large fraction of oil recovered by foam flooding forms an oil-in-water emulsion, so that costly methods may need to be used to separate the oil.

  8. Solar-generated steam for oil recovery: Reservoir simulation, economic analysis, and life cycle assessment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sandler, Joel; Fowler, Garrett; Cheng, Kris; Kovscek, Anthony R.

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • Integrated assessment of solar thermal enhanced oil recovery (TEOR). • Analyses of reservoir performance, economics, and life cycle factors. • High solar fraction scenarios show economic viability for TEOR. • Continuous variable-rate steam injection meets the benchmarks set by conventional steam flood. - Abstract: The viability of solar thermal steam generation for thermal enhanced oil recovery (TEOR) in heavy-oil sands was evaluated using San Joaquin Valley, CA data. The effectiveness of solar TEOR was quantified through reservoir simulation, economic analysis, and life-cycle assessment. Reservoir simulations with continuous but variable rate steam injection were compared with a base-case Tulare Sand steamflood project. For equivalent average injection rates, comparable breakthrough times and recovery factors of 65% of the original oil in place were predicted, in agreement with simulations in the literature. Daily cyclic fluctuations in steam injection rate do not greatly impact recovery. Oil production rates do, however, show seasonal variation. Economic viability was established using historical prices and injection/production volumes from the Kern River oil field. For comparison, this model assumes that present day steam generation technologies were implemented at TEOR startup in 1980. All natural gas cogeneration and 100% solar fraction scenarios had the largest and nearly equal net present values (NPV) of $12.54 B and $12.55 B, respectively. Solar fraction refers to the steam provided by solar steam generation. Given its large capital cost, the 100% solar case shows the greatest sensitivity to discount rate and no sensitivity to natural gas price. Because there are very little emissions associated with day-to-day operations from the solar thermal system, life-cycle emissions are significantly lower than conventional systems even when the embodied energy of the structure is considered. We estimate that less than 1 g of CO 2 /MJ of refined

  9. Oil recovery enhancement from fractured, low permeability reservoirs. Annual report 1990--1991, Part 1

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Poston, S.W.

    1991-12-31

    Joint funding by the Department of Energy and the State of Texas has Permitted a three year, multi-disciplinary investigation to enhance oil recovery from a dual porosity, fractured, low matrix permeability oil reservoir to be initiated. The Austin Chalk producing horizon trending thru the median of Texas has been identified as the candidate for analysis. Ultimate primary recovery of oil from the Austin Chalk is very low because of two major technological problems. The commercial oil producing rate is based on the wellbore encountering a significant number of natural fractures. The prediction of the location and frequency of natural fractures at any particular region in the subsurface is problematical at this time, unless extensive and expensive seismic work is conducted. A major portion of the oil remains in the low permeability matrix blocks after depletion because there are no methods currently available to the industry to mobilize this bypassed oil. The following multi-faceted study is aimed to develop new methods to increase oil and gas recovery from the Austin Chalk producing trend. These methods may involve new geological and geophysical interpretation methods, improved ways to study production decline curves or the application of a new enhanced oil recovery technique. The efforts for the second year may be summarized as one of coalescing the initial concepts developed during the initial phase to more in depth analyses. Accomplishments are predicting natural fractures; relating recovery to well-log signatures; development of the EOR imbibition process; mathematical modeling; and field test.

  10. Effect of lithological composition of oil reservoirs on oil production by a hot agent

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Abbasov, A A; Kasimov, Sh A

    1965-01-01

    Several small-scale experiments were performed to determine the effect of steam on oil recovery and on permeability of water-sensitive clay-containing cores. Steam has 2 contradictory actions on oil recovery - (1) steam increases temperature and decreases viscosity of the oil, which aids oil recovery; and (2) steam hydrates and swells clays, which reduces permeability and hinders oil recovery. The oil-recovery experiments were carried out with consolidated cores containing 0, 10, and 22% clay, saturated with water and 28 cp crude oil; superheated steam at 125-300$C was used. The following conclusions were made from the experimental results: (1) oil recovery decreased as clay content of cores increased; however, at all temperatures steam recovered more oil than cold water did. (2) As steam temperature increases, oil recovery reaches a maximum, then decreases. The temperature at which oil recovery begins to decrease depends on core clay content; the higher the clay content, the lower this temperature. (3) Irrespective of whether a reservoir contains clay or not, oil recovery is considerably greater with steam than with water.

  11. Recovery of the Irving Whale oil barge: overflights with the laser environmental airborne fluorosensor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brown, C. E.; Nelson, R. D.; Fingas, M.

    1997-01-01

    Contribution of Environment Canada's laser environmental airborne fluorosensor (LEAF) to the recovery in 1996 of the oil barge 'Irving Whale' from the St. Lawrence River was described. Additional equipment employed on board the DC-3 aircraft included an RC-10 colour mapping camera and two down-looking video cameras. Leaking of Bunker C fuel oil was detected around the sunken barge in the days immediately prior to and during the day of the raising of the vessel. During each overflight, the LEAF system produced timely, concise map-based contamination information in hard copy form. The LEAF system also detected extremely thin, sub-sheen levels of oil on the day of the lift over the majority of the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence. The extent of coverage was greatly reduced by the next day and essentially eliminated by the second day after the lift. The LEAF system continued to monitor the 'Irving Whale' as it was transported to Halifax on the deck of the submersible vessel Boabarge 10. There was no evidence of oil leakage during the transit attributable to the 'Irving Whale'. During the entire period of lift and recovery the LEAF system performed flawlessly, and demonstrated the usefulness of remote sensing flights during oil spill response operations. 3 refs., 4 figs

  12. Environmental regulations handbook for enhanced oil recovery. Final report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wilson, T.D.

    1980-08-01

    A guide to environmental laws and regulations which have special significance for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) is presented. The Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, federal regulations, and state regulations are discussed. This handbook has been designed as a planning tool and a convenient reference source. The 16 states included comprise the major oil-producing states in various regions of the state. The major topics covered are: general guidelines for complying with environmental laws and regulations; air pollution control; water pollution control; protecting drinking water: underground injection control; hazardous waste management; and federal laws affecting siting or operation of EOR facilities. (DMC)

  13. Oil recovery from naturally fractured reservoirs by steam injection methods. Final report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Reis, J.C.; Miller, M.A.

    1995-05-01

    Oil recovery by steam injection is a proven, successful technology for nonfractured reservoirs, but has received only limited study for fractured reservoirs. Preliminary studies suggest recovery efficiencies in fractured reservoirs may be increased by as much as 50% with the application of steam relative to that of low temperature processes. The key mechanisms enhancing oil production at high temperature are the differential thermal expansion between oil and the pore volume, and the generation of gases within matrix blocks. Other mechanisms may also contribute to increased production. These mechanisms are relatively independent of oil gravity, making steam injection into naturally fractured reservoirs equally attractive to light and heavy oil deposits. The objectives of this research program are to quantify the amount of oil expelled by these recovery mechanisms and to develop a numerical model for predicting oil recovery in naturally fractured reservoirs during steam injection. The experimental study consists of constructing and operating several apparatuses to isolate each of these mechanisms. The first measures thermal expansion and capillary imbibition rates at relatively low temperature, but for various lithologies and matrix block shapes. The second apparatus measures the same parameters, but at high temperatures and for only one shape. A third experimental apparatus measures the maximum gas saturations that could build up within a matrix block. A fourth apparatus measures thermal conductivity and diffusivity of porous media. The numerical study consists of developing transfer functions for oil expulsion from matrix blocks to fractures at high temperatures and incorporating them, along with the energy equation, into a dual porosity thermal reservoir simulator. This simulator can be utilized to make predictions for steam injection processes in naturally-fractured reservoirs. Analytical models for capillary imbibition have also been developed.

  14. An evaluation of known remaining oil resources in the state of California. Volume 2, Project on Advanced Oil Recovery and the States

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1994-10-01

    The Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission (IOGCC) has conducted a series of studies to evaluate the known, remaining oil resource in twenty-three (23) states. The primary objective of the IOGCC's effort is to examine the potential impact of an aggressive and focused program of research, development, and demonstration (RD ampersand D) and technology transfer on future oil recovery in the United States. As a part of this larger effort by the IOGCC, this report focuses on the potential economic benefits of improved oil recovery in the state of California. Individual reports for seven other oil producing states and a national report have been separately published by the IOGCC. The analysis presented in this report is based on the databases and models available in the Tertiary Oil Recovery Information System (TORIS). Overall, well abandonments and more stringent environmental regulations could limit economic access to California's known, remaining oil resource. The high risk of near-term abandonment and the significant benefits of future application of improved oil recovery technology, clearly point to a need for more aggressive transfer of currently available technologies to oil producers. Development and application of advanced oil recovery technologies could have even greater benefits to the state and the nation. A collaborative, focused RD ampersand D effort, integrating the resources and expertise of industry, state and local governments, and the Federal government, is clearly warranted. With effective RD ampersand D and a program of aggressive technology transfer to widely disseminate its results, California oil production could be maximized. The resulting increase in production rates, employment, operator profits, state and Federal tax revenues, and energy security will benefit both the state of California and the nation as a whole

  15. Market potential of solar thermal enhanced oil recovery-a techno-economic model for Issaran oil field in Egypt

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gupta, Sunay; Guédez, Rafael; Laumert, Björn

    2017-06-01

    Solar thermal enhanced oil recovery (S-EOR) is an advanced technique of using concentrated solar power (CSP) technology to generate steam and recover oil from maturing oil reservoirs. The generated steam is injected at high pressure and temperature into the reservoir wells to facilitate oil production. There are three common methods of steam injection in enhanced oil recovery - continuous steam injection, cyclic steam stimulation (CSS) and steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD). Conventionally, this steam is generated through natural gas (NG) fired boilers with associated greenhouse gas emissions. However, pilot projects in the USA (Coalinga, California) and Oman (Miraah, Amal) demonstrated the use of S-EOR to meet their steam requirements despite the intermittent nature of solar irradiation. Hence, conventional steam based EOR projects under the Sunbelt region can benefit from S-EOR with reduced operational expenditure (OPEX) and increased profitability in the long term, even with the initial investment required for solar equipment. S-EOR can be realized as an opportunity for countries not owning any natural gas resources to make them less energy dependent and less sensible to gas price fluctuations, and for countries owning natural gas resources to reduce their gas consumption and export it for a higher margin. In this study, firstly, the market potential of S-EOR was investigated worldwide by covering some of the major ongoing steam based EOR projects as well as future projects in pipeline. A multi-criteria analysis was performed to compare local conditions and requirements of all the oil fields based on a defined set of parameters. Secondly, a modelling approach for S-EOR was designed to identify cost reduction opportunities and optimum solar integration techniques, and the Issaran oil field in Egypt was selected for a case study to substantiate the approach. This modelling approach can be consulted to develop S-EOR projects for any steam flooding based oil

  16. Investigation of Multiscale and Multiphase Flow, Transport and Reaction in Heavy Oil Recovery Processes; SEMIANNUAL

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yorstos, Yanis C.

    2002-01-01

    The emphasis of this work was on investigating the mechanisms and factors that control the recovery of heavy oil with the objective to improve recovery efficiencies. For this purpose the interaction of flow transport and reaction at various scales from the pore network to the field scales were studied. Particular mechanisms to be investigated included the onset of gas flow in foamy oil production and in in-situ steam drive, gravity drainage in steam processes, the development of sustained combustion fronts and the propagation of foams in porous media. Analytical, computational and experimental methods were utilized to advance the state of the art in heavy oil recovery. Successful completion of this research was expected to lead to improvements in the Recovery efficiency of various heavy oil processes

  17. New technology for sulfide reductions and increased oil recovery: Petroleum project fact sheet

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1999-12-14

    This Fact Sheet is written for the Inventions and Innovations Program about a new technology for sulfide reduction and increased oil recovery. The new technology, called Bio-Competitive Exclusion (BCX), results in greater oil production and prevents the production of corrosive hydrogen sulfide in oil and gas reservoirs. This BCX process is initiated and maintained by a new product, called Max-Well 2000, in which nutrients are custom designed to stimulate targeted beneficial microorganisms that live in every oil and gas reservoir. Rapid growth of these microorganisms excludes activity of harmful sulfide-producing bacteria and produces by-products that serve as effective tertiary oil recovery agents and as sulfide degradation agents. Oil and gas production is both increased and sweetened.

  18. Activities of the Oil Implementation Task Force, December 1990--February 1991; Contracts for field projects and supporting research on enhanced oil recovery, April--June 1990

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tiedemann, H.A. (ed.) (USDOE Bartlesville Project Office, OK (USA))

    1991-03-01

    The Oil Implementation Task Force was appointed to implement the US DOE's new oil research program directed toward increasing domestic oil production by expanded research on near- or mid-term enhanced oil recovery methods. An added priority is to preserve access to reservoirs that have the largest potential for oil recovery, but that are threatened by the large number of wells abandoned each year. This report describes the progress of research activities in the following areas: chemical flooding; gas displacement; thermal recovery; resource assessment; microbial technology; geoscience technology; and environmental technology. (CK)

  19. Dynamic investigation of nutrient consumption and injection strategy in microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) by means of large-scale experiments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Song, Zhiyong; Zhu, Weiyao; Sun, Gangzheng; Blanckaert, Koen

    2015-08-01

    Microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) depends on the in situ microbial activity to release trapped oil in reservoirs. In practice, undesired consumption is a universal phenomenon but cannot be observed effectively in small-scale physical simulations due to the scale effect. The present paper investigates the dynamics of oil recovery, biomass and nutrient consumption in a series of flooding experiments in a dedicated large-scale sand-pack column. First, control experiments of nutrient transportation with and without microbial consumption were conducted, which characterized the nutrient loss during transportation. Then, a standard microbial flooding experiment was performed recovering additional oil (4.9 % Original Oil in Place, OOIP), during which microbial activity mostly occurred upstream, where oil saturation declined earlier and steeper than downstream in the column. Subsequently, more oil remained downstream due to nutrient shortage. Finally, further research was conducted to enhance the ultimate recovery by optimizing the injection strategy. An extra 3.5 % OOIP was recovered when the nutrients were injected in the middle of the column, and another additional 11.9 % OOIP were recovered by altering the timing of nutrient injection.

  20. Activities of the Oil Implementation Task Force; Contracts for field projects and supporting research on enhanced oil recovery, July--September 1990

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tiedemann, H.A. (ed.) (USDOE Bartlesville Project Office, OK (USA))

    1991-05-01

    The report contains a general introduction and background to DOE's revised National Energy Strategy Advanced Oil Recovery Program and activities of the Oil Implementation Task Force; a detailed synopsis of the symposium, including technical presentations, comments and suggestions; a section of technical information on deltaic reservoirs; and appendices containing a comprehensive listing of references keyed to general deltaic and geological aspects of reservoirs and those relevant to six selected deltaic plays. Enhanced recovery processes include chemical floodings, gas displacement, thermal recovery, geoscience, and microbial recovery.

  1. Essays on carbon policy and enhanced oil recovery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cook, Benjamin R.

    The growing concerns about climate change have led policy makers to consider various regulatory schemes designed to reduce the stock and growth of atmospheric CO2 concentrations while at the same time improving energy security. The most prominent proposals are the so called "cap-and-trade" frameworks which set aggregate emission levels for a jurisdiction and then issue or sell a corresponding number of allowances to emitters. Typically, these policy measures will also encourage the deployment of carbon capture and storage (CCS) in geological formations and mature oil fields through subsidies or other incentives. The ability to store CO 2 in mature oil fields through the deployment of CO2 enhanced oil recovery (CO2--EOR) is particularly attractive as it can simultaneously improve oil recovery at those fields, and serve as a possible financial bridge to the development of CO2 transportation infrastructure. The purpose of this research is to explore the impact that a tandem subsidy-tax policy regime may have on bargaining between emitters and sequestration providers, and also to identify oil units in Wyoming that can profitably undertake CO 2--EOR as a starting point for the build-out of CO2 pipelines. In the first essay an economics lab experiment is designed to simulate private bargaining between carbon emitters (such as power plants) and carbon sequestration sites when the emitter faces carbon taxes, sequestration subsidies or both. In a tax-subsidy policy regime the carbon tax (or purchased allowances) can be avoided by sequestering the carbon, and in some cases the emitter can also earn a subsidy to help pay for the sequestration. The main policy implications of the experiment results are that the sequestration market might be inefficient, and sequestration providers seem to have bargaining power sufficient to command high prices. This may lead to the integration of CO2 sources and sequestration sites, and reduced prices for the injectable CO2 purchased by oil

  2. Polymer as permeability modifier in porous media for enhanced oil recovery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parsa, Shima; Weitz, David

    2017-11-01

    We use confocal microscopy to directly visualize the changes in morphology and mobilization of trapped oil ganglia within a 3D micromodel of porous media upon polymer flooding. Enhanced oil recovery is achieved in polymer flooding with large molecular weight at concentrations close or higher than a critical concentration of polymer. We also measure the fluctuations of the velocity of the displacing fluid and show that the velocities change upon polymer flooding in the whole medium. The changes in the fluid velocities are heterogeneous and vary in different pores, hence only providing enough pressure gradient across a few of the trapped oil ganglia and mobilize them. Our measurements show that polymer flooding is an effective method for enhancing oil recovery due to retention of polymer on the solid surfaces and changing the resistances of the available paths to water.

  3. The design and simulation of new downhole vibration device about acoustic oil recovery technology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yongjun Hou

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available More and more oilfields are using acoustic technology to enhance oil recovery. In order to know the mechanism of acoustic oil recovery technology, the sound radiator of a new downhole vibration device is modeled and analyzed. Based on the theoretical background, this paper firstly analyzes the acoustic mechanism for the oil reservoir and then makes a acoustic response analysis on the sound radiator model for frequency and time-domain investigation by using professional acoustic simulation software–LMS Virtual.lab Acoustics, finally calculates the acoustic transmission loss in the downhole oil reservoir. The research reveals that firstly, acoustic waves have influences on the oil & water fluidity in the oil reservoir, the oil pressure gradient and the interfacial tension of capillary; secondly, the acoustic radiation power and sound pressure of field point attain a peak on the natural frequency of the sound radiator; thirdly, with the acoustic impact, the sound pressure of oil reservoir would fluctuate so as to improve the oil recovery ratio; the last but not the least one is both the sound pressure of oil reservoir point and the transmission loss of rock have a positive correlation with the vibration frequency. Therefore, it is of great importance for the research of vibration frequency and structure optimization of sound radiator.

  4. Numerical Simulation Study on Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage Performance in a Heavy Oil Reservoir with a Bottom Water Zone

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jun Ni

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available In the Pikes Peak oil field near Lloydminster, Canada, a significant amount of heavy oil reserves is located in reservoirs with a bottom water zone. The properties of the bottom water zone and the operation parameters significantly affect oil production performance via the steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD process. Thus, in order to develop this type of heavy oil resource, a full understanding of the effects of these properties is necessary. In this study, the numerical simulation approach was applied to study the effects of properties in the bottom water zone in the SAGD process, such as the initial gas oil ratio, the thickness of the reservoir, and oil saturation of the bottom water zone. In addition, some operation parameters were studied including the injection pressure, the SAGD well pair location, and five different well patterns: (1 two corner wells, (2 triple wells, (3 downhole water sink well, (4 vertical injectors with a horizontal producer, and (5 fishbone well. The numerical simulation results suggest that the properties of the bottom water zone affect production performance extremely. First, both positive and negative effects were observed when solution gas exists in the heavy oil. Second, a logarithmical relationship was investigated between the bottom water production ratio and the thickness of the bottom water zone. Third, a non-linear relation was obtained between the oil recovery factor and oil saturation in the bottom water zone, and a peak oil recovery was achieved at the oil saturation rate of 30% in the bottom water zone. Furthermore, the operation parameters affected the heavy oil production performance. Comparison of the well patterns showed that the two corner wells and the triple wells patterns obtained the highest oil recovery factors of 74.71% and 77.19%, respectively, which are almost twice the oil recovery factors gained in the conventional SAGD process (47.84%. This indicates that the optimized SAGD process

  5. LOWER COST METHODS FOR IMPROVED OIL RECOVERY (IOR) VIA SURFACTANT FLOODING

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    William A. Goddard III; Yongchun Tang; Patrick Shuler; Mario Blanco; Seung Soon Jang; Shiang-Tai Lin; Prabal Maiti; Yongfu Wu; Stefan Iglauer; Xiaohang Zhang

    2004-09-01

    This report provides a summary of the work performed in this 3-year project sponsored by DOE. The overall objective of this project is to identify new, potentially more cost-effective surfactant formulations for improved oil recovery (IOR). The general approach is to use an integrated experimental and computational chemistry effort to improve our understanding of the link between surfactant structure and performance, and from this knowledge, develop improved IOR surfactant formulations. Accomplishments for the project include: (1) completion of a literature review to assemble current and new surfactant IOR ideas, (2) Development of new atomistic-level MD (molecular dynamic) modeling methodologies to calculate IFT (interfacial tension) rigorously from first principles, (3) exploration of less computationally intensive mesoscale methods to estimate IFT, Quantitative Structure Property Relationship (QSPR), and cohesive energy density (CED) calculations, (4) experiments to screen many surfactant structures for desirable low IFT and solid adsorption behavior, and (5) further experimental characterization of the more promising new candidate formulations (based on alkyl polyglycosides (APG) and alkyl propoxy sulfate surfactants). Important findings from this project include: (1) the IFT between two pure substances may be calculated quantitatively from fundamental principles using Molecular Dynamics, the same approach can provide qualitative results for ternary systems containing a surfactant, (2) low concentrations of alkyl polyglycoside surfactants have potential for IOR (Improved Oil Recovery) applications from a technical standpoint (if formulated properly with a cosurfactant, they can create a low IFT at low concentration) and also are viable economically as they are available commercially, and (3) the alkylpropoxy sulfate surfactants have promising IFT performance also, plus these surfactants can have high optimal salinity and so may be attractive for use in higher

  6. Water control for enhanced oil recovery

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cole, R.C.; Mody, B.; Pace, J.

    1981-11-01

    Gains in recovery efficiency in W. Texas oil and gas fields have been realized as a result of applying 4 different chemical processes, either singly or in combination. Each of the 4 chemical processes has been tailored to meet specific reservoir requirements. Complete plugging of high flow capacity channels can be accomplished, and the high water production portion of a producing zone can be sealed by injection of gel-forming chemicals into the matrix. Both floodwater diversion and water-oil mobility ratio improvement can be attained by in situ polymerization of a one-stage polymer bank in the reservoir. In producing wells, the water-oil production ratio can be favorably changed by treating certain formulations with a nonplugging polymer which tends to restrict water flow but not oil. One feature which each of the 4 processes has in common is the ability to invade deeply into matrix which may produce long lasting results. A description of each process is presented with various placement techniques used to obtain optimum results. Data from fields which have benefited from these treatments are presented. The work describes what may be expected with each of these proven processes based on field results.

  7. Stability Proxies for Water-in-Oil Emulsions and Implications in Aqueous-based Enhanced Oil Recovery

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mehrnoosh Moradi

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available Several researchers have proposed that mobility control mechanisms can positively contribute to oil recovery in the case of emulsions generated in Enhanced-Oil Recovery (EOR operations. Chemical EOR techniques that use alkaline components or/and surfactants are known to produce undesirable emulsions that create operational problems and are difficult to break. Other water-based methods have been less studied in this sense. EOR processes such as polymer flooding and LoSalTM injection require adjustments of water chemistry, mainly by lowering the ionic strength of the solution or by decreasing hardness. The decreased ionic strength of EOR solutions can give rise to more stable water-in-oil emulsions, which are speculated to improve mobility ratio between the injectant and the displaced oil. The first step toward understanding the connection between the emulsions and EOR mechanisms is to show that EOR conditions, such as salinity and hardness requirements, among others, are conducive to stabilizing emulsions. In order to do this, adequate stability proxies are required. This paper reviews commonly used emulsion stability proxies and explains the advantages and disadvantage of methods reviewed. This paper also reviews aqueous-based EOR processes with focus on heavy oil to contextualize in-situ emulsion stabilization conditions. This context sets the basis for comparison of emulsion stability proxies.

  8. Adsorption of anionic surfactants in limestone medium during oil recovery

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Canbolat, Serhat; Bagci, Suat [Middle East Technical Univ., Dept. of Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering, Ankara (Turkey)

    2004-07-15

    Foam-forming surfactant performance was evaluated by several experimental methods (interfacial tension, foam stability, corefloods) using commercial surfactants. There is considerable interest in the use of foam-forming surfactants for mobility control in water flood. To provide effective mobility control, the injected surfactant must propagate from the injection well toward the production well. One of the important parameters affecting propagation of foam-forming surfactant through the reservoir is the retention of surfactant due to its adsorption on reservoir rock. The determination of the adsorption of foam-forming surfactants in limestone reservoirs is important for the residual oil recovery efficiency. Adsorption measurements, recovery efficiencies, and surfactant and alkaline flooding experiments carried out with the representative of the selected surfactants alkaline solutions, linear alkyl benzene sulphonic acid (LABSA), sodium lauryl ether sulfate (SLES), and NaOH in a limestone medium. These surfactants were selected with respect to their foaming ability. Calibration curves formed by pH measurements were used to determine the correct adsorption amount of the used surfactants and recovery efficiency of these surfactants compared with base waterflooding. The results showed that LABSA adsorbed more than SLES in limestone reservoirs. The recovery efficiency of SLES was higher than the recovery efficiency of LABSA, and they decreased the recovery efficiency with respect to only the water injection case. (Author)

  9. Effect of reservoir heterogeneity on air injection performance in a light oil reservoir

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hu Jia

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Air injection is a good option to development light oil reservoir. As well-known that, reservoir heterogeneity has great effect for various EOR processes. This also applies to air injection. However, oil recovery mechanisms and physical processes for air injection in heterogeneous reservoir with dip angle are still not well understood. The reported setting of reservoir heterogeneous for physical model or simulation model of air injection only simply uses different-layer permeability of porous media. In practice, reservoir heterogeneity follows the principle of geostatistics. How much of contrast in permeability actually challenges the air injection in light oil reservoir? This should be investigated by using layered porous medial settings of the classical Dykstra-Parsons style. Unfortunately, there has been no work addressing this issue for air injection in light oil reservoir. In this paper, Reservoir heterogeneity is quantified based on the use of different reservoir permeability distribution according to classical Dykstra-Parsons coefficients method. The aim of this work is to investigate the effect of reservoir heterogeneity on physical process and production performance of air injection in light oil reservoir through numerical reservoir simulation approach. The basic model is calibrated based on previous study. Total eleven pseudo compounders are included in this model and ten complexity of reactions are proposed to achieve the reaction scheme. Results show that oil recovery factor is decreased with the increasing of reservoir heterogeneity both for air and N2 injection from updip location, which is against the working behavior of air injection from updip location. Reservoir heterogeneity sometimes can act as positive effect to improve sweep efficiency as well as enhance production performance for air injection. High O2 content air injection can benefit oil recovery factor, also lead to early O2 breakthrough in heterogeneous reservoir. Well

  10. Improved oil recovery using bacteria isolated from North Sea petroleum reservoirs

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Davey, R.A.; Lappin-Scott, H. [Univ. of Exeter (United Kingdom)

    1995-12-31

    During secondary oil recovery, water is injected into the formation to sweep out the residual oil. The injected water, however, follows the path of least resistance through the high-permeability zones, leaving oil in the low-permeability zones. Selective plugging of these their zones would divert the waterflood to the residual oil and thus increase the life of the well. Bacteria have been suggested as an alternative plugging agent to the current method of polymer injection. Starved bacteria can penetrate deeply into rock formations where they attach to the rock surfaces, and given the right nutrients can grow and produce exo-polymer, reducing the permeability of these zones. The application of microbial enhanced oil recovery has only been applied to shallow, cool, onshore fields to date. This study has focused on the ability of bacteria to enhance oil recovery offshore in the North Sea, where the environment can be considered extreme. A screen of produced water from oil reservoirs (and other extreme subterranean environments) was undertaken, and two bacteria were chosen for further work. These two isolates were able to grow and survive in the presence of saline formation waters at a range of temperatures above 50{degrees}C as facultative anaerobes. When a solution of isolates was passed through sandpacks and nutrients were added, significant reductions in permeabilities were achieved. This was confirmed in Clashach sandstone at 255 bar, when a reduction of 88% in permeability was obtained. Both isolates can survive nutrient starvation, which may improve penetration through the reservoir. Thus, the isolates show potential for field trials in the North Sea as plugging agents.

  11. Development of an In Situ Biosurfactant Production Technology for Enhanced Oil Recovery

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    M.J. McInerney; R.M. Knapp; Kathleen Duncan; D.R. Simpson; N. Youssef; N. Ravi; M.J. Folmsbee; T.Fincher; S. Maudgalya; Jim Davis; Sandra Weiland

    2007-09-30

    The long-term economic potential for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) is large with more than 300 billion barrels of oil remaining in domestic reservoirs after conventional technologies reach their economic limit. Actual EOR production in the United States has never been very large, less than 10% of the total U. S. production even though a number of economic incentives have been used to stimulate the development and application of EOR processes. The U.S. DOE Reservoir Data Base contains more than 600 reservoirs with over 12 billion barrels of unrecoverable oil that are potential targets for microbially enhanced oil recovery (MEOR). If MEOR could be successfully applied to reduce the residual oil saturation by 10% in a quarter of these reservoirs, more than 300 million barrels of oil could be added to the U.S. oil reserve. This would stimulate oil production from domestic reservoirs and reduce our nation's dependence on foreign imports. Laboratory studies have shown that detergent-like molecules called biosurfactants, which are produced by microorganisms, are very effective in mobilizing entrapped oil from model test systems. The biosurfactants are effective at very low concentrations. Given the promising laboratory results, it is important to determine the efficacy of using biosurfactants in actual field applications. The goal of this project is to move biosurfactant-mediated oil recovery from laboratory investigations to actual field applications. In order to meet this goal, several important questions must be answered. First, it is critical to know whether biosurfactant-producing microbes are present in oil formations. If they are present, then it will be important to know whether a nutrient regime can be devised to stimulate their growth and activity in the reservoir. If biosurfactant producers are not present, then a suitable strain must be obtained that can be injected into oil reservoirs. We were successful in answering all three questions. The specific

  12. A Review of CO2-Enhanced Oil Recovery with a Simulated Sensitivity Analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mandadige Samintha Anne Perera

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper reports on a comprehensive study of the CO2-EOR (Enhanced oil recovery process, a detailed literature review and a numerical modelling study. According to past studies, CO2 injection can recover additional oil from reservoirs by reservoir pressure increment, oil swelling, the reduction of oil viscosity and density and the vaporization of oil hydrocarbons. Therefore, CO2-EOR can be used to enhance the two major oil recovery mechanisms in the field: miscible and immiscible oil recovery, which can be further increased by increasing the amount of CO2 injected, applying innovative flood design and well placement, improving the mobility ratio, extending miscibility, and controlling reservoir depth and temperature. A 3-D numerical model was developed using the CO2-Prophet simulator to examine the effective factors in the CO2-EOR process. According to that, in pure CO2 injection, oil production generally exhibits increasing trends with increasing CO2 injection rate and volume (in HCPV (Hydrocarbon pore volume and reservoir temperature. In the WAG (Water alternating gas process, oil production generally increases with increasing CO2 and water injection rates, the total amount of flood injected in HCPV and the distance between the injection wells, and reduces with WAG flood ratio and initial reservoir pressure. Compared to other factors, the water injection rate creates the minimum influence on oil production, and the CO2 injection rate, flood volume and distance between the flood wells have almost equally important influence on oil production.

  13. Microbial consortia in Oman oil fields: a possible use in enhanced oil recovery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al-Bahry, Saif N; Elshafie, Abdulkader E; Al-Wahaibi, Yahya M; Al-Bemani, Ali S; Joshi, Sanket J; Al-Maaini, Ratiba A; Al-Alawi, Wafa J; Sugai, Yuichi; Al-Mandhari, Mussalam

    2013-01-01

    Microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) is one of the most economical and efficient methods for extending the life of production wells in a declining reservoir. Microbial consortia from Wafra oil wells and Suwaihat production water, Al-Wusta region, Oman were screened. Microbial consortia in brine samples were identified using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and 16S rRNA gene sequences. The detected microbial consortia of Wafra oil wells were completely different from microbial consortia of Suwaihat formation water. A total of 33 genera and 58 species were identified in Wafra oil wells and Suwaihat production water. All of the identified microbial genera were first reported in Oman, with Caminicella sporogenes for the first time reported from oil fields. Most of the identified microorganisms were found to be anaerobic, thermophilic, and halophilic, and produced biogases, biosolvants, and biosurfactants as by-products, which may be good candidates for MEOR.

  14. Prospects of Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery  in Danish chalk rocks

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rudyk, Svetlana Nikolayevna; Jørgensen, Leif Wagner; Bah Awasi, Ismail

      Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery (MEOR) uses bacteria, producing gas (CO2), polymers or surfactants to help recover residual oil after the water injection depletes its possibilities. Two strains of Clostridia tyrobutiricum were investigated as possible candidates for MEOR  implementation in Danish...

  15. Evaluation of Reservoir Wettability and its Effect on Oil Recovery; FINAL

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Buckley, Jill S.

    2002-01-01

    The objectives of this five-year project were: (1) to achieve improved understanding of the surface and interfacial properties of crude oils and their interactions with mineral surfaces, (2) to apply the results of surface studies to improve predictions of oil production from laboratory measurements, and (3) to use the results of this research to recommend ways to improve oil recovery by waterflooding

  16. In situ burning of oil in coastal marshes. 1. Vegetation recovery and soil temperature as a function of water depth, oil type, and marsh type.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Qianxin; Mendelssohn, Irving A; Bryner, Nelson P; Walton, William D

    2005-03-15

    In-situ burning of oiled wetlands potentially provides a cleanup technique that is generally consistent with present wetland management procedures. The effects of water depth (+10, +2, and -2 cm), oil type (crude and diesel), and oil penetration of sediment before the burn on the relationship between vegetation recovery and soil temperature for three coastal marsh types were investigated. The water depth over the soil surface during in-situ burning was a key factor controlling marsh plant recovery. Both the 10- and 2-cm water depths were sufficient to protect marsh vegetation from burning impacts, with surface soil temperatures of fire significantly impeded the post-burn recovery of Spartina alterniflora and Sagittaria lancifolia but did not detrimentally affect the recovery of Spartina patens and Distichlis spicata. Oil type (crude vs diesel) and oil applied to the marsh soil surface (0.5 L x m(-2)) before the burn did not significantly affect plant recovery. Thus, recovery is species-specific when no surface water exists. Even water at the soil surface will most likely protect wetland plants from burning impact.

  17. Pyrolysis Recovery of Waste Shipping Oil Using Microwave Heating

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wan Adibah Wan Mahari

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available This study investigated the use of microwave pyrolysis as a recovery method for waste shipping oil. The influence of different process temperatures on the yield and composition of the pyrolysis products was investigated. The use of microwave heating provided a fast heating rate (40 °C/min to heat the waste oil at 600 °C. The waste oil was pyrolyzed and decomposed to form products dominated by pyrolysis oil (up to 66 wt. % and smaller amounts of pyrolysis gases (24 wt. % and char residue (10 wt. %. The pyrolysis oil contained light C9–C30 hydrocarbons and was detected to have a calorific value of 47–48 MJ/kg which is close to those traditional liquid fuels derived from fossil fuel. The results show that microwave pyrolysis of waste shipping oil generated an oil product that could be used as a potential fuel.

  18. Response to heavy, non-floating oil spilled in a Great Lakes river environment: a multiple-lines-of-evidence approach for submerged oil assessment and recovery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dollhopf, Ralph H.; Fitzpatrick, Faith A.; Kimble, Jeffrey W.; Capone, Daniel M.; Graan, Thomas P.; Zelt, Ronald B.; Johnson, Rex

    2014-01-01

    The Enbridge Line 6B pipeline release of diluted bitumen into the Kalamazoo River downstream of Marshall, MI in July 2010 is one of the largest freshwater oil spills in North American history. The unprecedented scale of impact and massive quantity of oil released required the development and implementation of new approaches for detection and recovery. At the onset of cleanup, conventional recovery techniques were employed for the initially floating oil and were successful. However, volatilization of the lighter diluent, along with mixing of the oil with sediment during flooded, turbulent river conditions caused the oil to sink and collect in natural deposition areas in the river. For more than three years after the spill, recovery of submerged oil has remained the predominant operational focus of the response. The recovery complexities for submerged oil mixed with sediment in depositional areas and long-term oil sheening along approximately 38 miles of the Kalamazoo River led to the development of a multiple-lines-of-evidence approach comprising six major components: geomorphic mapping, field assessments of submerged oil (poling), systematic tracking and mapping of oil sheen, hydrodynamic and sediment transport modeling, forensic oil chemistry, and net environmental benefit analysis. The Federal On-Scene Coordinator (FOSC) considered this information in determining the appropriate course of action for each impacted segment of the river. New sources of heavy crude oils like diluted bitumen and increasing transportation of those oils require changes in the way emergency personnel respond to oil spills in the Great Lakes and other freshwater ecosystems. Strategies to recover heavy oils must consider that the oils may suspend or sink in the water column, mix with fine-grained sediment, and accumulate in depositional areas. Early understanding of the potential fate and behavior of diluted bitumen spills when combined with timely, strong conventional recovery methods can

  19. Pore-scale simulation of wettability and interfacial tension effects on flooding process for enhanced oil recovery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Jin; Wen, Dongsheng

    2017-08-27

    For enhanced oil recovery (EOR) applications, the oil/water flow characteristics during the flooding process was numerically investigated with the volume-of-fluid method at the pore scale. A two-dimensional pore throat-body connecting structure was established, and four scenarios were simulated in this paper. For oil-saturated pores, the wettability effect on the flooding process was studied; for oil-unsaturated pores, three effects were modelled to investigate the oil/water phase flow behaviors, namely the wettability effect, the interfacial tension (IFT) effect, and the combined wettability/IFT effect. The results show that oil saturated pores with the water-wet state can lead to 25-40% more oil recovery than with the oil-wet state, and the remaining oil mainly stays in the near wall region of the pore bodies for oil-wet saturated pores. For oil-unsaturated pores, the wettability effects on the flooding process can help oil to detach from the pore walls. By decreasing the oil/water interfacial tension and altering the wettability from oil-wet to water-wet state, the remaining oil recovery rate can be enhanced successfully. The wettability-IFT combined effect shows better EOR potential compared with decreasing the interfacial tension alone under the oil-wet condition. The simulation results in this work are consistent with previous experimental and molecular dynamics simulation conclusions. The combination effect of the IFT reducation and wettability alteration can become an important recovery mechanism in future studies for nanoparticles, surfactant, and nanoparticle-surfactant hybrid flooding process.

  20. An evaluation of known remaining oil resources in the state of Louisiana and Texas. Volume 3, Project on Advanced Oil Recovery and the States

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1994-11-01

    The Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission (IOGCC) has conducted a series of studies to evaluate the known, remaining oil resource in twenty-three (23) states. The primary objective of the IOGCC's effort is to examine the potential impact of an aggressive and focused program of research, development, and demonstration (RD ampersand D) and technology transfer on future oil recovery in the United States. As part of a larger effort by the IOGCC, this report focuses on the potential economic benefits of improved oil recovery in the states of Louisiana and Texas. Individual reports for six other oil producing states and a national report have been separately published. The analysis presented in this report is based on the databases and models available in the Tertiary Oil Recovery Information System (TORIS)

  1. Proficiency feasibility of multi-walled carbon nanotubes in the presence of polymeric surfactant on enhanced oil recovery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nezhad, Javad Razavi; Jafari, Arezou; Abdollahi, Mahdi

    2018-01-01

    Enhanced heavy oil recovery methods are widely utilized to increase oil recovery. For this purpose, polymer and surfactant flooding have been used extensively. Recently, polymeric surfactant flooding has become an attractive alternative to sole polymer flooding due to their capability of providing an increase in solution viscosity and a decrease in interfacial tension, which are both beneficial for efficiency of the process. Applying nanoparticles as an additive to polymer solutions is a method to improve viscosity and alter rock wettability. Therefore, in this research, multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) was mixed with a polymeric surfactant of polyacrylamide-graft-lignin copolymer (PAM-g-L) synthesized via radical grafting reaction. Moreover, several solutions with different concentrations of nanoparticles with PAM-g-L were prepared. The solutions were injected into a micromodel to evaluate the PAM-g-L flooding efficiency in presence of the multi-walled carbon nanotubes. The results of micromodel flooding showed that increasing MWCNT concentration results in lower sweep efficiencies; and consequently, oil production will decrease. Therefore, MWCNT along with PAM-g-L has an unacceptable performance in enhanced heavy oil recovery. But data of wettability tests revealed that MWCNT can change the wettability from oil-wet to water-wet. In addition, the combination of the PAM-g-L and MWCNT in a solution will cause more water-wet condition.

  2. Enhancement of recovery of residual oil using a biosurfactant slug ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Characterization of the biosurfactant extract revealed a mixture of glycolipid and phospholipid in a ratio of 3.35:1. The irreducible water saturation (Swi) and initial residual oil saturation (Sor) of the sand-pack were 0.280 ± 0.003 and 0.373 ± 0.006, respectively. Core flooding experiment showed that an optimum oil recovery ...

  3. Screening of microorganisms for microbial enhanced oil recovery processes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yonebayashi, H. [Japan National Oil Corp., Tokyo (Japan); Yoshida, S. [Japan Food Research Laboratiories, Tokyo (Japan). Div. of Microbiology; Ono, K. [Japan National Oil Corp., Chiba (Japan). Tech. Research Center; Enomoto, H. [Tohoku University, Sendai (Japan). Dept. of Geoscience and Tech.

    2000-01-01

    The objective of this study is to screen effective microorganisms for the Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery process (or simply as MEOR). Samples of drilling cuttings, formation water, and soil were collected from domestic drilling sites and oil fields. Moreover, samples of activated-sludge and compost were collected from domestic sewage treatment facility and food treatment facility. At first, microorganisms in samples were investigated by incubation with different media; then they were isolated. By two stage-screening based on metabolizing ability, 4 strains (Bacillus licheniformis TRC-18-2-a, Enterobacter cloacae TRC-322, Bacillus subtilis TRC-4118, and Bacillus subtilis TRC-4126) were isolated as effective microorganisms for oil recovery. B. licheniformis TRC-18-2-a is a multifunctional microorganism possessing excellent surfactant productivity, and in addition it has gas, acid and polymer productivities. E. cloacae TRC-332 has gas and acid producing abilities. B. subtilis TRC-4118 and TRC-4126 are effective biosurfactant producers, and they reduce the interfacial tension to 0.04 and 0.12 dyne/cm, respectively. (author)

  4. Perspective: Ecological recovery following the Exxon Valdez oil spill

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maki, A.W.

    1993-01-01

    A series of field and laboratory studies were designed to characterize the initial effects and subsequent rate of ecosystem recovery following the Exxon Valdez oil spill. These studies were organized within an ecological risk assessment framework wherein measurements of residual spill hydrocarbons from specific environmental compartments were correlated with observed biological effects for resident species and communities. This allowed an assessment of the likelihood of spill-related effects vs. effects of natural ecosystem variability. Measurement of polycyclic automatic hydrocarbons (PAH) were made from throughout the spill-affected area for water column, intertidal shoreline sediments and deep subtidal sediments. Data document the expected high levels of PAH in 1989 with rapid PAH decreases in following years from all compartments reflecting natural assimilation and dissipation via chemical, physical and biological processes. Parallel investigations of risks to biological resources representing major trophic levels were conducted to quantify recovery rates of spill impacted habitats and resident species. Results are summarized documenting respective recovery rates for key trophic levels including intertidal flora and fauna, benthic invertebrates and infauna, herring and salmon, shorebirds and colonial seabirds and sea otters. Quantitative data developed for these species support the conclusion that the effects of oil spills are largely short-term acute events, and the Prince William Sound recovery was well advanced by 1991

  5. An evaluation of known remaining oil resources in the state of Kansas: Project on advanced oil recovery and the states. Volume 4

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1993-11-01

    The Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission (IOGCC) has conducted a series of studies to evaluate the known, remaining oil resource in twenty-three (23) states. The primary objective of die IOGCC`s effort is to examine the potential impact of an aggressive and focused program of research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) and technology transfer on future oil recovery in the United States. As part of a larger effort by the IOGCC, this report focuses on the potential economic benefits of improved oil recovery in the state of Kansas. Individual reports for seven other oil producing states and a national report have been separately published by the IOGCC. Several major technical insights for state and Federal policymakers and regulators can be reached from this analysis. Overall, well abandonments and more stringent environmental regulations could limit economic access to the nation`s known, remaining oil resource. The high risk of near-term abandonment and the significant benefits of future application of improved oil recovery technoloy, clearly point to a need for more aggressive transfer of currently available technologies to domestic oil producers. Development and application of advanced oil recovery technologies could leave even greater benefits to the nation. A collaborative, focused RD&D effort, integrating the resources and expertise of industry, state and local governments, and the Federal government, is clearly warranted. With effective RD&D and a program of aggressive technology transfer to widely disseminate its results, Kansas oil production could be maximized. The resulting increase in production rates, employment, operator profits, state and Federal tax revenues, energy security will benefit the state of Kansas and the nation as a whole.

  6. An evaluation of known remaining oil resources in the state of Louisiana: Project on advanced oil recovery and the states. Volume 5

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1993-11-01

    The Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission (IOGCC) has conducted a series of studies to evaluate the known, remaining oil resource in twenty-three (23) states. The primary objective of die IOGCC`s effort is to examine the potential impact of an aggressive and focused program of research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) and technology transfer on future oil recovery in the United States. As part of a larger effort by the IOGCC, this report focuses on the potential economic benefits of improved oil recovery in the state of Louisiana. Individual reports for seven other oil producing states and a national report have been separately published by the IOGCC. Several major technical insights for state and Federal policymakers and regulators can be reached from this analysis. Overall, well abandonments and more stringent environmental regulations could limit economic access to the nation`s known, remaining oil resource. The high risk of near-term abandonment and the significant benefits of future application of improved oil recovery technoloy, clearly point to a need for more aggressive transfer of currently available technologies to domestic oil producers. Development and application of advanced oil recovery technologies could leave even greater benefits to the nation. A collaborative, focused RD&D effort, integrating the resources and expertise of industry, state and local governments, and the Federal government, is clearly warranted. With effective RD&D and a program of aggressive technology transfer to widely disseminate its results, Louisiana oil production could be maximized. The resulting increase and improvement in production rates, employment, operator profits, state and Federal tax revenues, energy security will benefit both the state of Louisiana and the nation as a whole.

  7. Rheological behaviour of hydrocolloids for oil recovery; Comportamento reologico de hidrocoloides para recuperacao de oleo

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Correia, Denise Z.; Franca, Francisca P. de; Mothe, Cheila G. [Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), RJ (Brazil). Escola de Quimica; Dutra, Eduardo S.S. [Pontificia Univ. Catolica do Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Naccache, Monica F. [Pontificia Univ. Catolica do Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil). Dept. de Engenharia Mecanica

    2004-07-01

    In crude oil extraction, water can be injected into the well (secondary oil recovery). The amount of the oil extracted decrease after some operation time. In order to improve the oil recovery, polymer flooding would subsequently be used (tertiary oil recovery). The aim of this work was to study the rheological behavior of polyacrylamide, xanthan gum, guar gum and their blends in seawater solutions, and the rheology of a crude oil. Dynamic measurements of the pure polymers (1000 ppm) and blends (2000 ppm) exhibited G' values lower than G'' in low frequencies, and inversion of G' and G'' curves in frequencies between 20 and 30 rad/s. The xanthan gum presented the greatest values of G' when compared to the other polymers, which means that its structure is more rigid. The oil showed G' values lower than G'' values in low and high frequencies of oscillation. Steady measurements revealed pseudoplastic behavior for polymers and Newtonian behavior for the oil. In shear rates around 10 s{sup -1}, polyacrylamide/xanthan blend would be the most appropriate for the extraction of the oil presented. (author)

  8. Feasibility of microbially improved oil recovery (MIOR) in Northern German oil reservoirs; Bakterien zur Erhoehung des Entoelungsgrades in norddeutschen Erdoellagerstaetten

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Amro, M. [Inst. fuer Erdoel- und Erdgasforschung, Clausthal-Zellerfeld (Germany); Kessel, D. [Inst. fuer Erdoel- und Erdgasforschung, Clausthal-Zellerfeld (Germany)

    1996-05-01

    The scope of this study was to investigate the feasibility of microbially improved oil recovery (MIOR) in Northern German oil reservoirs. Suitable bacterial strains had to be identified. The mechanisms for oil mobilization and incremental recovery had to be investigated. To this end, two independent methods were employed, namely static autoclave tests and dynamic flood experiments. The static tests were carried out without reservoir rock matrix to preselect suitable bacterial strains with a minimum of experimental effort. The selected strains were then tested in dynamic flood experiments under reservoir conditions on Bentheimer sandstone cores to quantify the oil recovery. Key results of the study are: (1) Two bacterial strains were found having excellent metabolic activity with potential for oil recovery under Northern German reservoir conditions. (2) These bacteria can be injected into and transported in the pores of the sandstone. (3) The metabolic activity of these bacteria leads to substantial incremental oil recovery in repeated injection - shut in - production cycles. (4) Incremental oil recovery is attributed to wettability change and biomass production by the metabolites of the bacteria. (orig.) [Deutsch] Das Ziel dieser Arbeit ist die Untersuchung der Anwendbarkeit der mikrobiell verbesserten Erdoelgewinnung in norddeutschen Lagerstaetten. Zunaechst waren hierfuer einsetzbare Bakterienstaemme zu identifizieren. Diese waren dann auf ihr Entoelungsvermoegen zu ueberpruefen. Schliesslich sollten die Entoelungsmechanismen ermittelt werden. Die Vorauswahl potentiell geeigneter Bakterienstaemme erfolgte durch verschiedene mikrobiologische Forschungsinstitute. Zur Minimierung des experimentellen Aufwands wurden diese Staemme dann im Institut fuer Erdoel- und Erdgasforschung in statischen Autoklavenversuchen unter Lagerstaettenbedingungen, jedoch noch ohne Lagerstaettengestein, auf ihre Stoffwechselaktivitaet sowie Art und Eigenschaften ihrer Stoffwechselprodukte

  9. Potential of wheat bran to promote indigenous microbial enhanced oil recovery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhan, Yali; Wang, Qinghong; Chen, Chunmao; Kim, Jung Bong; Zhang, Hongdan; Yoza, Brandon A; Li, Qing X

    2017-06-01

    Microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) is an emerging oil extraction technology that utilizes microorganisms to facilitate recovery of crude oil in depleted petroleum reservoirs. In the present study, effects of wheat bran utilization were investigated on stimulation of indigenous MEOR. Biostimulation conditions were optimized with the response surface methodology. The co-application of wheat bran with KNO 3 and NH 4 H 2 PO 4 significantly promoted indigenous MEOR (IMEOR) and exhibited sequential aerobic (O-), facultative (A n -) and anaerobic (A 0 -) metabolic stages. The surface tension of fermented broth decreased by approximately 35%, and the crude oil was highly emulsified. Microbial community structure varied largely among and in different IMEOR metabolic stages. Pseudomonas sp., Citrobacter sp., and uncultured Burkholderia sp. dominated the O-, A n - and early A 0 -stages. Bacillus sp., Achromobacter sp., Rhizobiales sp., Alcaligenes sp. and Clostridium sp. dominated the later A 0 -stage. This study illustrated occurrences of microbial community succession driven by wheat bran stimulation and its industrial potential.

  10. Microbial enhancement of oil recovery: Recent advances. Proceedings

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Premuzic, E.T.; Woodhead, A.D.; Vivirito, K.J. [eds.

    1992-12-31

    During recent years, systematic, scientific, and engineering effort by researchers in the United States and abroad, has established the scientific basis for Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery (MEOR) technology. The successful application of MEOR technology as an oil recovery process is a goal of the Department of Energy (DOE). Research efforts involving aspects of MEOR in the microbiological, biochemical, and engineering fields led DOE to sponsor an International Conference at Brookhaven National Laboratory in 1992, to facilitate the exchange of information and a discussion of ideas for the future research emphasis. At this, the Fourth International MEOR Conference, where international attendees from 12 countries presented a total of 35 papers, participants saw an equal distribution between ``research`` and ``field applications.`` In addition, several modeling and ``state-of-the-art`` presentations summed up the present status of MEOR science and engineering. Individual papers in this proceedings have been process separately for inclusion in the Energy Science and Technology Database.

  11. An evaluation of known remaining oil resources in the state of Kansas and Oklahoma. Volume 5, Project on Advanced Oil Recovery and the States

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1994-11-01

    The Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission (IOGCC) has conducted a series of studies to evaluate the known, remaining oil resource in twenty-three (23) states. The primary objective of the IOGCC's effort is to examine the potential impact of an aggressive and focused program of research, development, and demonstration (RD ampersand D) and technology transfer on future oil recovery in the United States. As part of a larger effort by the IOGCC, this report focuses on the potential economic benefits of improved oil recovery in the states of Kansas, Illinois and Oklahoma for five other oil producing states and a national report have been separately published by the IOGCC. The analysis presented in this report is based on the databases and models available in the Tertiary Oil Recovery Information System (TORIS). Overall, well abandonments and more stringent environmental regulations could limit economic access to Kansas' known, remaining oil resource. The high risk of near-term abandonment and the significant benefits of future application of improved oil recovery technology, clearly point to a need for more aggressive transfer of currently available technologies to domestic oil producers. Development and application of advanced oil recovery technologies could have even greater benefits to the state and the nation. A collaborative, focused RD ampersand D effort, integrating the resources and expertise of industry, state and local governments, and the Federal government, is clearly warranted. With effective RD ampersand D and a program of aggressive technology transfer to widely disseminate its results, oil production could be maximized. The resulting increase in production rates, employment, operator profits, state and Federal tax revenues, and energy security will benefit both the state of Kansas, Illinois and Oklahoma and the nation as a whole

  12. Potential of Russian Regions to Implement CO2-Enhanced Oil Recovery

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alexey Cherepovitsyn

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available The paper assesses the techno-economic potential of Russia to implement carbon capture and storage technologies that imply the capture of anthropogenic CO2 and its injection into geologic reservoirs for long-term storage. The focus is on CO2 enhanced oil recovery projects that seem to be the most economically promising option of carbon capture and storage. The novelty of the work lies in the formulation of a potential assessment method of CO2 enhanced oil recovery, which allows for establishing a connection between energy production and oil extraction from the viewpoint of CO2 supply and demand. Using linear optimization, the most promising combinations of CO2 sources and sinks are identified and an economic evaluation of these projects is carried out. Based on this information, regions of Russia are ranked according to their prospects in regards to CO2 capture and enhanced oil recovery storage. The results indicate that Russia has a significant potential to utilize its power plants as CO2 sources for enhanced oil recovery projects. It has been estimated that 71 coal-fired power plants, and 185 of the gas-fired power plants of Russia annually produce 297.1 and 309.6 Mt of CO2 that can cover 553.4 Mt of the demand of 322 Russian oil fields. At the same time, the total CO2 storage capacity of the Russian fields is estimated at 7382.6 Mt, however, due to geological and technical factors, only 22.6% can be used for CO2-EOR projects. Of the 183 potential projects identified in the regional analysis phase, 99 were found to be cost-effective, with an average unit cost of € 19.07 per ton of CO2 and a payback period of 8.71 years. The most promising of the estimated regions is characterized by a well-developed energy industry, relatively low transportation costs, numerous large and medium-sized oil fields at the final stages of development, and favorable geological conditions that minimize the cost of injection. Geographically, they are located in the

  13. An evaluation of known remaining oil resources in the United States: Project on advanced oil recovery and the states. Volume 1

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1994-10-01

    The Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission (IOGCC) has conducted a series of studies to evaluate the known, remaining oil resource in twenty-three (23) states. The primary objective of the IOGCC's effort is to examine the potential impact of an aggressive and focused program of research, development, and demonstration (RD ampersand D) and technology transfer on future oil recovery in the United States. As part of a larger effort by the IOGCC, this report focuses on the potential economic, social, and political benefits of improved oil recovery to the nation as a whole. Individual reports for major oil producing states have been separately published. The individual state reports include California, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and Wyoming. The analysis presented in this report is based on the databases and models available in the Tertiary Oil Recovery Information System (TORIS). TORIS is a tested and verified system maintained and operated by the Department of Energy's Bartlesville Project Office. The TORTS system was used to evaluate over 2,300 major reservoirs in a consistent manner and on an individual basis, the results of which have been aggregated to arrive at the national total

  14. A review on applications of nanotechnology in the enhanced oil recovery part A: effects of nanoparticles on interfacial tension

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheraghian, Goshtasp; Hendraningrat, Luky

    2016-01-01

    Chemical enhanced oil recovery is another strong growing technology with the potential of a step change innovation, which will help to secure future oil supply by turning resources into reserves. While Substantial amount of crude oil remains in the reservoir after primary and secondary production, conventional production methods give access to on average only one-third of original oil in place, the use of surfactants and polymers allows for recovery of up to another third of this oil. Chemical flooding is of increasing interest and importance due to high oil prices and the need to increase oil production. Research in nanotechnology in the petroleum industry is advancing rapidly and an enormous progress in the application of nanotechnology in this area is to be expected. Nanotechnology has the potential to profoundly change enhanced oil recovery and to improve mechanism of recovery. This paper, therefore, focuses on the reviews of the application of nano technology in chemical flooding process in oil recovery and reviews the application nano in the polymer and surfactant flooding on the interfacial tension process.

  15. A study of the effects of enhanced oil recovery agents on the quality of Strategic Petroleum Reserves crude oil. [Physical and chemical interactions of Enhanced Oil Recovery reagents with hydrocarbons present in petroleum

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kabadi, V.N.

    1992-10-01

    The project was initiated on September 1, 1990. The objective of the project was to carry out a literature search to estimate the types and extents of long time interactions of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) agents, such as surfactants, caustics and polymers, with crude oil. This information is necessary to make recommendations about mixing EOR crude oil with crude oils from primary and secondary recovery processes in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). Data were sought on both adverse and beneficial effects of EOR agents that would impact handling, transportation and refining of crude oil. An extensive literature search has been completed, and the following informations has been compiled: (1) a listing of existing EOR test and field projects; (2) a listing of currently used EOR agents; and (3) evidence of short and long term physical and chemical interactions of these EOR-agents with hydrocarbons, and their effects on the quality of crude oil at long times. This information is presented in this report. Finally some conclusions are derived and recommendations are made. Although the conclusions are based mostly on extrapolations because of lack of specific data, it is recommended that the enhancement of the rates of biodegradation of oil catalyzed by the EOR agents needs to be further studied. There is no evidence of substantial long term effects on crude oil because of other interactions. Some recommendations are also made regarding the types of studies that would be necessary to determine the effect of certain EOR agents on the rates of biodegradation of crude oil.

  16. Application of Sodium Ligno Sulphonate as Surfactant in Enhanced Oil Recovery and Its Feasibility Test for TPN 008 Oil

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prakoso, N. I.; Rochmadi; Purwono, S.

    2018-04-01

    One of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) methods is using surfactants to reduce the interfacial tension between the injected fluid and the oil in old reservoir. The most important principle in enhanced oil recovery process is the dynamic interaction of surfactants with crude oil. Sodium ligno sulphonate (SLS) is a commercial surfactant and already synthesized from palm solid waste by another researcher. This work aimed to apply SLS as a surfactant for EOR especially in TPN 008 oil from Pertamina Indonesia. In its application as an EOR’s surfactant, SLS shall be passed feasibility test like IFT, thermal stability, compatibility, filtration, molecular weight, density, viscosity and pH tests. The feasibility test is very important for a preliminary test prior to another advanced test. The results demonstrated that 1% SLS solution in formation water (TPN 008) had 0.254 mN/M IFT value and was also great in thermal stability, compatibility, filtration, molecular weight, viscosity and pH test.

  17. Lithium niobate ultrasonic transducer design for Enhanced Oil Recovery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Zhenjun; Xu, Yuanming; Gu, Yuting

    2015-11-01

    Due to the strong piezoelectric effect possessed by lithium niobate, a new idea that uses lithium niobate to design high-power ultrasonic transducer for Enhanced Oil Recovery technology is proposed. The purpose of this paper is to lay the foundation for the further research and development of high-power ultrasonic oil production technique. The main contents of this paper are as follows: firstly, structure design technique and application of a new high-power ultrasonic transducer are introduced; secondly, the experiment for reducing the viscosity of super heavy oil by this transducer is done, the optimum ultrasonic parameters for reducing the viscosity of super heavy oil are given. Experimental results show that heavy large molecules in super heavy oil can be cracked into light hydrocarbon substances under strong cavitation effect caused by high-intensity ultrasonic wave. Experiment proves that it is indeed feasible to design high-power ultrasonic transducer for ultrasonic oil production technology using lithium niobate. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  18. Investigation on Mechanisms of Polymer Enhanced Oil Recovery by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and Microscopic Theoretical Analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ji-Cheng, Zhang; Kao-Ping, Song; Er-Long, Yang; Li, Liu

    2008-01-01

    Polymer flooding is an efficient technique to enhance oil recovery over water flooding. There are lots of discussions regarding the mechanisms for polymer flooding enhancing oil recovery. The main focus is whether polymer flooding can increase sweep efficiency alone, or can increase both of sweep efficiency and displacement efficiency. We present a study on this problem. Oil displacement experiments on 4 natural cores show that polymer flooding can increase oil recovery efficiency by more than 12% over water. Moreover, photos are taken by the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) method both after water flooding and after polymer flooding, which show remaining oil saturation distribution at the middle cross section and the central longitudinal section. Analyses of these photos demonstrate that polymer flooding can increase both sweep efficiency and displacement efficiency. (fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications))

  19. Potential Mississippi oil recovery and economic impact from CO2 miscible flooding

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moring, J.A.; Rogers, R.E.

    1991-01-01

    Maturing of Mississippi oil reservoirs has resulted in a steady decline in crude oil production in the state. This paper reports that, to evaluate the potential of enhanced recovery processes, particularly in the use of the state's large CO 2 reserves, for arresting this trend, the subject study was performed. A computer data base of over 1315 Mississippi reservoirs was established. All reservoirs were screened for applicability of the carbon dioxide miscible process. With models developed by the National Petroleum Council and DOE, incremental oil that could be produced from the carbon dioxide miscible process was calculated. Under selected economic conditions, carbon dioxide miscible flooding with utilization of carbon dioxide from the state's Norphlet formation (3-7 tcf reserves of high-purity CO 2 ) could produce 120 million barrels of incremental oil in Mississippi. Incremental state revenues as a consequence of this production were calculated to be $45 million of severance taxes, $50 million of corporate income taxes, and $60 million of royalty payments, expressed as present values

  20. SOLVENT-BASED ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY PROCESSES TO DEVELOP WEST SAK ALASKA NORTH SLOPE HEAVY OIL RESOURCES

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    David O. Ogbe; Tao Zhu

    2004-01-01

    A one-year research program is conducted to evaluate the feasibility of applying solvent-based enhanced oil recovery processes to develop West Sak and Ugnu heavy oil resources found on the Alaska North Slope (ANS). The project objective is to conduct research to develop technology to produce and market the 300-3000 cp oil in the West Sak and Ugnu sands. During the first phase of the research, background information was collected, and experimental and numerical studies of vapor extraction process (VAPEX) in West Sak and Ugnu are conducted. The experimental study is designed to foster understanding of the processes governing vapor chamber formation and growth, and to optimize oil recovery. A specially designed core-holder and a computed tomography (CT) scanner was used to measure the in-situ distribution of phases. Numerical simulation study of VAPEX was initiated during the first year. The numerical work completed during this period includes setting up a numerical model and using the analog data to simulate lab experiments of the VAPEX process. The goal was to understand the mechanisms governing the VAPEX process. Additional work is recommended to expand the VAPEX numerical study using actual field data obtained from Alaska North Slope.

  1. An evaluation of known remaining oil resources in the state of New Mexico and Wyoming. Volume 4, Project on Advanced Oil Recovery and the States

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1994-11-01

    The Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission (IOGCC) has conducted a series of studies to evaluate the known, remaining oil resource in twenty-three (23) states. The primary objective of the IOGCC's effort is to examine the potential impact of an aggressive and focused program of research, development, and demonstration (RD ampersand D) and technology transfer on future oil recovery in the United States. As part of a larger effort by the IOGCC, this report focuses on the potential economic benefits of improved oil recovery in the states of New Mexico and Wyoming. Individual reports for six other oil producing states and a national report have been separately published by the IOGCC. The analysis presented in this report is based on the databases and models available in the Tertiary Oil Recovery Information System (TORIS). Overall, well abandonments and more stringent environmental regulations could limit economic access to New Mexico's known, remaining oil resource. The high risk of near-term abandonment and the significant benefits of future application of improved oil recovery technology, clearly point to a need for more aggressive transfer of currently available technologies to domestic oil producers. Development and application of advanced oil recovery technologies could have even greater benefits to the state and the nation. A collaborative, focused RD ampersand D effort, integrating the resources and expertise of industry, state and local governments, and the Federal government, is clearly warranted. With effective RD ampersand D and a program of aggressive technology transfer to widely disseminate its results, oil production could be maximized. The resulting increase in production rates, employment, operator profits, state and Federal tax revenues, and energy security will benefit both the states of New Mexico and Wyoming and the nation as a whole

  2. Bridging the Gap between Chemical Flooding and Independent Oil Producers

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stan McCool; Tony Walton; Paul Whillhite; Mark Ballard; Miguel Rondon; Kaixu Song; Zhijun Liu; Shahab Ahmed; Peter Senior

    2012-03-31

    Ten Kanas oil reservoirs/leases were studied through geological and engineering analysis to assess the potential performance of chemical flooding to recover oil. Reservoirs/leases that have been efficiently waterflooded have the highest performance potential for chemical flooding. Laboratory work to identify efficient chemical systems and to test the oil recovery performance of the systems was the major effort of the project. Efficient chemical systems were identified for crude oils from nine of the reservoirs/leases. Oil recovery performance of the identified chemical systems in Berea sandstone rocks showed 90+ % recoveries of waterflood residual oil for seven crude oils. Oil recoveries increased with the amount of chemical injected. Recoveries were less in Indiana limestone cores. One formulation recovered 80% of the tertiary oil in the limestone rock. Geological studies for nine of the oil reservoirs are presented. Pleasant Prairie, Trembley, Vinland and Stewart Oilfields in Kansas were the most favorable of the studied reservoirs for a pilot chemical flood from geological considerations. Computer simulations of the performance of a laboratory coreflood were used to predict a field application of chemical flooding for the Trembley Oilfield. Estimates of field applications indicated chemical flooding is an economically viable technology for oil recovery.

  3. DEVELOPMENT OF MICROORGANISMS WITH IMPROVED TRANSPORT AND BIOSURFACTANT ACTIVITY FOR ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    M.J. McInerney; N. Youssef; T. Fincher; S.K. Maudgalya; M.J. Folmsbee; R. Knapp; D. Nagle

    2004-05-31

    Diverse microorganisms were screened for biosurfactant production and anaerobic growth at elevated salt concentrations to obtain candidates most suitable for microbial oil recovery. Seventy percent of the 205 strains tested, mostly strains of Bacillus mojavensis, Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus licheniformis, and Bacillus sonorensis, produced biosurfactants aerobically and 41% of the strains had biosurfactant activity greater than Bacillus mojavensis JF-2, the current candidate for oil recovery. Biosurfactant activity varied with the percentage of the 3-hydroxy-tetradecanoate isomers in the fatty acid portion of the biosurfactant. Changing the medium composition by incorporation of different precursors of 3-hydroxy tetradecanoate increased the activity of biosurfactant. The surface tension and critical micelle concentration of 15 different, biosurfactant-producing Bacillus strains was determined individually and in combination with other biosurfactants. Some biosurfactant mixtures were found to have synergistic effect on surface tension (e.g. surface tension was lowered from 41 to 31 mN/m in some cases) while others had a synergistic effect on CMD-1 values. We compared the transport abilities of spores from three Bacillus strains using a model porous system to study spore recovery and transport. Sand-packed columns were used to select for spores or cells with the best transport abilities through brine-saturated sand. Spores of Bacillus mojavensis strains JF-2 and ROB-2 and a natural recombinant, strain C-9, transported through sand at very high efficiencies. The earliest cells/spores that emerged from the column were re-grown, allowed to sporulate, and applied to a second column. This procedure greatly enhanced the transport of strain C-9. Spores with enhanced transport abilities can be easily obtained and that the preparation of inocula for use in MEOR is feasible. Tertiary oil recovery experiments showed that 10 to 40 mg/l of JF-2 biosurfactant in the presence of 0

  4. Research and Application of Radiation Processed Polymers to Enhance Oil Recovery in Petroleum Industry - Current Status and Prospects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Le Hai; Nguyen Trong Hoanh Phong; Le Van Toan; Nguyen Ly Lan; Nguyen Tan Man; Le Dinh Lang; Nguyen Van Toan; Pham Anh Tuan

    2011-01-01

    The preparation of polymers for enhanced oil recovery has been carried out by radiation copolymerization method involving two monomers of acrylamide and N-vinyl-2- pyrrolidone, and N-methylpyrrolidone used as an anti-gel agent. The properties and oil recovery efficiency of polymer solution was discussed. The studied polymer dissolved in water and in saline water. They have non-precipitating behavior in hard brines at high temperature (>120 o C) and their viscosity decreased 20% after heating 30 days at 120 o C. Evaluation of oil recovery efficiency has been carried out at Laboratory model of reservoir of oil wells were submerged, the obtained results shown that the recovery yield of oil enhanced higher than 10% in the reservoir temperature and pressure conditions. The experimental results also shown that studied polymer products are applying in effect for submerged oil wells. These studied polymers have been being planned for application in pilot scale on the White Tiger oil field one of the big oil fields in this country. (author)

  5. Microbial enhanced heavy oil recovery by the aid of inhabitant spore-forming bacteria: an insight review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shibulal, Biji; Al-Bahry, Saif N; Al-Wahaibi, Yahya M; Elshafie, Abdulkader E; Al-Bemani, Ali S; Joshi, Sanket J

    2014-01-01

    Crude oil is the major source of energy worldwide being exploited as a source of economy, including Oman. As the price of crude oil increases and crude oil reserves collapse, exploitation of oil resources in mature reservoirs is essential for meeting future energy demands. As conventional recovery methods currently used have become less efficient for the needs, there is a continuous demand of developing a new technology which helps in the upgradation of heavy crude oil. Microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) is an important tertiary oil recovery method which is cost-effective and eco-friendly technology to drive the residual oil trapped in the reservoirs. The potential of microorganisms to degrade heavy crude oil to reduce viscosity is considered to be very effective in MEOR. Earlier studies of MEOR (1950s) were based on three broad areas: injection, dispersion, and propagation of microorganisms in petroleum reservoirs; selective degradation of oil components to improve flow characteristics; and production of metabolites by microorganisms and their effects. Since thermophilic spore-forming bacteria can thrive in very extreme conditions in oil reservoirs, they are the most suitable organisms for the purpose. This paper contains the review of work done with thermophilic spore-forming bacteria by different researchers.

  6. Microbial Enhanced Heavy Oil Recovery by the Aid of Inhabitant Spore-Forming Bacteria: An Insight Review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Biji Shibulal

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Crude oil is the major source of energy worldwide being exploited as a source of economy, including Oman. As the price of crude oil increases and crude oil reserves collapse, exploitation of oil resources in mature reservoirs is essential for meeting future energy demands. As conventional recovery methods currently used have become less efficient for the needs, there is a continuous demand of developing a new technology which helps in the upgradation of heavy crude oil. Microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR is an important tertiary oil recovery method which is cost-effective and eco-friendly technology to drive the residual oil trapped in the reservoirs. The potential of microorganisms to degrade heavy crude oil to reduce viscosity is considered to be very effective in MEOR. Earlier studies of MEOR (1950s were based on three broad areas: injection, dispersion, and propagation of microorganisms in petroleum reservoirs; selective degradation of oil components to improve flow characteristics; and production of metabolites by microorganisms and their effects. Since thermophilic spore-forming bacteria can thrive in very extreme conditions in oil reservoirs, they are the most suitable organisms for the purpose. This paper contains the review of work done with thermophilic spore-forming bacteria by different researchers.

  7. Comblike Polyacrylamides as Flooding Agent in Enhanced Oil Recovery

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wever, Diego A. Z.; Picchioni, Francesco; Broekhuis, Antonius A.

    2013-01-01

    The oil recovery from core material and a specifically designed flow cell using novel branched (comblike) polyacrylamides (PAM) has been investigated. The injectivity characteristics of the different branched PAMs were evaluated by filtration tests and core-flow experiments. The number of arms of

  8. A Network Model for the Kinetics of Bioclogged Flow Diversion for Enhanced Oil Recovery

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lopez Pena, L.A.; Meulenbroek, B.J.; Vermolen, F.J.

    2016-01-01

    After the primary extraction in oil reservoirs up to 60 % of the oil remains trapped in the reservoir (Sen, 2008). Therefore, different mechanisms have been developed to get the oil out to the reservoir. One of these techniques is Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery (MEOR) which is a technique used

  9. Impact of innovations on future energy supply - chemical enhanced oil recovery (CEOR).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bittner, Christian

    2013-01-01

    The International Energy Agency (IEA) expects an increase of global energy demand by one-third during next 20 years together with a change in the global energy mix. A key-influencing factor is a strong expected increase in oil and gas production in the United States driven by 'new' technologies such as hydraulic fracturing. Chemical enhanced oil recovery (CEOR) is another strong growing technology with the potential of a step change innovation, which will help to secure future oil supply by turning resources into reserves. While conventional production methods give access to on average only one-third of original oil in place, the use of surfactants and polymers allows for recovery of up to another third of this oil. In the case of polymer flooding with poly acrylamide, the number of full field implementations has increased in recent years. In the meantime new polymers have been developed to cover previously unmet needs - such polymers can be applied in fields of high salinity and high temperature. Use of surfactants is in an earlier stage, but pilot tests show promising results.

  10. Activities of the Oil Implementation Task Force, reporting period March--August 1991; Contracts for field projects and supporting research on enhanced oil recovery, reporting period October--December 1990

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1991-10-01

    Activities of DOE's Oil Implementation Task Force for the period March--August 1991 are reviewed. Contracts for fields projects and supporting research on enhanced oil recovery are discussed, with a list of related publications given. Enhanced recovery processes covered include chemical flooding, gas displacement, thermal recovery, and microbial recovery.

  11. Investigating the influence of pressure and temperature on malaysian crude oil density and viscosity for improved recovery

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zahoor, M.K.; Derahman, M.N.

    2012-01-01

    Malaysia has great potential as a crude oil or fossil fuel producing country. To increase oil production, behavior of Malaysian Crude Oil has been analyzed with reference to temperature and pressure variations. The effect of these parameters on crude oil density and viscosity has been observed, to select the methodology to be adopted for increases recovery by implementing enhanced oil recovery (EOR) project. Based on this study it has been decided to further explore the feasibility of increasing reservoir pressure. (author)

  12. Microbial processes in the Athabasca Oil Sands and their potential applications in microbial enhanced oil recovery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harner, N K; Richardson, T L; Thompson, K A; Best, R J; Best, A S; Trevors, J T

    2011-11-01

    The Athabasca Oil Sands are located within the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin, which covers over 140,200 km(2) of land in Alberta, Canada. The oil sands provide a unique environment for bacteria as a result of the stressors of low water availability and high hydrocarbon concentrations. Understanding the mechanisms bacteria use to tolerate these stresses may aid in our understanding of how hydrocarbon degradation has occurred over geological time, and how these processes and related tolerance mechanisms may be used in biotechnology applications such as microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR). The majority of research has focused on microbiology processes in oil reservoirs and oilfields; as such there is a paucity of information specific to oil sands. By studying microbial processes in oil sands there is the potential to use microbes in MEOR applications. This article reviews the microbiology of the Athabasca Oil Sands and the mechanisms bacteria use to tolerate low water and high hydrocarbon availability in oil reservoirs and oilfields, and potential applications in MEOR.

  13. Coal fired steam generation for heavy oil recovery

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Firmin, K.

    1992-01-01

    In Alberta, some 21,000 m 3 /d of heavy oil and bitumen are produced by in-situ recovery methods involving steam injection. The steam generation requirement is met by standardized natural-gas-fired steam generators. While gas is in plentiful supply in Alberta and therefore competitively priced, significant gas price increases could occur in the future. A 1985 study investigating the alternatives to natural gas as a fuel for steam generation concluded that coal was the most economic alternative, as reserves of subbituminous coal are not only abundant in Alberta but also located relatively close to heavy oil and bitumen production areas. The environmental performance of coal is critical to its acceptance as an alternate fuel to natural gas, and proposed steam generator designs which could burn Alberta coal and control emissions satisfactorily are assessed. Considerations for ash removal, sulfur dioxide sorption, nitrogen oxides control, and particulate emission capture are also presented. A multi-stage slagging type of coal-fired combustor has been developed which is suitable for application with oilfield steam generators and is being commissioned for a demonstration project at the Cold Lake deposit. An economic study showed that the use of coal for steam generation in heavy oil in-situ projects in the Peace River and Cold Lake areas would be economic, compared to natural gas, at fuel price projections and design/cost premises for a project timing in the mid-1990s. 7 figs., 3 tabs

  14. Year-one recovery of an intermediate marsh in south Louisiana after an in-situ burn for oil spill remediation. Volume 1

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baustian, J.J.; Mendelssohn, I.A.; Lin, Q.; Rapp, J.; Myers, J.

    2007-01-01

    This study examined the recovery of an intermediate marsh in south Louisiana following an oil spill caused by a storage tank that ruptured during Hurricane Katrina. In situ burning of the oil spill was shown to be a successful form of cleanup that did not cause extensive physical damage to the marsh. The burn plan and execution of the burn was described, with particular focus on vegetation recovery in 28 recovery plots. Plots were monitored for aboveground biomass, plant height and stem density. The study showed that when done properly, in-situ burning eliminates oil from the marsh while combusting the oiled aboveground vegetation, leaving the belowground portions of the plant unharmed. Burns performed with as little as 2 cm of water on the marsh surface can buffer the root zone from the burn and increase plant survival. In this study, the structural and functional attributes of burned areas that were heavily and moderately oil were compared to 2 unburned and unoiled reference marshes. Within 9 months of the in situ burn, the above ground vegetation in the marsh had completely recovered. The burn adequately removed the oiled vegetation and allowed for the natural regrowth of the marsh vegetation. 27 refs., 2 tabs., 2 figs

  15. Characterization of oil and gas reservoirs and recovery technology deployment on Texas State Lands

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tyler, R.; Major, R.P.; Holtz, M.H. [Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States)] [and others

    1997-08-01

    Texas State Lands oil and gas resources are estimated at 1.6 BSTB of remaining mobile oil, 2.1 BSTB, or residual oil, and nearly 10 Tcf of remaining gas. An integrated, detailed geologic and engineering characterization of Texas State Lands has created quantitative descriptions of the oil and gas reservoirs, resulting in delineation of untapped, bypassed compartments and zones of remaining oil and gas. On Texas State Lands, the knowledge gained from such interpretative, quantitative reservoir descriptions has been the basis for designing optimized recovery strategies, including well deepening, recompletions, workovers, targeted infill drilling, injection profile modification, and waterflood optimization. The State of Texas Advanced Resource Recovery program is currently evaluating oil and gas fields along the Gulf Coast (South Copano Bay and Umbrella Point fields) and in the Permian Basin (Keystone East, Ozona, Geraldine Ford and Ford West fields). The program is grounded in advanced reservoir characterization techniques that define the residence of unrecovered oil and gas remaining in select State Land reservoirs. Integral to the program is collaboration with operators in order to deploy advanced reservoir exploitation and management plans. These plans are made on the basis of a thorough understanding of internal reservoir architecture and its controls on remaining oil and gas distribution. Continued accurate, detailed Texas State Lands reservoir description and characterization will ensure deployment of the most current and economically viable recovery technologies and strategies available.

  16. Sonochemical approaches to enhanced oil recovery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abramov, Vladimir O; Abramova, Anna V; Bayazitov, Vadim M; Altunina, Lyubov K; Gerasin, Artyom S; Pashin, Dmitriy M; Mason, Timothy J

    2015-07-01

    Oil production from wells reduces with time and the well becomes uneconomic unless enhanced oil recovery (EOR) methods are applied. There are a number of methods currently available and each has specific advantages and disadvantages depending on conditions. Currently there is a big demand for new or improved technologies in this field, the hope is that these might also be applicable to wells which have already been the subject of EOR. The sonochemical method of EOR is one of the most promising methods and is important in that it can also be applied for the treatment of horizontal wells. The present article reports the theoretical background of the developed sonochemical technology for EOR in horizontal wells; describes the requirements to the equipment needed to embody the technology. The results of the first field tests of the technology are reported. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  17. Isolation, identification and characterization of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens BZ-6, a bacterial isolate for enhancing oil recovery from oily sludge.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Wuxing; Wang, Xiaobing; Wu, Longhua; Chen, Mengfang; Tu, Chen; Luo, Yongming; Christie, Peter

    2012-06-01

    Over 100 biosurfactant-producing microorganisms were isolated from oily sludge and petroleum-contaminated soil from Shengli oil field in north China. Sixteen of the bacterial isolates produced biosurfactants and reduced the surface tension of the growth medium from 71 to treat oily sludge and the recovery efficiencies of oil from oily sludge were determined. The oil recovery efficiencies of different isolates ranged from 39% to 88%. Bacterial isolate BZ-6 was found to be the most efficient strain and the three phases (oil, water and sediment) were separated automatically after the sludge was treated with the culture medium of BZ-6. Based on morphological, physiological characteristics and molecular identification, isolate BZ-6 was identified as Bacillus amyloliquefaciens. The biosurfactant produced by isolate BZ-6 was purified and analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry. There were four ion peaks representing four different fengycin A homologues. Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  18. CO2 Enhanced Oil Recovery from the Residual Zone - A Sustainable Vision for North Sea Oil Production

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stewart, Jamie; Haszeldine, Stuart; Wilkinson, Mark; Johnson, Gareth

    2014-05-01

    This paper presents a 'new vision for North Sea oil production' where previously unattainable residual oil can be produced with the injection of CO2 that has been captured at power stations or other large industrial emitters. Not only could this process produce incremental oil from a maturing basin, reducing imports, it also has the capability to store large volumes of CO2 which can offset the emissions of additional carbon produced. Around the world oil production from mature basins is in decline and production from UK oil fields peaked in 1998. Other basins around the world have a similar story. Although in the UK a number of tax regimes, such as 'brown field allowances' and 'new field allowances' have been put in place to re-encourage investment, it is recognised that the majority of large discoveries have already been made. However, as a nation our demand for oil remains high and in the last decade imports of crude oil have been steadily increasing. The UK is dependent on crude oil for transport and feedstock for chemical and plastics production. Combined with the necessity to provide energy security, there is a demand to re-assess the potential for CO2 Enhanced Oil Recovery (CO2-EOR) in the UK offshore. Residual oil zones (ROZ) exist where one of a number of natural conditions beyond normal capillary forces have caused the geometry of a field's oil column to be altered after filling [1]. When this re-structuring happens the primary interest to the hydrocarbon industry has in the past been in where the mobile oil has migrated to. However it is now considered that significant oil resource may exist in the residual zone play where the main oil column has been displaced. Saturations within this play are predominantly close to residual saturation (Sr) and would be similar to that of a water-flooded field [2]. Evidence from a number of hydrocarbon fairways shows that, under certain circumstances, these residual zones in US fields are comparable in thickness to the

  19. Isolation and Characterization of Biosurfactant Producing Bacteria for the Application in Enhanced Oil Recovery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prasad, Niraj; Dasgupta, Sumita; Chakraborty, Mousumi; Gupta, Smita

    2017-07-01

    In the present study, a biosurfactant producing bacterial strain was isolated, screened and identified. Further, various fermentation conditions (such as pH (5-10), incubation period (24-96h) and incubation temperature (20-60 °C) were optimized for maximum production of biosurfactant. The produced biosurfactant was characterized by measuring emulsification index, foaming characteristics, rhamnolipid detection, interfacial tension between water and oil and stability against pH and temperature for its potential application in oil recovery process. The additional oil recovery for two different sand, sand1 and sand2, was found to be 49% and 38%, respectively.

  20. Reactive Transport Modeling of Microbe-mediated Fe (II) Oxidation for Enhanced Oil Recovery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Surasani, V.; Li, L.

    2011-12-01

    Microbially Enhanced Oil Recovery (MEOR) aims to improve the recovery of entrapped heavy oil in depleted reservoirs using microbe-based technology. Reservoir ecosystems often contain diverse microbial communities those can interact with subsurface fluids and minerals through a network of nutrients and energy fluxes. Microbe-mediated reactions products include gases, biosurfactants, biopolymers those can alter the properties of oil and interfacial interactions between oil, brine, and rocks. In addition, the produced biomass and mineral precipitates can change the reservoir permeability profile and increase sweeping efficiency. Under subsurface conditions, the injection of nitrate and Fe (II) as the electron acceptor and donor allows bacteria to grow. The reaction products include minerals such as Fe(OH)3 and nitrogen containing gases. These reaction products can have large impact on oil and reservoir properties and can enhance the recovery of trapped oil. This work aims to understand the Fe(II) oxidation by nitrate under conditions relevant to MEOR. Reactive transport modeling is used to simulate the fluid flow, transport, and reactions involved in this process. Here we developed a complex reactive network for microbial mediated nitrate-dependent Fe (II) oxidation that involves both thermodynamic controlled aqueous reactions and kinetic controlled Fe (II) mineral reaction. Reactive transport modeling is used to understand and quantify the coupling between flow, transport, and reaction processes. Our results identify key parameter controls those are important for the alteration of permeability profile under field conditions.

  1. Engineering Behavior and Characteristics of Water-Soluble Polymers: Implication on Soil Remediation and Enhanced Oil Recovery

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shuang Cindy Cao

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available Biopolymers have shown a great effect in enhanced oil recovery because of the improvement of water-flood performance by mobility control, as well as having been considered for oil contaminated-soil remediation thanks to their mobility control and water-flood performance. This study focused on the wettability analysis of biopolymers such as chitosan (85% deacetylated power, PEO (polyethylene oxide, Xanthan (xanthan gum, SA (Alginic Acid Sodium Salt, and PAA (polyacrylic acid, including the measurements of contact angles, interfacial tension, and viscosity. Furthermore, a micromodel study was conducted to explore pore-scale displacement phenomena during biopolymer injection into the pores. The contact angles of biopolymer solutions are higher on silica surfaces submerged in decane than at atmospheric conditions. While interfacial tensions of the biopolymer solutions have a relatively small range of 25 to 39 mN/m, the viscosities of biopolymer solutions have a wide range, 0.002 to 0.4 Pa·s, that dramatically affect both the capillary number and viscosity number. Both contact angles and interfacial tension have effects on the capillary entry pressure that increases along with an applied effective stress by overburden pressure in sediments. Additionally, a high injection rate of biopolymer solutions into the pores illustrates a high level of displacement ratio. Thus, oil-contaminated soil remediation and enhanced oil recovery should be operated in cost-efficient ways considering the injection rates and capillary entry pressure.

  2. Investigation of spore forming bacterial flooding for enhanced oil recovery in a North Sea chalk Reservoir

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Halim, Amalia Yunita; Nielsen, Sidsel Marie; Eliasson Lantz, Anna

    2015-01-01

    Little has been done to study microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) in chalk reservoirs. The present study focuses on core flooding experiments designed to see microbial plugging and its effect on oil recovery. A pressure tapped core holder was used for this purpose. A spore forming bacteria...... Bacillus licheniformis 421 was used as it was shown to be a good candidate in a previous study. Bacterial spore can penetrate deeper into the chalk rock, squeezing through the pore throats. Our results showed that injection of B. licheniformis 421 as a tertiary oil recovery method, in the residual oil...... saturation state, was able to produce additionally 1.0-2.3% original oil in place (OOIP) in homogeneous cores and 6.9-8.8% OOIP in heterogeneous cores. In addition, the pressure gradient was much higher in the heterogeneous cores, which confirms that bacterial selective plugging plays an important role...

  3. MIOR - Microbial Improved Oil Recovery. Basic studies on the suitability of microorganisms for improved oil recovery. Executive summary; MIOR - Microbial Improved Oil Recocery. Grundlagen der Eignung von Mikroorganismen fuer die Verbesserung der Erdoelgewinnung. Kurzbericht

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Naeveke, R. [Technische Univ. Braunschweig (Germany). Inst. fuer Mikrobiologie; Timmis, K.N. [Gesellschaft fuer Biotechnologische Forschung mbH, Braunschweig (Germany); Bosecker, K. [Bundesanstalt fuer Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe, Hannover (Germany); Schink, B. [Konstanz Univ. (Germany). Fachgebiet Mikrobielle Oekologie; Kessel, D. [Institut fuer Erdoel- und Erdgasforschung, Clausthal-Zellerfeld (Germany); Wagner, M. [Erdoel - Erdgas Gommern GmbH (Germany); Tessmer, G. [Deutsche Wissenschaftliche Gesellschaft fuer Erdoel, Erdgas und Kohle e.V., Hamburg (Germany)

    1996-03-01

    Microbial improved oil recovery (MIOR) is the use of microorganisms or microbial products that are injected into the oil reservoir to improve oil flow. The aim of this project was the application of MIOR in case of clastic reservoir rocks of the type encountered typically in Nothern Germany. Microorganisms were concentrated, isolated and characterized from samples that were taken from oil production wells, oil processing facilities and soil contaminated with hydrocarbons. More than 500 bacteria strains were investigated for ability to grow under anaerobic conditions, halotolerance, heat tolerance and production of substances that increase viscosity or are surface active. 39 strains were selected for specific tests and genetic investigations. The two bacteria strains Bacillus licheniformis BNP 29 and Sporohalobacter showed to the capable for MIOR. Dynamic flooding experiments were carried out under realistic reservoir conditions, in order to quantify the ability of the microorganisms to mobilize residual oil in place, as well as to investigate the oil mobilizing mechanisms in more detail. It could be shown that the injectivity and migration of the bacteria in porous media are ensured. The microorganisms are able to grow under reservoir conditions as present in oil reservoirs of Nothern Germany. Their application in flooding experiments leads to a significant increase of oil recovery. The most important factors influencing the oil recovery are the reduction of the permeability of the reservoir pores and changes in the wettability because of the bacterial growth. A suitable nutrient medium with an acid buffer was developed for the application of MIOR in sandstone reservoirs. (orig.) [Deutsch] MIOR (microbial improved oil recovery)-Verfahren dienen dazu, den Entoelungsgrad einer Erdoellagerstaette durch den gezielten in-situ-Einsatz von geeigneten Mikroorganismen und deren Stoffwechselprodukten zu erhoehen. Ziel des Projektes war es, die Anwendbarkeit von MIOR

  4. Biosurfactant-biopolymer driven microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) and its optimization by an ANN-GA hybrid technique.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dhanarajan, Gunaseelan; Rangarajan, Vivek; Bandi, Chandrakanth; Dixit, Abhivyakti; Das, Susmita; Ale, Kranthikiran; Sen, Ramkrishna

    2017-08-20

    A lipopeptide biosurfactant produced by marine Bacillus megaterium and a biopolymer produced by thermophilic Bacillus licheniformis were tested for their application potential in the enhanced oil recovery. The crude biosurfactant obtained after acid precipitation effectively reduced the surface tension of deionized water from 70.5 to 28.25mN/m and the interfacial tension between lube oil and water from 18.6 to 1.5mN/m at a concentration of 250mgL -1 . The biosurfactant exhibited a maximum emulsification activity (E 24 ) of 81.66% against lube oil. The lipopeptide micelles were stabilized by addition of Ca 2+ ions to the biosurfactant solution. The oil recovery efficiency of Ca 2+ conditioned lipopeptide solution from a sand-packed column was optimized by using artificial neural network (ANN) modelling coupled with genetic algorithm (GA) optimization. Three important parameters namely lipopeptide concentration, Ca 2+ concentration and solution pH were considered for optimization studies. In order to further improve the recovery efficiency, a water soluble biopolymer produced by Bacillus licheniformis was used as a flooding agent after biosurfactant incubation. Upon ANN-GA optimization, 45% tertiary oil recovery was achieved, when biopolymer at a concentration of 3gL -1 was used as a flooding agent. Oil recovery was only 29% at optimal conditions predicted by ANN-GA, when only water was used as flooding solution. The important characteristics of biopolymers such as its viscosity, pore plugging capabilities and bio-cementing ability have also been tested. Thus, as a result of biosurfactant incubation and biopolymer flooding under the optimal process conditions, a maximum oil recovery of 45% was achieved. Therefore, this study is novel, timely and interesting for it showed the combined influence of biosurfactant and biopolymer on solubilisation and mobilization of oil from the soil. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. Nitrate-Mediated Microbially Enhanced Oil Recovery (N-MEOR) from model upflow bioreactors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gassara, Fatma; Suri, Navreet; Voordouw, Gerrit

    2017-02-15

    Microbially Enhanced Oil Recovery (MEOR) can enhance oil production with less energy input and less costs than other technologies. The present study used different aqueous electron donors (acetate, glucose, molasses) and an aqueous electron acceptor (nitrate) to stimulate growth of heterotrophic nitrate reducing bacteria (hNRB) to improve production of oil. Initial flooding of columns containing heavy oil (viscosity of 3400cP at 20°C) with CSBK (Coleville synthetic brine medium) produced 0.5 pore volume (PV) of oil. Bioreactors were then inoculated with hNRB with 5.8g/L of molasses and 0, 10, 20, 40, 60 or 80mM nitrate, as well as with 17mM glucose or 57mM acetate and 80mM nitrate. During incubations no oil was produced in the bioreactors that received 5.8g/L of molasses and 0, 10, 20, 40 or 60mM nitrate. However, the bioreactors injected with 5.8g/L of molasses, 17mM glucose or 57mM acetate and 80mM nitrate produced 13.9, 11.3±3.1 and 17.8±6.6% of residual oil, respectively. The significant production of oil from these bioreactors may be caused by N 2 -CO 2 gas production. Following continued injection with CSBK without nitrate, subsequent elution of significant residual oil (5-30%) was observed. These results also indicate possible involvement of fermentation products (organic acids, alcohols) to enhance heavy oil recovery. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  6. Dataset on experimental investigation of gum arabic coated alumina nanoparticles for enhanced recovery of nigerian medium crude oil.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Orodu, Oyinkepreye D; Orodu, Kale B; Afolabi, Richard O; Dafe, Eboh A

    2018-08-01

    The dataset in this article are related to an experimental Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) scheme involving the use of dispersions containing Gum Arabic coated Alumina Nanoparticles (GCNPs) for Nigerian medium crude oil. The result contained in the dataset showed a 7.18% (5 wt% GCNPs), 7.81% (5 wt% GCNPs), and 5.61% (3 wt% GCNPs) improvement in the recovery oil beyond the water flooding stage for core samples A, B, and C respectively. Also, the improvement in recovery of the medium crude oil by the GCNPs dispersions when compared to Gum Arabic polymer flooding was evident in the dataset.

  7. Optimizing the recovery efficiency of Finnish oil combating vessels in the Gulf of Finland using Bayesian Networks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lehikoinen, Annukka; Luoma, Emilia; Mäntyniemi, Samu; Kuikka, Sakari

    2013-02-19

    Oil transport has greatly increased in the Gulf of Finland over the years, and risks of an oil accident occurring have risen. Thus, an effective oil combating strategy is needed. We developed a Bayesian Network (BN) to examine the recovery efficiency and optimal disposition of the Finnish oil combating vessels in the Gulf of Finland (GoF), Eastern Baltic Sea. Four alternative home harbors, five accident points, and ten oil combating vessels were included in the model to find the optimal disposition policy that would maximize the recovery efficiency. With this composition, the placement of the oil combating vessels seems not to have a significant effect on the recovery efficiency. The process seems to be strongly controlled by certain random factors independent of human action, e.g. wave height and stranding time of the oil. Therefore, the success of oil combating is rather uncertain, so it is also important to develop activities that aim for preventing accidents. We found that the model developed is suitable for this type of multidecision optimization. The methodology, results, and practices are further discussed.

  8. Investigation of certain physical–chemical features of oil recovery by an optimized alkali–surfactant–foam (ASF) system

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hosseini Nasab, S.M.; Zitha, P.L.J.

    2017-01-01

    The objective of this study is to discover a synergistic effect between foam stability in bulk and micro-emulsion phase behaviour to design a high-performance chemical system for an optimized alkaline–surfactant–foam (ASF) flooding for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). The focus is on the interaction

  9. A business process for enhanced heavy oil recovery research and development

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carlson, P.; Campbell, M.; Kantzas, A.

    1995-01-01

    Husky Oil's enhanced oil recovery (EOR) research management processes for reducing process development time and increasing investment efficiency were described. The considerations that went into the development of the plan a decade ago were reviewed and new ideas incorporated into the revised plan were presented. Four case studies were presented to illustrate the need for process to reservoir matching. A need for strategic research planning was emphasized. Proposed technologies for enhancement of heavy oil reservoir productivity were presented in tabular form. 1 tab., 7 figs

  10. Sulfonated phenolic material and its use in post primary oil recovery

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pardue, J. E.; Stapp, P. R.

    1984-09-04

    Sulfonated phenolic compounds as well as sulfomethylated phenolic compounds, surfactant systems containing such compound and the use of such surfactant systems in post primary oil recovery are disclosed.

  11. Foam for Enhanced Oil Recovery : Modeling and Analytical Solutions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ashoori, E.

    2012-01-01

    Foam increases sweep in miscible- and immiscible-gas enhanced oil recovery by decreasing the mobility of gas enormously. This thesis is concerned with the simulations and analytical solutions for foam flow for the purpose of modeling foam EOR in a reservoir. For the ultimate goal of upscaling our

  12. Molecular dynamics studies of fluid/oil interfaces for improved oil recovery processes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Lara, Lucas S; Michelon, Mateus F; Miranda, Caetano R

    2012-12-20

    In our paper, we study the interface wettability, diffusivity, and molecular orientation between crude oil and different fluids for applications in improved oil recovery (IOR) processes through atomistic molecular dynamics (MD). The salt concentration, temperature, and pressure effects on the physical chemistry properties of different interfaces between IOR agents [brine (H(2)O + % NaCl), CO(2), N(2), and CH(4)] and crude oil have been determined. From the interfacial density profiles, an accumulation of aromatic molecules near the interface has been observed. In the case of brine interfaced with crude oil, our calculations indicate an increase in the interfacial tension with increasing pressure and salt concentration, which favors oil displacement. On the other hand, with the other fluids studied (CO(2), N(2), and CH(4)), the interfacial tension decreases with increasing pressure and temperature. With interfacial tension reduction, an increase in fluid diffusivity in the oil phase is observed. We also studied the molecular orientation properties of the hydrocarbon and fluids molecules in the interface region. We perceived that the molecular orientation could be affected by changes in the interfacial tension and diffusivity of the molecules in the interface region with the increased pressure and temperature: pressure (increasing) → interfacial tension (decreasing) → diffusion (increasing) → molecular ordering. From a molecular point of view, the combination of low interfacial tension and high diffusion of molecules in the oil phase gives the CO(2) molecules unique properties as an IOR fluid compared with other fluids studied here.

  13. Recovery of very viscous lubricating oils from shale-tar, etc

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Erdmann, E

    1918-01-22

    A process is disclosed for the recovery of very viscous lubricating oils from brown-coal tar and shale tar, consisting in driving off from the crude tar or the tar freed from volatile constituents after removal of paraffin by precipitation with a volatile solvent such as acetone or one of its homologs, the light oils more or less completely with superheated steam from about 200 to 250/sup 0/C without any outside heating over a free flame.

  14. Development and Optimization of Gas-Assisted Gravity Drainage (GAGD) Process for Improved Light Oil Recovery

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dandina N. Rao; Subhash C. Ayirala; Madhav M. Kulkarni; Wagirin Ruiz Paidin; Thaer N. N. Mahmoud; Daryl S. Sequeira; Amit P. Sharma

    2006-09-30

    This is the final report describing the evolution of the project ''Development and Optimization of Gas-Assisted Gravity Drainage (GAGD) Process for Improved Light Oil Recovery'' from its conceptual stage in 2002 to the field implementation of the developed technology in 2006. This comprehensive report includes all the experimental research, models developments, analyses of results, salient conclusions and the technology transfer efforts. As planned in the original proposal, the project has been conducted in three separate and concurrent tasks: Task 1 involved a physical model study of the new GAGD process, Task 2 was aimed at further developing the vanishing interfacial tension (VIT) technique for gas-oil miscibility determination, and Task 3 was directed at determining multiphase gas-oil drainage and displacement characteristics in reservoir rocks at realistic pressures and temperatures. The project started with the task of recruiting well-qualified graduate research assistants. After collecting and reviewing the literature on different aspects of the project such gas injection EOR, gravity drainage, miscibility characterization, and gas-oil displacement characteristics in porous media, research plans were developed for the experimental work to be conducted under each of the three tasks. Based on the literature review and dimensional analysis, preliminary criteria were developed for the design of the partially-scaled physical model. Additionally, the need for a separate transparent model for visual observation and verification of the displacement and drainage behavior under gas-assisted gravity drainage was identified. Various materials and methods (ceramic porous material, Stucco, Portland cement, sintered glass beads) were attempted in order to fabricate a satisfactory visual model. In addition to proving the effectiveness of the GAGD process (through measured oil recoveries in the range of 65 to 87% IOIP), the visual models demonstrated

  15. Gas-assisted gravity drainage (GAGD) process for improved oil recovery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rao, Dandina N [Baton Rouge, LA

    2012-07-10

    A rapid and inexpensive process for increasing the amount of hydrocarbons (e.g., oil) produced and the rate of production from subterranean hydrocarbon-bearing reservoirs by displacing oil downwards within the oil reservoir and into an oil recovery apparatus is disclosed. The process is referred to as "gas-assisted gravity drainage" and comprises the steps of placing one or more horizontal producer wells near the bottom of a payzone (i.e., rock in which oil and gas are found in exploitable quantities) of a subterranean hydrocarbon-bearing reservoir and injecting a fluid displacer (e.g., CO.sub.2) through one or more vertical wells or horizontal wells. Pre-existing vertical wells may be used to inject the fluid displacer into the reservoir. As the fluid displacer is injected into the top portion of the reservoir, it forms a gas zone, which displaces oil and water downward towards the horizontal producer well(s).

  16. Production of microbial rhamnolipid by Pseudomonas aeruginosa MM1011 for ex situ enhanced oil recovery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amani, Hossein; Müller, Markus Michael; Syldatk, Christoph; Hausmann, Rudolf

    2013-07-01

    Recently, several investigations have been carried out on the in situ bacteria flooding, but the ex situ biosurfactant production and addition to the sand pack as agents for microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) has little been studied. In order to develop suitable technology for ex situ MEOR processes, it is essential to carry out tests about it. Therefore, this work tries to fill the gap. The intention of this study was to investigate whether the rhamnolipid mix could be produced in high enough quantities for enhanced oil recovery in the laboratory scale and prove its potential use as an effective material for field application. In this work, the ability of Pseudomonas aeruginosa MM1011 to grow and produce rhamnolipid on sunflower as sole carbon source under nitrogen limitation was shown. The production of Rha-C10-C10 and Rha2-C10-C10 was confirmed by thin-layer chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography analysis. The rhamnolipid mixture obtained was able to reduce the surface and interfacial tension of water to 26 and 2 mN/m, respectively. The critical micelle concentration was 120 mg/L. Maximum rhamnolipid production reached to about 0.7 g/L in a shake flask. The yield of rhamnolipid per biomass (Y RL/x ), rhamnolipid per sunflower oil (Y RL/s ), and the biomass per sunflower oil (Y x/s ) for shake flask were obtained about 0.01, 0.0035, and 0.035 g g(-1), respectively. The stability of the rhamnolipid at different salinities, pH and temperature, and also, its emulsifying activity has been investigated. It is an effective surfactant at very low concentrations over a wide range of temperatures, pHs, and salt concentrations, and it also has the ability to emulsify oil, which is essential for enhanced oil recovery. With 120 mg/L rhamnolipid, 27 % of original oil in place was recovered after water flooding from a sand pack. This result not only suggests rhamnolipids as appropriate model biosurfactants for MEOR, but it even shows the potential as a

  17. Investigated Miscible CO2 Flooding for Enhancing Oil Recovery in Wettability Altered Chalk and Sandstone Rocks

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tabrizy, Vahid Alipour

    2012-07-01

    The thesis addresses oil recovery by miscible CO2 flooding from modified sandstone and chalk rocks. Calcite mineral surface is modified with stearic acid (SA) and asphaltene, and the silicate mineral surfaces are modified with N,N-dimethyldodecylamine (NN-DMDA) and asphaltene. The stability of adsorbed polar components in presence of SO4 2- and Mg2 + ions is also investigated. Recovery from sandstone cores is consistently lower than that from chalk cores saturated with the same oil and flooded with CO2 at all miscible flooding conditions. This may be due to the larger permeability contrasts in sandstone cores, which promote the fingering phenomenon. Miscible CO2 flooding for chalk and sandstone cores with distilled water, as initial water saturation, shows also lower oil recovery than cores saturated with different ions. At higher miscible flooding conditions, higher oil recovery is obtained. However, presence of light components (such as C1 or C3) in oil reduced the recovery. Oil recovery in presence of methane (C1) is lower than that in presence of methane and propane (C1/C3). A ternary diagram was constructed in order to understand the CO2 flooding mechanism(s) at the different flooding conditions and in presence of light components. The side effect of the flooding with CO2 is the probability for asphaltene deposition. An approach based on solubility parameter in the liquid, is used to assess the risk for asphaltene deposition during CO2 miscible flooding. The light components (C1/C3) and higher flooding conditions enhanced the risk for asphaltene instability. It is also shown higher amount of asphaltene deposition in chalk cores than that in sandstone cores at similar miscibility conditions.(au)

  18. Enhanced Oil Recovery Using Micron-Size Polyacrylamide Elastic Microspheres (MPEMs): Underlying Mechanisms and Displacement Experiments

    KAUST Repository

    Yao, Chuanjin; Lei, Guanglun; Hou, Jian; Xu, Xiaohong; Wang, Dan; Steenhuis, Tammo S.

    2015-01-01

    Micron-size polyacrylamide elastic microsphere (MPEM) is a newly developed profile control and oil displacement agent for enhanced oil recovery in heterogeneous reservoirs. In this study, laboratory experiments were performed to characterize the viscoelastic properties of MPEMs in brine water. A transparent sandpack micromodel was used to observe the microscopic flow and displacement mechanisms, and parallel-sandpack models were used to investigate the profile control and oil displacement performance using MPEMs in heterogeneous reservoirs. The results indicate that MPEMs almost do not increase the viscosity of injection water and can be conveniently injected using the original water injection pipelines. The microscopic profile control and oil displacement mechanisms of MPEMs in porous media mainly behave as selective-plugging in large pores, fluid diversion after MPEMs plugging, oil drainage caused by MPEMs breakthrough, and the mechanism of oil droplets converging into oil flow. MPEMs have a high plugging strength, which can tolerate a long-term water flushing. MPEMs can selectively enter and plug the large pores and pore-throats in high permeability sandpack, but almost do not damage the low permeability sandpack. MPEMs can effectively divert the water flow from the high permeability sandpack to the low permeability sandpack and improve the sweep efficiency of low permeability sandpack and low permeability area in the high permeability sandpack. The results also confirm the dynamic process of profile control and oil displacement using MPEMs in heterogeneous reservoirs.

  19. Enhanced Oil Recovery Using Micron-Size Polyacrylamide Elastic Microspheres (MPEMs): Underlying Mechanisms and Displacement Experiments

    KAUST Repository

    Yao, Chuanjin

    2015-10-12

    Micron-size polyacrylamide elastic microsphere (MPEM) is a newly developed profile control and oil displacement agent for enhanced oil recovery in heterogeneous reservoirs. In this study, laboratory experiments were performed to characterize the viscoelastic properties of MPEMs in brine water. A transparent sandpack micromodel was used to observe the microscopic flow and displacement mechanisms, and parallel-sandpack models were used to investigate the profile control and oil displacement performance using MPEMs in heterogeneous reservoirs. The results indicate that MPEMs almost do not increase the viscosity of injection water and can be conveniently injected using the original water injection pipelines. The microscopic profile control and oil displacement mechanisms of MPEMs in porous media mainly behave as selective-plugging in large pores, fluid diversion after MPEMs plugging, oil drainage caused by MPEMs breakthrough, and the mechanism of oil droplets converging into oil flow. MPEMs have a high plugging strength, which can tolerate a long-term water flushing. MPEMs can selectively enter and plug the large pores and pore-throats in high permeability sandpack, but almost do not damage the low permeability sandpack. MPEMs can effectively divert the water flow from the high permeability sandpack to the low permeability sandpack and improve the sweep efficiency of low permeability sandpack and low permeability area in the high permeability sandpack. The results also confirm the dynamic process of profile control and oil displacement using MPEMs in heterogeneous reservoirs.

  20. Microbial enhanced oil recovery research. Final report, Annex 5

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sharma, M.M.; Gerogiou, G.

    1993-07-01

    The objective of this project was to develop an engineering framework for the exploitation of microorganisms to enhance oil recovery. An order of magnitude analysis indicated that selective plugging and the production of biosurfactants are the two most likely mechanisms for the mobilization of oil in microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR). The latter, biosurfactant production, is easier to control within a reservoir environment and was investigated in some detail. An extensive literature survey indicated that the bacterium Bacillus licheniformis JF-2 produces a very effective surface active agent capable of increasing the capillary number to values sufficiently low for oil mobilization. In addition, earlier studies had shown that growth of this bacterium and biosurfactant production occur under conditions that are typically encountered in MEOR, namely temperatures up to 55{degrees}C, lack of oxygen and salinities of up to 10% w/v. The chemical structure of the surfactant, its interfacial properties and its production by fermentation were characterized in some detail. In parallel, a set of experiments as conducted to measure the transport of Bacillus licheniformis JF-2 in sandpacks. It was shown that the determining parameters for cell transport in porous media are: cell size and degree of coagulation, presence of dispersants, injection velocity and cell concentration. The mechanisms of bacteria retention within the pores of the reservoir were analyzed based on heuristic arguments. A mathematical simulator of MEOR was developed using conservation equations in which the mechanisms of bacteria retention and the growth kinetics of the cells were incorporated. The predictions of the model agreed reasonably well with experimental results.

  1. Integrated Mid-Continent Carbon Capture, Sequestration & Enhanced Oil Recovery Project

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Brian McPherson

    2010-08-31

    A consortium of research partners led by the Southwest Regional Partnership on Carbon Sequestration and industry partners, including CAP CO2 LLC, Blue Source LLC, Coffeyville Resources, Nitrogen Fertilizers LLC, Ash Grove Cement Company, Kansas Ethanol LLC, Headwaters Clean Carbon Services, Black & Veatch, and Schlumberger Carbon Services, conducted a feasibility study of a large-scale CCS commercialization project that included large-scale CO{sub 2} sources. The overall objective of this project, entitled the 'Integrated Mid-Continent Carbon Capture, Sequestration and Enhanced Oil Recovery Project' was to design an integrated system of US mid-continent industrial CO{sub 2} sources with CO{sub 2} capture, and geologic sequestration in deep saline formations and in oil field reservoirs with concomitant EOR. Findings of this project suggest that deep saline sequestration in the mid-continent region is not feasible without major financial incentives, such as tax credits or otherwise, that do not exist at this time. However, results of the analysis suggest that enhanced oil recovery with carbon sequestration is indeed feasible and practical for specific types of geologic settings in the Midwestern U.S.

  2. Salt marsh recovery from a crude oil spill: Vegetation, oil weathering, and response

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hoff, R.Z.; Shigenaka, G.; Henry, C.B. Jr.

    1993-01-01

    When a spill of Prudhoe Bay crude oil covered a fringing Salicornia virginica marsh in Fidalgo Bay, Washington (northern Puget Sound) in February 1991, response personnel used several low-impact techniques to remove oil from the marsh, and minimized access by cleanup workers. Following the response, a monitoring program was established to track marsh recovery, and to document the effectiveness of the response techniques used and their impacts on the marsh. Through monthly sampling over a 16-month period, vegetative growth was monitored and chemical degradation of remaining oil was tracked. Sampling was conducted along transects located in four areas affected in different ways by the spill, including an oiled, trampled section; an oiled, vacuumed section; and an oiled, washed, and vacuumed section. In addition, a control transect was established in an unoiled adjacent marsh. The study included both biological and chemical components. Biological measurements included percent cover of live vegetation (sampled monthly) and below-ground plant biomass (sampled at the beginning of each growing season in April 1991 and April 1992). Sediment samples included surface sediment (monthly) and core samples collected at the beginning and end of the growing seasons. Sediment samples were analyzed using gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy, and indicator compounds were tracked to determine rates of oil degradation. Results from 16 months of post-spill monitoring show that foot trampling was most detrimental to marsh plants, while washing with vacuuming removed the most oil and minimized adverse impacts to vegetation. Dense clay substrate helped prevent oil from penetrating the sediment, thus minimizing acute toxic effects from oil exposure to marsh plant rootstock. By the second growing season post-spill, Salicornia and other marsh plants were growing in all areas except one heavily oiled patch

  3. Improved surfactants formulation for remediation of oil sludge recovery

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Syed Hakimi Sakuma Syed Ahmad; Shahidan Radiman

    2000-01-01

    Surfactant enhanced remediation based on mobilisation of the residual NAPLs (oil sludge) which is radioactive depends on the tendency of the surfactants to lower interfacial tension. Mobilisation has greater potential than solubilisation to increase the rate of remediation. Optimised surfactants formulation was determined with concentration of Aqua 2000 and D Bond of 1% wt respectively, sodium chloride concentration of 2 gmL -1 and addition of 3% wt butanol as cosolvent. The formulation was of benefit not only able to decrease further the interfacial tension of aqueous solution containing oil emulsion, but also to make possible to be more mobile and destruction of mixed liquid crystals that formed. Formation of liquid crystals can hinders significantly recovery efficiency of aqueous solution containing oil emulsion in field remediation work. In a 100 litres soil column experiment conducted containing oil emulsion in field sludge soil and using the surfactants formulation for flushing, miniemulsion formed sizes maintained at average size between 125 nm and 280 nm before and after remediation. Total oil and grease concentration removed from the soil were significant due to the decreased in oil emulsion sizes, increase mobility and solubility. (Author)

  4. Screening Criteria and Considerations of Offshore Enhanced Oil Recovery

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pan-Sang Kang

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The application of enhanced oil recovery (EOR in offshore oil fields has received significant attention due to the potentially enormous amount of recoverable oil. However, EOR application offshore is in its very early stage due to conditions that are more complex than onshore oil fields, owing to the unique parameters present offshore. Therefore, successful EOR applications in offshore oil fields require different screening criteria than those for conventional onshore applications. A comprehensive database for onshore applications of EOR processes together with a limited offshore EOR application database are analyzed in this paper, and the important parameters for successful offshore application are incorporated into the new EOR screening criteria. In this paper, screening criteria to determine acceptable EOR processes for offshore fields, including hydrocarbon gas miscible, CO2 miscible, and polymer processes, are presented. Suggested screening criteria for these EOR processes comprise quantitative boundaries and qualitative considerations. Quantitative screening criteria are predominantly based on quantifiable data, such as oil and reservoir properties. Qualitative screening considerations mainly focus on the operational issues present offshore, including platform space constraints, limited disposal options, injectant availability, and flow assurance matters (including hydrate formation and difficulties in emulsion separation.

  5. Enhanced oil recovery by nanoparticles injection: Modeling and simulation

    KAUST Repository

    El-Amin, Mohamed; Sun, Shuyu; Salama, Amgad

    2013-01-01

    In the present paper, a mathematical model and numerical simulation to describe the nanoparticles-water suspension imbibes into a water-oil two-phase flow in a porous medium is introduced. We extend the model to include the negative capillary pressure and mixed relative permeabilities correlations to fit with the mixed-wet system. Also, buoyancy and capillary forces as well as Brownian diffusion are considered. Throughout this investigation, we monitor the changing of the fluids and solid properties due to addition of the nanoparticles and check for possible enhancement of the oil recovery process using numerical experiments.

  6. Characterization of indigenous oil field microorganisms for microbially enhanced oil recovery (MEOR)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sitte, J.; Krueger, M. [Bundesanstalt fuer Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe (BGR), Hannover (Germany); Biegel, E.; Herold, A. [BASF SE, Ludwigshafen (Germany); Alkan, H. [Wintershall Holding GmbH, Kassel (Germany)

    2013-08-01

    Microbial activities and their resulting metabolites became a focus of attention for enhanced oil recovery (MEOR, microbial enhanced oil recovery) in the recent years. In order to develop a strategy for a MEOR application in a German oil field operated by Wintershall experiments were performed to investigate different sampling strategies and the microbial communities found in these samples. The objectives of this study were (1) to characterize the indigenous microbial communities, (2) to investigate the dependency of microbial activity/diversity on the different sampling strategies, and (3) to study the influence of the in situ pressure on bacterial growth and metabolite production. Fluids were sampled at the well head (surface) and in situ in approx. 785 m depth to collect uncontaminated production water directly from the reservoir horizon and under the in situ pressure of 31 bar (subsurface). In the lab the pressure was either released quickly or slowly to assess the sensitivity of microorganisms to rapid pressure changes. Quantitative PCR resulted in higher microbial cell numbers in the subsurface than in the surface sample. Biogenic CO{sub 2} and CH{sub 4} formation rates were determined under atmospheric and high pressure conditions in the original fluids, with highest rates found in the surface fluid. Interestingly, no methane was formed in the native fluid samples. While nitrate reduction was exclusively detected in the surface samples, sulfide formation also occurred in the subsurface fluids. Increased CO{sub 2} formation was measured after addition of a variety of substrates in the surface fluids, while only fructose and glucose showed a stimulating effect on CO{sub 2} production for the subsurface sample. Stable enrichment cultures were obtained in complex medium inoculated with the subsurface fluid, both under atmospheric and in situ pressure. Growth experiments with constant or changing pressure, and subsequent DGGE analysis of bacterial 16S rRNA genes

  7. Numerical simulation and experimental verification of oil recovery by macro-emulsion floods

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Khamharatana, F. [Chulalongkorn Univ., Bangkok (Thailand); Thomas, S.; Farouq Ali, S. M. [Alberta Univ., Edmonton, AB (Canada)

    1997-08-01

    The process of emulsion flooding as an enhanced oil recovery method was described. The process involves several mechanisms that occur at the same time during displacement, therefore, simulation by emulsion flooding requires a good understanding of flow mechanics of emulsions in porous media. This paper provides a description of the process and its mathematical representation. Emulsion rheology, droplet capture and surfactant adsorption are represented mathematically and incorporated into a one-dimensional, three-phase mathematical model to account for interactions of surfactant, oil, water and the rock matrix. The simulator was validated by comparing simulation results with the results from linear core floods performed in the laboratory. Best match was achieved by a multi-phase non-Newtonian rheological model of an emulsion with interfacial tension-dependent relative permeabilities and time-dependent capture. 13 refs., 1 tab., 42 figs.

  8. How Specific Microbial Communities Benefit the Oil Industry: Case Study - Proof of Concept that Oil Entrained in Marginal Reservoirs Can Be Bioconverted to Methane Gas as a Green Energy Recovery Strategy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gieg, Lisa

    Conventional oil recovery techniques such as water flooding typically remove only up to 40% of the oil present in reservoirs. Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) techniques are considered tertiary strategies that may be applied to recover a greater volume of oil. In particular, the use of microorganisms to aid in oil production (microbial-enhanced oil recovery or MEOR) is considered a green energy recovery strategy since microbial processes do not require large amounts of energy input and can potentially produce large amounts of useful byproducts from inexpensive and renewable resources (Youssef et al., 2008). These byproducts can include the generation of biosurfactants, emulsifiers, acids, alcohols, and/or gases that can serve as agents for oil recovery. Recent reviews have summarised MEOR efforts undertaken since the 1950's with varying degrees of success (e.g. Jack, 1993; Belyaev et al., 2004; McInerney et al., 2005; Youssef et al., 2008). In MEOR schemes, petroleum reservoirs may be either stimulated with nutrients or inoculated with microorganisms with known activity to achieve desired effects (Youssef et al., 2008).

  9. Heterologous production of Pseudomonas aeruginosa rhamnolipid under anaerobic conditions for microbial enhanced oil recovery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, F; Shi, R; Zhao, J; Li, G; Bai, X; Han, S; Zhang, Y

    2015-02-01

    The ex situ application of rhamnolipid to enhance oil recovery is costly and complex in terms of rhamnolipid production and transportation, while in situ production of rhamnolipid is restricted by the oxygen-deficient environments of oil reservoirs. To overcome the oxygen-limiting conditions and to circumvent the complex regulation of rhamnolipid biosynthesis in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, an engineered strain Pseudomonas stutzeri Rhl was constructed for heterologous production of rhamnolipid under anaerobic conditions. The rhlABRI genes for rhamnolipid biosynthesis were cloned into a facultative anaerobic strain Ps. stutzeri DQ1 to construct the engineered strain Rhl. Anaerobic production of rhamnolipid was confirmed by thin layer chromatography and Fourier transform infrared analysis. Rhamnolipid product reduced the air-water surface tension to 30.3 mN m(-1) and the oil-water interfacial tension to 0.169 mN m(-1). Rhl produced rhamnolipid of 1.61 g l(-1) using glycerol as the carbon source. Rhl anaerobic culture emulsified crude oil up to EI24 ≈ 74. An extra 9.8% of original crude oil was displaced by Rhl in the core flooding test. Strain Rhl achieved anaerobic production of rhamnolipid and worked well for enhanced oil recovery in the core flooding model. The rhamnolipid produced by Rhl was similar to that of the donor strain SQ6. This is the first study to achieve anaerobic and heterologous production of rhamnolipid. Results demonstrated the potential feasibility of Rhl as a promising strain to enhance oil recovery through anaerobic production of rhamnolipid. © 2014 The Society for Applied Microbiology.

  10. Phase Behavior, Solid Organic Precipitation, and Mobility Characterization Studies in Support of Enhanced Heavy Oil Recovery on the Alaska North Slope

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shirish Patil; Abhijit Dandekar; Santanu Khataniar

    2008-12-31

    amount of geographically diverse data, it is not possible to develop a comprehensive predictive model. Based on the comprehensive phase behavior analysis of Alaska North Slope crude oil, a reservoir simulation study was carried out to evaluate the performance of a gas injection enhanced oil recovery technique for the West Sak reservoir. It was found that a definite increase in viscous oil production can be obtained by selecting the proper injectant gas and by optimizing reservoir operating parameters. A comparative analysis is provided, which helps in the decision-making process.

  11. Enhanced oil recovery system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goldsberry, Fred L.

    1989-01-01

    All energy resources available from a geopressured geothermal reservoir are used for the production of pipeline quality gas using a high pressure separator/heat exchanger and a membrane separator, and recovering waste gas from both the membrane separator and a low pressure separator in tandem with the high pressure separator for use in enhanced oil recovery, or in powering a gas engine and turbine set. Liquid hydrocarbons are skimmed off the top of geothermal brine in the low pressure separator. High pressure brine from the geothermal well is used to drive a turbine/generator set before recovering waste gas in the first separator. Another turbine/generator set is provided in a supercritical binary power plant that uses propane as a working fluid in a closed cycle, and uses exhaust heat from the combustion engine and geothermal energy of the brine in the separator/heat exchanger to heat the propane.

  12. ECMOR 4. 4th European conference on the mathematics of oil recovery. Topic E: History match and recovery optimization. Proceedings

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1994-01-01

    The report with collected proceedings from a conference, deals with mathematics of oil recovery with the focus on history match and recovery optimization. Topics of proceedings are as follow: Calculating optimal parameters for history matching; new technique to improve the efficiency of history matching of full-field models; flow constrained reservoir characterization using Bayesian inversion; analysis of multi-well pressure transient data; new approach combining neural networks and simulated annealing for solving petroleum inverse problems; automatic history matching by use of response surfaces and experimental design; determining the optimum location of a production well in oil reservoirs. Seven papers are prepared. 108 refs., 45 figs., 12 tabs.

  13. Conference on microbiological processes useful in enhanced oil recovery. Final report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1979-10-01

    Six formal presentations were made at the meeting, followed by four workshops dealing with specific topics: bioengineering, reservoir ecology and environment, transformations, and bioproducts. All were related to microbial enhancement of oil recovery. (DLC)

  14. Optimization of Pumpkin Oil Recovery by Using Aqueous Enzymatic Extraction and Comparison of the Quality of the Obtained Oil with the Quality of Cold-Pressed Oil

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roszkowska, Beata; Czaplicki, Sylwester; Tańska, Małgorzata

    2016-01-01

    Summary The study was carried out to optimize pumpkin oil recovery in the process of aqueous extraction preceded by enzymatic maceration of seeds, as well as to compare the quality of the obtained oil to the quality of cold-pressed pumpkin seed oil. Hydrated pulp of hulless pumpkin seeds was macerated using a 2% (by mass) cocktail of commercial pectinolytic, cellulolytic and proteolytic preparations (Rohapect® UF, Rohament® CL and Colorase® 7089). The optimization procedure utilized response surface methodology based on Box- -Behnken plan of experiment. The optimized variables of enzymatic pretreatment were pH, temperature and maceration time. The results showed that the pH value, temperature and maceration time of 4.7, 54 °C and 15.4 h, respectively, were conducive to maximize the oil yield up to 72.64%. Among these variables, the impact of pH was crucial (above 73% of determined variation) for oil recovery results. The oil obtained by aqueous enzymatic extraction was richer in sterols, squalene and tocopherols, and only slightly less abundant in carotenoids than the cold-pressed one. However, it had a lower oxidative stability, with induction period shortened by approx. 30% in relation to the cold-pressed oil. PMID:28115898

  15. Optimization of Pumpkin Oil Recovery by Using Aqueous Enzymatic Extraction and Comparison of the Quality of the Obtained Oil with the Quality of Cold-Pressed Oil

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Beata Roszkowska

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The study was carried out to optimize pumpkin oil recovery in the process of aqueous extraction preceded by enzymatic maceration of seeds, as well as to compare the quality of the obtained oil to the quality of cold-pressed pumpkin seed oil. Hydrated pulp of hulless pumpkin seeds was macerated using a 2 % (by mass cocktail of commercial pectinolytic, cellulolytic and proteolytic preparations (Rohapect® UF, Rohament® CL and Colorase® 7089. The optimization procedure utilized response surface methodology based on Box-Behnken plan of experiment. The optimized variables of enzymatic pretreatment were pH, temperature and maceration time. The results showed that the pH value, temperature and maceration time of 4.7, 54 °C and 15.4 h, respectively, were conducive to maximize the oil yield up to 72.64 %. Among these variables, the impact of pH was crucial (above 73 % of determined variation for oil recovery results. The oil obtained by aqueous enzymatic extraction was richer in sterols, squalene and tocopherols, and only slightly less abundant in carotenoids than the cold-pressed one. However, it had a lower oxidative stability, with induction period shortened by approx. 30 % in relation to the cold-pressed oil.

  16. An overview of the impact of electrotechnologies for the recovery of oil and high-value compounds from vegetable oil industry

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Puértolas, Eduardo; Koubaa, Mohamed; Barba Orellana, Francisco Jose

    2016-01-01

    Oil recovery from oilseeds and fruits is one of the food processes where efficiency is the key to ensure profitability. Wastes and by-products generated during oil production process are, on the other hand, a great source of high-added value compounds that could be recovered in turn at a later...

  17. Maximal oil recovery by simultaneous condensation of alkane and steam

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bruining, J.; Marchesin, D.

    2007-01-01

    This paper deals with the application of steam to enhance the recovery from petroleum reservoirs. We formulate a mathematical and numerical model that simulates coinjection of volatile oil with steam into a porous rock in a one-dimensional setting. We utilize the mathematical theory of conservation

  18. Production, Characterization and Application of Bacillus licheniformis W16 Biosurfactant in Enhancing Oil Recovery

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sanket J. Joshi

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available The biosurfactant production by Bacillus licheniformis W16 and evaluation of biosurfactant based enhanced oil recovery using core-flood under reservoir conditions were investigated. Previously reported nine different production media were screened for biosurfactant production, and two were further optimized with different carbon sources (glucose, sucrose, starch, cane molasses or date molasses, as well as the strain was screened for biosurfactant production during the growth in different media. The biosurfactant reduced the surface tension and interfacial tension to 24.33+0.57mN m-1 and 2.47+0.32mN m-1 respectively within 72h, at 40 C, and also altered the wettability of a hydrophobic surface by changing the contact angle from 55.67°+1.6° to 19.54°+0.96°. The critical micelle dilution values of 4X were observed. The biosurfactants were characterized by different analytical techniques and identified as lipopeptide, similar to lichenysin-A. The biosurfactant was stable over wide range of extreme environmental conditions. The core flood experiments showed that the biosurfactant was able to enhance the oil recovery by 24-26% over residual oil saturation (Sor. The results highlight the potential application of lipopeptide biosurfactant in wettability alteration and microbial enhanced oil recovery processes.

  19. Increased Oil Production and Reserves Utilizing Secondary/Tertiary Recovery Techniques on Small Reservoirs in the Paradox Basin, Utah

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chidsey Jr., Thomas C.

    2003-01-01

    The primary objective of this project was to enhance domestic petroleum production by field demonstration and technology transfer of an advanced-oil-recovery technology in the Paradox Basin, southeastern Utah. If this project can demonstrate technical and economic feasibility, the technique can be applied to approximately 100 additional small fields in the Paradox Basin alone, and result in increased recovery of 150 to 200 million barrels (23,850,000-31,800,000 m3) of oil. This project was designed to characterize five shallow-shelf carbonate reservoirs in the Pennsylvanian (Desmoinesian) Paradox Formation and choose the best candidate for a pilot demonstration project for either a waterflood or carbon-dioxide-(CO2-) miscible flood project. The field demonstration, monitoring of field performance, and associated validation activities will take place within the Navajo Nation, San Juan County, Utah

  20. Model study of enhanced oil recovery by flooding with aqueous surfactant solution and comparison with theory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fletcher, Paul D I; Savory, Luke D; Woods, Freya; Clarke, Andrew; Howe, Andrew M

    2015-03-17

    With the aim of elucidating the details of enhanced oil recovery by surfactant solution flooding, we have determined the detailed behavior of model systems consisting of a packed column of calcium carbonate particles as the porous rock, n-decane as the trapped oil, and aqueous solutions of the anionic surfactant sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate (AOT). The AOT concentration was varied from zero to above the critical aggregation concentration (cac). The salt content of the aqueous solutions was varied to give systems of widely different, post-cac oil-water interfacial tensions. The systems were characterized in detail by measuring the permeability behavior of the packed columns, the adsorption isotherms of AOT from the water to the oil-water interface and to the water-calcium carbonate interface, and oil-water-calcium carbonate contact angles. Measurements of the percent oil recovery by pumping surfactant solutions into calcium carbonate-packed columns initially filled with oil were analyzed in terms of the characterization results. We show that the measured contact angles as a function of AOT concentration are in reasonable agreement with those calculated from values of the surface energy of the calcium carbonate-air surface plus the measured adsorption isotherms. Surfactant adsorption onto the calcium carbonate-water interface causes depletion of its aqueous-phase concentration, and we derive equations which enable the concentration of nonadsorbed surfactant within the packed column to be estimated from measured parameters. The percent oil recovery as a function of the surfactant concentration is determined solely by the oil-water-calcium carbonate contact angle for nonadsorbed surfactant concentrations less than the cac. For surfactant concentrations greater than the cac, additional oil removal occurs by a combination of solubilization and emulsification plus oil mobilization due to the low oil-water interfacial tension and a pumping pressure increase.

  1. Application of decline curve analysis to estimate recovery factors for carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jahediesfanjani, Hossein

    2017-07-17

    IntroductionIn the decline curve analysis (DCA) method of estimating recoverable hydrocarbon volumes, the analyst uses historical production data from a well, lease, group of wells (or pattern), or reservoir and plots production rates against time or cumu­lative production for the analysis. The DCA of an individual well is founded on the same basis as the fluid-flow principles that are used for pressure-transient analysis of a single well in a reservoir domain and therefore can provide scientifically reasonable and accurate results. However, when used for a group of wells, a lease, or a reservoir, the DCA becomes more of an empirical method. Plots from the DCA reflect the reservoir response to the oil withdrawal (or production) under the prevailing operating and reservoir conditions, and they continue to be good tools for estimating recoverable hydrocarbon volumes and future production rates. For predicting the total recov­erable hydrocarbon volume, the DCA results can help the analyst to evaluate the reservoir performance under any of the three phases of reservoir productive life—primary, secondary (waterflood), or tertiary (enhanced oil recovery) phases—so long as the historical production data are sufficient to establish decline trends at the end of the three phases.

  2. Lipid recovery from a vegetable oil emulsion using microbial enrichment cultures

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Tamis, J.; Sorokin, D.Y.; Jiang, Y.; Van Loosdrecht, M.C.M.; Kleerebezem, R.

    2015-01-01

    Background Many waste streams have a relatively high vegetable oil content, which is a potential resource that should be recovered. Microbial storage compound production for the recovery of lipids from lipid-water emulsions with open (unsterilized) microbial cultures was investigated in a sequencing

  3. Cognitive performance and aphasia recovery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fonseca, José; Raposo, Ana; Martins, Isabel Pavão

    2018-03-01

    Objectives This study assessed cognitive performance of subjects with aphasia during the acute stage of stroke and evaluated how such performance relates to recovery at 3 months. Materials & methods Patients with aphasia following a left hemisphere stroke were evaluated during the first (baseline) and the fourth-month post onset. Assessment comprised non-verbal tests of attention/processing speed (Symbol Search, Cancelation Task), executive functioning (Matrix Reasoning, Tower of Hanoi, Clock Drawing, Motor Initiative), semantic (Camel and Cactus Test), episodic and immediate memory (Memory for Faces Test, 5 Objects Memory Test, and Spatial Span. Recovery was measured by the Token Test score at 3 months. The impact of baseline performance on recovery was evaluated by logistic regression adjusting for age, education, severity of aphasia and the Alberta Stroke Program Early CT (ASPECT) score. Results Thirty-nine subjects (with a mean of 66.5 ± 10.6 years of age, 17 men) were included. Average baseline cognitive performance was within normal range in all tests except in memory tests (semantic, episodic and immediate memory) for which scores were ≤-1.5sd. Subjects with poor aphasia recovery (N = 27) were older and had fewer years of formal education but had identical ASPECT score compared to those with favorable recovery. Considering each test individually, the score obtained on the Matrix Reasoning test was the only one to predict aphasia recovery (Exp(B)=24.085 p = 0.038). Conclusions The Matrix Reasoning Test may contribute to predict aphasia recovery. Cognitive performance is a measure of network disruption but may also indicate the availability of recovery strategies.

  4. Sophorolipids Production by Candida bombicola ATCC 22214 and its Potential Application in Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elshafie, Abdulkadir E; Joshi, Sanket J; Al-Wahaibi, Yahya M; Al-Bemani, Ali S; Al-Bahry, Saif N; Al-Maqbali, Dua'a; Banat, Ibrahim M

    2015-01-01

    Biosurfactant production using Candida bombicola ATCC 22214, its characterization and potential applications in enhancing oil recovery were studied at laboratory scale. The seed media and the production media were standardized for optimal growth and biosurfactant production. The production media were tested with different carbon sources: glucose (2%w/v) and corn oil (10%v/v) added separately or concurrently. The samples were collected at 24 h interval up to 120 h and checked for growth (OD660), and biosurfactant production [surface tension (ST) and interfacial tension (IFT)]. The medium with both glucose and corn oil gave better biosurfactant production and reduced both ST and IFT to 28.56 + 0.42mN/m and 2.13 + 0.09mN/m, respectively within 72 h. The produced biosurfactant was quite stable at 13-15% salinity, pH range of 2-12, and at temperature up to 100°C. It also produced stable emulsions (%E24) with different hydrocarbons (pentane, hexane, heptane, tridecane, tetradecane, hexadecane, 1-methylnaphthalene, 2,2,4,4,6,8-heptamethylnonane, light and heavy crude oil). The produced biosurfactant was extracted using ethyl acetate and characterized as a mixture of sophorolipids (SPLs). The potential of SPLs in enhancing oil recovery was tested using core-flooding experiments under reservoir conditions, where additional 27.27% of residual oil (Sor) was recovered. This confirmed the potential of SPLs for applications in microbial enhanced oil recovery.

  5. Evaluation of new polymers for enhanced oil recovery; Avaliacao de novos polimeros para recuperacao aumentada de petroleo

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Maia, Ana M.S.; Chagas, Emanuel F.; Costa, Marta; Garcia, Rosangela B. [Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Natal, RN (Brazil)

    2004-07-01

    The main polymers used nowadays for enhanced oil recovery, partially hydrolysed polyacrylamides and xanthan gum, show some limitations, such as low tolerance to salt presence and biological degradation. Therefore, it is necessary the improvement of the polymeric properties. With this goal, a new class of polymers, named 'water-soluble polymers hydrophobically modified' or simply 'amphiphilic polymers', has been developed. In this work, it was obtained a water-soluble acrylamide polymer hydrophobically modified with N,N-dihexyl acrylamide, using the micellar copolymerization technique. After the structural and rheological characterization of the copolymer, its performance in porous medium was evaluated through core flood tests in Botucatu sandstone. In the presence of sodium chloride, the amphiphilic copolymer presented a great increase of viscosity, besides values of resistance factor and of residual resistance factor higher than for the commercial polyacrylamide. This behavior can favor the oil recovery, mainly in high salinity and permeability reservoirs, by improving the water flooding sweep efficiency. (author)

  6. 1170-MW(t) HTGR-PS/C plant application study report: shale oil recovery application

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rao, R.; McMain, A.T. Jr.

    1981-05-01

    The US has large shale oil energy resources, and many companies have undertaken considerable effort to develop economical means to extract this oil within environmental constraints. The recoverable shale oil reserves in the US amount to 160 x 10 9 m 3 (1000 x 10 9 bbl) and are second in quantity only to coal. This report summarizes a study to apply an 1170-MW(t) high-temperature gas-cooled reactor - process steam/cogeneration (HTGR-PS/C) to a shale oil recovery process. Since the highest potential shale oil reserves lie in th Piceance Basin of Western Colorado, the study centers on exploiting shale oil in this region

  7. Timelines and mechanisms of wildlife population recovery following the Exxon Valdez oil spill

    Science.gov (United States)

    Esler, Daniel N.; Ballachey, Brenda E.; Matkin, Craig O.; Cushing, Daniel; Kaler, Robert; Bodkin, James L.; Monson, Daniel; Esslinger, George G.; Kloecker, Kimberly A.

    2018-01-01

    Research and monitoring activities over the 28 years since the T/V Exxon Valdez ran aground and spilled oil into Prince William Sound, Alaska have led to an improved understanding of how wildlife populations were damaged, as well as the mechanisms and timelines of recovery. A key finding was that for some species, such as harlequin ducks and sea otters, chronic oil spill effects persisted for at least two decades and were a larger influence on population dynamics over the long term than acute effects of the spill. These data also offer insights into population variation resulting from factors other than the oil spill. For example, while many seabirds experienced direct and indirect effects of the spill, population trajectories of some piscivorous birds, including pigeon guillemots and marbled murrelets, were linked to long-term environmental changes independent of spill effects. Another species, killer whales, suffered population declines due to acute spill effects that have not been resolved despite lack of chronic direct effects, representing a novel pathway of long-term injury. The observed variation in mechanisms and timelines of recovery is linked to species specific life history and natural history traits, and thus may be useful for predicting population recovery for other species following other spills.

  8. Timelines and mechanisms of wildlife population recovery following the Exxon Valdez oil spill

    Science.gov (United States)

    Esler, Daniel; Ballachey, Brenda E.; Matkin, Craig; Cushing, Daniel; Kaler, Robert; Bodkin, James; Monson, Daniel; Esslinger, George; Kloecker, Kim

    2018-01-01

    Research and monitoring activities over the 28 years since the T/V Exxon Valdez ran aground and spilled oil into Prince William Sound, Alaska have led to an improved understanding of how wildlife populations were damaged, as well as the mechanisms and timelines of recovery. A key finding was that for some species, such as harlequin ducks and sea otters, chronic oil spill effects persisted for at least two decades and were a larger influence on population dynamics over the long term than acute effects of the spill. These data also offer insights into population variation resulting from factors other than the oil spill. For example, while many seabirds experienced direct and indirect effects of the spill, population trajectories of some piscivorous birds, including pigeon guillemots and marbled murrelets, were linked to long-term environmental changes independent of spill effects. Another species, killer whales, suffered population declines due to acute spill effects that have not been resolved despite lack of chronic direct effects, representing a novel pathway of long-term injury. The observed variation in mechanisms and timelines of recovery is linked to species specific life history and natural history traits, and thus may be useful for predicting population recovery for other species following other spills.

  9. DEVELOPMENT AND OPTIMIZATION OF GAS-ASSISTED GRAVITY DRAINAGE (GAGD) PROCESS FOR IMPROVED LIGHT OIL RECOVERY

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dandina N. Rao; Subhash C. Ayirala; Madhav M. Kulkarni; Amit P. Sharma

    2004-10-01

    This report describes the progress of the project ''Development and Optimization of Gas-Assisted Gravity Drainage (GAGD) Process for Improved Light Oil Recovery'' for the duration of the second project year (October 1, 2003--September 30, 2004). There are three main tasks in this research project. Task 1 is scaled physical model study of GAGD process. Task 2 is further development of vanishing interfacial tension (VIT) technique for miscibility determination. Task 3 is determination of multiphase displacement characteristics in reservoir rocks. In Section I, preliminary design of the scaled physical model using the dimensional similarity approach has been presented. Scaled experiments on the current physical model have been designed to investigate the effect of Bond and capillary numbers on GAGD oil recovery. Experimental plan to study the effect of spreading coefficient and reservoir heterogeneity has been presented. Results from the GAGD experiments to study the effect of operating mode, Bond number and capillary number on GAGD oil recovery have been reported. These experiments suggest that the type of the gas does not affect the performance of GAGD in immiscible mode. The cumulative oil recovery has been observed to vary exponentially with Bond and capillary numbers, for the experiments presented in this report. A predictive model using the bundle of capillary tube approach has been developed to predict the performance of free gravity drainage process. In Section II, a mechanistic Parachor model has been proposed for improved prediction of IFT as well as to characterize the mass transfer effects for miscibility development in reservoir crude oil-solvent systems. Sensitivity studies on model results indicate that provision of a single IFT measurement in the proposed model is sufficient for reasonable IFT predictions. An attempt has been made to correlate the exponent (n) in the mechanistic model with normalized solute compositions present in

  10. Fermentation assisted byproduct recovery in the palm oil industry

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stanton, W.R.

    1983-05-01

    The production of palm oil from Elaeis guineensis is a leading natural product industry in Malaysia, giving rise to a number of residues, including a rich, fruity liquor from the pulp. The liquor, of which 7-10 million tonnes a year are currently produced, has some 6% organic solids, including 0.7-1.0% or more of oil which physical processing has failed to extract. Present anaerobic digestion processes exploit only the energy and fertiliser value. Methods are described in this paper for thermophilic, microbially assisted digestion for component separation and recovery, exploiting the widely used techniques for fruit juice extraction involving enzymic breakdown of starch, pectin and other cell components. Anaerobiosis and acidogenesis help protect and release residual oil, concomitantly preserving the solids against rancidity and spoilage by ensilage. The separated wet solids are nutritive (17% protein on dry matter), biologically safe and attractive to livestock. Downstream use of the liquor is aided by the thermophilic digestion. (Refs. 33).

  11. Environmental regulations handbook for enhanced oil recovery

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Madden, M.P.; Blatchford, R.P.; Spears, R.B.

    1991-12-01

    This handbook is intended to assist owners and operators of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) operations in acquiring some introductory knowledge of the various state agencies, the US Environmental Protection Agency, and the many environmental laws, rules and regulations which can have jurisdiction over their permitting and compliance activities. It is a compendium of summarizations of environmental rules. It is not intended to give readers specific working details of what is required from them, nor can it be used in that manner. Readers of this handbook are encouraged to contact environmental control offices nearest to locations of interest for current regulations affecting them

  12. Environmental regulations handbook for enhanced oil recovery

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Madden, M.P. [National Inst. for Petroleum and Energy Research, Bartlesville, OK (United States); Blatchford, R.P.; Spears, R.B. [Spears and Associates, Inc., Tulsa, OK (United States)

    1991-12-01

    This handbook is intended to assist owners and operators of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) operations in acquiring some introductory knowledge of the various state agencies, the US Environmental Protection Agency, and the many environmental laws, rules and regulations which can have jurisdiction over their permitting and compliance activities. It is a compendium of summarizations of environmental rules. It is not intended to give readers specific working details of what is required from them, nor can it be used in that manner. Readers of this handbook are encouraged to contact environmental control offices nearest to locations of interest for current regulations affecting them.

  13. Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery-Laboratory Experiments with a Strain of Clostridium tyrobutyricum

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jimoh, Ismaila Adetunji

    the desired metabolic products needed for enhanced oil recovery. In this study, experiments have been performed with a strain of Clostridium tyrobutyricum. The experiments focused on salinity adaptation, gas production and the ability of microbes to modify rock properties. The result of the experiments showed...... that the strain of Clostridium tyrobutyricum adapted to 10, 30, 50, and 90 g/l before the start of the experiments produce more gas with an increase factor of between 0.39-6.9 for the same salinity condition than the pure culture. The adaptation process also led to the production of a strain 90F which can grow...

  14. Mechanisms behind injecting the combination of nano-clay particles and polymer solution for enhanced oil recovery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khalili Nezhad, Seyyed Shahram; Cheraghian, Goshtasp

    2016-08-01

    Laboratory investigations and field applications have proved injection of polymer solution to be an effective means to improve oil recovery for reservoirs of medium oil viscosity. The incremental oil produced in this case is the result of an increase in areal and vertical sweep efficiencies. Biopolymers and synthetic polymers are the major categories used in the petroleum industry for specific reasons. Biopolymers like xanthan are limited in their application as they are more susceptible to biodegradation. Synthetic polymers like Hydrolyzed PolyAcrylaMide (HPAM) have a much wider application as they are less susceptible to biodegradation. Furthermore, development of nanotechnology has successfully provided technical and economical viable alternatives for present materials. The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of combining clay nanoparticles with polymer solution on oil recovery. This paper includes a history match of both one-dimensional and two-dimensional polymer floods using a three-dimensional numerical model for fluid flow and mass transport. Results indicated that the amount of polymer adsorption decreased when clay nanoparticles were added to the PolyAcrylaMide solution; however, mobility ratio improvement is believed to be the main contributor for the proposed method in order to enhance much oil recovery compared to xanthan flood and HPAM flood.

  15. Assessment of the TRANSREC-350 mechanical recovery capacity of the oil spill response equipment in Prince William Sound

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Provant, S.G.

    1992-01-01

    Studies were conducted to determine the compliance of oil spill response equipment in Prince William Sound, Alaska, to state standards. Data on the observed performance of the Framo TRANSREC skimmer, which represents a large portion of the initial response skimming capability of the Sound's equipment, were obtained from Norwegian experience. The results of the analysis are based on the level of performance expected from well-trained skimmer crews responding to a 300,000 bbl spill under the worst average weather conditions over a 72-h period. Certain assumptions are made about volumes of evaporation and decanting. Results indicate that the volume of oil expected to be recovered would be 188,900 bbl, which would expand via emulsion formation to 303,000 bbl. In addition, a volume of free water would be taken in with the emulsion, which would be reduced by decanting. The overall storage capacity needed would then be 382,300 bbl. With the present available configuration of skimmers and barges, the maximum available storage capacity is 370,000 bbl. Skimmer capability can be maximized by matching storage capacity to recovery capability or by developing and demonstrating a capability to offload the recovered oil effectively such that transfer operations do not materially affect recovery operations. Recommendations are made for spill response organizations to improve their operations. 4 refs., 9 figs

  16. Increased Oil Production and Reserves Utilizing Secondary/Tertiary Recovery Techniques on Small Reservoirs in the Paradox Basin, Utah; ANNUAL

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jr., Chidsey, Thomas C.; Allison, M. Lee

    1999-01-01

    The primary objective of this project is to enhance domestic petroleum production by field demonstration and technology transfer of an advanced- oil-recovery technology in the Paradox basin, southeastern Utah. If this project can demonstrate technical and economic feasibility, the technique can be applied to approximately 100 additional small fields in the Paradox basin alone, and result in increased recovery of 150 to 200 million barrels (23,850,000-31,800,000 m3) of oil. This project is designed to characterize five shallow-shelf carbonate reservoirs in the Pennsylvanian (Desmoinesian) Paradox Formation and choose the best candidate for a pilot demonstration project for either a waterflood or carbon-dioxide-(CO2-) miscible flood project. The field demonstration, monitoring of field performance, and associated validation activities will take place within the Navajo Nation, San Juan County, Utah

  17. Recovery and Performance in Sport: Consensus Statement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kellmann, Michael; Bertollo, Maurizio; Bosquet, Laurent; Brink, Michel; Coutts, Aaron J; Duffield, Rob; Erlacher, Daniel; Halson, Shona L; Hecksteden, Anne; Heidari, Jahan; Kallus, K Wolfgang; Meeusen, Romain; Mujika, Iñigo; Robazza, Claudio; Skorski, Sabrina; Venter, Ranel; Beckmann, Jürgen

    2018-02-01

    The relationship between recovery and fatigue and its impact on performance has attracted the interest of sport science for many years. An adequate balance between stress (training and competition load, other life demands) and recovery is essential for athletes to achieve continuous high-level performance. Research has focused on the examination of physiological and psychological recovery strategies to compensate external and internal training and competition loads. A systematic monitoring of recovery and the subsequent implementation of recovery routines aims at maximizing performance and preventing negative developments such as underrecovery, nonfunctional overreaching, the overtraining syndrome, injuries, or illnesses. Due to the inter- and intraindividual variability of responses to training, competition, and recovery strategies, a diverse set of expertise is required to address the multifaceted phenomena of recovery, performance, and their interactions to transfer knowledge from sport science to sport practice. For this purpose, a symposium on Recovery and Performance was organized at the Technical University Munich Science and Study Center Raitenhaslach (Germany) in September 2016. Various international experts from many disciplines and research areas gathered to discuss and share their knowledge of recovery for performance enhancement in a variety of settings. The results of this meeting are outlined in this consensus statement that provides central definitions, theoretical frameworks, and practical implications as a synopsis of the current knowledge of recovery and performance. While our understanding of the complex relationship between recovery and performance has significantly increased through research, some important issues for future investigations are also elaborated.

  18. Enhancing heavy oil recovery using foam injection in applications to cyclic steam stimulation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Isaacs, E. [Alberta Energy Research Inst., Edmonton, AB (Canada); Yuan, J.Y. [Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., Calgary, AB (Canada)

    2008-07-01

    Cyclic steam stimulation (CSS) is a widely used heavy oil production technology. However, steam-based processes that are not stabilized can develop conformance as the steam can over-ride and channel past oil-bearing zones. This presentation discussed a refined CSS steam foaming process designed to improve recovery in marginal cycles. Laboratory studies were initially conducted to examine surfactant properties and flow behaviour in porous media. The results of numerical simulations were then applied to the steam-foaming portion of the CSS process. Results of the study showed that during the foam co-injection with steam stage, the steam injection rate did not alter. Improvement to the CSS process varied, indicating that earlier foam forming surfactant co-injection was preferable when steam-foam performance was constant in all cycles. It was concluded that the steam foaming process may improve bitumen production without requiring additional steam. 13 refs., 5 figs.

  19. Harlequin duck (Histrionicus histrionicus) perspective: Harlequin duck population recovery following the Exxon Valdez oil spill: Progress, process, and constraints

    Science.gov (United States)

    Esler, Daniel N.; Bowman, Timothy D.; Trust, Kimberly A.; Ballachey, Brenda E.; Dean, Thomas A.; Jewett, Stephen C.; O'Clair, Charles E.; Holland-Bartels, Leslie E.

    2002-01-01

    Following the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound, Alaska, we studied the status of recovery of harlequin duck (Histrionicus histrionicus) populations during 1995-1998. We evaluated potential constraints to full recovery, including (1) exposure to residual oil, (2) food limitation, and (3) intrinsic demographic limitations on population growth rates. In this paper, we synthesize the findings from our work and incorporate information from other harlequin duck research and monitoring programs to provide a comprehensive evaluation of the response of this species to the Exxon Valdez oil spill. We conclude that harlequin duck populations had not fully recovered by 1998. Furthermore, adverse effects continued as many as 9 years after the oil spill, in contrast to the conventional paradigm that oil spill effects on bird populations are short-lived. These conclusions are based on the findings that (1) elevated cytochrome P450 induction on oiled areas indicated continued exposure to oil in 1998, (2) adult female winter survival was lower on oiled than unoiled areas during 1995-1998, (3) fall population surveys by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game indicated numerical declines in oiled areas during 1995-1997, and (4) densities on oiled areas in 1996 and 1997 were lower than expected using models that accounted for effects of habitat attributes. Based on hypothesized links between oil contamination and demography, we suggest that harlequin duck population recovery was constrained primarily by continued oil exposure. Full population recovery also will be delayed by the time necessary for intrinsic population growth to allow return to pre-spill numbers following cessation of residual oil spill effects. Although not all wildlife species were affected by the Exxon Valdez oil spill, and some others may have recovered quickly from any effects, harlequin duck life history characteristics and benthic, nearshore feeding habits make them susceptible to both initial

  20. Uniqueness conditions in a hyperbolic model for oil recovery by steamdrive

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    J. Bruining; C.J. van Duijn (Hans)

    1998-01-01

    textabstractIn this paper we study a one-dimensional model for oil recovery by steamdrive. This model consists of two parts: a (global) interface model and a (local) steam condensation/capillary diffusion model. In the interface model a steam condensation front (SCF) is present as an internal

  1. Mechanism governing nanoparticle flow behaviour in porous media: insight for enhanced oil recovery applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Agi, Augustine; Junin, Radzuan; Gbadamosi, Afeez

    2018-06-01

    Nanotechnology has found its way to petroleum engineering, it is well-accepted path in the oil and gas industry to recover more oil trapped in the reservoir. But the addition of nanoparticles to a liquid can result in the simplest flow becoming complex. To understand the working mechanism, there is a need to study the flow behaviour of these particles. This review highlights the mechanism affecting the flow of nanoparticles in porous media as it relates to enhanced oil recovery. The discussion focuses on chemical-enhanced oil recovery, a review on laboratory experiment on wettability alteration, effect of interfacial tension and the stability of emulsion and foam is discussed. The flow behaviour of nanoparticles in porous media was discussed laying emphasis on the physical aspect of the flow, the microscopic rheological behaviour and the adsorption of the nanoparticles. It was observed that nanofluids exhibit Newtonian behaviour at low shear rate and non-Newtonian behaviour at high shear rate. Gravitational and capillary forces are responsible for the shift in wettability from oil-wet to water-wet. The dominant mechanisms of foam flow process were lamellae division and bubble to multiple bubble lamellae division. In a water-wet system, the dominant mechanism of flow process and residual oil mobilization are lamellae division and emulsification, respectively. Whereas in an oil-wet system, the generation of pre-spinning continuous gas foam was the dominant mechanism. The literature review on oil displacement test and field trials indicates that nanoparticles can recover additional oil. The challenges encountered have opened new frontier for research and are highlighted herein.

  2. Off-shore enhanced oil recovery in the north sea: matching CO_2 demand and supply given uncertain market conditions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Compernolle, Tine; Welkenhuysen, Kris; Huisman, Kuno; Piessens, Kris; Kort, Peter

    2015-04-01

    Introduction CO2 enhanced oil recovery (CO2-EOR) entails the injection of CO2 in mature oil fields in order to mobilize the oil. In particular, the injected CO2 reduces the oil's viscosity and acts as a propellant, resulting in an increased oil extraction rate (Leach et al., 2011). Given uncertainty in both oil price and CO2 price under the EU ETS system, aim of this study is to analyze under which economic conditions a CO2 exchange can be established between a CO2 supplier (an electricity producer for whom CO2 is a by-product) and a CO2 user (an offshore oil company that exploits oil fields in the North Sea and needs CO2 for enhanced oil recovery). Methodology A techno-economic simulation tool, PSS IV, was developed to provide investment decision support on integrated CO2-EOR projects (Welkenhuysen et al., 2014). Until now, a fixed onshore supply of CO2 was presumed. An economic optimization model is now developed for both the CO2 producer and the CO2 user. Because net present value and discounted cash flow methods are inadequate to deal with issues like uncertainty and the irreversibility of an investment decision, the real options theory is applied (Dixit and Pindyck, 1994). The way in which cooperation between the companies can take place, will be studied using game theoretical concepts (Lukas and Welling, 2014). Economic and technical data on CO2 capture are available from the PSS database (Piessens et al., 2012). Data on EOR performance, CO2 requirements and various costs are taken from literature (BERR, 2007; Klokk et al., 2010; Pershad et al., 2012). Results/Findings It will be shown what the impact of price uncertainty is on the investment decision of the electricity producer to capture and sell CO2, and on the decision of the oil producer to make the necessary investments to inject CO2 for enhanced oil recovery. Based on these results, it will be determined under which economic conditions a CO2 exchange and transport can take place. Furthermore, also the

  3. Assessment of opportunities to increase the recovery and recycling rates of waste oils

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Graziano, D.J.; Daniels, E.J.

    1995-08-01

    Waste oil represents an important energy resource that, if properly managed and reused, would reduce US dependence on imported fuels. Literature and current practice regarding waste oil generation, regulations, collection, and reuse were reviewed to identify research needs and approaches to increase the recovery and recycling of this resource. The review revealed the need for research to address the following three waste oil challenges: (1) recover and recycle waste oil that is currently disposed of or misused; (2) identify and implement lubricating oil source and loss reduction opportunities; and (3) develop and foster an effective waste oil recycling infrastructure that is based on energy savings, reduced environment at impacts, and competitive economics. The United States could save an estimated 140 {times} 1012 Btu/yr in energy by meeting these challenges.

  4. CO2 Storage and Enhanced Oil Recovery: Bald Unit Test Site, Mumford Hills Oil Field, Posey County, Indiana

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Frailey, Scott M. [Illinois State Geological Survey, Champaign, IL (United States); Krapac, Ivan G. [Illinois State Geological Survey, Champaign, IL (United States); Damico, James R. [Illinois State Geological Survey, Champaign, IL (United States); Okwen, Roland T. [Illinois State Geological Survey, Champaign, IL (United States); McKaskle, Ray W. [Illinois State Geological Survey, Champaign, IL (United States)

    2012-03-30

    The Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium (MGSC) carried out a small-scale carbon dioxide (CO2) injection test in a sandstone within the Clore Formation (Mississippian System, Chesterian Series) in order to gauge the large-scale CO2 storage that might be realized from enhanced oil recovery (EOR) of mature Illinois Basin oil fields via miscible liquid CO2 flooding.

  5. On the stabilizing role of species diffusion in chemical enhanced oil recovery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daripa, Prabir; Gin, Craig

    2015-11-01

    In this talk, the speaker will discuss a problem on the stability analysis related to the effect of species diffusion on stabilization of fingering in a Hele-Shaw model of chemical enhanced oil recovery. The formulation of the problem is motivated by a specific design principle of the immiscible interfaces in the hope that this will lead to significant stabilization of interfacial instabilities, there by improving oil recovery in the context of porous media flow. Testing the merits of this hypothesis poses some challenges which will be discussed along with some numerical results based on current formulation of this problem. Several open problems in this context will be discussed. This work is currently under progress. Supported by the grant NPRP 08-777-1-141 from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of The Qatar Foundation).

  6. Effect of Temperature on Wettability and Optimum Wetting Conditions for Maximum Oil Recovery in Carbonate Reservoir System

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sohal, Muhammad Adeel Nassar; Thyne, Geoffrey; Søgaard, Erik Gydesen

    2017-01-01

    The additional oil recovery from fractured & oil-wet carbonates by ionically modified water is principally based on changing wettability and often attributed to an improvement in water wetness. The influence of different parameters like dilution of salinity, potential anions, temperature, pressure......, lithology, pH, oil acid and base numbers to improve water wetting has been tested in recovery experiments. In these studies temperature is mainly investigated to observe the reactivity of potential anions (SO42-, PO33-, and BO33-) at different concentrations. But the influence of systematically increasing...... and 100 times. It was observed that as temperature increased the water-wetness decreased for seawater and seawater dilutions, however, the presence of elevated sulfate can somewhat counter this trend as sulfate increased oil wetting....

  7. Tank testing of skimmers with waxy and viscous oils

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1989-10-01

    A series of tests of four offshore skimmers (Framo ACW-400, GT-185, Walosep W2, Heavy Oil Skimmer) was conducted in a 120-by-60-meter wave basin. Each skimmer was tested with each of 3 oils: a conventional crude, a waxy crude, and a bunker oil. Each test involved 4-6 h of skimming, partly conducted in waves having a period of 4 s and heights of 0.4-0.8 m. Near the end of selected tests, the additive Elastol was applied to the oil and its effect on recovery parameters evaluated. All the optimum results were obtained in calm conditions. In general, waves had no effect on the performance of the Walosep W2, had little effect on the performance of the GT-185, and greatly reduced the performance of the Framo. The experimental Heavy Oil Skimmer failed to recover oil at significant rates without addition of Elastol to the oils. The fluid recovery rate less the water entrainment rate generally declined as oil viscosity increased. For a waxy oil, recovery rates under conditions typical of the Grand Banks in summer would be 30-40% less than for a conventional crude with the Framo skimmer and about the same as the recovery rates for conventional crude with the Walosep and GT-185 skimmers. The Walosep, unlike the other skimmers, did not entrain more water when skimming waxy oil compared to conventional oil. Adding Elastol to the oils improved the corrected recovery rates of the Walosep by ca 15% and had no effect on its water entrainment rate. For the Framo, Elastol addition had no effect on the recovery rate but increased its water entrainment rate. Elastol reduced the GT-185's recovery rate by 25-35% and increased its water entrainment rate. Adding Elastol had several negative effects on subsequent downstream operations. 11 refs., 55 figs., 14 tabs

  8. Thermally-enhanced oil recovery method and apparatus

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stahl, Charles R.; Gibson, Michael A.; Knudsen, Christian W.

    1987-01-01

    A thermally-enhanced oil recovery method and apparatus for exploiting deep well reservoirs utilizes electric downhole steam generators to provide supplemental heat to generate high quality steam from hot pressurized water which is heated at the surface. A downhole electric heater placed within a well bore for local heating of the pressurized liquid water into steam is powered by electricity from the above-ground gas turbine-driven electric generators fueled by any clean fuel such as natural gas, distillate or some crude oils, or may come from the field being stimulated. Heat recovered from the turbine exhaust is used to provide the hot pressurized water. Electrical power may be cogenerated and sold to an electric utility to provide immediate cash flow and improved economics. During the cogeneration period (no electrical power to some or all of the downhole units), the oil field can continue to be stimulated by injecting hot pressurized water, which will flash into lower quality steam at reservoir conditions. The heater includes electrical heating elements supplied with three-phase alternating current or direct current. The injection fluid flows through the heater elements to generate high quality steam to exit at the bottom of the heater assembly into the reservoir. The injection tube is closed at the bottom and has radial orifices for expanding the injection fluid to reservoir pressure.

  9. A study of the effects of enhanced oil recovery agents on the quality of Strategic Petroleum Reserves crude oil. Final technical report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kabadi, V.N.

    1992-10-01

    The project was initiated on September 1, 1990. The objective of the project was to carry out a literature search to estimate the types and extents of long time interactions of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) agents, such as surfactants, caustics and polymers, with crude oil. This information is necessary to make recommendations about mixing EOR crude oil with crude oils from primary and secondary recovery processes in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). Data were sought on both adverse and beneficial effects of EOR agents that would impact handling, transportation and refining of crude oil. An extensive literature search has been completed, and the following informations has been compiled: (1) a listing of existing EOR test and field projects; (2) a listing of currently used EOR agents; and (3) evidence of short and long term physical and chemical interactions of these EOR-agents with hydrocarbons, and their effects on the quality of crude oil at long times. This information is presented in this report. Finally some conclusions are derived and recommendations are made. Although the conclusions are based mostly on extrapolations because of lack of specific data, it is recommended that the enhancement of the rates of biodegradation of oil catalyzed by the EOR agents needs to be further studied. There is no evidence of substantial long term effects on crude oil because of other interactions. Some recommendations are also made regarding the types of studies that would be necessary to determine the effect of certain EOR agents on the rates of biodegradation of crude oil.

  10. ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY WITH DOWNHOLE VIBRATION STIMULATION IN OSAGE COUNTY OKLAHOMA

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Robert Westermark; J. Ford Brett

    2003-11-01

    This Final Report covers the entire project from July 13, 2000 to June 30, 2003. The report summarizes the details of the work done on the project entitled ''Enhanced Oil Recovery with Downhole Vibration Stimulation in Osage County Oklahoma'' under DOE Contract Number DE-FG26-00BC15191. The project was divided into nine separate tasks. This report is written in an effort to document the lessons learned during the completion of each task. Therefore each task will be discussed as the work evolved for that task throughout the duration of the project. Most of the tasks are being worked on simultaneously, but certain tasks were dependent on earlier tasks being completed. During the three years of project activities, twelve quarterly technical reports were submitted for the project. Many individual topic and task specific reports were included as appendices in the quarterly reports. Ten of these reports have been included as appendices to this final report. Two technical papers, which were written and accepted by the Society of Petroleum Engineers, have also been included as appendices. The three primary goals of the project were to build a downhole vibration tool (DHVT) to be installed in seven inch casing, conduct a field test of vibration stimulation in a mature waterflooded field and evaluate the effects of the vibration on both the produced fluid characteristics and injection well performance. The field test results are as follows: In Phase I of the field test the DHVT performed exceeding well, generating strong clean signals on command and as designed. During this phase Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory had installed downhole geophones and hydrophones to monitor the signal generated by the downhole vibrator. The signals recorded were strong and clear. Phase II was planned to be ninety-day reservoir stimulation field test. This portion of the field tests was abruptly ended after one week of operations, when the DHVT became stuck in the well

  11. Biotechnology in petroleum recovery. The microbial EOR

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sen, Ramkrishna [Department of Biotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur, West Bengal 721302 (India)

    2008-12-15

    Biotechnology has played a significant role in enhancing crude oil recovery from the depleted oil reservoirs to solve stagnant petroleum production, after a three-stage recovery process employing mechanical, physical and chemical methods. Biotechnologically enhanced oil recovery processes, known as microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR), involve stimulating indigenous reservoir microbes or injecting specially selected consortia of natural bacteria into the reservoir to produce specific metabolic events that lead to improved oil recovery. This also involves flooding with oil recovery agents produced ex situ by industrial or pilot scale fermentation. This paper essentially reviews the operating mechanisms and the progress made in enhanced oil recovery through the use of microbes and their metabolic products. Improvement in oil recovery by injecting solvents and gases or by energizing the reservoir microflora to produce them in situ for carbonate rock dissolution and reservoir re-pressurization has been enunciated. The role of biosurfactants in oil mobilization through emulsification and that of biopolymers for selective plugging of oil-depleted zones and for biofilm formation have been delineated. The spoil sport played by sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) in MEOR has also been briefly reviewed. The importance of mathematical models used in predicting the applicability of an MEOR strategy and the microbial growth and transport has been qualitatively discussed. The results of some laboratory studies and worldwide field trials applying ex situ and in situ MEOR technologies were compiled and interpreted. However, the potential of the MEOR technologies has not been fully realized due to poor yield of the useful microbial metabolic products, growth inhibition by accumulated toxic metabolites and longer time of incubation. A complete evaluation and assessment of MEOR from an engineering standpoint based on economics, applicability and performance is required to further

  12. Surfactant-enhanced alkaline flooding for light oil recovery. Final report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wasan, D.T.

    1996-05-01

    In this report, we present the results of our experimental and theoretical studies in surfactant-enhanced alkaline flooding for light oil recovery. The overall objective of this work is to develop a very cost-effective method for formulating a successful surfactant-enhanced alkaline flood by appropriately choosing mixed alkalis which form inexpensive buffers to obtain the desired pH (between 8.5 and 12. 0) for ultimate spontaneous emulsification and ultralow interfacial tension. In addition, we have (1) developed a theoretical interfacial activity model for determining equilibrium interfacial tension, (2) investigated the mechanisms for spontaneous emulsification, (3) developed a technique to monitor low water content in oil and (4) developed a technique to study water-in-oil emulsion film properties, (5) investigated the effect of surfactant on the equilibrium and transient interfacial tension, (6) investigated the kinetics of oil removal from a silica surface, and (7) developed a theoretical interfacial activity model for determining equilibrium interfacial tension, accounting for added surfactant. The results of the studies conducted during the course of this project are discussed.

  13. A Novel CO2-Responsive Viscoelastic Amphiphilic Surfactant Fluid for Fracking in Enhanced Oil/Gas Recovery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhong, L.; Wu, X.; Dai, C.

    2017-12-01

    Over the past decade, the rapid rise of unconventional shale gas and tight sandstone oil development through horizontal drilling and high volume hydraulic fracturing has expanded the extraction of hydrocarbon resources. Hydraulic fracturing fluids play very important roles in enhanced oil/gas recovery. However, damage to the reservoir rock and environmental contamination caused by hydraulic fracturing flowback fluids has raised serious concerns. The development of reservoir rock friendly and environmental benign fracturing fluids is in immediate demand. Studies to improve properties of hydraulic fracturing fluids have found that viscoelastic surfactant (VES) fracturing fluid can increase the productivity of gas/oil and be efficiently extracted after fracturing. Compared to conventional polymer fracturing fluid, VES fracturing fluid has many advantages, such as few components, easy preparation, good proppant transport capacity, low damage to cracks and formations, and environment friendly. In this work, we are developing a novel CO2-responsive VES fracking fluid that can readily be reused. This fluid has a gelling-breaking process that can be easily controlled by the presence of CO2 and its pressure. We synthesized erucamidopropyl dimethylamine (EA) as a thickening agent for hydraulic fracturing fluid. The influence of temperature, presence of CO2 and pressure on the viscoelastic behavior of this fluid was then investigated through rheological measurements. The fracturing fluid performance and recycle property were lastly studied using core flooding tests. We expect this fluid finds applications not only in enhanced oil/gas recovery, but also in areas such as controlling groundwater pollution and microfluidics.

  14. Oil spill encounter rate: A means of estimating advancing skimmer performance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schulze, R.

    1993-01-01

    A high rate of oil spill recovery can only be achieved if the spilled oil can be collected fast enough for the skimming and pumping systems to operate at their rated capacity. For advancing skimmers, recovery capacity depends on the rate at which the skimming system encounters the oil slick. For these systems, encounter rate depends on skimming speed, sweep width, and the amount of oil available, in this case measured in terms of slick thickness. The computation of the spill encounter rate is described, and a chart is provided that permits the user to determine encounter rate for candidate skimming systems by inspection. Furthermore, a contingency planning worksheet for advancing skimmers is provided that allows the user to evaluate a particular response system. The resulting data can be used to determine the oil slick area that can be covered in a period of time, the volume of oil that can be expected to be recovered in that time based on oil spill planning scenarios, the pumping capacity required for skimming and transfer systems, and the storage requirements for recovered oil. Finally, suggestions are presented on how computations of oil spill encounter rate can be used to make important decisions in procuring advancing skimmers for specific applications. 1 fig., 1 tab

  15. 4-D tomographic monitoring of enhanced oil recovery

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brzostowski, M.A.; McMechan, G.A.

    1991-01-01

    One application of tomography that has recently received considerable attention is reservoir monitoring for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR). Tomographic monitoring of a moving steam front uses the significant decrease in compressional wave velocity that occurs as hydrocarbon temperature increases. The purposes of this paper are to present a working algorithm for 3-D tomography, to demonstrate the feasibility of 3-D imaging of a simulated reservoir in which the position of a steam front changes with time, and to illustrate the relations between survey geometry and the resolution of the target

  16. On the use of sodium lignosulphonate for enhanced oil recovery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Azis, M. M.; Rachmadi, H.; Wintoko, J.; Yuliansyah, A. T.; Hasokowati, W.; Purwono, S.; Rochmadi, W.; Murachman, B.

    2017-05-01

    There has been large interest to utilize oil reservoirs in Indonesia by using Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) processes. Injection of surfactant as a part of chemical injection technique in EOR is known to aid the mobility and reduction in surface tension. One potential surfactant for EOR application is Sodium Lignosulphonate (SLS) which can be made from various sources particularly empty fruit bunch of oil palm and black liquor from kraft pulp production. Here, we will discuss a number of methods for SLS production which includes lignin isolation techniques and sulphonation reaction. The use of SLS alone as EOR surfactant, however, is often not feasible as the Interfacial Tension (IFT) value of SLS is typically above the order of 10-3 dyne/cm which is mandated for EOR application. Hence, brief discussion on SLS formulation screening is provided which illustrates an extensive labwork experience during the SLS development in our lab.

  17. Enhanced oil recovery by nitrogen and carbon dioxide injection followed by low salinity water flooding for tight carbonate reservoir: experimental approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Georges Lwisa, Essa; Abdulkhalek, Ashrakat R.

    2018-03-01

    Enhanced Oil Recovery techniques are one of the top priorities of technology development in petroleum industries nowadays due to the increase in demand for oil and gas which cannot be equalized by the primary production or secondary production methods. The main function of EOR process is to displace oil to the production wells by the injection of different fluids to supplement the natural energy present in the reservoir. Moreover, these injecting fluids can also help in the alterations of the properties of the reservoir like lowering the IFTs, wettability alteration, a change in pH value, emulsion formation, clay migration and oil viscosity reduction. The objective of this experiment is to investigate the residual oil recovery by combining the effects of gas injection followed by low salinity water injection for low permeability reservoirs. This is done by a series of flooding tests on selected tight carbonate core samples taken from Zakuum oil field in Abu Dhabi by using firstly low salinity water as the base case and nitrogen & CO2injection followed by low salinity water flooding at reservoir conditions of pressure and temperature. The experimental results revealed that a significant improvement of the oil recovery is achieved by the nitrogen injection followed by the low salinity water flooding with a recovery factor of approximately 24% of the residual oil.

  18. Optimization of Surfactant Mixtures and Their Interfacial Behavior for Advanced Oil Recovery

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Somasundaran, Prof. P.

    2002-03-04

    The objective of this project was to develop a knowledge base that is helpful for the design of improved processes for mobilizing and producing oil left untapped using conventional techniques. The main goal was to develop and evaluate mixtures of new or modified surfactants for improved oil recovery. In this regard, interfacial properties of novel biodegradable n-alkyl pyrrolidones and sugar-based surfactants have been studied systematically. Emphasis was on designing cost-effective processes compatible with existing conditions and operations in addition to ensuring minimal reagent loss.

  19. Study on the reutilization of clear fracturing flowback fluids in surfactant flooding with additives for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dai, Caili; Wang, Kai; Liu, Yifei; Fang, Jichao; Zhao, Mingwei

    2014-01-01

    An investigation was conducted to study the reutilization of clear fracturing flowback fluids composed of viscoelastic surfactants (VES) with additives in surfactant flooding, making the process more efficient and cost-effective. The clear fracturing flowback fluids were used as surfactant flooding system with the addition of α-olefin sulfonate (AOS) for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). The interfacial activity, emulsification activity and oil recovery capability of the recycling system were studied. The interfacial tension (IFT) between recycling system and oil can be reduced by 2 orders of magnitude to 10(-3) mN/m, which satisfies the basic demand of surfactant flooding. The oil can be emulsified and dispersed more easily due to the synergetic effect of VES and AOS. The oil-wet surface of quartz can be easily converted to water-wet through adsorption of surfactants (VES/AOS) on the surface. Thirteen core plug flooding tests were conducted to investigate the effects of AOS concentrations, slug sizes and slug types of the recycling system on the incremental oil recovery. The investigations prove that reclaiming clear fracturing flowback fluids after fracturing operation and reuse it in surfactant flooding might have less impact on environment and be more economical.

  20. Study of the enhanced oil recovery with surfactant based systems; Estudo de recuperacao avancada de petroleo por sistemas a base de tensoativos

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ribeiro Neto, Valdir Cotrim; Paulino, Luisa Cimatti; Acyoly, Alessandra; Santos, Enio Rafael M.; Dantas Neto, Afonso Avelino [Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Natal, RN (Brazil)

    2008-07-01

    The recent changes in the world scenario, the large reserves of heavy oils and also the lack of new discoveries of large petroleum fields are indications that, in the near future, the oil recovery by conventional methods will be limited. In order to increase the efficiency of the extraction process, it must be used enhanced recovery methods. One of these technologies is the injection of surfactant solutions, where exists a chemical interaction between the injected fluid and the reservoir's fluid. With this in mind, this work was developed with two main objectives: to study of parameters that influence the surfactant behavior in solution, namely the critical micelle concentration (CMC), the surface and interface tensions between fluids and the evaluation of oil recovery with these solutions. After the Botucatu sandstone (Brazil) porosity study, the plug samples were submitted to assay steps comprising saturation with seawater and petroleum, conventional recovery with seawater and enhanced recovery with surfactant solutions. The solutions were studied in enhanced recovery step, when the plug samples could already be compared to a mature field. The PJN surfactant, at a concentration 1000% above CMC in water, had a higher recovery factor, causing the original oil in place to be recovered by an extra 20.97%, after conventional recovery with seawater. (author)

  1. Production of lipopeptide biosurfactants by Bacillus atrophaeus 5-2a and their potential use in microbial enhanced oil recovery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Junhui; Xue, Quanhong; Gao, Hui; Lai, Hangxian; Wang, Ping

    2016-10-03

    Lipopeptides are known as promising microbial surfactants and have been successfully used in enhancing oil recovery in extreme environmental conditions. A biosurfactant-producing strain, Bacillus atrophaeus 5-2a, was recently isolated from an oil-contaminated soil in the Ansai oilfield, Northwest China. In this study, we evaluated the crude oil removal efficiency of lipopeptide biosurfactants produced by B. atrophaeus 5-2a and their feasibility for use in microbial enhanced oil recovery. The production of biosurfactants by B. atrophaeus 5-2a was tested in culture media containing eight carbon sources and nitrogen sources. The production of a crude biosurfactant was 0.77 g L -1 and its surface tension was 26.52 ± 0.057 mN m -1 in a basal medium containing brown sugar (carbon source) and urea (nitrogen source). The biosurfactants produced by the strain 5-2a demonstrated excellent oil spreading activity and created a stable emulsion with paraffin oil. The stability of the biosurfactants was assessed under a wide range of environmental conditions, including temperature (up to 120 °C), pH (2-13), and salinity (0-50 %, w/v). The biosurfactants were found to retain surface-active properties under the extreme conditions. Additionally, the biosurfactants were successful in a test to simulate microbial enhanced oil recovery, removing 90.0 and 93.9 % of crude oil adsorbed on sand and filter paper, respectively. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy showed that the biosurfactants were a mixture of lipopeptides, which are powerful biosurfactants commonly produced by Bacillus species. The study highlights the usefulness of optimization of carbon and nitrogen sources and their effects on the biosurfactants production and further emphasizes on the potential of lipopeptide biosurfactants produced by B. atrophaeus 5-2a for crude oil removal. The favorable properties of the lipopeptide biosurfactants make them good candidates for application in the bioremediation of oil

  2. Evaluating the climate benefits of CO2-enhanced oil recovery using life cycle analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cooney, Gregory; Littlefield, James; Marriott, Joe; Skone, Timothy J

    2015-06-16

    This study uses life cycle analysis (LCA) to evaluate the greenhouse gas (GHG) performance of carbon dioxide (CO2) enhanced oil recovery (EOR) systems. A detailed gate-to-gate LCA model of EOR was developed and incorporated into a cradle-to-grave boundary with a functional unit of 1 MJ of combusted gasoline. The cradle-to-grave model includes two sources of CO2: natural domes and anthropogenic (fossil power equipped with carbon capture). A critical parameter is the crude recovery ratio, which describes how much crude is recovered for a fixed amount of purchased CO2. When CO2 is sourced from a natural dome, increasing the crude recovery ratio decreases emissions, the opposite is true for anthropogenic CO2. When the CO2 is sourced from a power plant, the electricity coproduct is assumed to displace existing power. With anthropogenic CO2, increasing the crude recovery ratio reduces the amount of CO2 required, thereby reducing the amount of power displaced and the corresponding credit. Only the anthropogenic EOR cases result in emissions lower than conventionally produced crude. This is not specific to EOR, rather the fact that carbon-intensive electricity is being displaced with captured electricity, and the fuel produced from that system receives a credit for this displacement.

  3. Rhamnolipids Produced by Indigenous Acinetobacter junii from Petroleum Reservoir and its Potential in Enhanced Oil Recovery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dong, Hao; Xia, Wenjie; Dong, Honghong; She, Yuehui; Zhu, Panfeng; Liang, Kang; Zhang, Zhongzhi; Liang, Chuanfu; Song, Zhaozheng; Sun, Shanshan; Zhang, Guangqing

    2016-01-01

    Biosurfactant producers are crucial for incremental oil production in microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) processes. The isolation of biosurfactant-producing bacteria from oil reservoirs is important because they are considered suitable for the extreme conditions of the reservoir. In this work, a novel biosurfactant-producing strain Acinetobacter junii BD was isolated from a reservoir to reduce surface tension and emulsify crude oil. The biosurfactants produced by the strain were purified and then identified via electrospray ionization-Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (ESI FT-ICR-MS). The biosurfactants generated by the strain were concluded to be rhamnolipids, the dominant rhamnolipids were C26H48O9, C28H52O9, and C32H58O13. The optimal carbon source and nitrogen source for biomass and biosurfactant production were NaNO3 and soybean oil. The results showed that the content of acid components increased with the progress of crude oil biodegradation. A glass micromodel test demonstrated that the strain significantly increased oil recovery through interfacial tension reduction, wettability alteration and the mobility of microorganisms. In summary, the findings of this study indicate that the newly developed BD strain and its metabolites have great potential in MEOR. PMID:27872613

  4. Rhamnolipids produced by indigenous Acinetobacter junii from petroleum reservoir and its potential in enhanced oil recovery

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hao Dong

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Biosurfactant producers are crucial for incremental oil production in microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR processes. The isolation of biosurfactant-producing bacteria from oil reservoirs is important because they are considered suitable for the extreme conditions of the reservoir. In this work, a novel biosurfactant-producing strain Acinetobacter junii BD was isolated from a reservoir to reduce surface tension and emulsify crude oil. The biosurfactants produced by the strain were purified and then identified via electrospray ionization-Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (ESI FT-ICR-MS. The biosurfactants generated by the strain were concluded to be rhamnolipids, the dominant rhamnolipids were C26H48O9, C28H52O9 and C32H58O13. The optimal carbon source and nitrogen source for biomass and biosurfactant production were NaNO3 and soybean oil. The results showed that the content of acid components increased with the progress of crude oil biodegradation. A glass micromodel test demonstrated that the strain significantly increased oil recovery through interfacial tension reduction, wettability alteration and the mobility of microorganisms. In summary, the findings of this study indicate that the newly developed BD strain and its metabolites have great potential in MEOR.

  5. Rhamnolipids Produced by Indigenous Acinetobacter junii from Petroleum Reservoir and its Potential in Enhanced Oil Recovery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dong, Hao; Xia, Wenjie; Dong, Honghong; She, Yuehui; Zhu, Panfeng; Liang, Kang; Zhang, Zhongzhi; Liang, Chuanfu; Song, Zhaozheng; Sun, Shanshan; Zhang, Guangqing

    2016-01-01

    Biosurfactant producers are crucial for incremental oil production in microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) processes. The isolation of biosurfactant-producing bacteria from oil reservoirs is important because they are considered suitable for the extreme conditions of the reservoir. In this work, a novel biosurfactant-producing strain Acinetobacter junii BD was isolated from a reservoir to reduce surface tension and emulsify crude oil. The biosurfactants produced by the strain were purified and then identified via electrospray ionization-Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (ESI FT-ICR-MS). The biosurfactants generated by the strain were concluded to be rhamnolipids, the dominant rhamnolipids were C 26 H 48 O 9 , C 28 H 52 O 9 , and C 32 H 58 O 13 . The optimal carbon source and nitrogen source for biomass and biosurfactant production were NaNO 3 and soybean oil. The results showed that the content of acid components increased with the progress of crude oil biodegradation. A glass micromodel test demonstrated that the strain significantly increased oil recovery through interfacial tension reduction, wettability alteration and the mobility of microorganisms. In summary, the findings of this study indicate that the newly developed BD strain and its metabolites have great potential in MEOR.

  6. Optimization of Spore Forming Bacteria Flooding for Enhanced Oil Recovery in North Sea Chalk Reservoir

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Halim, Amalia Yunita; Nielsen, Sidsel Marie; Eliasson Lantz, Anna

    2015-01-01

    .2-3.8 cm) during bacteria injection. Further seawater flooding after three days shut in period showed that permeability gradually increased in the first two sections of the core and started to decrease in the third section of the core (3.8-6.3 cm). Complete plugging was never observed in our experiments.......Little has been done to study microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) in chalk reservoirs. The present study focused on core flooding experiments to see microbial plugging and its effect on oil recovery. A pressure tapped core holder with pressure ports at 1.2 cm, 3.8 cm, and 6.3 cm from the inlet...

  7. Polymer/reduced graphene oxide functionalized sponges as superabsorbents for oil removal and recovery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Periasamy, Arun Prakash; Wu, Wen-Ping; Ravindranath, Rini; Roy, Prathik; Lin, Guan-Lin; Chang, Huan-Tsung

    2017-01-30

    Polyurethane dish-washing (PU-DW) sponges are functionalized sequentially with polyethylenimine (PEI) and graphene oxide (GO) to form PEI/reduced graphene oxide (RGO) PU-DW sponges. The PEI/RGO PU-DW sponge consists of PEI/RGO sheets having numerous pores, with diameters ranging from 236 to 254nm. To further enhance hydrophobicity and absorption capacity of oil, PEI/RGO PU-DW sponge is further coated with 20% phenyltrimethoxysilane (PTMOS). The PTMOS/PEI/RGO PU-DW sponge absorbs various oils within 20s, with maximum absorption capacity values of 880% and 840% for bicycle chain oil and motorcycle engine oil, respectively. The absorbed oils were released completely by squeezing or immersed in hexane. The PTMOS/PEI/RGO PU-DW sponge efficiently separates oil/water mixtures through a flowing system. Having the advantages of faster absorption rate, reusability, and low cost, the PTMOS/PEI/RGO PU-DW sponge holds great potential as a superabsorbent for efficient removal and recovery of oil spills as well as for the separation of oil/water mixtures. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Measurement of Streaming Potential in Downhole Application: An Insight for Enhanced Oil Recovery Monitoring

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tengku Mohd Tengku Amran

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Downhole monitoring using streaming potential measurement has been developing in order to respond to actual reservoir condition. Most studies have emphasized on monitoring water flooding at various reservoir condition and improving the approaches of measurement. Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR could significantly improve oil recovery and the efficiency of the process should be well-monitored. Alkaline-surfactant-polymer (ASP flooding is the most promising chemical EOR method due to its synergy of alkaline, surfactant and polymer, which could enhance the extraction of residual oil. However, limited studies have been focused on the application of streaming potential in EOR processes, particularly ASP. Thus, this paper aims to review the streaming potential measurement in downhole monitoring with an insight for EOR application and propose the potential measurement in monitoring ASP flooding. It is important for a preliminary study to investigate the synergy in ASP and the effects on oil recovery. The behaviour of streaming potential should be investigated when the environment of porous media changes with respect to ASP flooding. Numerical model can be generated from the experimental data to forecast the measured streaming potential signal during production associated with ASP flooding. Based on the streaming potential behaviour on foam assisted water alternate gas (FAWAG and water alternate gas (WAG processes, it is expected that the streaming potential could change significantly when ASP flooding alters the environment and surface properties of porous media. The findings could provide new prospect and knowledge in the relationship between streaming potential and ASP mechanisms, which could be a potential approach in monitoring the efficiency of the process.

  9. Development of Microorganisms with Improved Transport and Biosurfactant Activity for Enhanced Oil Recovery

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    M.J. McInerney; K.E. Duncan; N. Youssef; T. Fincher; S.K. Maudgalya; M.J. Folmsbee; R. Knapp; Randy R. Simpson; N.Ravi; D. Nagle

    2005-08-15

    The project had three objectives: (1) to develop microbial strains with improved biosurfactant properties that use cost-effective nutrients, (2) to obtain biosurfactant strains with improved transport properties through sandstones, and (3) to determine the empirical relationship between surfactant concentration and interfacial tension and whether in situ reactions kinetics and biosurfactant concentration meets appropriate engineering design criteria. Here, we show that a lipopeptide biosurfactant produced by Bacillus mojavensis strain JF-2 mobilized substantial amounts of residual hydrocarbon from sand-packed columns and Berea sandstone cores when a viscosifying agent and a low molecular weight alcohol were present. The amount of residual hydrocarbon mobilized depended on the biosurfactant concentration. Tertiary oil recovery experiments showed that 10 to 40 mg/l of JF-2 biosurfactant in the presence of 0.1 mM 2,3-butanediol and 1 g/l of partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (PHPA) recovered 10-40% of residual oil from Berea sandstone cores. Even low biosurfactant concentrations (16 mg/l) mobilized substantial amounts of residual hydrocarbon (29%). The bio-surfactant lowered IFT by nearly 2 orders of magnitude compared to typical IFT values of 28-29 mN/m. Increasing the salinity increased the IFT with or without 2,3-butanediol present. The lowest interfacial tension observed was 0.1 mN/m. A mathematical model that relates oil recovery to biosurfactant concentration was modified to include the stepwise changes in IFT as biosurfactant concentrations changes. This model adequately predicted the experimentally observed changes in IFT as a function of biosurfactant concentration. Theses data show that lipopeptide biosurfactant systems may be effective in removing hydrocarbon contamination sources in soils and aquifers and for the recovery of entrapped oil from low production oil reservoirs. Diverse microorganisms were screened for biosurfactant production and anaerobic

  10. Systematic Phase Behaviour Study and Foam Stability Analysis for Optimal Alkaline/Surfactant/Foam Enhanced Oil Recovery

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hosseini Nasab, S.M.; Zitha, P.L.J.

    2015-01-01

    Alkaline-Surfactant-Foam (ASF) flooding is a recently introduced enhanced oil recovery (EOR) method. This paper presents laboratory study of this ASF to better understand its mechanisms. The focus is on the interaction of ASF chemical agents with oil and in the presence and absence of naphthenic

  11. Optimization of Surfactant Mixtures and Their Interfacial Behavior for Advanced Oil Recovery, Annual Report, September 30, 1999-September 30, 2000

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Somasundaran, Prof. P.

    2001-04-04

    The goal of this report is to develop improved extraction processes to mobilize and produce the oil left untapped using conventional techniques. Current chemical schemes for recovering the residual oil have been in general less than satisfactory. High cost of the processes as well as significant loss of chemicals by adsorption on reservoir materials and precipitation has limited the utility of chemical-flooding operations. There is a need to develop cost-effective, improved reagent schemes to increase recovery from domestic oil reservoirs. The goal of the report was to develop and evaluate novel mixtures of surfactants for improved oil recovery.

  12. Enhanced heavy oil recovery on depleted long core system by CH{sub 4} and CO{sub 2}

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shi, R.; Kantzas, A. [Calgary Univ., AB (Canada). Tomographic Imaging and Porous Media Laboratory

    2008-10-15

    As demand for energy continues to increase and production of conventional oil declines, additional development of heavy oil and bitumen recovery processes and technologies is required in order to meet future energy demands. However, if productions are to be achieved economically, heavy oil viscosity must be reduced. Two methods are normally used to reduce heavy oil viscosity, notably thermal processes such as steam assisted gravity drainage and solvent processes. This paper described a laboratory study of potential post-cold production strategies for heavy oil reservoirs. Methane and carbon dioxide were injected in two depleted long cores. The purpose of the study was to improve understanding of the heavy oil solution gas drive mechanism and to assess methane and carbon dioxide recharging as a potential recovery method for heavy oil reservoirs. It also sought to establish a baseline for comparison against one another. The paper described the methodology and provided a summary of previous production history. It was concluded that the saturation and production time difference between the glass beads core and the sandpack core indicate the permeability difference between the two cores. 12 refs., 2 tabs., 14 figs.

  13. Recovery of NORM from scales generated by oil extraction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Al Attar, Lina; Safia, Bassam; Ghani, Basem Abdul; Al Abdulah, Jamal

    2016-01-01

    Scales, containing naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM), are a major problem in oil production that lead to costly remediation and disposal programmes. In view of environmental protection, radio and chemical characterisation is an essential step prior to waste treatment. This study focuses on developing of a protocol to recover "2"2"6Ra and "2"1"0Pb from scales produced by petroleum industry. X-ray diffractograms of the scales indicated the presence of barite–strontium (Ba_0_._7_5Sr_0_._2_5SO_4) and hokutolite (Ba_0_._6_9Pb_0_._3_1SO_4) as main minerals. Quartz, galena and Ca_2Al_2SiO_6(OH)_2 or sphalerite and iron oxide were found in minor quantities. Incineration to 600°C followed by enclosed-digestion and acid-treatment gave complete digestion. Using "1"3"3Ba and "2"1"0Pb tracers as internal standards gave recovery ranged 87–91% for "2"2"6Ra and ca. 100% for "2"1"0Pb. Radium was finally dissolved in concentrated sulphuric acid, while "2"1"0Pb dissolved in the former solution as well as in 8 M nitric acid. Dissolving the scales would provide better estimation of their radionuclides contents, facilitate the determination of their chemical composition, and make it possible to recycle NORM wastes in terms of radionuclides production. - Highlights: • Recovery of "2"2"6Ra and "2"1"0Pb radionuclides from scales generated from oil industry. • XRD indicated the existence of Ba_0_._7_5Sr_0_._2_5SO_4 and Ba_0_._6_9Pb_0_._3_1SO_4 as main minerals. • Radio-recovery ranged 87–91% for "2"2"6Ra and ca. 100% for "2"1"0Pb. • The dissolving protocol complies with various composition of scale samples.

  14. Formation of Anhydrite due to Interaction Between Water Soluble CO2 (aq) and Calcite Mineral During Enhanced Oil Recovery

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Chakravarty, Krishna Hara; Fosbøl, Philip Loldrup; Thomsen, Kaj

    2015-01-01

    In the Low Salinity based EOR method, formation and migration of fines have proved to have profound effect on the displacement efficiency of residual oil. Salinity variations of injected brines have also been shown to affect oil recovery for WAG-CO2 processes. But the effect of fines in EOR during...... simulations were conducted over a temperature range of 50°C to 250°C and a pressure range of 5 bars to 500 bars. The amounts of fines formation taking place for different LSWAG-CO2 processes were correlated to the described oil recovery. It is observed that significant amounts of fines formation can take...... with the available SO42- ions. The salinity and composition of brines present in pore space shows direct correlation with the amount of fines produced during CO2 injection. With increase in temperature and pressure, the amount fines formation increased significantly. The described oil recovery for different LSWAG...

  15. Investigation of Primary Recovery in Low-Permeability Oil Formations: A Look at the Cardium Formation, Alberta (Canada

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ghaderi S.M.

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Tight oil formations (permeability < 1 mD in Western Canada have recently emerged as a reliable resource of light oil supply owing to the use of multifractured horizontal wells. The Cardium formation, which contains 25% of Alberta’s total discovered light oil (according to Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board, consists of conventional and unconventional (low-permeability or tight play areas. The conventional play areas have been developed since 1957. Contrarily, the development of unconventional play is a recent event, due to considerably poorer reservoir properties which increases the risk associated with capital investment. This in turn implies the need for a comprehensive and critical study of the area before planning any development strategy. This paper presents performance results from the low permeability portions of the Cardium formation where new horizontal wells have been drilled and stimulated in multiple stages to promote transverse hydraulic fractures. Development of the tight Cardium formation using primary recovery is considered. The production data of these wells was first matched using a black oil simulator. The calibrated model presented was used for performance perditions based on sensitivity studies and investigations that encompassed design factors such as well spacing, fracture properties and operational constraints.

  16. Sacrificial adsorbate for surfactants utilized in chemical floods of enhanced oil recovery operations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, Jr., James S.; Westmoreland, Clyde G.

    1982-01-01

    The present invention is directed to a sacrificial or competitive adsorbate for surfactants contained in chemical flooding emulsions for enhanced oil recovery operations. The adsorbate to be utilized in the method of the present invention is a caustic effluent from the bleach stage or the weak black liquor from the digesters and pulp washers of the kraft pulping process. This effluent or weak black liquor is injected into an oil-bearing subterranean earth formation prior to or concurrent with the chemical flood emulsion and is adsorbed on the active mineral surfaces of the formation matrix so as to effectively reduce adsorption of surfactant in the chemical flood. Alternatively, the effluent or liquor can be injected into the subterranean earth formation subsequent to a chemical flood to displace the surfactant from the mineral surfaces for the recovery thereof.

  17. Improved recovery potential in mature heavy oil fields by Alkali-surfactant flooding

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bryan, J.; Kantzas, A. [Calgary Univ., AB (Canada). Tomographic Imaging and Porous Media Laboratory

    2008-10-15

    Primary and secondary alkali surfactant (AS) chemical flooding techniques were optimized in this study. Core flooding experiments were conducted in order to investigate the formation of emulsions in bulk liquid system due to flow through rock pores. Cores were dried and then saturated with water or brine in order to measure permeability. The floods were then performed at various injection rates followed by the AS solution. Solutions were also injected without previous waterflooding. Individual oil and water mobilities were then calculated using the experimental data. Individual phase mobilities were calculated using the total pressure gradient measured across the core. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) studies were conducted in order to determine emulsion formation within porous media from in situ flooding tests at 4 different locations. Data from the NMR studies were used to calculate fluid distributions and measurements of in situ emulsification during the chemical floods. The study demonstrated that the use of the surfactants resulted in the in situ formation of oil-water and water-oil emulsions. Responses from de-ionized alkali and brine AS systems were similar. The recovery mechanism blocked off water channels and provided improved sweep efficiency in the core. It was concluded that injection rates and pressure gradients for chemical floods should be lowered in order to optimize their efficiency. 26 refs., 6 tabs., 15 figs.

  18. Methane recovery from coal mine gas using hydrate formation in water-in-oil emulsions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhong, Dong-Liang; Ding, Kun; Lu, Yi-Yu; Yan, Jin; Zhao, Wei-Long

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • A water-in-oil emulsion was developed for CH_4 separation from coal mine methane gas. • Stable W/O emulsions were obtained with water cut in the range of (10–70%). • Gas hydrates nucleated faster with the reduction of water–oil volume ratio. • Gas uptake increased with the decrease of water–oil volume ratio. • CH_4 recovery was greatly enhanced by hydrate formation in W/O emulsions. - Abstract: In this work, a water-in-oil (W/O) emulsion was developed using liquid water, mineral oil, Sorbitan monooleate (Span 80), and cyclopentane. It was employed to enhance gas hydrate formation for CH_4 separation from a simulated coal mine methane (CMM) gas (30 mol% CH_4, 60 mol% N_2, and 10 mol% O_2). The stability test at atmospheric pressure and at a high pressure of 3.5 MPa showed that stable W/O emulsions were obtained when the water–oil volume ratio (WOR) was below 80%. The emulsified droplets size was measured with WOR ranging from 10% to 70%. Then kinetic experiments of CH_4 separation by hydrate formation in W/O emulsions were carried out at 273.6 K and (3.5–5.0) MPa in batch operation. The results indicated that water–oil volume ratio is a key factor that affects the kinetics of gas hydrate formation from the CMM gas mixture. Hydrate nucleation was observed to occur faster while WOR was decreased, and gas uptake increased significantly with the decrease of WOR. CH_4 concentration in the recovered gas mixture was increased to 52 mol% as compared to 30 mol% in the original gas mixture through one-stage hydrate formation in the W/O emulsions. It was found that the experimental conditions of 273.6 K, 3.5 MPa and WOR = 30% were favorable for CH_4 recovery from the CMM gas. The CH_4 recovery obtained under these conditions was 43%. It was higher than those obtained at WOR = 10% and 70%, and was greatly increased as compared with those obtained in the same reactor with the presence of TBAB (26%) and CP (33%).

  19. Sulfomethylated lignite salt as a sacrifical agent in oil recovery processes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kudchadker, M.V.; Weiss, W.J.

    1978-02-07

    A process is described for recovering petroleum from oil reservoirs by secondary recovery methods. The process involves injecting via an injection well into the reservoir an aqueous solution of sulfomethylated lignite salt as a sacrificial agent to inhibit the deposition of surfactant and polymer on the reservoir matrix. The process is conducted by first injecting the lignite salt into the formation through the injection well and following it with either a polymer or a surfactant solution, which also may contain the lignite salt. The polymer or surfactant would then be followed by a drive fluid, such as water, to push the chemicals and oil to the production well. (18 claims)

  20. Potential use of produced oil sample analysis to monitor SAGD performance

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Li, Z. [Society of Petroleum Engineers, Canadian Section, Calgary, AB (Canada)]|[Nexen Petroleum International, Calgary, AB (Canada); Wollen, C. [Society of Petroleum Engineers, Canadian Section, Calgary, AB (Canada)]|[OPTI-Nexen Inc., Calgary, AB (Canada); Yang, P.; Fustic, M. [Nexen Petroleum International, Calgary, AB (Canada)

    2008-10-15

    Oil viscosity and compositional gradients can affect the performance of steam injection recovery processes. In this study, reservoir simulations were conducted to investigate the effects of viscosity variation with depth on steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) processes and produced oil characteristics. The 2-D reservoir model consisted of a reservoir with a 40 m clean sand matrix, overtopped with interbedded shales and sand. The oil phase was comprised of 2 pseudo-components representing top and bottom bitumens. Viscosities and concentrations of the pseudo-components were calculated using linear mixing rules. Four different viscosity distribution scenarios were examined. Conceptual 3-D models were then constructed to examine the characteristics of produced oil samples in scenarios with shale barriers extending down the well directions and blocking parts of the reservoir. Results from the simulations showed that produced oil characteristics are related to the in situ profiles of reservoir flow barriers. Produced oil characteristics can be used in conjunction with oil rates, surface heave and other data to predict steam chamber development and detect the presence of baffles and barriers. The relationship between the SAGD steam chamber and variations in produced fluid characteristics were accurately characterized by the simulations. It was concluded that the approach can be used to monitor SAGD steam chamber growth. 10 refs., 1 tab., 19 figs.

  1. Contracts for field projects and supporting research on enhanced oil recovery. Progress review number 87

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1997-10-01

    Approximately 30 research projects are summarized in this report. Title of the project, contract number, company or university, award amount, principal investigators, objectives, and summary of technical progress are given for each project. Enhanced oil recovery projects include chemical flooding, gas displacement, and thermal recovery. Most of the research projects though are related to geoscience technology and reservoir characterization.

  2. Surfactant-enhanced alkaline flooding for light oil recovery. Annual report, 1992--1993

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wasan, D.T.

    1994-08-01

    In this report, the authors present the results of experimental and theoretical studies in surfactant-enhanced alkaline flooding for light oil recovery. The overall objective of this work is to develop a very cost-effective method for formulating a successful surfactant-enhanced alkaline flood by appropriately choosing mixed alkalis which form inexpensive buffers to obtain the desired pH (between 8.5 and 12.0) for ultimate spontaneous emulsification and ultralow interfacial tension. In addition, the authors have (1) developed a theoretical interfacial activity model for determining equilibrium interfacial tension, (2) investigated the mechanisms for spontaneous emulsification, (3) developed a technique to monitor low water content in oil, and (4) developed a technique to study water-in-oil emulsion film properties.

  3. Supplying synthetic crude oil from Canadian oil sands: A comparative study of the costs and CO2 emissions of mining and in-situ recovery

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Méjean, Aurélie; Hope, Chris

    2013-01-01

    High crude oil prices and the eventual decline of conventional oil production raise the issue of alternative fuels such as non-conventional oil. The paper describes a simple probabilistic model of the costs of synthetic crude oil produced from Canadian oil sands. Synthetic crude oil is obtained by upgrading bitumen that is first produced through mining or in-situ recovery techniques. This forward-looking analysis quantifies the effects of learning and production constraints on the costs of supplying synthetic crude oil. The sensitivity analysis shows that before 2035, the most influential parameters are the learning parameter in the case of in-situ bitumen and the depletion parameter in the case of mined bitumen. After 2035, depletion dominates in both cases. The results show that the social cost of CO 2 has a large impact on the total costs of synthetic crude oil, in particular in the case of synthetic crude oil from in-situ bitumen, due to the carbon intensity of the recovery techniques: taking into account the social cost of CO 2 adds more than half to the cost of producing synthetic crude oil from mined bitumen in 2050 (mean value), while the cost of producing synthetic crude oil from in-situ bitumen more than doubles. - Highlights: • We model the cost of Canadian synthetic crude oil (SCO) using Monte-Carlo techniques. • We reveal the uncertainty associated with each input parameter. • We quantify the effect of learning, depletion and CO 2 using sensitivity analyses. • Accounting for the social cost of CO 2 doubles the cost of SCO from in-situ bitumen. • CO 2 pricing could have a large effect on the economics of the oil sands

  4. Study on the reutilization of clear fracturing flowback fluids in surfactant flooding with additives for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Caili Dai

    Full Text Available An investigation was conducted to study the reutilization of clear fracturing flowback fluids composed of viscoelastic surfactants (VES with additives in surfactant flooding, making the process more efficient and cost-effective. The clear fracturing flowback fluids were used as surfactant flooding system with the addition of α-olefin sulfonate (AOS for enhanced oil recovery (EOR. The interfacial activity, emulsification activity and oil recovery capability of the recycling system were studied. The interfacial tension (IFT between recycling system and oil can be reduced by 2 orders of magnitude to 10(-3 mN/m, which satisfies the basic demand of surfactant flooding. The oil can be emulsified and dispersed more easily due to the synergetic effect of VES and AOS. The oil-wet surface of quartz can be easily converted to water-wet through adsorption of surfactants (VES/AOS on the surface. Thirteen core plug flooding tests were conducted to investigate the effects of AOS concentrations, slug sizes and slug types of the recycling system on the incremental oil recovery. The investigations prove that reclaiming clear fracturing flowback fluids after fracturing operation and reuse it in surfactant flooding might have less impact on environment and be more economical.

  5. CO2 Accounting and Risk Analysis for CO2 Sequestration at Enhanced Oil Recovery Sites.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dai, Zhenxue; Viswanathan, Hari; Middleton, Richard; Pan, Feng; Ampomah, William; Yang, Changbing; Jia, Wei; Xiao, Ting; Lee, Si-Yong; McPherson, Brian; Balch, Robert; Grigg, Reid; White, Mark

    2016-07-19

    Using CO2 in enhanced oil recovery (CO2-EOR) is a promising technology for emissions management because CO2-EOR can dramatically reduce sequestration costs in the absence of emissions policies that include incentives for carbon capture and storage. This study develops a multiscale statistical framework to perform CO2 accounting and risk analysis in an EOR environment at the Farnsworth Unit (FWU), Texas. A set of geostatistical-based Monte Carlo simulations of CO2-oil/gas-water flow and transport in the Morrow formation are conducted for global sensitivity and statistical analysis of the major risk metrics: CO2/water injection/production rates, cumulative net CO2 storage, cumulative oil/gas productions, and CO2 breakthrough time. The median and confidence intervals are estimated for quantifying uncertainty ranges of the risk metrics. A response-surface-based economic model has been derived to calculate the CO2-EOR profitability for the FWU site with a current oil price, which suggests that approximately 31% of the 1000 realizations can be profitable. If government carbon-tax credits are available, or the oil price goes up or CO2 capture and operating expenses reduce, more realizations would be profitable. The results from this study provide valuable insights for understanding CO2 storage potential and the corresponding environmental and economic risks of commercial-scale CO2-sequestration in depleted reservoirs.

  6. Eos modeling and reservoir simulation study of bakken gas injection improved oil recovery in the elm coulee field, Montana

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pu, Wanli

    The Bakken Formation in the Williston Basin is one of the most productive liquid-rich unconventional plays. The Bakken Formation is divided into three members, and the Middle Bakken Member is the primary target for horizontal wellbore landing and hydraulic fracturing because of its better rock properties. Even with this new technology, the primary recovery factor is believed to be only around 10%. This study is to evaluate various gas injection EOR methods to try to improve on that low recovery factor of 10%. In this study, the Elm Coulee Oil Field in the Williston Basin was selected as the area of interest. Static reservoir models featuring the rock property heterogeneity of the Middle Bakken Member were built, and fluid property models were built based on Bakken reservoir fluid sample PVT data. By employing both compositional model simulation and Todd-Longstaff solvent model simulation methods, miscible gas injections were simulated and the simulations speculated that oil recovery increased by 10% to 20% of OOIP in 30 years. The compositional simulations yielded lower oil recovery compared to the solvent model simulations. Compared to the homogeneous model, the reservoir model featuring rock property heterogeneity in the vertical direction resulted in slightly better oil recovery, but with earlier CO2 break-through and larger CO2 production, suggesting that rock property heterogeneity is an important property for modeling because it has a big effect on the simulation results. Long hydraulic fractures shortened CO2 break-through time greatly and increased CO 2 production. Water-alternating-gas injection schemes and injection-alternating-shut-in schemes can provide more options for gas injection EOR projects, especially for gas production management. Compared to CO2 injection, separator gas injection yielded slightly better oil recovery, meaning separator gas could be a good candidate for gas injection EOR; lean gas generated the worst results. Reservoir

  7. Increased Oil Production and Reserves Utilizing Secondary/Tertiary Recovery Techniques on Small Reservoirs in the Paradox Basin, Utah

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Allison, M. Lee; Chidsey, Thomas Jr.

    1999-01-01

    The primary objective of this project is to enhance domestic petroleum production by demonstration and technology transfer of an advanced oil recovery technology in the Paradox basin, southeastern Utah. If this project can demonstrate technical and economic feasibility, the technique can be applied to about 100 additional small fields in the Paradox basin alone, and result in increased recovery of 150 to 200 million bbl of oil. This project is designed to characterize five shallow-shelf carbonate reservoirs in the Pennsylvanian (Desmoinesian) Paradox Formation and choose the best candidate for a pilot demonstration project for either a waterflood or carbon dioxide-(CO-) flood 2 project. The field demonstration, monitoring of field performance, and associated validation activities will take place in the Paradox basin within the Navajo Nation. The results of this project will be transferred to industry and other researchers through a petroleum extension service, creation of digital databases for distribution, technical workshops and seminars, field trips, technical presentations at national and regional professional meetings, and publication in newsletters and various technical or trade journals

  8. Control of waste well casing vent gas from a thermal enhanced oil recovery operation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Peavy, M.A.; Braun, J.E.

    1991-01-01

    This paper presents an overview of a waste gas treatment system designed to control emissions from thermally enhanced oil recovery wells. This case study discusses the need, design, installation and operations of the system. Oryx Energy Company (Oryx) operates approximately 940 wells in the Midway-Sunset (MWSS) field under casing vapor recovery systems. The emissions collected from well casing vent gas cotaining hydrocarbons and hydrogen sulfide that are collected and processed through casing vapor recovery skids. These skids are composed of condensers, compressors, and pumps that separate fluids from the waste gas stream. The non-condensible gas is then disposed of in incinerators that reduce the hydrocarbon and sulfur emissions into the atmosphere. Approximately 91,000 lbs/day of hydrocarbon and 10,116 lbs/day of sulfur dioxide are removed from the atmosphere from wells contained within these systems operated by Oryx. These hydrocarbons yield approximately 550 barrels of oil per day (BOPD). The system helps manage the pressure differential from the reservoir into each wellbore and contributes to improved ambient air quality in Kern County, California

  9. How to Attain an Ultralow Interfacial Tension and a Three-Phase Behavior with a Surfactant Formulation for Enhanced Oil Recovery: A Review. Part 2. Performance Improvement Trends from Winsor's Premise to Currently Proposed Inter- and Intra-Molecular Mixtures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salager, Jean-Louis; Forgiarini, Ana M; Márquez, Laura; Manchego, Lisbeth; Bullón, Johnny

    2013-01-01

    The minimum interfacial tension occurrence along a formulation scan at the so-called optimum formulation is discussed to be related to the interfacial curvature. The attained minimum tension is inversely proportional to the domain size of the bicontinuous microemulsion and to the interfacial layer rigidity, but no accurate prediction is available. The data from a very simple ternary system made of pure products accurately follows the correlation for optimum formulation, and exhibit a linear relationship between the performance index as the logarithm of the minimum tension at optimum, and the formulation variables. This relation is probably too simple when the number of variables is increased as in practical cases. The review of published data for more realistic systems proposed for enhanced oil recovery over the past 30 years indicates a general guidelines following Winsor's basic studies concerning the surfactant-oil-water interfacial interactions. It is well known that the major performance benefits are achieved by blending amphiphilic species at the interface as intermolecular or intramolecular mixtures, sometimes in extremely complex formulations. The complexity is such that a good knowledge of the possible trends and an experienced practical know-how to avoid trial and error are important for the practitioner in enhanced oil recovery.

  10. Recovery of oil components of okara by ethanol-modified supercritical carbon dioxide extraction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quitain, Armando T; Oro, Kazuyuki; Katoh, Shunsaku; Moriyoshi, Takashi

    2006-09-01

    Recovery of the oil components of okara by ethanol-modified supercritical carbon dioxide extraction was investigated at 40-80 degrees C temperature and 12-30 MPa pressure. In a typical run (holding period of 2 h, continuous flow extraction of 5 h), results indicated that the oil component could be best obtained with a recovery of 63.5% at relatively low temperature of 40 degrees C and mild pressure of 20 MPa in the presence of 10 mol% EtOH as entrainer. Based on gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis, the extracts consisted mainly of fatty acids and phytosterols, and traces of decadienal. Folin-Ciocalteau estimates of total phenols showed that addition of EtOH as entrainer increased the yield and the amount of phenolic compounds in the extracts. The amounts of two primary soy isoflavones, genistein and daidzein, in the extracts also increased with increasing amount of EtOH.

  11. Investigation of Multiscale and Multiphase Flow, Transport and Reaction in Heavy Oil Recovery Processes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yorstos, Yannis C.

    2003-03-19

    The report describes progress made in the various thrust areas of the project, which include internal drives for oil recovery, vapor-liquid flows, combustion and reaction processes and the flow of fluids with yield stress.

  12. Thermotropic nanostructured gels with complex hierarchical structure and two gelling components for water shut-off and enhance of oil recovery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Altunina, L. K.; Kuvshinov, I. V.; Kuvshinov, V. A.; Kozlov, V. V.; Stasyeva, L. A.

    2017-12-01

    This work presents the results of laboratory and field tests of thermotropic composition MEGA with two simultaneously acting gelling components, polymer and inorganic. The composition is intended for improving oil recovery and water shut-off at oilfields developed by thermal flooding, and cyclic-steam stimulated oil production wells. The composition forms an in-situ "gel-in-gel" system with improved structural-mechanical properties, using reservoir or carrier fluid heat for gelling. The gel blocks water breakthrough into producing wells and redistribute fluid flows, thus increasing the oil recovery factor.

  13. Production and characterisation of glycolipid biosurfactant by Halomonas sp. MB-30 for potential application in enhanced oil recovery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dhasayan, Asha; Kiran, G Seghal; Selvin, Joseph

    2014-12-01

    Biosurfactant-producing Halomonas sp. MB-30 was isolated from a marine sponge Callyspongia diffusa, and its potency in crude oil recovery from sand pack column was investigated. The biosurfactant produced by the strain MB-30 reduced the surface tension to 30 mN m(-1) in both glucose and hydrocarbon-supplemented minimal media. The critical micelle concentration of biosurfactant obtained from glucose-based medium was at 0.25 mg ml(-1) at critical micelle dilution 1:10. The chemical structure of glycolipid biosurfactant was characterised by infrared spectroscopy and proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The emulsification activity of MB-30 biosurfactant was tested with different hydrocarbons, and 93.1 % emulsification activity was exhibited with crude oil followed by kerosene (86.6 %). The formed emulsion was stable for up to 1 month. To identify the effectiveness of biosurfactant for enhanced oil recovery in extreme environments, the interactive effect of pH, temperature and salinity on emulsion stability with crude oil and kerosene was evaluated. The stable emulsion was formed at and above pH 7, temperature >80 °C and NaCl concentration up to 10 % in response surface central composite orthogonal design model. The partially purified biosurfactant recovered 62 % of residual crude oil from sand pack column. Thus, the stable emulsifying biosurfactant produced by Halomonas sp. MB-30 could be used for in situ biosurfactant-mediated enhanced oil recovery process and hydrocarbon bioremediation in extreme environments.

  14. Modeling and simulation of multiphase multicomponent multiphysics porous media flows in the context of chemical enhanced oil recovery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dutta, Sourav; Daripa, Prabir; Fluids Team

    2015-11-01

    One of the most important methods of chemical enhanced oil recovery (EOR) involves the use of complex flooding schemes comprising of various layers of fluids mixed with suitable amounts of polymer or surfactant or both. The fluid flow is characterized by the spontaneous formation of complex viscous fingering patterns which is considered detrimental to oil recovery. Here we numerically study the physics of such EOR processes using a modern, hybrid method based on a combination of a discontinuous, multiscale finite element formulation and the method of characteristics. We investigate the effect of different types of heterogeneity on the fingering mechanism of these complex multiphase flows and determine the impact on oil recovery. We also study the effect of surfactants on the dynamics of the flow via reduction of capillary forces and increase in relative permeabilities. Supported by the grant NPRP 08-777-1-141 from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of The Qatar Foundation).

  15. Influence of pH on dynamics of microbial enhanced oil recovery processes using biosurfactant producing Pseudomonas putida: Mathematical modelling and numerical simulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sivasankar, P; Suresh Kumar, G

    2017-01-01

    In present work, the influence of reservoir pH conditions on dynamics of microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) processes using Pseudomonas putida was analysed numerically from the developed mathematical model for MEOR processes. Further, a new strategy to improve the MEOR performance has also been proposed. It is concluded from present study that by reversing the reservoir pH from highly acidic to low alkaline condition (pH 5-8), flow and mobility of displaced oil, displacement efficiency, and original oil in place (OOIP) recovered gets significantly enhanced, resulting from improved interfacial tension (IFT) reduction by biosurfactants. At pH 8, maximum of 26.1% of OOIP was recovered with higher displacement efficiency. The present study introduces a new strategy to increase the recovery efficiency of MEOR technique by characterizing the biosurfactants for IFT min /IFT max values for different pH conditions and subsequently, reversing the reservoir pH conditions at which the IFT min /IFT max value is minimum. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Enhanced oil recovery chemicals from renewable wood resources

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Grune, W.N.; Compere, A.L.; Griffith, W.L.; Crenshaw, J.M.

    1979-04-01

    Most of the wood pulp in the U.S. is produced by cooking, or digesting, wood chips in a chemical solution. These pulping processes have effluent streams which contain dissolved lignins, lignin breakdown products, and carbohydrates. There is a substantial economic incentive to use these materials as feedstocks for the production of high-valued micellar flood chemicals. The pulp and paper industries have practiced chemical recovery for almost a century. The largest chemical recycle processes are the internal recycle of inorganic salts for reuse in pulping. This is coupled with the use of waste organic compounds in the liquor as a fuel for directly-fired evaporation processes. Diversion of effluent and low valued streams for chemical recovery using fermentation, purification, or synthesis methods appears technically feasible in several cases. The use of new recovery processes could yield a variety of different wood-effluent based products. Some of the sugar acids in pulping liquors might be used as sequestering agents in reservoirs where there are large amounts of multivalent cations in flood brines. Fermentation production of high viscosity polymers, sequestering agents, and coagent alcohols appears worth further investigation. Tall oil acids and their derivatives can be used as surfactants in some reservoirs. Some waste constituents may adsorb preferentially on formations and thereby reduce loss of surfactants and other higher-valued chemicals.

  17. Towards the understanding of microbial metabolism in relation to microbial enhanced oil recovery

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Halim, Amalia Yunita; Nielsen, Sidsel Marie; Nielsen, Kristian Fog

    2017-01-01

    In this study, Bacillus licheniformis 421 was used as a model organism to understand the effects of microbial cell growth and metabolite production under anaerobic conditions in relation to microbial enhanced oil recovery. The bacterium was able to grow anaerobically on different carbon compounds...

  18. Relevance of Linear Stability Results to Enhanced Oil Recovery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ding, Xueru; Daripa, Prabir

    2012-11-01

    How relevant can the results based on linear stability theory for any problem for that matter be to full scale simulation results? Put it differently, is the optimal design of a system based on linear stability results is optimal or even near optimal for the complex nonlinear system with certain objectives of interest in mind? We will address these issues in the context of enhanced oil recovery by chemical flooding. This will be based on an ongoing work. Supported by Qatar National Research Fund (a member of the Qatar Foundation).

  19. Well performance relationships in heavy foamy oil reservoirs

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kumar, R.; Mahadevan, J. [Society of Petroleum Engineers, Richardson, TX (United States)]|[Tulsa Univ., Tulsa, OK (United States)

    2008-10-15

    The viscosities and thermodynamic properties of heavy oils are different from conventional oils. Heavy oil reservoirs have foamy behaviour and the gas/oil interface stabilizes in the presence of asphaltenes. In the case of conventional oils, gas evolves from the solution when the formation pressure reaches the bubble point pressure. This study modelled the fluid properties of heavy foamy oils and their influence on the inflow performance relationship (IPR). An expression for inflow performance in heavy oil was developed by including the properties of foamy oil into a space averaged flow equation assuming pseudo-steady state conditions. The unique feature of this study was that the density, formation volume factor and solution gas-oil ratio were modelled as functions of entrained gas fraction. The newly developed expression for inflow performance of foamy oils may also be used to model conventional oil inflow by setting the entrained gas fraction to zero in the fluid property models. The results of the inflow performance of foamy oil and conventional oil were compared and an outflow performance relationship was calculated. The study showed that the inflow performance in foamy oil is influenced by entrained gas. The surface flow rates and bottom-hole flow rates are also influenced by the presence of entrained gas, with heavy foamy oil showing a higher volumetric production rate than conventional oil. The outflow performance curve depended on the fluid properties of the foamy oil. A nodal analysis of the well performance showed that the conventional calculation methods underestimate the production from foamy oil wells because they do not consider the effect of entrained gas which lowers density and improves the mobility of foamy oil. 14 refs., 2 tabs., 20 figs., 1 appendix.

  20. Noble Gas signatures of Enhanced Oil Recovery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barry, P. H.; Kulongoski, J. T.; Tyne, R. L.; Hillegonds, D.; Byrne, D. J.; Landon, M. K.; Ballentine, C. J.

    2017-12-01

    Noble gases are powerful tracers of fluids from various oil and gas production activities in hydrocarbon reservoirs and nearby groundwater. Non-radiogenic noble gases are introduced into undisturbed oil and natural gas reservoirs through exchange with formation waters [1-3]. Reservoirs with extensive hydraulic fracturing, injection for enhanced oil recovery (EOR), and/or waste disposal also show evidence for a component of noble gases introduced from air [4]. Isotopic and elemental ratios of noble gases can be used to 1) assess the migration history of the injected and formation fluids, and 2) determine the extent of exchange between multiphase fluids in different reservoirs. We present noble gas isotope and abundance data from casing, separator and injectate gases of the Lost Hills and Fruitvale oil fields in the San Joaquin basin, California. Samples were collected as part of the California State Water Resource Control Board's Oil and Gas Regional Groundwater Monitoring Program. Lost Hills (n=7) and Fruitvale (n=2) gases are geochemically distinct and duplicate samples are highly reproducible. Lost Hills casing gas samples were collected from areas where EOR and hydraulic fracturing has occurred in the past several years, and from areas where EOR is absent. The Fruitvale samples were collected from a re-injection port. All samples are radiogenic in their He isotopes, typical of a crustal environment, and show enrichments in heavy noble gases, resulting from preferential adsorption on sediments. Fruitvale samples reflect air-like surface conditions, with higher air-derived noble gas concentrations. Lost Hills gases show a gradation from pristine crustal signatures - indicative of closed-system exchange with formation fluids - to strongly air-contaminated signatures in the EOR region. Pristine samples can be used to determine the extent of hydrocarbon exchange with fluids, whereas samples with excess air can be used to quantify the extent of EOR. Determining noble

  1. Impacts on oil recovery from capillary pressure and capillary heterogeneities

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bognoe, Thomas

    2008-07-01

    The main conclusions drawn from this thesis are; 7 scientific papers are published on a broad variety of subjects, and describes in detail the experiments and research treated in this thesis. Scientific research has been performed, investigating the subjects of capillary pressure and capillary heterogeneities from different angles. This thesis discusses the findings in this study and aims to illustrate the benefits of the results obtained for further development of other experiments, and/or even the industrial benefits in field development. The methods for wettability alteration have developed throughout the work. From producing heterogeneous wettability alterations, the methods have improved to giving both radial and lateral uniform wettability alterations, which also remains unaltered throughout the duration of the experimental work. The alteration of wettability is dependent on initial water saturation, flow rate, aging time and crude oil composition. Capillary pressure and relative permeability curves have been measured for core plugs at different wettabilities using conventional centrifuge methods. The trends observed are mostly consistent with theory. The production mechanisms of strongly and moderately water wet chalk has been investigated. At strongly water wet conditions in fractured chalk; the flow is governed by capillary forces, showing strong impact from the fractures. At moderately water wet conditions, the impact of the fractures are absent, and a dispersed water front is observed during the displacement. The oil recovery is about the same, at the two wettabilities. Fracture crossing mechanisms at the same wettability conditions have been mapped. And the observations are consistent with those of the water floods. During strongly water wet displacement, the fracture crossing is occurring once the inlet core has reached endpoint of spontaneous imbibition. At moderately water wet conditions the fracture crossing is less abrupt, and creation of wetting

  2. Bioaugmentation of oil reservoir indigenous Pseudomonas aeruginosa to enhance oil recovery through in-situ biosurfactant production without air injection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Feng; Li, Ping; Guo, Chao; Shi, Rong-Jiu; Zhang, Ying

    2018-03-01

    Considering the anoxic conditions within oil reservoirs, a new microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) technology through in-situ biosurfactant production without air injection was proposed. High-throughput sequencing data revealed that Pseudomonas was one of dominant genera in Daqing oil reservoirs. Pseudomonas aeruginosa DQ3 which can anaerobically produce biosurfactant at 42 °C was isolated. Strain DQ3 was bioaugmented in an anaerobic bioreactor to approximately simulate MEOR process. During bioaugmentation process, although a new bacterial community was gradually formed, Pseudomonas was still one of dominant genera. Culture-based data showed that hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria and biosurfactant-producing bacteria were activated, while sulfate reducing bacteria were controlled. Biosurfactant was produced at simulated reservoir conditions, decreasing surface tension to 33.8 mN/m and emulsifying crude oil with EI 24  = 58%. Core flooding tests revealed that extra 5.22% of oil was displaced by in-situ biosurfactant production. Bioaugmenting indigenous biosurfactant producer P. aeruginosa without air injection is promising for in-situ MEOR applications. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Enhanced oil recovery using flash-driven steamflooding

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roark, Steven D.

    1990-01-01

    The present invention is directed to a novel steamflooding process which utilizes three specific stages of steam injection for enhanced oil recovery. The three stages are as follows: As steam is being injected into an oil-bearing reservoir through an injection well, the production rate of a production well located at a distance from the injection well is gradually restricted to a point that the pressure in the reservoir increases at a predetermined rate to a predetermined maximum value. After the maximum pressure has been reached, the production rate is increased to a value such that the predetermined maximum pressure value is maintained. Production at maximum pressure is continued for a length of time that will be unique for each individual reservoir. In some cases, this step of the steamflooding process of the invention may be omitted entirely. In the third stage of the steamflooding process of the invention, production rates at the producing well are increased gradually to allow the pressure to decrease down from the maximum pressure value to the original pressure value at the producing well. The rate of pressure reduction will be unique for each reservoir. After completing stage three, the three stages can be repeated or the steamflood may be terminated as considered desirable.

  4. Core Flood study for enhanced oil recovery through ex-situ bioaugmentation with thermo- and halo-tolerant rhamnolipid produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa NCIM 5514.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Varjani, Sunita J; Upasani, Vivek N

    2016-11-01

    The aim of this work was to study the Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery (MEOR) employing core field model ex-situ bioaugmenting a thermo- and halo-tolerant rhamnolipid produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) revealed that the biosurfactant produced was rhamnolipid type. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance analysis showed that the purified rhamnolipids comprised two principal rhamnolipid homologues, i.e., Rha-Rha-C10-C14:1 and Rha-C8-C10. The rhamnolipid was stable under wide range of temperature (4°C, 30-100°C), pH (2.0-10.0) and NaCl concentration (0-18%, w/v). Core Flood model was designed for oil recovery operations using rhamnolipid. The oil recovery enhancement over Residual Oil Saturation was 8.82% through ex-situ bioaugmentation with rhamnolipid. The thermal stability of rhamnolipid shows promising scope for its application at conditions where high temperatures prevail in oil recovery processes, whereas its halo-tolerant nature increases its application in marine environment. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Environmental Impacts and Recovery After the Hebei Spirit Oil Spill in Korea.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yim, U H; Khim, J S; Kim, M; Jung, J-H; Shim, W J

    2017-07-01

    The Hebei Spirit oil spill (HSOS) on December 7, 2007 was the worst oil spill recorded in Korea, with the release of approximately 10,900 tons of crude oil and 375 km of coastline polluted along the west coast of Korea. Cleanup operation was conducted by official and contract responders as well as volunteers for massive oil containment and removal of heavy accumulations of stranded oil. Together with the oil cleanup, a long-term environmental impact assessment (EIA) of the HSOS was initiated based on the Marine Environmental Management Act, which covers oil contamination in a multimedia environment, toxic effects on organisms, and ecosystem injury. This review summarizes the long-term monitoring results of HSOS EIA focused on (1) pollution status of seawater, sediment, and bivalves, (2) ecotoxicological effects, and (3) ecosystem recovery. Overall, concentrations of petroleum hydrocarbons in the environment indicated that their concentrations were well down to at or near background or pre-spill contamination levels at most sites after 1 year. The potential toxic effects of residual oils in sediments have decreased to background levels in most coastal areas of Taean. The entire ecosystem in the most affected area of the Taean coasts appear to be considerably, but not fully, recovered at present, namely after 8 years of the HSOS. The presence of lingering oil and elevated contamination levels at several sites still require continuous long-term monitoring.

  6. Opportunities to improve oil productivity in unstructured deltaic reservoirs

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1991-01-01

    This report contains presentations presented at a technical symposium on oil production. Chapter 1 contains summaries of the presentations given at the Department of Energy (DOE)-sponsored symposium and key points of the discussions that followed. Chapter 2 characterizes the light oil resource from fluvial-dominated deltaic reservoirs in the Tertiary Oil Recovery Information System (TORIS). An analysis of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and advanced secondary recovery (ASR) potential for fluvial-dominated deltaic reservoirs based on recovery performance and economic modeling as well as the potential resource loss due to well abandonments is presented. Chapter 3 provides a summary of the general reservoir characteristics and properties within deltaic deposits. It is not exhaustive treatise, rather it is intended to provide some basic information about geologic, reservoir, and production characteristics of deltaic reservoirs, and the resulting recovery problems.

  7. Improved Characterization and Modeling of Tight Oil Formations for CO2 Enhanced Oil Recovery Potential and Storage Capacity Estimation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sorensen, James [Univ. of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND (United States). Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC); Smith, Steven [Univ. of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND (United States). Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC); Kurz, Bethany [Univ. of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND (United States). Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC); Hawthorne, Steven [Univ. of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND (United States). Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC); Jin, Lu [Univ. of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND (United States). Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC); Bosshart, Nicholas [Univ. of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND (United States). Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC); Torres, Jose [Univ. of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND (United States). Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC); Nyberg, Carolyn [Univ. of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND (United States). Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC); Heebink, Loreal [Univ. of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND (United States). Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC); Hurley, John [Univ. of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND (United States). Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC)

    2018-03-09

    Tight oil formations such as those in the Bakken petroleum system are known to hold hundreds of billions of barrels of oil in place; however, the primary recovery factor for these plays is typically less than 10%. Tight oil formations, including the Bakken Formation, therefore, may be attractive candidates for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) using CO2. Multiphase fluid behavior and flow in fluid-rich shales can vary substantially depending on the size of pore throats, and properties such as fluid viscosity and density are much different in nanoscale pores than in macroscale pores. Thus it is critical to understand the nature and distribution of nano-, micro-, and macroscale pores and fracture networks. To address these issues, the Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) has been conducting a research program entitled “Improved Characterization and Modeling of Tight Oil Formations for CO2 Enhanced Oil Recovery Potential and Storage Capacity Estimation.” The objectives of the project are 1) the use of advanced characterization methods to better understand and quantify the petrophysical and geomechanical factors that control CO2 and oil mobility within tight oil formation samples, 2) the determination of CO2 permeation and oil extraction rates in tight reservoir rocks and organic-rich shales of the Bakken, and 3) the integration of the laboratory-based CO2 permeation and oil extraction data and the characterization data into geologic models and dynamic simulations to develop predictions of CO2 storage resource and EOR in the Bakken tight oil formation. A combination of standard and advanced petrophysical characterization techniques were applied to characterize samples of Bakken Formation tight reservoir rock and shales from multiple wells. Techniques included advanced computer tomography (CT) imaging, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques, whole-core and micro x-ray CT imaging, field

  8. Off-shore enhanced oil recovery in the North Sea: The impact of price uncertainty on the investment decisions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Compernolle, T.; Welkenhuysen, K.; Huisman, K.; Piessens, K.; Kort, P.

    2017-01-01

    Although CO_2 Capture and Storage (CCS) is considered a key solution for CO_2 emission mitigation, it is currently not economically feasible. CO_2 enhanced oil recovery can play a significant role in stimulating CCS deployment because CO_2 is used to extract additional quantities of oil. This study analyzes the investment decision of both a carbon emitting source and an oil company separately by adopting a real options approach. It is shown that when uncertainty is integrated in the economic analysis, CO_2 and oil price threshold levels at which investments in CO_2 capture and enhanced oil recovery will take place, are higher than when a net present value approach is adopted. We also demonstrate that a tax on CO_2 instead of an emission trading system results in a lower investment threshold level for the investment in the CO_2 capture unit. Furthermore, we determine a minimum CO_2 selling price between the two firms and show that CO_2-EOR has the potential to pull CCS into the market by providing an additional revenue on the capture plant. However, when CO_2 permit prices are above an identifiable level, the EU ETS does not necessarily result in the adoption of CCS and stimulates oil production. - Highlights: • Real options theory is applied to study how uncertainty affects CO2EOR investments. • Compared to an NPV approach, investment threshold levels are higher. • A tax on CO2 would result in lower investment threshold levels compared to EUETS. • A minimum CO2 selling price is determined • The CO2 needed for enhanced oil recovery is not necessarily a cost.

  9. Novel robust cellulose-based foam with pH and light dual-response for oil recovery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Qian; Meng, Guihua; Wu, Jianning; Wang, Yixi; Liu, Zhiyong; Guo, Xuhong

    2018-05-01

    We fabricated pH and light dual-responsive adsorption materials which could induce the transition of surface wettability between hydrophobicity and hydrophilicity by using ATRP. The structure and morphology of adsorption materials were confirmed by ATR-FTIR, XPS, TGA and SEM. It showed that the modified cellulose (CE)-based foam was hydrophobic, which can adsorb a range of oils and organic solvents in water under pH = 7.0 or visible light irradiation (λ > 500 nm). Meanwhile, the wettability of robust CE-based foam can convert hydrophobicity into hydrophilicity and underwater oleophobicity under pH = 3.0 or UV irradiation (λ = 365 nm), giving rise to release oils and organic solvents. Most important of all, the adsorption and desorption processes of the modified CE-based foam could be switched by external stimuli. Furthermore, the modified CE-based foam was not damaged and still retained original performance after reversible cycle repeated for many times with variation of surface wettability. In short, it indicates that CE-based foam materials with switchable surface wettability are new responsive absorbent materials and have owned potential application in the treatment of oil recovery.

  10. Tracing enhanced oil recovery signatures in casing gases from the Lost Hills oil field using noble gases

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barry, Peter H.; Kulongoski, Justin; Landon, Matthew K.; Tyne, R.L.; Gillespie, Janice; Stephens, Michael; Hillegonds, D.J.; Byrne, D.J.; Ballentine, C.J.

    2018-01-01

    Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and hydraulic fracturing practices are commonly used methods to improve hydrocarbon extraction efficiency; however the environmental impacts of such practices remain poorly understood. EOR is particularly prevalent in oil fields throughout California where water resources are in high demand and disposal of high volumes of produced water may affect groundwater quality. Consequently, it is essential to better understand the fate of injected (EOR) fluids in California and other subsurface petroleum systems, as well as any potential effect on nearby aquifer systems. Noble gases can be used as tracers to understand hydrocarbon generation, migration, and storage conditions, as well as the relative proportions of oil and water present in the subsurface. In addition, a noble gas signature diagnostic of injected (EOR) fluids can be readily identified. We report noble gas isotope and concentration data in casing gases from oil production wells in the Lost Hills oil field, northwest of Bakersfield, California, and injectate gas data from the Fruitvale oil field, located within the city of Bakersfield. Casing and injectate gas data are used to: 1) establish pristine hydrocarbon noble-gas signatures and the processes controlling noble gas distributions, 2) characterize the noble gas signature of injectate fluids, 3) trace injectate fluids in the subsurface, and 4) construct a model to estimate EOR efficiency. Noble gas results range from pristine to significantly modified by EOR, and can be best explained using a solubility exchange model between oil and connate/formation fluids, followed by gas exsolution upon production. This model is sensitive to oil-water interaction during hydrocarbon expulsion, migration, and storage at reservoir conditions, as well as any subsequent modification by EOR.

  11. A Multi-scale Approach for CO2 Accounting and Risk Analysis in CO2 Enhanced Oil Recovery Sites

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dai, Z.; Viswanathan, H. S.; Middleton, R. S.; Pan, F.; Ampomah, W.; Yang, C.; Jia, W.; Lee, S. Y.; McPherson, B. J. O. L.; Grigg, R.; White, M. D.

    2015-12-01

    Using carbon dioxide in enhanced oil recovery (CO2-EOR) is a promising technology for emissions management because CO2-EOR can dramatically reduce carbon sequestration costs in the absence of greenhouse gas emissions policies that include incentives for carbon capture and storage. This study develops a multi-scale approach to perform CO2 accounting and risk analysis for understanding CO2 storage potential within an EOR environment at the Farnsworth Unit of the Anadarko Basin in northern Texas. A set of geostatistical-based Monte Carlo simulations of CO2-oil-water flow and transport in the Marrow formation are conducted for global sensitivity and statistical analysis of the major risk metrics: CO2 injection rate, CO2 first breakthrough time, CO2 production rate, cumulative net CO2 storage, cumulative oil and CH4 production, and water injection and production rates. A global sensitivity analysis indicates that reservoir permeability, porosity, and thickness are the major intrinsic reservoir parameters that control net CO2 injection/storage and oil/CH4 recovery rates. The well spacing (the distance between the injection and production wells) and the sequence of alternating CO2 and water injection are the major operational parameters for designing an effective five-spot CO2-EOR pattern. The response surface analysis shows that net CO2 injection rate increases with the increasing reservoir thickness, permeability, and porosity. The oil/CH4 production rates are positively correlated to reservoir permeability, porosity and thickness, but negatively correlated to the initial water saturation. The mean and confidence intervals are estimated for quantifying the uncertainty ranges of the risk metrics. The results from this study provide useful insights for understanding the CO2 storage potential and the corresponding risks of commercial-scale CO2-EOR fields.

  12. Bio-oil production from hydrothermal liquefaction of Pteris vittata L.: Effects of operating temperatures and energy recovery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Jinbo

    2018-06-14

    Hyper-accumulator biomass, Pteris vittata L., was hydrothermally converted into bio-oils via hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) in sub-supercritical water. The distributions and characterizations of various products as well as energy recovery under different temperatures (250-390 °C) were investigated. The highest bio-oil yield of 16.88% was obtained at 350 °C with the hydrothermal conversion of 61.79%, where the bio-oil was dominated by alcohols, esters, phenols, ketones and acidic compounds. The higher heating values of bio-oil were in the range of 19.93-35.45 MJ/kg with a H/C ratio of 1.26-1.46, illustrating its high energy density and potential for use as an ideal liquid fuel. The main gaseous products were CO 2 , H 2 , CO, and CH 4 with the H 2 yield peaking at 22.94%. The total energy recovery from bio-oils and solid residues fell within the range of 37.72-45.10%, highlighting the potential of HTL to convert hyper-accumulator biomass into valuable fuels with high conversion efficiency. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. INCREASED OIL PRODUCTION AND RESERVES UTILIZING SECONDARY/TERTIARY RECOVERY TECHNIQUES ON SMALL RESERVOIRS IN THE PARADOX BASIN, UTAH

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Thomas C. Chidsey, Jr.

    2002-11-01

    exhibits a characteristic set of reservoir properties obtained from outcrop analogs, cores, and geophysical logs. The Anasazi and Runway fields were selected for geostatistical modeling and reservoir compositional simulations. Models and simulations incorporated variations in carbonate lithotypes, porosity, and permeability to accurately predict reservoir responses. History matches tied previous production and reservoir pressure histories so that future reservoir performances could be confidently predicted. The simulation studies showed that despite most of the production being from the mound-core intervals, there were no corresponding decreases in the oil in place in these intervals. This behavior indicates gravity drainage of oil from the supra-mound intervals into the lower mound-core intervals from which the producing wells' major share of production arises. The key to increasing ultimate recovery from these fields (and similar fields in the basin) is to design either waterflood or CO{sub 2}-miscible flood projects capable of forcing oil from high-storage-capacity but low-recovery supra-mound units into the high-recovery mound-core units. Simulation of Anasazi field shows that a CO{sub 2} flood is technically superior to a waterflood and economically feasible. For Anasazi field, an optimized CO{sub 2} flood is predicted to recover a total 4.21 million barrels (0.67 million m3) of oil representing in excess of 89 percent of the original oil in place. For Runway field, the best CO{sub 2} flood is predicted to recover a total of 2.4 million barrels (0.38 million m3) of oil representing 71 percent of the original oil in place. If the CO{sub 2} flood performed as predicted, it is a financially robust process for increasing the reserves in the many small fields in the Paradox Basin. The results can be applied to other fields in the Rocky Mountain region, the Michigan and Illinois Basins, and the Midcontinent.

  14. Advanced reservoir characterization for improved oil recovery in a New Mexico Delaware basin project

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Martin, F.D.; Kendall, R.P.; Whitney, E.M. [Dave Martin and Associates, Inc., Socorro, NM (United States)] [and others

    1997-08-01

    The Nash Draw Brushy Canyon Pool in Eddy County, New Mexico is a field demonstration site in the Department of Energy Class III program. The basic problem at the Nash Draw Pool is the low recovery typically observed in similar Delaware fields. By comparing a control area using standard infill drilling techniques to a pilot area developed using advanced reservoir characterization methods, the goal of the project is to demonstrate that advanced technology can significantly improve oil recovery. During the first year of the project, four new producing wells were drilled, serving as data acquisition wells. Vertical seismic profiles and a 3-D seismic survey were acquired to assist in interwell correlations and facies prediction. Limited surface access at the Nash Draw Pool, caused by proximity of underground potash mining and surface playa lakes, limits development with conventional drilling. Combinations of vertical and horizontal wells combined with selective completions are being evaluated to optimize production performance. Based on the production response of similar Delaware fields, pressure maintenance is a likely requirement at the Nash Draw Pool. A detailed reservoir model of pilot area was developed, and enhanced recovery options, including waterflooding, lean gas, and carbon dioxide injection, are being evaluated.

  15. Recent technological advances in the application of nano-catalytic technology to the enhanced recovery and upgrading of bitumen and heavy oils

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pereira Almao, P. [Calgary Univ., AB (Canada). Schulich School of Engineering

    2013-11-01

    Advances in Nanotechnology, such as manufacturing of nano-catalysts allow the online (during processing) and on site production of nano-catalysts for heavy oils upgrading. These inventions have also facilitated the development of two lines of heavy oils upgrading processes that make use of nano-catalysts for producing upgraded oil: In Situ Upgrading and Field Upgrading. Producing chemical upgrading of heavy oils is achievable and economically viable at lower temperatures and lower pressures than used in most upgraders if the use of nano-catalysts were implemented. The spontaneity of thermal, steam and hydro processing reactions for converting the different chemical families of hydrocarbons present in the heaviest fractions of heavy oils and bitumen (HO-B) into lighter products was shown recently. Spontaneity was measured by the value of the change of free energy at low pressure. These undesirable paths are spontaneous and uncontrollable under thermal cracking conditions, and require providing years of residence time for intermolecular hydrogen redistribution to minimize olefins polymerization, if at all possible. Instead, hydroprocessing in the presence of hydrogen activating catalysts would create an abundance of hydrogen radicals impeding large molecules condensation and olefins proliferation. In Situ Upgrading: performs coupled Enhanced Oil Recovery with In Reservoir Upgrading via Hot Fluid Injection (HFI). The heat handling of this HFI process and the production of transportable oil with no need of diluent from the start of operation completes the originality of it. This technology uses heavy fractions separated from produced oil to reintroduce heat into the reservoir along with suspended nano-catalysts and hydrogen. These components react in the well bore and inside the reservoir to release more heat (hydroprocessing reactions are exothermic) producing light gases and volatile hydrocarbons that contribute to increase oil detachment from the rock resulting in

  16. Production of biosurfactant from Bacillus licheniformis for microbial enhanced oil recovery and inhibition the growth of sulfate reducing bacteria

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H.S. El-Sheshtawy

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available In this study, the bacterium Bacillus licheniformis has been isolated from oil reservoir; the ability of this bacterium to produce a biosurfactant was detected. Surface properties of the produced biosurfactant were confirmed by determining the emulsification power as well as surface and interfacial tension. The crude biosurfactant has been extracted from supernatant culture growth, and the yield of crude biosurfactant was about 1 g/l. Also, chemical structure of the produced biosurfactant was confirmed using FTIR analysis. Results revealed that, the emulsification power has been increased up to 96% and the surface tension decreased from 72 of distilled water to 36 mN/m after 72 h of incubation. The potential application of this bacterial species in microbial-enhanced oil recovery (MEOR was investigated. The percent of oil recovery was 16.6% upon application in a sand pack column designed to stimulate an oil recovery. It also showed antimicrobial activity against the growth of different strains of SRB (sulfate reducing bacteria. Results revealed that a complete inhibition of SRB growth using 1.0% crude biosurfactant is achieved after 3 h.

  17. Viscous fingering and channeling in chemical enhanced oil recovery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daripa, Prabir; Dutta, Sourav

    2017-11-01

    We have developed a hybrid numerical method based on discontinuous finite element method and modified method of characteristics to compute the multiphase multicomponent fluid flow in porous media in the context of chemical enhanced oil recovery. We use this method to study the effect of various chemical components on the viscous fingering and channeling in rectilinear and radial flow configurations. We will also discuss about the efficiency of various flooding schemes based on these understandings. Time permitting, we will discuss about the effect of variable injection rates in these practical setting. U.S. National Science Foundation Grant DMS-1522782.

  18. Polymers for enhanced oil recovery : A paradigm for structure-property relationship in aqueous solution

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wever, D. A. Z.; Picchioni, F.; Broekhuis, A. A.

    Recent developments in the field of water-soluble polymers aimed at enhancing the aqueous solution viscosity are reviewed. Classic and novel associating water-soluble polymers for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) applications are discussed along with their limitations. Particular emphasis is placed on

  19. Impact of burning oil as auxiliary fuel in kraft recovery furnaces upon SO2 emissions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Someshwar, A.V.; Caron, A.L.; Pinkerton, J.E.

    1990-01-01

    The relationship between burning medium sulfur oil as auxiliary fuel in kraft recovery furnaces and SO 2 emissions was examined. Analysis of long-term CEMS SO 2 data from four furnaces shows no increase in SO 2 emissions as a result of oil burning. The results of field tests conducted at four furnaces while co-firing oil with liquor (up to 34% of total heat input) show that (1) average SO 2 emissions during the oil firing period either decreased or remained unchanged; (2) the overall sulfur retention within the furnace remained consistently high (more than 90%) with increasing levels of oil burning; (3) apportioning stack SO 2 emissions between those derived from oil and black liquor was infeasible. The results indicate that the same alkali fume generation processes that lead to the efficient capture of SO 2 resulting from black liquor combustion may be responsible for the capture of SO 2 resulting from sulfur-containing oil combustion

  20. Four Years of Chemical Measurements from the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Define the Deep Sea Sediment footprint and Subsequent Recovery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boehm, P.

    2016-02-01

    Chemical data acquired during and after the DWHOS showed that several mechanisms were responsible for transport of oil from the water column to the sediments in the deep sea off the continental shelf. Three primary pathways were identified:Sorption onto and sinking of drilling mud particles during "Top Kill" response activity, highly scattered deposition of residuesfrom in situ burns, and deposition of oil combined with microbial organic matter from diffuse oil plumes ("marine snow"). Data collected during 2010, 2011 and 2014 were used to define the oil footprint and estimate time to recovery. More than 1200 stations were sampled. Of these, 27 stations were visited all three years, providing a time series from which recovery rates were calculated using the loss of total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (TPAH) over time fit to first order kinetics. Results showed that the footprint of the oil was limited to the area around the wellhead and in patches to the southwest. Mostsamples had returned to background levels by 2015, with some exceptions close to the wellhead. Deposition to the northeast (DeSoto Canyon) was minor as evidenced by the absence of oil in sediments in that area. Samples with the longest recovery times were within 2 nautical miles of the wellhead, and often contained drilling mud, as shown by olefin signatures on the GC/FID chromatogram. Detailed chemistry data evaluation and chemical fingerprinting provided evidence that oil was being degraded in situ.

  1. Oil recovery enhancement from fractured, low permeability reservoirs. Part 2, Annual report, October 1, 1990--September 31, 1991

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Poston, S.W.

    1991-12-31

    The results of the investigative efforts for this jointly funded DOE-State of Texas research project achieved during the 1990--1991 year may be summarized as follows: Geological Characterization -- Detailed maps of the development and hierarchical nature the fracture system exhibited by Austin Chalk outcrops were prepared. These results of these efforts were directly applied to the development of production decline type curves applicable to a dual fracture-matrix flow system. Analysis of production records obtained from Austin Chalk operators illustrated the utility of these type curves to determine relative fracture/matrix contributions and extent. Well-log response in Austin Chalk wells has been shown to be a reliable indicator of organic maturity. (VSP) Vertical-Seismic Profile data was used to use shear-wave splitting concepts to estimate fracture orientations. Several programs were to be written to facilitate analysis of the data. The results of these efforts indicated fractures could be detected with VSP seismic methods. Development of the (EOR) Enhanced Oil Recovery Imbibition Process -- Laboratory displacement as well as MRI and CT imaging studies have shown the carbonated water-imbibition displacement process significantly accelerates and increases recovery of an oil saturated, low permeability core material, when compared to that of a normal brine imbibition displacement process. A study of oil recovery by the application of a cyclic carbonated water imbibition process, followed by reducing the pressure below the bubble point of the CO{sub 2}-water solution, indicated the possibility of alternate and new enhanced recovery method. The installation of an artificial solution gas drive significantly increased oil recovery. The extent and arrangement of micro-fractures in Austin Chalk horizontal cores was mapped with CT scanning techniques. The degree of interconnection of the micro-fractures was easily visualized.

  2. Surfactant-enhanced alkaline flooding for light oil recovery. Final report 1994--1995

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wasan, D.T.

    1995-12-01

    In this report, the authors present the results of their experimental and theoretical studies in surfactant-enhanced alkaline flooding for light oil recovery. The overall objective of this work is to develop a very cost-effective method for formulating a successful surfactant-enhanced alkaline flood by appropriately choosing mixed alkalis which form inexpensive buffers to obtain the desired pH (between 8.5 and 12.0) for ultimate spontaneous emulsification and ultralow interfacial tension. In addition, the authors have (1) developed a theoretical interfacial activity model for determining equilibrium interfacial tension, (2) investigated the mechanisms for spontaneous emulsification, (3) developed a technique to monitor low water content in oil, and (4) developed a technique to study water-in-oil emulsion film properties, (5) investigated the effect of surfactant on the equilibrium and transient interfacial tension, (6) investigated the kinetics of oil removal from a silica surface, and (7) developed a theoretical interfacial activity model for determining equilibrium interfacial tension, accounting for added surfactant. The results of the studies conducted during the course of this project are summarized.

  3. Effects of Dual-Pump Recovery on Crude-Oil Contamination of Groundwater, Bemidji, Minnesota

    Science.gov (United States)

    Delin, G. N.; Herkelrath, W. N.; Lounsbury, S.

    2009-12-01

    In 1979 a crude-oil pipeline ruptured near Bemidji, Minnesota spilling about 1.7 million liters of crude oil onto a glacial-outwash deposit. Initial remediation efforts in 1979-80 removed about 75% of this oil. In 1983 the U.S. Geological Survey and several academic institutions began research to study the fate and transport of the petroleum hydrocarbons in the unsaturated and saturated zones at the site. In 1998 the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) requested that the pipeline company remove as much of the remaining oil as possible. A dual-pump recovery system was installed using five wells to remove the free-phase oil. Each well had an oil skimming pump as well as a deeper pump in the groundwater, which was used to create a cone of depression in the water table near the well. The oil/water mixture from the skimming pump was pumped to a treatment facility where the oil was separated for later removal from the site. Pumped wastewater was injected into an upgradient infiltration gallery. Despite large public and private expenditures on development and implementation of this type of remediation system, few well-documented field-scale case studies have been published. The renewed remediation presented an opportunity to document how the dissolution, biodegradation, vapor transport, and other processes changed as the site transitioned from natural attenuation to a condition of pump-and-treat remediation and back again following termination of the remediation. Impacts of the remediation were evaluated in part using measurements of oil thicknesses in wells, dissolved-oxygen concentrations in groundwater, and concentrations of methane and other gases in the unsaturated zone. The remediation from 1999 - 2004 resulted in removal of about 114,000 liters of crude oil from the site, or about 27% of the total that remained following the initial remediation in 1979-80. Although the renewed remediation decreased oil thicknesses in the immediate vicinity of remediation

  4. 2013 update on sea otter studies to assess recovery from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, Prince William Sound, Alaska

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ballachey, Brenda E.; Monson, Daniel H.; Esslinger, George G.; Kloecker, Kimberly; Bodkin, James L.; Bowen, Lizabeth; Miles, A. Keith

    2014-01-01

    On March 24, 1989, the tanker vessel Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound, Alaska, spilling an estimated 42 million liters of Prudhoe Bay crude oil. Oil spread in a southwesterly direction and was deposited on shores and waters in western Prince William Sound (WPWS). The sea otter (Enhydra lutris) was one of more than 20 nearshore species considered to have been injured by the spill. Since 1989, the U.S. Geological Survey has led a research program to evaluate effects of the spill on sea otters and assess progress toward recovery, as defined by demographic and biochemical indicators. Here, we provide an update on the status of sea otter populations in WPWS, presenting findings through 2013. To assess recovery based on demographic indicators, we used aerial surveys to estimate abundance and annual collections of sea otter carcasses to evaluate patterns in ages-at-death. To assess recovery based on biochemical indicators, we quantified transcription rates for a suite of genes selected as potential indicators of oil exposure in sea otters based on laboratory studies of a related species, the mink (Mustela vison). In our most recent assessment of sea otter recovery, which incorporated results from a subset of studies through 2009, we concluded that recovery of sea otters in WPWS was underway. This conclusion was based on increasing abundance throughout WPWS, including increasing numbers at northern Knight Island, an area that was heavily oiled in 1989 and where the local sea otter population had previously shown protracted injury and lack of recovery. However, we did not conclude that the WPWS sea otter population had fully recovered, due to indications of continuing reduced survival and exposure to lingering oil in sea otters at Knight Island, at least through 2009. Based on data available through 2013, we now conclude that the status of sea otters—at all spatial scales within WPWS—is consistent with the designation of recovery from the spill as

  5. Energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in the recovery and extraction of crude bitumen from Canada’s oil sands

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nimana, Balwinder; Canter, Christina; Kumar, Amit

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • A model to estimate energy consumption and GHG emissions in oil sands is presented. • The model is developed from fundamental engineering principles. • Cogeneration in the oil sands has the ability to offset GHG emissions. • The effect of key parameters is investigated through a sensitivity analysis. - Abstract: A model – FUNNEL-GHG-OS (FUNdamental ENgineering PrinciplEs-based ModeL for Estimation of GreenHouse Gases in the Oil Sands) was developed to estimate project-specific energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) in major recovery and extraction processes in the oil sands, namely surface mining and in situ production. This model estimates consumption of diesel (4.4–7.1 MJ/GJ of bitumen), natural gas (52.7–86.4 MJ/GJ of bitumen) and electricity (1.8–2.1 kW h/GJ of bitumen) as fuels in surface mining. The model also estimates the consumption of natural gas (123–462.7 MJ/GJ of bitumen) and electricity (1.2–3.5 kW h/GJ of bitumen) in steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD), based on fundamental engineering principles. Cogeneration in the oil sands, with excess electricity exported to Alberta’s grid, was also explored. Natural gas consumption forms a major portion of the total energy consumption in surface mining and SAGD and thus is a main contributor to GHG emissions. Emissions in surface mining and SAGD range from 4.4 to 7.4 gCO 2 eq/MJ of bitumen and 8.0 to 34.0 gCO 2 eq/MJ of bitumen, respectively, representing a wide range of variability in oil sands projects. Depending upon the cogeneration technology and the efficiency of the process, emissions in oil sands recovery and extraction can be reduced by 16–25% in surface mining and 33–48% in SAGD. Further, a sensitivity analysis was performed to determine the effects of key parameters on the GHG emissions in surface mining and SAGD. Temperature and the consumption of warm water in surface mining and the steam-to-oil ratio (SOR) in SAGD are major parameters

  6. Long-term recovery of peat bogs oiled by pipeline spills in northern Alberta

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Blenkinsopp, S.; Sergy, G.

    1996-01-01

    Sites in northern Alberta, in which oil spills occurred more than 23 years ago, were revisited. The Nipisi spill occurred when a rupture in the underground oil pipeline leaked 60,000 barrels of crude into a 25 acre bog, with very little drainage. It was one of the largest spills in Canadian history. The Rainbow spill was into a fen that was draining by subsurface seepage. Treatments at the time included burning, tilling, and fertilizer addition. The sites were revisited in order to take samples and to evaluate both the natural and enhanced recovery and the effectiveness of the cleanup techniques. The long-term persistence of oil residues and changes in oil character resulting from weathering and biodegradation over time, were studied. Results showed that samples of oil residue and vegetation were still highly contaminated with oil which was heavily degraded. Subsurface samples were contaminated but the oil was only slightly degraded. The Nipisi site still had large areas devoid of vegetation. The unique drainage of peat bogs and the influence it has on rehabilitation was described. It was concluded that although the sites are recovering, they are doing so at a very slow pace and will require some more time to be complete. 12 refs., 4 tabs., 9 figs

  7. Fish oil enhances recovery of intestinal microbiota and epithelial integrity in chronic rejection of intestinal transplant.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Qiurong Li

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: The intestinal chronic rejection (CR is the major limitation to long-term survival of transplanted organs. This study aimed to investigate the interaction between intestinal microbiota and epithelial integrity in chronic rejection of intestinal transplantation, and to find out whether fish oil enhances recovery of intestinal microbiota and epithelial integrity. METHODS/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The luminal and mucosal microbiota composition of CR rats were characterized by DGGE analysis at 190 days after intestinal transplant. The specific bacterial species were determined by sequence analysis. Furthermore, changes in the localization of intestinal TJ proteins were examined by immunofluorescent staining. PCR-DGGE analysis revealed that gut microbiota in CR rats had a shift towards Escherichia coli, Bacteroides spp and Clostridium spp and a decrease in the abundance of Lactobacillales bacteria in the intestines. Fish oil supplementation could enhance the recovery of gut microbiota, showing a significant decrease of gut bacterial proportions of E. coli and Bacteroides spp and an increase of Lactobacillales spp. In addition, CR rats showed pronounced alteration of tight junction, depicted by marked changes in epithelial cell ultrastructure and redistribution of occuldin and claudins as well as disruption in TJ barrier function. Fish oil administration ameliorated disruption of epithelial integrity in CR, which was associated with an improvement of the mucosal structure leading to improved tight junctions. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our study have presented novel evidence that fish oil is involved in the maintenance of epithelial TJ integrity and recovery of gut microbiota, which may have therapeutic potential against CR in intestinal transplantation.

  8. Performance analysis of diesel engine heat pump incorporated with heat recovery

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shah, N.N.; Huang, M.J.; Hewitt, N.J.

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • Diesel engine heat pump with heat recovery. • Water-to-water source heat pump based on R134a. • Possibility for different flow temperature for heat distribution system. • Possible retrofit application in off-gas or weak electricity network area. • Potential to diversify use of fossil fuel, primary energy and CO_2 emission savings. - Abstract: This paper presents experimental study of diesel engine heat pump (DEHP) system to find potential as retrofit technology in off-gas or weak electricity network area to replace existing gas/oil/electric heating system in domestic sector. Test set-up of diesel engine driven water-to-water heat pump system was built which included heat recovery arrangement from the engine coolant & exhaust gas. The system was designed to meet typical house heating demand in Northern Ireland. Performance of DEHP was evaluated to meet house-heating demand at different flow temperature (35, 45, 55 & 65 °C), a typical requirement of underfloor space heating, medium/high temperature radiators and domestic hot water. The performance was evaluated against four-evaporator water inlet temperature (0, 5, 10 & 15 °C) and at three different engine speed 1600, 2000 & 2400 rpm. Experiment results were analysed in terms of heating/cooling capacity, heat recovery, total heat output, primary energy ratio (PER), isentropic efficiency, etc. Test results showed that DEHP is able to meet house-heating demand with help of heat recovery with reduced system size. Heat recovery contributed in a range of 22–39% in total heat output. It is possible to achieve high flow temperature in a range of 74 °C with help of heat recovery. Overall system PER varied in a range of 0.93–1.33. Speed increment and flow temperature has significant impact on heat recovery, total heat output and PER. A case scenario with different flow temperature to match house-heating demand has been presented to show working potential with different heat distribution system

  9. The Initial Comparison Study of Sodium Lignosulfonate, Sodium Dodecyl Benzene Sulfonate, and Sodium p-Toluene Sulfonate Surfactant for Enhanced Oil Recovery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khoirul Anas, Argo; Iman Prakoso, Nurcahyo; Sasvita, Dilla

    2018-04-01

    Surfactant (surface active agent) exhibit numerous interesting properties that enable their use as additional component in mobilising of residual oil from capillary pore after secondary recovery process using gas injection and water flooding. In this study, Sodium Lignosulfonate (SLS) surfactant was successfully synthesized by applying batch method using lignin from oil palm empty fruit bunches as precursor. Furthermore, its performance in reducing interfacial tension of crude oil and formation water colloidal system was compared with commercial available surfactant including Sodium Dodecyl Benzene Sulfonate (SDBS) and Sodium p-Toluene Sulfonate (SpTS). The synthesized SLS surfactant was characterized by using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Meanwhile, its performance in reducing interfacial tension of crude oil and formation water colloidal system was analyzed by using compatibility test, phase behaviour analysis, and interfacial tension (IFT) measurement. The compatibility test shows that SLS, SDBS, and SpTS surfactants were compatible with formation water. In addition, the phase behaviour analysis shows that SLS surfactant was better than SpTS surfactant, while SDBS surfactant generates the highest performance proved by the best microemulsion formation resulted by SDBS. Furthermore, the optimum concentration of SLS, SDBS, and SpTS surfactants in reducing the interfacial tension of crude oil and formation water was 1.0%. The IFT measurement indicates that the performance of SLS with the value of 1.67 mN/m was also better than SpTS surfactant with the value of 3.59 mN/m. Meanwhile, SDBS surfactant shows the best performance with the IFT value of 0.47 mN/m.

  10. Recovery of Arctic and Sub-Arctic vegetation nine summers after crude and diesel oil spills

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Hutchinson, T. C

    1984-01-01

    In August 1980 experimental oil spill sites set up in spruce taiga at Norman Wells and on tundra at Tuktoyaktuk from 1972-75 were monitored to determine degree of recovery of vegeta tion from summer & winter spills...

  11. Potential evaluation of CO2 storage and enhanced oil recovery of tight oil reservoir in the Ordos Basin, China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tian, Xiaofeng; Cheng, Linsong; Cao, Renyi; Zhang, Miaoyi; Guo, Qiang; Wang, Yimin; Zhang, Jian; Cui, Yu

    2015-07-01

    Carbon -di-oxide (CO2) is regarded as the most important greenhouse gas to accelerate climate change and ocean acidification. The Chinese government is seeking methods to reduce anthropogenic CO2 gas emission. CO2 capture and geological storage is one of the main methods. In addition, injecting CO2 is also an effective method to replenish formation energy in developing tight oil reservoirs. However, exiting methods to estimate CO2 storage capacity are all based on the material balance theory. This was absolutely correct for normal reservoirs. However, as natural fractures widely exist in tight oil reservoirs and majority of them are vertical ones, tight oil reservoirs are not close. Therefore, material balance theory is not adaptive. In the present study, a new method to calculate CO2 storage capacity is presented. The CO2 effective storage capacity, in this new method, consisted of free CO2, CO2 dissolved in oil and CO2 dissolved in water. Case studies of tight oil reservoir from Ordos Basin was conducted and it was found that due to far lower viscosity of CO2 and larger solubility in oil, CO2 could flow in tight oil reservoirs more easily. As a result, injecting CO2 in tight oil reservoirs could obviously enhance sweep efficiency by 24.5% and oil recovery efficiency by 7.5%. CO2 effective storage capacity of Chang 7 tight oil reservoir in Longdong area was 1.88 x 10(7) t. The Chang 7 tight oil reservoir in Ordos Basin was estimated to be 6.38 x 10(11) t. As tight oil reservoirs were widely distributed in Songliao Basin, Sichuan Basin and so on, geological storage capacity of CO2 in China is potential.

  12. Theoretical and experimental fundamentals of designing promising technological equipment to improve efficiency and environmental safety of highly viscous oil recovery from deep oil reservoirs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moiseyev, V. A.; Nazarov, V. P.; Zhuravlev, V. Y.; Zhuykov, D. A.; Kubrikov, M. V.; Klokotov, Y. N.

    2016-12-01

    The development of new technological equipment for the implementation of highly effective methods of recovering highly viscous oil from deep reservoirs is an important scientific and technical challenge. Thermal recovery methods are promising approaches to solving the problem. It is necessary to carry out theoretical and experimental research aimed at developing oil-well tubing (OWT) with composite heatinsulating coatings on the basis of basalt and glass fibers. We used the method of finite element analysis in Nastran software, which implements complex scientific and engineering calculations, including the calculation of the stress-strain state of mechanical systems, the solution of problems of heat transfer, the study of nonlinear static, the dynamic transient analysis of frequency characteristics, etc. As a result, we obtained a mathematical model of thermal conductivity which describes the steady-state temperature and changes in the fibrous highly porous material with the heat loss by Stefan-Boltzmann's radiation. It has been performed for the first time using the method of computer modeling in Nastran software environments. The results give grounds for further implementation of the real design of the OWT when implementing thermal methods for increasing the rates of oil production and mitigating environmental impacts.

  13. Effects of nitrate injection on microbial enhanced oil recovery and oilfield reservoir souring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    da Silva, Marcio Luis Busi; Soares, Hugo Moreira; Furigo, Agenor; Schmidell, Willibaldo; Corseuil, Henry Xavier

    2014-11-01

    Column experiments were utilized to investigate the effects of nitrate injection on sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) inhibition and microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR). An indigenous microbial consortium collected from the produced water of a Brazilian offshore field was used as inoculum. The presence of 150 mg/L volatile fatty acids (VFA´s) in the injection water contributed to a high biological electron acceptors demand and the establishment of anaerobic sulfate-reducing conditions. Continuous injection of nitrate (up to 25 mg/L) for 90 days did not inhibit souring. Contrariwise, in nitrogen-limiting conditions, the addition of nitrate stimulated the proliferation of δ-Proteobacteria (including SRB) and the associated sulfide concentration. Denitrification-specific nirK or nirS genes were not detected. A sharp decrease in water interfacial tension (from 20.8 to 14.5 mN/m) observed concomitantly with nitrate consumption and increased oil recovery (4.3 % v/v) demonstrated the benefits of nitrate injection on MEOR. Overall, the results support the notion that the addition of nitrate, at this particular oil reservoir, can benefit MEOR by stimulating the proliferation of fortuitous biosurfactant-producing bacteria. Higher nitrate concentrations exceeding the stoichiometric volatile fatty acid (VFA) biodegradation demands and/or the use of alternative biogenic souring control strategies may be necessary to warrant effective SRB inhibition down gradient from the injection wells.

  14. Pore Structure and Diagenetic Controls on Relative Permeability: Implications for Enhanced Oil Recovery and CO2 Storage

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feldman, J.; Dewers, T. A.; Heath, J. E.; Cather, M.; Mozley, P.

    2016-12-01

    Multiphase flow in clay-bearing sandstones of the Morrow Sandstone governs the efficiency of CO2 storage and enhanced oil recovery at the Farnsworth Unit, Texas. This formation is the target for enhanced oil recovery and injection of one million metric ton of anthropogenically-sourced CO2. The sandstone hosts eight major flow units that exhibit distinct microstructural characteristics due to diagenesis, including: "clean" macro-porosity; quartz overgrowths constricting some pores; ghost grains; intergranular porosity filled by microporous authigenic clay; and feldspar dissolution. We examine the microstructural controls on macroscale (core scale) relative permeability and capillary pressure behavior through: X-ray computed tomography, Robomet.3d, and focused ion beam-scanning electron microscopy imaging of the pore structure of the major flow units of the Morrow Sandstone; relative permeability and capillary pressure in the laboratory using CO2, brine, and oil at reservoir pressure and effective stress conditions. The combined data sets inform links between patterns of diagenesis and multiphase flow. These data support multiphase reservoir simulation and performance assessment by the Southwest Regional Partnership on Carbon Sequestration (SWP). Funding for this project is provided by the U.S. Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory through the SWP under Award No. DE-FC26-05NT42591. Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-program laboratory managed and operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.

  15. Off-shore enhanced oil recovery in the North Sea : The impact of price uncertainty on the investment decisions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Compernolle, T.; K, Welkenhuysen,; Huisman, Kuno; K, Piessens,; Kort, Peter

    2017-01-01

    Although CO2 Capture and Storage (CCS) is considered a key solution for CO2 emission mitigation, it is currently not economically feasible. CO2 enhanced oil recovery can play a significant role in stimulating CCS deployment because CO2 is used to extract additional quantities of oil. This study

  16. Polymers for enhanced oil recovery: fundamentals and selection criteria.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rellegadla, Sandeep; Prajapat, Ganshyam; Agrawal, Akhil

    2017-06-01

    With a rising population, the demand for energy has increased over the years. As per the projections, both fossil fuel and renewables will remain as major energy source (678 quadrillion BTU) till 2030 with fossil fuel contributing 78% of total energy consumption. Hence, attempts are continuously made to make fossil fuel production more sustainable and cheaper. From the past 40 years, polymer flooding has been carried out in marginal oil fields and have proved to be successful in many cases. The common expectation from polymer flooding is to obtain 50% ultimate recovery with 15 to 20% incremental recovery over secondary water flooding. Both naturally derived polymers like xanthan gum and synthetic polymers like partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM) have been used for this purpose. Earlier laboratory and field trials revealed that salinity and temperature are the major issues with the synthetic polymers that lead to polymer degradation and adsorption on the rock surface. Microbial degradation and concentration are major issues with naturally derived polymers leading to loss of viscosity and pore throat plugging. Earlier studies also revealed that polymer flooding is successful in the fields where oil viscosity is quite higher (up to 126 cp) than injection water due to improvement in mobility ratio during polymer flooding. The largest successful polymer flood was reported in China in 1990 where both synthetic and naturally derived polymers were used in nearly 20 projects. The implementation of these projects provides valuable suggestions for further improving the available processes in future. This paper examines the selection criteria of polymer, field characteristics that support polymer floods and recommendation to design a large producing polymer flooding.

  17. Production, Characterization, and Application of Bacillus licheniformis W16 Biosurfactant in Enhancing Oil Recovery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Joshi, Sanket J; Al-Wahaibi, Yahya M; Al-Bahry, Saif N; Elshafie, Abdulkadir E; Al-Bemani, Ali S; Al-Bahri, Asma; Al-Mandhari, Musallam S

    2016-01-01

    The biosurfactant production by Bacillus licheniformis W16 and evaluation of biosurfactant based enhanced oil recovery (EOR) using core-flood under reservoir conditions were investigated. Previously reported nine different production media were screened for biosurfactant production, and two were further optimized with different carbon sources (glucose, sucrose, starch, cane molasses, or date molasses), as well as the strain was screened for biosurfactant production during the growth in different media. The biosurfactant reduced the surface tension and interfacial tension to 24.33 ± 0.57 mN m -1 and 2.47 ± 0.32 mN m -1 respectively within 72 h, at 40°C, and also altered the wettability of a hydrophobic surface by changing the contact angle from 55.67 ± 1.6 to 19.54°± 0.96°. The critical micelle dilution values of 4X were observed. The biosurfactants were characterized by different analytical techniques and identified as lipopeptide, similar to lichenysin-A. The biosurfactant was stable over wide range of extreme environmental conditions. The core flood experiments showed that the biosurfactant was able to enhance the oil recovery by 24-26% over residual oil saturation (S or ). The results highlight the potential application of lipopeptide biosurfactant in wettability alteration and microbial EOR processes.

  18. Synergy potential for oil and geothermal energy exploitation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ziabakhsh-Ganji, Zaman; Nick, Hamidreza M.; Donselaar, Marinus E.

    2018-01-01

    A new solution for harvesting energy simultaneously from two different sources of energy by combining geothermal energy production and thermal enhanced heavy oil recovery is introduced. Numerical simulations are employed to evaluate the feasibility of generating energy from geothermal resources...... and feasibility analyses of the synergy potential of thermally-enhanced oil recovery and geothermal energy production are performed. A series of simulations are carried out to examine the effects of reservoir properties on energy consumption and oil recovery for different injection rates and injection temperature...... the geothermal energy could make the geothermal business case independent and may be a viable option to reduce the overall project cost. Furthermore, the results display that the enhance oil productions are able to reduce the required subsidy for a single doublet geothermal project up to 50%....

  19. Enhanced Oil Recovery with CO2 Capture and Sequestration

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Andrei, Maria; De Simoni, Michela; Delbianco, Alberto; Cazzani, Piero; Zanibelli, Laura

    2010-09-15

    This paper presents the results of a feasibility study aimed at extending the production life of a small oilfield in Italy through EOR, employing the CO2 captured from the flue gas streams of the refinery nearby. The EOR operation allows the recovery of additional reserves while a consistent amount of the CO2 injected remains permanently stored into the reservoir. The screening process selection for EOR-CO2 and the main elements of the pilot project for the proper upstream-downstream integration will be described. Evaluation of EOR-CO2 extension to other oilfields and its effect on oil production and project's economics will be reported.

  20. Water extraction of pyrolysis oil: the first step for the recovery of renewable chemicals

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vitasari, C.R.; Meindersma, G.W.; Haan, de A.B.

    2011-01-01

    The interest in biomass as a source of renewable energy and chemicals has been increasing in keeping up with the transition to a sustainable bio-based economy. An important initial step of chemicals recovery from biomass-derived pyrolysis oil is water extraction where most of polar compounds are

  1. Maximizing heavy-oil recovery by containing steam through optimized cementing

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ravi, K.; Hunter, B.; Kulakofsky, D [Halliburton Energy Services, Calgary, AB (Canada)

    2008-10-15

    As the world's oil and gas reserves decline, interest in unconventional sources, such as heavy oil, is increasing in response to global energy demand. Conventional methods are not sufficient to produce highly viscous heavy oil, and measures must be taken to decrease its viscosity. Although steam injection is an option, steam heats the casing and the cement sheath posing considerable thermal stress on the casing and the cement sheath. This paper described the design procedures that are required for evaluating the properties needed in the cement sheath in order to assist in withstanding thermal stresses. The steps needed to deliver an optimized cement system were presented. The paper presented an illustration of a typical wellbore for heavy-oil application and listed the parameters responsible for the extent of heat loss. These included formation properties; cement sheath thermal conductivity; steam-injection rate; and steam quality. The paper also described the Zhang unified mechanistic model which involved the temperature, pressure, steam quality, and heat loss changes as a function of the depth and the surroundings. Recommendations for withstanding well operations, hole cleaning, and slurry placement were also presented. Insurance for incomplete drilling fluid displacement and cement with the ability to react and respond were also proposed. It was concluded that in thermal recovery wells, energy loss to the surroundings could be reduced by lowering the thermal conductivity of the cement sheath. This could greatly improve the economics of such wells. 9 refs., 5 figs.

  2. Recovery of Spent Bleaching Earth From Palm Oil Refining Using Radiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nor Azillah Fatimah Othman; Tuan Amran Tuan Abdullah; Nor Azillah Fatimah Othman; Nor Azwin Shukri; Selambakkanu, S.; Siti Fatahiyah Mohamad

    2014-01-01

    Acid activated calcium montmorillonite clay or commonly referred to as bleaching clays is one type of clay used in physical refining of palm oil and it is prioritized in removing a variety of undesirable impurities which would otherwise impart colour, odour and taste to the refined product. Used-up bleaching clays or known as Spent Bleaching Earth (SBE) is considered as industrial waste and commonly dispose without any pretreatment. SBE usually contains considerable quantities of entrained oil that is quantified approximately to 30 to 40 %. The residual oil in these principal solid waste products can rapidly oxidize to the point of spontaneous ignition as a result of clay-catalyzed auto-oxidation reactions. Due to this fact, the disposal of SBE has become an environmental problem and pretreatment of SBE is very important. There are several studies on the residual oil removal from the SBE using heat treatment. Radiation generated from electron beam accelerator can supply high energy to break the C-C and C-H bond. It is expected that the removal of hydrocarbon will occurs at high rate compared to conventional heating. This research proposes the use of radiation on the recovery of SBE from palm oil refining waste. Evaluation of radiation effect on properties of SBE will be conducted to study the effectiveness of using radiation in the purification process. Finally, the material produced will be evaluated and characterized for regeneration and reuse purpose. (author)

  3. Biodegradation performance of environmentally-friendly insulating oil

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Jun; He, Yan; Cai, Shengwei; Chen, Cheng; Wen, Gang; Wang, Feipeng; Fan, Fan; Wan, Chunxiang; Wu, Liya; Liu, Ruitong

    2018-02-01

    In this paper, biodegradation performance of rapeseed insulating oil (RDB) and FR3 insulating oil (FR3) was studied by means of ready biodegradation method which was performed with Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) 301B. For comparison, the biodegradation behaviour of 25# mineral insulating oil was also characterized with the same method. The testing results shown that the biodegradation degree of rapeseed insulating oil, FR3 insulating oil and 25# mineral insulating oil was 95.8%, 98.9% and 38.4% respectively. Following the “new chemical risk assessment guidelines” (HJ/T 154 - 2004), which illustrates the methods used to identify and assess the process safety hazards inherent. The guidelines can draw that the two vegetable insulating oils, i.e. rapeseed insulating oil and FR3 insulating oil are easily biodegradable. Therefore, the both can be classified as environmentally-friendly insulating oil. As expected, 25# mineral insulating oil is hardly biodegradable. The main reason is that 25# mineral insulating oil consists of isoalkanes, cyclanes and a few arenes, which has few unsaturated bonds. Biodegradation of rapeseed insulating oil and FR3 insulating oil also remain some difference. Biodegradation mechanism of vegetable insulating oil was revealed from the perspective of hydrolysis kinetics.

  4. Study of Synthesis Polyethylene glycol oleate Sulfonated as an Anionic Surfactant for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sampora, Yulianti; Juwono, Ariadne L.; Haryono, Agus; Irawan, Yan

    2017-11-01

    Mechanical Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) through chemical injection is using an anionic surfactant to improve the recovery of oil residues, particularly in a reservoir area that has certain characteristics. This case led the authors to conduct research on the synthesis of an anionic surfactant based on oleic acid and polyethylene glycol 400 that could be applied as a chemical injection. In this work, we investigate the sulfonation of Polyethylene glycol oleate (PDO) in a sulfuric acid agent. PDO in this experiment was derived from Indonesian palm oil. Variation of mole reactant and reaction time have been studied. The surfactant has been characterized by measuring the interfacial tension, acid value, ester value, saponification value, iodine value, Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), and particle size analyzer. There is a new peak at 1170-1178 cm-1 indicating that S=O bond has formed. PDO sulfonate exhibits good surface activity due to interfacial tension of 0,003 mN/m. Thus, polyethylene glycol oleate sulfonate was successfully synthesized and it could be useful as a novel an anionic surfactant.

  5. Production of a Lipopeptide Biosurfactant by a Novel Bacillus sp. and Its Applicability to Enhanced Oil Recovery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Varadavenkatesan, Thivaharan; Murty, Vytla Ramachandra

    2013-01-01

    Biosurfactants are surface-active compounds derived from varied microbial sources including bacteria and fungi. They are secreted extracellularly and have a wide range of exciting properties for bioremediation purposes. They also have vast applications in the food and medicine industry. With an objective of isolating microorganisms for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) operations, the study involved screening of organisms from an oil-contaminated site. Morphological, biochemical, and 16S rRNA analysis of the most promising candidate revealed it to be Bacillus siamensis, which has been associated with biosurfactant production, for the first time. Initial fermentation studies using mineral salt medium supplemented with crude oil resulted in a maximum biosurfactant yield of 0.64 g/L and reduction of surface tension to 36.1 mN/m at 96 h. Characterization studies were done using thin layer chromatography and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. FTIR spectra indicated the presence of carbonyl groups, alkyl bonds, and C-H and N-H stretching vibrations, typical of peptides. The extracted biosurfactant was stable at extreme temperatures, pH, and salinity. Its applicability to EOR was further verified by conducting sand pack column studies that yielded up to 60% oil recovery.

  6. In situ microbial systems for the enhancement of oil recovery

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moses, V.

    1991-01-01

    Microbial Enhancement of Oil Recovery (MEOR) offers important new opportunities in the quest for increased oil production. It refers not to a single technique but rather to a collection of methodologies, analogous to parallel non-microbiological methods. MEOR has relevance for many type of production and reservoir problems detailed protocols: may be tailored specifically to a range of individual reservoir conditions. Microorganisms downhole can generate a wide variety of chemical products from inexpensive feed stocks: where these are more cost-effective than oil field chemicals injected from the surface, microbial methods may win widespread acceptance. MEOR methods must be defined precisely; in any particular reservoir procedure their proposed mechanism of action must be clearly understood and criteria established for evaluating their success. The most important applications for MEOR are 1) the production f insoluble or highly viscous polymer to control coning or to plug selectively high permeability thief zones and fractures, 2) the continuous generation of the active agents for polymer-and/or surfactant floods, 3) matrix acidisation and acid fracturing in carbonate rocks stimulate flows into production wells. All these approaches are currently actively been explored; several programmes for field-testing microbial EOR methods already exist, or are being readied, and rapid progress is likely within the next few years. (author)

  7. Enhancing results : solid expandable tubulars facilitate high-temperature oil recovery

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Noel, G.; Nylund, J.; Flaming, S. [Enventure Global Technology LLC, Calgary, AB (Canada)

    2010-07-01

    Steam-based recovery methods can provide a cost-effective approach to developing heavy oil and oil sands energy resources. This paper described a solid expandable tubular system designed to prevent damage without decreases in hole size. The pipe's permanent deformation creates an energized seal that cases off damaged tubulars. The new sealing systems allow for operations in the range of 270 degrees C. The system was comprised of mechanical retainers designed to hold the multi-component, high-temperature seal in place on the expandable casing. The seals are held in place by retainer rings designed to protect the seal in the hole as well as to provide increased anchoring capacity when the pipe is expanded and clad onto the base casing. The retainers are wrapped with a redundant standard seal material. The weight and size of the casings are individually configured for specific wells and are also designed to maintain consistency across multiple weight ranges. Details of the testing protocol used to ensure that the sealing system operated well in various oil production scenarios were presented, as well as the results of case studies conducted to demonstrate the system in the field. 6 refs., 1 tab., 2 figs.

  8. Improved Oil Recovery in Chalk. Spontaneous Imbibition affected by Wettability, Rock Framework and Interfacial Tension

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Milter, J.

    1996-12-31

    The author of this doctoral thesis aims to improve the oil recovery from fractured chalk reservoirs, i.e., maximize the area of swept zones and their displacement efficiencies. In order to identify an improved oil recovery method in chalk, it is necessary to study wettability of calcium carbonate and spontaneous imbibition potential. The thesis contains an investigation of thin films and wettability of single calcite surfaces. The results of thin film experiments are used to evaluate spontaneous imbibition experiments in different chalk types. The chalk types were described detailed enough to permit considering the influence of texture, pore size and pore throat size distributions, pore geometry, and surface roughness on wettability and spontaneous imbibition. Finally, impacts of interfacial tension by adding anionic and cationic surfactants to the imbibing water phase are studied at different wettabilities of a well known chalk material. 232 refs., 97 figs., 13 tabs.

  9. Maximization of wave motion within a hydrocarbon reservoir for wave-based enhanced oil recovery

    KAUST Repository

    Jeong, C.

    2015-05-01

    © 2015 Elsevier B.V. We discuss a systematic methodology for investigating the feasibility of mobilizing oil droplets trapped within the pore space of a target reservoir region by optimally directing wave energy to the region of interest. The motivation stems from field and laboratory observations, which have provided sufficient evidence suggesting that wave-based reservoir stimulation could lead to economically viable oil recovery.Using controlled active surface wave sources, we first describe the mathematical framework necessary for identifying optimal wave source signals that can maximize a desired motion metric (kinetic energy, particle acceleration, etc.) at the target region of interest. We use the apparatus of partial-differential-equation (PDE)-constrained optimization to formulate the associated inverse-source problem, and deploy state-of-the-art numerical wave simulation tools to resolve numerically the associated discrete inverse problem.Numerical experiments with a synthetic subsurface model featuring a shallow reservoir show that the optimizer converges to wave source signals capable of maximizing the motion within the reservoir. The spectra of the wave sources are dominated by the amplification frequencies of the formation. We also show that wave energy could be focused within the target reservoir area, while simultaneously minimizing the disturbance to neighboring formations - a concept that can also be exploited in fracking operations.Lastly, we compare the results of our numerical experiments conducted at the reservoir scale, with results obtained from semi-analytical studies at the granular level, to conclude that, in the case of shallow targets, the optimized wave sources are likely to mobilize trapped oil droplets, and thus enhance oil recovery.

  10. Laboratory investigation of the factors impact on bubble size, pore blocking and enhanced oil recovery with aqueous Colloidal Gas Aphron.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shi, Shenglong; Wang, Yefei; Li, Zhongpeng; Chen, Qingguo; Zhao, Zenghao

    Colloidal Gas Aphron as a mobility control in enhanced oil recovery is becoming attractive; it is also designed to block porous media with micro-bubbles. In this paper, the effects of surfactant concentration, polymer concentration, temperature and salinity on the bubble size of the Colloidal Gas Aphron were studied. Effects of injection rates, Colloidal Gas Aphron fluid composition, heterogeneity of reservoir on the resistance to the flow of Colloidal Gas Aphron fluid through porous media were investigated. Effects of Colloidal Gas Aphron fluid composition and temperature on residual oil recovery were also studied. The results showed that bubble growth rate decreased with increasing surfactant concentration, polymer concentration, and decreasing temperature, while it decreased and then increased slightly with increasing salinity. The obvious increase of injection pressure was observed as more Colloidal Gas Aphron fluid was injected, indicating that Colloidal Gas Aphron could block the pore media effectively. The effectiveness of the best blend obtained through homogeneous sandpack flood tests was modestly improved in the heterogeneous sandpack. The tertiary oil recovery increased 26.8 % by Colloidal Gas Aphron fluid as compared to 20.3 % by XG solution when chemical solution of 1 PV was injected into the sandpack. The maximum injected pressure of Colloidal Gas Aphron fluid was about three times that of the XG solution. As the temperature increased, the Colloidal Gas Aphron fluid became less stable; the maximum injection pressure and tertiary oil recovery of Colloidal Gas Aphron fluid decreased.

  11. Optimization of rhamnolipid production from Pseudomonas aeruginosa PBS towards application for microbial enhanced oil recovery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sharma, Rajni; Singh, Jagdish; Verma, Neelam

    2018-01-01

    The present work reveals the potential of biosurfactant producing P. aeruginosa PBS for microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR). The biosurfactant production medium and culture conditions were optimized using response surface methodology. The optimization of media components and process parameters was consecutively executed in two sets of experimental runs designed by central composite rotatable design (CCRD). The maximum biosurfactant yield was attained with 2% fresh inoculum of P. aeruginosa PBS in minimal salt medium (pH 7), possessing 2.17% sodium citrate as C-source and 0.5% yeast extract as N-source, after 48 h upon incubation at 30 °C/150 rpm. Under optimum conditions, biosurfactant yield was increased more than threefold and turned out to be 2.65 g/L as compared to 0.82 g/L under previous conditions. The biosurfactant was characterized as a glycolipid comprising of four rhamnolipid homologs (RhaRhaC 10 C 10 , RhaRhaC 8 C 10 , RhaRhaC 12 C 10 /RhaRhaC 10 C 12 , RhaC 10 C 10 ) by thin layer chromatography, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometry. The produced biosurfactant was highly efficient for oil recovery application showing extreme reduction in surface tension of medium (71.80 to 23.76 mN/m), immense hydrocarbons emulsification capacity (50-60%) and greater stability at wide range of temperature (4-100 °C) and pH (4-10) along with an excellent (56.18 ± 1.59%) additional oil recovery in sand-pack column lab test.

  12. Profiling of Indigenous Microbial Community Dynamics and Metabolic Activity During Enrichment in Molasses-Supplemented Crude Oil-Brine Mixtures for Improved Understanding of Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Halim, Amalia Yunita; Pedersen, Dorthe Skou; Nielsen, Sidsel Marie; Lantz, Anna Eliasson

    2015-06-01

    Anaerobic incubations using crude oil and brine from a North Sea reservoir were conducted to gain increased understanding of indigenous microbial community development, metabolite production, and the effects on the oil-brine system after addition of a complex carbon source, molasses, with or without nitrate to boost microbial growth. Growth of the indigenous microbes was stimulated by addition of molasses. Pyrosequencing showed that specifically Anaerobaculum, Petrotoga, and Methanothermococcus were enriched. Addition of nitrate favored the growth of Petrotoga over Anaerobaculum. The microbial growth caused changes in the crude oil-brine system: formation of oil emulsions, and reduction of interfacial tension (IFT). Reduction in IFT was associated with microbes being present at the oil-brine interphase. These findings suggest that stimulation of indigenous microbial growth by addition of molasses has potential as microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) strategy in North Sea oil reservoirs.

  13. Support of enhanced oil recovery to independent producers in Texas. Quarterly technical progress report, July 1, 1995--September 30, 1995

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fotouh, K.H.

    1995-09-30

    The main objective of this project is to support independent oil producers in Texas and to improve the productivity of marginal wells utilizing enhanced oil recovery techniques. The main task carried out this quarter was the generation of an electronic data base.

  14. Carbon dioxide for the recovery of crude oil: a literature search to June 30, 1979. Final report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Doscher, T.

    1980-05-01

    Individual summaries and pertinent commentaries on each of the groups of references into which the literature on carbon dioxide for the recovery of crude oil has been classified are presented in this report. The major classifications are: physical models, laboratory studies, field tests, modelling, patents, and miscellaneous. A special summary that reviews and comments on field operations, fluid handling, and corrosion problems is also included. User's guide and subject categories for the CO/sub 2/ literature survey are given, followed by abstracts of the citations. It is concluded from this survey that the most significant deficiency in research on carbon dioxide flooding for the recovery of crude oil is the paucity of well controlled and interpreted field tests.

  15. Influence of corn oil recovery on life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions of corn ethanol and corn oil biodiesel.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Zhichao; Dunn, Jennifer B; Han, Jeongwoo; Wang, Michael Q

    2015-01-01

    Corn oil recovery and conversion to biodiesel has been widely adopted at corn ethanol plants recently. The US EPA has projected 2.6 billion liters of biodiesel will be produced from corn oil in 2022. Corn oil biodiesel may qualify for federal renewable identification number (RIN) credits under the Renewable Fuel Standard, as well as for low greenhouse gas (GHG) emission intensity credits under California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard. Because multiple products [ethanol, biodiesel, and distiller's grain with solubles (DGS)] are produced from one feedstock (corn), however, a careful co-product treatment approach is required to accurately estimate GHG intensities of both ethanol and corn oil biodiesel and to avoid double counting of benefits associated with corn oil biodiesel production. This study develops four co-product treatment methods: (1) displacement, (2) marginal, (3) hybrid allocation, and (4) process-level energy allocation. Life-cycle GHG emissions for corn oil biodiesel were more sensitive to the choice of co-product allocation method because significantly less corn oil biodiesel is produced than corn ethanol at a dry mill. Corn ethanol life-cycle GHG emissions with the displacement, marginal, and hybrid allocation approaches are similar (61, 62, and 59 g CO2e/MJ, respectively). Although corn ethanol and DGS share upstream farming and conversion burdens in both the hybrid and process-level energy allocation methods, DGS bears a higher burden in the latter because it has lower energy content per selling price as compared to corn ethanol. As a result, with the process-level allocation approach, ethanol's life-cycle GHG emissions are lower at 46 g CO2e/MJ. Corn oil biodiesel life-cycle GHG emissions from the marginal, hybrid allocation, and process-level energy allocation methods were 14, 59, and 45 g CO2e/MJ, respectively. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to investigate the influence corn oil yield, soy biodiesel, and defatted DGS displacement credits

  16. Impact of recent Federal tax and R and D initiatives on enhanced oil recovery

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brashear, J.P.; Biglarbigi, K.; Ray, M.R.

    1991-01-01

    The National Energy Strategy contains two major elements designed to increase oil production from known reservoirs in the contiguous United States: (1) a tax credit for specific investment and injectant costs for qualified enhanced oil recovery (EOR) projects; and (2) a highly focused, public-private cooperative R ampersand D program. Both are currently being implemented by the Department of the Treasury and the Department of Energy, respectively. The present paper estimates the potential reserve additions and impacts on public treasuries at oil prices between $22 and $34/Bbl. The new Federal tax credit, alone, could doubler current proved EOR reserves at oil prices in the $22/Bbl range and increase them by about one-third at prices in the $30/Bbl range. The effect of technology advances alone could also about double EOR reserves at these prices. The combination of technology advances and the tax incentive synergistically amplifies the effects on potential EOR reserves

  17. Applicability of anaerobic nitrate-dependent Fe(II) oxidation to microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Hongbo; Carlson, Han K; Coates, John D

    2013-08-06

    Microbial processes that produce solid-phase minerals could be judiciously applied to modify rock porosity with subsequent alteration and improvement of floodwater sweep in petroleum reservoirs. However, there has been little investigation of the application of this to enhanced oil recovery (EOR). Here, we investigate a unique approach of altering reservoir petrology through the biogenesis of authigenic rock minerals. This process is mediated by anaerobic chemolithotrophic nitrate-dependent Fe(II)-oxidizing microorganisms that precipitate iron minerals from the metabolism of soluble ferrous iron (Fe(2+)) coupled to the reduction of nitrate. This mineral biogenesis can result in pore restriction and reduced pore throat diameter. Advantageously and unlike biomass plugs, these biominerals are not susceptible to pressure or thermal degradation. Furthermore, they do not require continual substrate addition for maintenance. Our studies demonstrate that the biogenesis of insoluble iron minerals in packed-bed columns results in effective hydrology alteration and homogenization of heterogeneous flowpaths upon stimulated microbial Fe(2+) biooxidation. We also demonstrate almost 100% improvement in oil recovery from hydrocarbon-saturated packed-bed columns as a result of this metabolism. These studies represent a novel departure from traditional microbial EOR approaches and indicate the potential for nitrate-dependent Fe(2+) biooxidation to improve volumetric sweep efficiency and enhance both the quality and quantity of oil recovered.

  18. Using Biosurfactants Produced from Agriculture Process Waste Streams to Improve Oil Recovery in Fractured Carbonate Reservoirs

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stephen Johnson; Mehdi Salehi; Karl Eisert; Sandra Fox

    2009-01-07

    This report describes the progress of our research during the first 30 months (10/01/2004 to 03/31/2007) of the original three-year project cycle. The project was terminated early due to DOE budget cuts. This was a joint project between the Tertiary Oil Recovery Project (TORP) at the University of Kansas and the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). The objective was to evaluate the use of low-cost biosurfactants produced from agriculture process waste streams to improve oil recovery in fractured carbonate reservoirs through wettability mediation. Biosurfactant for this project was produced using Bacillus subtilis 21332 and purified potato starch as the growth medium. The INL team produced the biosurfactant and characterized it as surfactin. INL supplied surfactin as required for the tests at KU as well as providing other microbiological services. Interfacial tension (IFT) between Soltrol 130 and both potential benchmark chemical surfactants and crude surfactin was measured over a range of concentrations. The performance of the crude surfactin preparation in reducing IFT was greater than any of the synthetic compounds throughout the concentration range studied but at low concentrations, sodium laureth sulfate (SLS) was closest to the surfactin, and was used as the benchmark in subsequent studies. Core characterization was carried out using both traditional flooding techniques to find porosity and permeability; and NMR/MRI to image cores and identify pore architecture and degree of heterogeneity. A cleaning regime was identified and developed to remove organic materials from cores and crushed carbonate rock. This allowed cores to be fully characterized and returned to a reproducible wettability state when coupled with a crude-oil aging regime. Rapid wettability assessments for crushed matrix material were developed, and used to inform slower Amott wettability tests. Initial static absorption experiments exposed limitations in the use of HPLC and TOC to determine

  19. Thermal recovery gaining importance, says expert

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1964-12-21

    In a forecast presented to the Calgary section CIM- AIME at a recent monthly technical meeting, J.V. Howard, Core Labs. Inc., predicted that within the next 2 to 5 yr, California oil production will come from thermal recovery schemes to the extent of 200,000 bpd. One American major oil company is planning a fire flood in a heavy oil reservoir at 12,000 ft depth, where primary recovery is estimated as only 3% of original oil in place. It is estimated that the minimum oil saturation feasible for thermal recovery is 950 bbl per acre-ft. The larger number of variables that will determine the success or failure of thermal recovery makes it essential to have thorough and complete studies of all the thermal processes before one is selected for a given set of reservoir and economic conditions. The number of thermal recovery projects will increase rapidly and the success of any project will depend upon the proper application of experience and technology in thermal recovery.

  20. Large scale carbon dioxide production from coal-fired power stations for enhanced oil recovery: a new economic feasibility study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tontiwachwuthikul, P.; Chan, C. W.; Kritpiphat, W.; Demontigny, D.; Skoropad, D.; Gelowitz, D.; Aroonwilas, A.; Mourits, F.; Wilson, M.; Ward, L.

    1998-01-01

    The concept of capturing carbon dioxide from fossil-fuelled electric power generating plants and utilizing it as a flooding agent in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) processes, was explored. In this context, this paper describes how cogeneration concepts, together with process optimization strategies, help to reduce the carbon dioxide production cost by utilizing low-pressure steam and waste heat from various sections of the power generation process. Based on these optimization strategies, the recovery cost of carbon dioxide from coal-fired power stations is estimated to be in the range of $ 0.50 to $ 2.00/mscf. Assuming an average cost of $ 1.25/mscf, the production cost of incremental oil would be about $ 18.00. This means that even with today's modest oil prices, there is room for profit to be made operating a carbon dioxide flood with flue gas extracted carbon dioxide

  1. Designer-Wet Micromodels for Studying Potential Changes in Wettability during Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Armstrong, R. T.; Wildenschild, D.

    2010-12-01

    Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery (MEOR) is a process where microorganisms are used for tertiary recovery of oil. Some bacteria can facilitate the mobilization of oil through the production of amphiphilic compounds called biosurfactants that reduce the interfacial tension (IFT) between immiscible phases. Additionally, most bacteria have an inclination to colonize surfaces and form biofilm, which can change a reservoir's wetting properties or clog preferential flow paths. Herein, we aim to understand changes in wettability during MEOR under mixed wettability conditions within silicon etched micromodels and to identify the type of oil field (i.e. based on wettability) in which MEOR is likely to be most profitable. To quantify porous media wettability, macro-scale indexes (obtained with techniques such as the Carter or Amott methods) are used regularly. However, these measurements lack the capability for characterization of changes in wettability during MEOR treatment, and only provide macro-scale information. In an effort to understand micro-scale temporal and spatial changes in wettability we measure interfacial curvature from stereo microscope images using level set methods. Curvature, from the perspective of the oil phase, is positive for a concave interface (i.e. water-wet surface) and negative for a convex interface (i.e. oil-wet surface). Thus, shifts in the radius of curvature distribution (i.e. from positive to negative or conversely) are indicative of wettability changes. Both curvature distributions using level-set methods and the Carter method are used to characterize wettability before and after microbial treatment. In preliminary studies aimed at understanding wettability changes due to microbial surface interactions by Bacillus mojavensis JF-2, oil droplets were placed on glass slides suspended in growth media and the resulting contact angle was measured over time. Results showed that a water-wet surface will become more water wet as JF-2 accumulated in

  2. Gas Production Generated from Crude Oil Biodegradation: Preliminary Study on its Aplication in Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery (MEOR

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Astri Nugroho

    2009-11-01

    Full Text Available Gas Production Generated from Crude Oil Biodegradation: Preliminary Study on its Aplication in MicrobialEnhanced Oil Recovery (MEOR. The objective of this study is to observe the capacity of gas production generatedfrom crude oil degradation by the isolated bacteria. The gas in the MEOR could increase pressure in the reservoir,decrease oil viscosity, increase oil permeability-due to the increase of the porosity and viscosity, and also increase oilvolume due to the amount of dissolved gas. A research on gas analysis of oil degradation by 6 isolated bacteria has beenconducted. The bacteria isolates including Bacillus badius (A, Bacillus circulans (B, Bacillus coagulans (C, Bacillusfirmus (D, Pasteurella avium (E and Streptobacillus moniliformis (F. The trial on gas production, gas analysis and oildegradation analysis, was carried out by using SMSS medium. The test of gas production was done by usingmicrorespirometer at 40°C. The result shows that B, C, D, E produce more gas than A and F. Gas of CO2, O2, CO, N2,CH4, and H2 were analyzed by using GC. The results show that only three gases were detected by GC i.e. CO2, N2, andO2. The concentration of CO2 and N2 gas increased while the concentration of O2 decreased over an 8th day ofobservation. CO2 gas producted by mix culture was higher than by the pure culture. On the 8th day of incubation, theproduction of CO2 gas by mix culture was 4,0452% while pure culture C and D only produced 2,4543% and 2,8729%.The mix culture increase simple hydrocarbon by 12.03% and the formation of a complex hydrocarbon by 3.07%. Themix culture (C-D generated the highest concentration of CO2 gas as well as a synergistic concortium that has ability todegrade crude oil.

  3. In situ generation of steam and alkaline surfactant for enhanced oil recovery using an exothermic water reactant (EWR)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robertson, Eric P

    2011-05-24

    A method for oil recovery whereby an exothermic water reactant (EWR) encapsulated in a water soluble coating is placed in water and pumped into one or more oil wells in contact with an oil bearing formation. After the water carries the EWR to the bottom of the injection well, the water soluble coating dissolves and the EWR reacts with the water to produce heat, an alkali solution, and hydrogen. The heat from the EWR reaction generates steam, which is forced into the oil bearing formation where it condenses and transfers heat to the oil, elevating its temperature and decreasing the viscosity of the oil. The aqueous alkali solution mixes with the oil in the oil bearing formation and forms a surfactant that reduces the interfacial tension between the oil and water. The hydrogen may be used to react with the oil at these elevated temperatures to form lighter molecules, thus upgrading to a certain extent the oil in situ. As a result, the oil can flow more efficiently and easily through the oil bearing formation towards and into one or more production wells.

  4. Enhanced oil recovery using improved aqueous fluid-injection methods: an annotated bibliography. [328 citations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Meister, M.J.; Kettenbrink, G.K.; Collins, A.G.

    1976-10-01

    This annotated bibliography contains abstracts, prepared by the authors, of articles published between 1968 and early 1976 on tests of improved aqueous fluid injection methods (i.e., polymer and surfactant floods). The abstracts have been written and organized to facilitate studies of the oil recovery potential of polymer and surfactant floods under known reservoir conditions. 328 citations.

  5. Influence of Oil on Refrigerant Evaporator Performance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Jong-Soo; Nagata, Karsuya; Katsuta, Masafumi; Tomosugi, Hiroyuki; Kikuchi, Kouichiro; Horichi, Toshiaki

    In vapor compression refrigeration system using oil-lubricated compressors, some amount of oil is always circulated through the system. Oil circulation can have a significant influence on the evaporator performance of automotive air conditioner which is especially required to cool quickly the car interior after a period standing in the sun. An experimental investigation was carried out an electrically heated horizontal tube to measure local heat transfer coefficients for various flow rates and heat fluxes during forced convection boiling of pure refrigerant R12 and refrigerant-oil mixtures (0-11% oil concentration by weight) and the results were compared with oil free performance. Local heat transfer coefficients increased at the region of low vapor quality by the addition of oil. On the other hand, because the oil-rich liquid film was formed on the heat transfer surface, heat transfer coefficients gradually decreased as the vapor quality became higher. Average heat transfer coefficient reached a maximum at about 4% oil concentration and this trend agreed well with the results of Green and Furse. Previous correlations, using the properties of the refrigerant-oil mixture, could not predict satisfactorily the local heat transfer coefficients data. New correlation modified by oil concentration factor was developed for predicting the corresponding heat transfer coefficient for refrigerant-oil mixture convection boiling. The maximum percent deviation between predicted and measured heat transfer coefficient was within ±30%.

  6. South Louisiana Enhanced Oil Recovery/Sequestration R&D Project Small Scale Field Tests of Geologic Reservoir Classes for Geologic Storage

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hite, Roger [Blackhorse Energy LLC, Houston, TX (United States)

    2016-10-01

    The project site is located in Livingston Parish, Louisiana, approximately 26 miles due east of Baton Rouge. This project proposed to evaluate an early Eocene-aged Wilcox oil reservoir for permanent storage of CO2. Blackhorse Energy, LLC planned to conduct a parallel CO2 oil recovery project in the First Wilcox Sand. The primary focus of this project was to examine and prove the suitability of South Louisiana geologic formations for large-scale geologic sequestration of CO2 in association with enhanced oil recovery applications. This was to be accomplished through the focused demonstration of small-scale, permanent storage of CO2 in the First Wilcox Sand. The project was terminated at the request of Blackhorse Energy LLC on October 22, 2014.

  7. CO{sub 2} flooding performance prediction for Alberta oil pools

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shaw, J.C. [Adams Pearson Associates Inc., Calgary, AB (Canada); Bachu, S. [Alberta Energy and Utilities Board, Calgary, AB (Canada)

    2002-06-01

    An advanced technical screening program was used to successfully screen and rank a very large number of Alberta oil pools for enhanced oil recovery using carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}) flooding. This paper is a continuation paper describing the results of using the Microsoft Excel program with VBA to estimate production forecasts for several candidate pools in Alberta. A total of 6 ranking parameters were used, including API gravity of oil, residual oil saturation, ratio between reservoir pressure and minimum miscibility pressure, reservoir temperature, net pay thickness and porosity. The screening program provides a technical ranking of approximately 8,000 Alberta pools. After compilation of the Alberta oil pools, it was determined that most of the deep carbonate oil pools are excellent candidates for CO{sub 2} miscible flooding. Other Devonian carbonate pools are also ranked as having high potential for the process. An environmental benefit of CO{sub 2} miscible flooding process is that carbon sequestration has the potential to reduce anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions from reaching the atmosphere. Ongoing studies are currently addressing CO{sub 2} capture and transportation, making EOR technology viable for maintaining light oil production in western Canada. 11 refs., 2 tabs., 2 figs.

  8. Agent orange herbicides, organophosphate and triazinic pesticides analysis in olive oil and industrial oil mill waste effluents using new organic phase immunosensors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martini, Elisabetta; Merola, Giovanni; Tomassetti, Mauro; Campanella, Luigi

    2015-02-15

    New immunosensors working in organic solvent mixtures (OPIEs) for the analysis of traces of different pesticides (triazinic, organophosphates and chlorurates) present in hydrophobic matrices such as olive oil were developed and tested. A Clark electrode was used as transducer and peroxidase enzyme as marker. The competitive process took place in a chloroform-hexane 50% (V/V) mixture, while the subsequent enzymatic final measurement was performed in decane and using tert-butylhydroperoxide as substrate of the enzymatic reaction. A linear response of between about 10nM and 5.0μM was usually obtained in the presence of olive oil. Recovery tests were carried out in commercial or artisanal extra virgin olive oil. Traces of pesticides were also checked in the oily matrix, in pomace and mill wastewaters from an industrial oil mill. Immunosensors show good selectivity and satisfactory precision and recovery tests performed in olive oil gave excellent results. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Improving Engine Oil Warm Up through Waste Heat Recovery

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Davide Di Battista

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available In the transportation sector, engine oil thermal management has not yet received the attention it deserves in the path towards carbon dioxide and pollutants reduction. During the homologation cycle (which represents a typical daily trip, oil temperature reaches its thermal steady value, which insures best performances in terms of viscosity, only in the final part of the trip, when most part of the harmful emissions have been already emitted; therefore, a warm up acceleration would surely represent a strong beneficial action. In this paper, a faster warming up of the lubricant oil was done using the heat owned by the exhaust gases, which was almost immediately ready after the engine ignition, in the early part of a driving cycle. An experimental activity has been developed in a turbocharged engine (F1C 3L IVECO, modifying the oil circuit in order to heat up the oil during the cold phase of a homologation cycle by the exhaust gases. A significant reduction of fuel consumption and pollutant emissions savings has been experimentally demonstrated. Also, the interaction between the modified oil circuit, engine, coolant circuit, and exhaust line has been investigated in order to have a system view of the new heating oil technology.

  10. General introduction and recovery factors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Verma, Mahendra K.

    2017-07-17

    IntroductionThe U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) compared methods for estimating an incremental recovery factor (RF) for the carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery (CO2-EOR) process involving the injection of CO2 into oil reservoirs. This chapter first provides some basic information on the RF, including its dependence on various reservoir and operational parameters, and then discusses the three development phases of oil recovery—primary, second­ary, and tertiary (EOR). It ends with a brief discussion of the three approaches for estimating recovery factors, which are detailed in subsequent chapters.

  11. Bioconversion of agro-industrial by-products in rhamnolipids toward applications in enhanced oil recovery and bioremediation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gudiña, Eduardo J; Rodrigues, Ana I; Alves, Eliana; Domingues, M Rosário; Teixeira, José A; Rodrigues, Lígia R

    2015-02-01

    In this work, biosurfactant production by a Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain was optimized using low-cost substrates. The highest biosurfactant production (3.2 g/l) was obtained using a culture medium containing corn steep liquor (10% (v/v)) and molasses (10% (w/v)). The biosurfactant reduced the surface tension of water up to 30 mN/m, and exhibited a high emulsifying activity (E24=60%), with a critical micelle concentration as low as 50 mg/l. The biosurfactant produced in this alternative medium was characterized as a mixture of eight different rhamnolipid congeners, being the most abundant the mono-rhamnolipid Rha-C10-C10. However, using LB medium, nine different rhamnolipid congeners were identified, being the most abundant the di-rhamnolipid Rha-Rha-C10-C10. The rhamnolipid mixture produced in the alternative medium exhibited a better performance in removing oil from contaminated sand when compared with two chemical surfactants, suggesting its potential use as an alternative to traditional chemical surfactants in enhanced oil recovery or bioremediation. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Synthesis and Performance of an Acrylamide Copolymer Containing Nano-SiO2 as Enhanced Oil Recovery Chemical

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhongbin Ye

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available A novel copolymer containing nano-SiO2 was synthesized by free radical polymerization using acrylamide (AM, acrylic acid (AA, and nano-SiO2 functional monomer (NSFM as raw materials under mild conditions. The AM/AA/NSFM copolymer was characterized by infrared (IR spectroscopy, 1H NMR spectroscopy, elemental analysis, and scanning electron microscope (SEM. It was found that the AM/AA/NSFM copolymer exhibited higher viscosity than the AM/AA copolymer at 500 s−1 shear rate (18.6 mPa·s versus 8.7 mPa·s. It was also found that AM/AA/NSFM could achieve up to 43.7% viscosity retention rate at 95°C. Mobility control results indicated that AM/AA/NSFM could establish much higher resistance factor (RF and residual resistance factor (RRF than AM/AA under the same conditions (RF: 16.52 versus 12.17, RRF: 3.63 versus 2.59. At last, the enhanced oil recovery (EOR of AM/AA/NSFM was up to 20.10% by core flooding experiments at 65°C.

  13. Contracts for field projects and supporting research on enhanced oil recovery. Progress review No. 82, quarterly report, January--March 1995

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1996-06-01

    This document consists of a list of projects supporting work on oil recovery programs. A publications list and index of companies and institutions is provided. The remaining portion of the document provides brief descriptions on projects in chemical flooding, gas displacement, thermal recovery, geoscience, resource assessment, and reservoir class field demonstrations.

  14. Quantitative analysis of phylloquinone (vitamin K1) in soy bean oils by high-performance liquid chromatography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zonta, F; Stancher, B

    1985-07-19

    A high-performance liquid chromatographic method for determining phylloquinone (vitamin K1) in soy bean oils is described. Resolution of vitamin K1 from interfering peaks of the matrix was obtained after enzymatic digestion, extraction and liquid-solid chromatography on alumina. An isocratic reversed-phase chromatography with UV detection was used in the final stage. The quantitation was carried out by the standard addition method, and the recovery of the whole procedure was 88.2%.

  15. Performance Evaluation of Cloud Service Considering Fault Recovery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Bo; Tan, Feng; Dai, Yuan-Shun; Guo, Suchang

    In cloud computing, cloud service performance is an important issue. To improve cloud service reliability, fault recovery may be used. However, the use of fault recovery could have impact on the performance of cloud service. In this paper, we conduct a preliminary study on this issue. Cloud service performance is quantified by service response time, whose probability density function as well as the mean is derived.

  16. Brine crude oil interactions at the oil-water interface

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Chakravarty, Krishna Hara; Fosbøl, Philip Loldrup; Thomsen, Kaj

    2015-01-01

    The impact of brine salinity and its ionic composition on oil displacement efficiency has been investigated extensively in recent years due to the potential of enhanced oil recovery (EOR). Wettability alterations through relative interactions at the mineral surface have been the basis of proposed...... in enhancing oil emulsion formation by increasing interactions between polar acids and brine solutions. The results propose the potential use of HPO42- ions in reservoirs having inactive mineral surfaces. The relative oil affinity of different ions including K+, Na+, Mg2+, and Ca2+ (cations), and Cl-, SO42...... and thus reduces the interfacial viscoelasticity of the trapped oil. These results show significant correlation between oil emulsion formation and increased oil recovery. Copyright 2015; Society of Petroleum Engineers...

  17. Shampooing the reservoir : organic surfactant could increase Suffield oil recovery by 10 per cent

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Roche, P.

    2009-10-15

    EnCana is testing a new tertiary recovery technology in the Suffield area of southeastern Alberta which is known primarily for shallow natural gas. EnCana Corporation has approximately 1 billion barrels of original heavy oil in place in the Suffield area. Oil densities range from about 10 to 18 degrees API gravity. Viscosities range from 100 to 10,000 centipoise. Drilling began about 30 years ago. The primary productive formation is consolidated Mannville Glauconite sandstone which produces very little sand with the oil. About 15 per cent of the oil in place has been produced by primary production and waterfloods. In 2007, EnCana began testing an alkaline surfactant polymer flood operation in the Suffield heavy oil field that consists of 2 injector wells and 5 producers. Tests will continue until 2011. The surfactant acts as a detergent and reduces the interfacial tension between water and oil, thus mobilizing residual oil and increasing the displacement efficiency. In addition to the physical sweeping of a straight polymer flood, a surfactant polymer also washes oil from the rock. EnCana buys an alkaline chemical that is less expensive than surfactant. The alkaline injectant reacts with the organic acids in the oil to create a natural surfactant. EnCana was granted experimental scheme status by the Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board. Instead of using fresh water, the pilot mixes its chemicals with saline water from a deep formation. EnCana will consider the pilot a commercial success if it recovers at least 10 per cent of the original oil in place. Thus far, the pilot is meeting that threshold. 1 fig.

  18. Wettability Improvement with Enzymes: Application to Enhanced Oil Recovery under Conditions of the North Sea Reservoirs

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Khusainova, Alsu; Shapiro, Alexander; Stenby, Erling Halfdan

    2012-01-01

    (Nasiri et al., 2009), working mechanisms are poorly known and understood. The main goal of the present work is to establish possible mechanisms in which enzymes may enhance oil recovery. Improvement of the brine wettability of the rock and decrease of oil adhesion to it by addition of an enzyme is one...... of the possible mechanisms of enzymatic action. This mechanism has been investigated experimentally, by measurements of the contact angles between oil drops and enzyme solutions in brine on the mineral surfaces. Fifteen enzyme samples belonging to different enzyme classes, such as esterases/lipases, carbohydrases......, proteases and oxidoreductases, provided by Novozymes, have been investigated. Two commercial mixtures containing enzymes: Apollo-GreenZyme™ and EOR-ZYMAX™ have also been applied. The North Sea dead oil and the synthetic sea water were used as test fluids. Internal surface of a carbonate rock has been...

  19. COMBINED MICROBIAL SURFACTANT-POLYMER SYSTEM FOR IMPROVED OIL MOBILITY AND CONFORMANCE CONTROL

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jorge Gabitto; Maria Barrufet

    2004-08-01

    Many domestic oil fields are facing abandonment even though they still contain two-thirds of their original oil. A significant number of these fields can yield additional oil using advanced oil recovery (AOR) technologies. To maintain domestic oil production at current levels, AOR technologies are needed that are affordable and can be implemented by independent oil producers of the future. Microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) technologies have become established as cost-effective solutions for declining oil production. MEOR technologies are affordable for independent producers operating stripper wells and can be used to extend the life of marginal fields. The demonstrated versatility of microorganisms can be used to design advanced microbial systems to treat multiple production problems in complex, heterogeneous reservoirs. The proposed research presents the concept of a combined microbial surfactant-polymer system for advanced oil recovery. The surfactant-polymer system utilizes bacteria that are capable of both biosurfactant production and metabolically-controlled biopolymer production. This novel technology combines complementary mechanisms to extend the life of marginal fields and is applicable to a large number of domestic reservoirs. The research project described in this report is performed jointly by, Bio-Engineering Inc., a woman owned small business, Texas A&M University and Prairie View A&M University, a Historically Black College and University. This report describes the results of our laboratory work to grow microbial cultures and the work done on recovery experiments on core rocks. We have selected two bacterial strains capable of producing both surfactant and polymers. We have conducted laboratory experiments to determine under what conditions surfactants and polymers can be produced from one single strain. We have conduct recovery experiments to determine the performance of these strains under different conditions. Our results do not show a

  20. Performance assessment techniques for groundwater recovery and treatment systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kirkpatrick, G.L. [Environmental Resources Management, Inc., Exton, PA (United States)

    1993-03-01

    Groundwater recovery and treatment (pump and treat systems) continue to be the most commonly selected remedial technology for groundwater restoration and protection programs at hazardous waste sites and RCRA facilities nationwide. Implementing a typical groundwater recovery and treatment system includes the initial assessment of groundwater quality, characterizing aquifer hydrodynamics, recovery system design, system installation, testing, permitting, and operation and maintenance. This paper focuses on methods used to assess the long-term efficiency of a pump and treat system. Regulatory agencies and industry alike are sensitive to the need for accurate assessment of the performance and success of groundwater recovery systems for contaminant plume abatement and aquifer restoration. Several assessment methods are available to measure the long-term performance of a groundwater recovery system. This paper presents six assessment techniques: degree of compliance with regulatory agency agreement (Consent Order of Record of Decision), hydraulic demonstration of system performance, contaminant mass recovery calculation, system design and performance comparison, statistical evaluation of groundwater quality and preferably, integration of the assessment methods. Applying specific recovery system assessment methods depends upon the type, amount, and quality of data available. Use of an integrated approach is encouraged to evaluate the success of a groundwater recovery and treatment system. The methods presented in this paper are for engineers and corporate management to use when discussing the effectiveness of groundwater remediation systems with their environmental consultant. In addition, an independent (third party) system evaluation is recommended to be sure that a recovery system operates efficiently and with minimum expense.

  1. Mixing in three-phase systems: Implications for enhanced oil recovery and unconventional gas extraction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jimenez-Martinez, J.; Porter, M. L.; Hyman, J.; Carey, J. W.; Viswanathan, H. S.

    2015-12-01

    Although the mixing of fluids within a porous media is a common process in natural and industrial systems, how the degree of mixing depends on the miscibility of multiple phases is poorly characterized. Often, the direct consequence of miscible mixing is the modification of the resident fluid (brine and hydrocarbons) rheological properties. We investigate supercritical (sc)CO2 displacement and mixing processes in a three-phase system (scCO2, oil, and H2O) using a microfluidics experimental system that accommodates the high pressures and temperatures encountered in fossil fuel extraction operations. The miscibility of scCO2 with the resident fluids, low with aqueous solutions and high with hydrocarbons, impacts the mixing processes that control sweep efficiency in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and the unlocking of the system in unconventional oil and gas extraction. Using standard volume-averaging techniques we upscale the aqueous phase saturation to the field-scale (i.e., Darcy scale) and interpret the results as a simpler two-phase system. This process allows us to perform a statistical analysis to quantify i) the degree of heterogeneity in the system resulting from the immiscible H2O and ii) how that heterogeneity impacts mixing between scCO2 and oil and their displacement. Our results show that when scCO2 is used for miscible displacement, the presence of an aqueous solution, which is common in secondary and tertiary EOR and unconventional oil and gas extraction, strongly impacts the mixing of scCO2 with the hydrocarbons due to low scCO2-H2O miscibility. H2O, which must be displaced advectively by the injected scCO2, introduces spatio-temporal variability into the system that acts as a barrier between the two miscibile fluids. This coupled with the effect of viscosity contrast, i.e., viscous fingering, has an impact on the mixing of the more miscible pair.

  2. Application of Time-Lapse Seismic Monitoring for the Control and Optimization of CO2 Enhanced Oil Recovery Operations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Brian Toelle

    2008-11-30

    simulation predicted that the CO{sub 2} injected into the reef would remain in the northern portion of the field. Two new wells, the State Charlton 4-30 and the Larsen 3-31, were drilled into the field in 2006 and 2008 respectively and supported this assessment. A second (or 'Monitor') 3D seismic survey was acquired during September 2007 over most of the field and duplicated the first (Base) survey, as much as possible. However, as the simulation and new well data available at that time indicated that the CO{sub 2} was concentrated in the northern portion of the field, the second seismic survey was not acquired over the extreme southern end of the area covered by the original (or Base) 3D survey. Basic processing was performed on the second 3D seismic survey and, finally, 4D processing methods were applied to both the Base and the Monitor surveys. In addition to this 3D data, a shear wave seismic data set was obtained at the same time. Interpretation of the 4D seismic data indicated that a significant amplitude change, not attributable to differences in acquisition or processing, existed at the locations within the reef predicted by the reservoir simulation. The reservoir simulation was based on the porosity distribution obtained from seismic attributes from the Base 3D survey. Using this validated reservoir simulation the location of oil within the reef at the time the Monitor survey was obtained and recommendations made for the drilling of additional EOR wells. The economic impact of this project has been estimated in terms of both enhanced oil recovery and CO{sub 2} sequestration potential. In the northern Michigan Basin alone, the Niagaran reef play is comprised of over 700 Niagaran reefs with reservoirs already depleted by primary production. Potentially there is over 1 billion bbls of oil (original oil in place minus primary recovery) remains in the reefs in Michigan, much of which could be more efficiently mobilized utilizing techniques similar to those

  3. Large scale carbon dioxide production from coal-fired power stations for enhanced oil recovery : a new economic feasibility study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tontiwachwuthikul, P.; Chan, C.W.; Kritpiphat, W.; DeMontigny, D.; Skoropad, D.; Gelowitz, D.; Aroonwilas, A.; Mourits, F.; Wilson, M.; Ward, L.

    1998-01-01

    A study was conducted to investigate the economics of capturing carbon dioxide from coal-fired power plants to be subsequently used as a flooding agent for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technologies. It was shown that the production of CO 2 for EOR projects can be technically and economically feasible, particularly when the concepts of cogeneration and optimization are used to reduce steam and electricity expenditures. This is done by using low-pressure steam and waste heat from various sections of the power generation process. It was shown that recovery costs could range between $0.50 to $2.00 per mscf. This translates to a recovered oil price of in the range of $17.39 to $19.95 per bbl., suggesting that even at today's low oil prices there is room for CO 2 flooding with flue gas extracted CO 2 . Practical implications for Saskatchewan were examined. 15 refs., 4 tabs., 7 figs

  4. Evaluation of the Impact of Varied Carvacrol Concentrations on Salmonella Recovery in Oregano and How Corn Oil Can Minimize the Effect of Carvacrol during Preenrichment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beaubrun, Junia Jean-Gilles; Addy, Nicole; Keltner, Zachary; Farris, Samantha; Ewing, Laura; Gopinath, Gopal; Hanes, Darcy E

    2018-06-01

    Phenolic compounds, like carvacrol, in oregano interfere with the detection of foodborne pathogens such as Salmonella enterica. Carvacrol concentration varies based on plant cultivars and growth region. Six oregano cultivars were used to compare the impact of carvacrol concentration on Salmonella and to evaluate the effectiveness of corn oil to help increase Salmonella survival for detection. The results of Agilent 1200 series high-performance liquid chromatography analysis showed that carvacrol concentration in the six oregano cultivars ranged from 64 to 11,200 ppm. Oregano samples were artificially contaminated with S. enterica and were preenriched in Trypticase soy broth with or without 2% (v/v) corn oil. After 18 to 24 h at 37°C, aliquots were transferred to selective enrichment broths. Salmonella was recovered onto xylose lysine Tergitol 4 agar. Six Salmonella serovars were compared, and recovery varied based on carvacrol concentration and serovar. Samples with higher concentrations of carvacrol showed Salmonella recovery only when they were preenriched with corn oil. Based on metagenomic analysis, the microflora associated with the oregano also varied per cultivar. The results show that, as carvacrol levels increased, Salmonella survival decreased. However, the addition of corn oil to the preenrichment broth can minimize the antimicrobial effects of the phenolic compounds, thus allowing for increased detection of Salmonella from oregano cultivars.

  5. Dynamic performance of power generation systems for off-shore oil and gas platforms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pierobon, Leonardo; Breuhaus, Peter; Haglind, Fredrik

    2014-01-01

    %) arises on the prediction of the rotational speed of the high pressure shaft, while the largest deviation (average relative error ~20%) occurs in the evaluation of the pressure at the outlet of the low pressure turbine. As waste heat recovery units (e.g. organic Rankine cycles) are likely...... to be implemented in future off-shore platforms, the proposed model may serve in the design phase for a preliminary assessment of the dynamic response of the power generation system and to evaluate if requirements such as minimum and maximum frequency during transient operation and the recovery time are satisfied......On off-shore oil and gas platforms two or more gas turbines typically support the electrical demand on site by operating as a stand-alone (island) power system. As reliability and availability are major concerns during operation, the dynamic performance of the power generation system becomes...

  6. Enzymatic transesterification of waste vegetable oil to produce biodiesel.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lopresto, C G; Naccarato, S; Albo, L; De Paola, M G; Chakraborty, S; Curcio, S; Calabrò, V

    2015-11-01

    An experimental study on enzymatic transesterification was performed to produce biodiesel from waste vegetable oils. Lipase from Pseudomonas cepacia was covalently immobilized on a epoxy-acrylic resin support. The immobilized enzyme exhibited high catalytic specific surface and allowed an easy recovery, regeneration and reutilisation of biocatalyst. Waste vegetable oils - such as frying oils, considered not competitive with food applications and wastes to be treated - were used as a source of glycerides. Ethanol was used as a short chain alcohol and was added in three steps with the aim to reduce its inhibitory effect on lipase activity. The effect of biocatalyst/substrate feed mass ratios and the waste oil quality have been investigated in order to estimate the process performances. Biocatalyst recovery and reuse have been also studied with the aim to verify the stability of the biocatalyst for its application in industrial scale. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. DATA MINING AT THE NEBRASKA OIL & GAS COMMISSION

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    James R. Weber

    2001-05-01

    The purpose of this study of the hearing records is to identify factors that are likely to impact the performance of a waterflood in the Nebraska panhandle. The records consisted of 140 cases. Most of the hearings were held prior to 1980. Many of the records were incomplete, and data believed to be key to estimating waterflood performance such as Dykstra-Parson permeability distribution or relative permeability were absent. New techniques were applied to analyze the sparse, incomplete dataset. When information is available, but not clearly understood, new computational intelligence tools can decipher correlations in the dataset. Fuzzy ranking and neural networks were the tools used to estimate secondary recovery from the Cliff Farms Unit. The hearing records include 30 descriptive entries that could influence the success or failure of a waterflood. Success or failure is defined by the ratio of secondary to primary oil recovery (S/P). Primary recovery is defined as cumulative oil produced at the time of the hearing and secondary recovery is defined as the oil produced since the hearing date. Fuzzy ranking was used to prioritize the relevance of 6 parameters on the outcome of the proposed waterflood. The 6 parameters were universally available in 44 of the case hearings. These 44 cases serve as the database used to correlate the following 6 inputs with the respective S/P. (1) Cumulative Water oil ratio, bbl/bbl; (2) Cumulative Gas oil ratio, mcf/bbl; (3) Unit area, acres; (4) Average Porosity, %; (5) Average Permeability, md; (6) Initial bottom hole pressure, psi. A 6-3-1 architecture describes the neural network used to develop a correlation between the 6 input parameters and their respective S/P. The network trained to a 85% correlation coefficient. The predicted Cliff Farms Unit S/P is 0.315 or secondary recovery is expected to be 102,700 bbl.

  8. Oil spillage recovery by vacuum trawl

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Birkett, H.

    1992-01-01

    In this invention, floating oil is sucked from the surface of the sea under a skirt and into a tubular floating boom, along whose interior it is carried to water-oil separation means. The suction is produced by one or more ejectors which are supplied with sea water under pressure and may be located inside the boom, or immediately below it and connected into a separate pipe. The boom is used to enclose an oil slick and drawn tighter to increase the thickness of the oil layer. The oil enters the boom through holes in its upper half and then flows to the ejector(s) along separate internal tubes or between buoyancy balls. A fraction of the oil-water mixture withdrawn from the boom is pressurised and returned to ejector(s) and the rest is diverted to the separation means. (author)

  9. COMBINED MICROBIAL SURFACTANT-POLYMER SYSTEM FOR IMPROVED OIL MOBILITY AND CONFORMANCE CONTROL

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jorge Gabitto; Maria Barrufet

    2005-08-01

    Many domestic oil fields are facing abandonment even though they still contain two-thirds of their original oil. A significant number of these fields can yield additional oil using advanced oil recovery (AOR) technologies. To maintain domestic oil production at current levels, AOR technologies are needed that are affordable and can be implemented by the independent oil producers of the future. Microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) technologies have become established as cost-effective solutions for declining oil production. MEOR technologies are affordable for independent producers operating stripper wells and can be used to extend the life of marginal fields. The demonstrated versatility of microorganisms can be used to design advanced microbial systems to treat multiple production problems in complex, heterogeneous reservoirs. The proposed research presents the concept of a combined microbial surfactant-polymer system for advanced oil recovery. The surfactant-polymer system utilizes bacteria that are capable of both biosurfactant production and metabolically-controlled biopolymer production. This novel technology combines complementary mechanisms to extend the life of marginal fields and is applicable to a large number of domestic reservoirs. The research project described in this report was performed by Bio-Engineering Inc., a woman owned small business, Texas A&M University and Prairie View A&M University, a Historically Black College and University. This report describes the results of our laboratory work to grow microbial cultures, the work done on recovery experiments on core rocks, and computer simulations. We have selected two bacterial strains capable of producing both surfactant and polymers. We have conducted laboratory experiments to determine under what conditions surfactants and polymers can be produced from one single strain. We have conduct recovery experiments to determine the performance of these strains under different conditions. Our results

  10. Impact of an indigenous microbial enhanced oil recovery field trial on microbial community structure in a high pour-point oil reservoir

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhang, Fan; Zhang, Xiao-Tao; Hou, Du-Jie [China Univ. of Geosciences, Beijing (China). The Key Lab. of Marine Reservoir Evolution and Hydrocarbon Accumulation Mechanism; She, Yue-Hui [Yangtze Univ., Jingzhou, Hubei (China). College of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering; Huazhong Univ. of Science and Technology, Wuhan (China). College of Life Science and Technology; Li, Hua-Min [Beijing Bioscience Research Center (China); Shu, Fu-Chang; Wang, Zheng-Liang [Yangtze Univ., Jingzhou, Hubei (China). College of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering; Yu, Long-Jiang [Huazhong Univ. of Science and Technology, Wuhan (China). College of Life Science and Technology

    2012-08-15

    Based on preliminary investigation of microbial populations in a high pour-point oil reservoir, an indigenous microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) field trial was carried out. The purpose of the study is to reveal the impact of the indigenous MEOR process on microbial community structure in the oil reservoir using 16Sr DNA clone library technique. The detailed monitoring results showed significant response of microbial communities during the field trial and large discrepancies of stimulated microorganisms in the laboratory and in the natural oil reservoir. More specifically, after nutrients injection, the original dominant populations of Petrobacter and Alishewanella in the production wells almost disappeared. The expected desirable population of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, determined by enrichment experiments in laboratory, was stimulated successfully in two wells of the five monitored wells. Unexpectedly, another potential population of Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes which were not detected in the enrichment culture in laboratory was stimulated in the other three monitored production wells. In this study, monitoring of microbial community displayed a comprehensive alteration of microbial populations during the field trial to remedy the deficiency of culture-dependent monitoring methods. The results would help to develop and apply more MEOR processes. (orig.)

  11. Impact of an indigenous microbial enhanced oil recovery field trial on microbial community structure in a high pour-point oil reservoir.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Fan; She, Yue-Hui; Li, Hua-Min; Zhang, Xiao-Tao; Shu, Fu-Chang; Wang, Zheng-Liang; Yu, Long-Jiang; Hou, Du-Jie

    2012-08-01

    Based on preliminary investigation of microbial populations in a high pour-point oil reservoir, an indigenous microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) field trial was carried out. The purpose of the study is to reveal the impact of the indigenous MEOR process on microbial community structure in the oil reservoir using 16Sr DNA clone library technique. The detailed monitoring results showed significant response of microbial communities during the field trial and large discrepancies of stimulated microorganisms in the laboratory and in the natural oil reservoir. More specifically, after nutrients injection, the original dominant populations of Petrobacter and Alishewanella in the production wells almost disappeared. The expected desirable population of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, determined by enrichment experiments in laboratory, was stimulated successfully in two wells of the five monitored wells. Unexpectedly, another potential population of Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes which were not detected in the enrichment culture in laboratory was stimulated in the other three monitored production wells. In this study, monitoring of microbial community displayed a comprehensive alteration of microbial populations during the field trial to remedy the deficiency of culture-dependent monitoring methods. The results would help to develop and apply more MEOR processes.

  12. Profiling of Indigenous Microbial Community Dynamics and Metabolic Activity During Enrichment in Molasses-Supplemented Crude Oil-Brine Mixtures for Improved Understanding of Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Halim, Amalia Yunita; Pedersen, Dorthe Skou; Nielsen, Sidsel Marie

    2015-01-01

    Anaerobic incubations using crude oil and brine from a North Sea reservoir were conducted to gain increased understanding of indigenous microbial community development, metabolite production, and the effects on the oil–brine system after addition of a complex carbon source, molasses, with or with...... of molasses has potential as microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) strategy in North Sea oil reservoirs.......Anaerobic incubations using crude oil and brine from a North Sea reservoir were conducted to gain increased understanding of indigenous microbial community development, metabolite production, and the effects on the oil–brine system after addition of a complex carbon source, molasses....... The microbial growth caused changes in the crude oil–brine system: formation of oil emulsions, and reduction of interfacial tension (IFT). Reduction in IFT was associated with microbes being present at the oil–brine interphase. These findings suggest that stimulation of indigenous microbial growth by addition...

  13. Computer Modeling of the Displacement Behavior of Carbon Dioxide in Undersaturated Oil Reservoirs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ju Binshan

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available The injection of CO2 into oil reservoirs is performed not only to improve oil recovery but also to store CO2 captured from fuel combustion. The objective of this work is to develop a numerical simulator to predict quantitatively supercritical CO2 flooding behaviors for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR. A non-isothermal compositional flow mathematical model is developed. The phase transition diagram is designed according to the Minimum Miscibility Pressure (MMP and CO2 maximum solubility in oil phase. The convection and diffusion of CO2 mixtures in multiphase fluids in reservoirs, mass transfer between CO2 and crude and phase partitioning are considered. The governing equations are discretized by applying a fully implicit finite difference technique. Newton-Raphson iterative technique was used to solve the nonlinear equation systems and a simulator was developed. The performances of CO2 immiscible and miscible flooding in oil reservoirs are predicted by the new simulator. The distribution of pressure and temperature, phase saturations, mole fraction of each component in each phase, formation damage caused by asphaltene precipitation and the improved oil recovery are predicted by the simulator. Experimental data validate the developed simulator by comparison with simulation results. The applications of the simulator in prediction of CO2 flooding in oil reservoirs indicate that the simulator is robust for predicting CO2 flooding performance.

  14. Recovery of bypassed oil in the Dundee Formation using horizontal drains. Annual report, April 1994--June 1995

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wood, J.

    1995-08-01

    Crystal Field in Montcalm County, MI, was selected as a field trial site for this project. Analysis of production data for Crystal Field suggests that an additional 200,000 bbls of oil can be produced using one strategically located horizontal well. Total addition production from the Crystal Field could be as much as 6--8 MMBO. Application of the technology developed in this project to other Dundee fields in the area has the potential to increase Dundee production in Michigan by 35%, adding 80--100 MMBO to ultimate recovery. This project will demonstrate through a field trial that horizontal wells can be substantially increase oil production in older reservoirs that are at or near their economic limit. To maximize the potential of the horizontal well and to ensure that a comprehensive evaluation can be made, extensive reservoir characterization will be performed. In addition to the proposed field trial at Crystal Field, 29 additional Dundee fields in a seven-county area have been selected for study in the reservoir characterization portion of this project.

  15. Numerical Simulation and Optimization of Enhanced Oil Recovery by the In Situ Generated CO2 Huff-n-Puff Process with Compound Surfactant

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yong Tang

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents the numerical investigation and optimization of the operating parameters of the in situ generated CO2 Huff-n-Puff method with compound surfactant on the performance of enhanced oil recovery. First, we conducted experiments of in situ generated CO2 and surfactant flooding. Next, we constructed a single-well radial 3D numerical model using a thermal recovery chemical flooding simulator to simulate the process of CO2 Huff-n-Puff. The activation energy and reaction enthalpy were calculated based on the reaction kinetics and thermodynamic models. The interpolation parameters were determined through history matching a series of surfactant core flooding results with the simulation model. The effect of compound surfactant on the Huff-n-Puff CO2 process was demonstrated via a series of sensitivity studies to quantify the effects of a number of operation parameters including the injection volume and mole concentration of the reagent, the injection rate, the well shut-in time, and the oil withdrawal rate. Based on the daily production rate during the period of Huff-n-Puff, a desirable agreement was shown between the field applications and simulated results.

  16. Microflow Mechanism of Oil Displacement by Viscoelastic Hydrophobically Associating Water-Soluble Polymers in Enhanced Oil Recovery

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Huiying Zhong

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available Polymer flooding plays an important role in enhanced oil recovery (EOR, particularly in China, where partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM and hydrophobically associating water-soluble polymers (HAWP are used in onshore and offshore reservoirs, respectively. Many researchers have highlighted the elasticity of HPAM, which can be used to improve the sweep efficiency, i.e., the ratio of the area swept by an injected fluid to the oil area. On the other hand, fewer studies exist on the elasticity of HAWP. In this study, we investigate the flow of HAWP and Xanthan solutions with identical viscosities in core experiments in terms of elasticity; results reveal that the HAWP can produce shear thickening in the core. The constitutive equation for the HAWP can be obtained using the simulation results matched with the experimental data. On the basis of these experiments, we established a two-phase flow model of a polymer and oil, including the continuity, momentum, constitutive, and phase equations. The volume-of-fluid (VOF method was used to track the interface between the two phases. A complex pore model was established based on the glass-etched model used in the experiment. We used the OpenFOAM platform to solve the mathematical model. The saturation, pressure, and stress tensor distributions were obtained. The results show that the displacement efficiency increased as the elasticity of the polymer increased; accordingly, the elasticity can enlarge the sweep area and decrease the residual oil saturation. As the elasticity increases, the stresses (the first normal stress, second normal stress, and shear stress increase. Finally, the results obtained in this study can be used as a guideline in polymer design, screening, and optimization in the polymer flooding oilfields.

  17. Improved techniques for fluid diversion in oil recovery. Second annual report, October 1, 1993--September 30, 1994

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Seright, R.S.

    1995-03-01

    This project is directed at reducing water production and increasing oil recovery efficiency. Today, the cost of water disposal is typically between $0.25 and $0.50 per bbl. Therefore, there is a tremendous economic incentive to reduce water production if that can be accomplished without sacrificing hydrocarbon production. Environmental considerations also provide a significant incentive to reduce water production during oilfield operations. This three-year project has two technical objectives. The first objective is to compare the effectiveness of gels in fluid diversion (water shutoff) with those of other types of processes. Several different types of fluid-diversion processes are being compared, including those using gels, foams, emulsions, and particulates. The ultimate goals of these comparisons are to (1) establish which of these processes are most effective in a given application and (2) determine whether aspects of one process can be combined with those of other processes to improve performance. Analyses and experiments are being performed to verify which materials are the most effective in entering and blocking high-permeability zones. The second objective of the project is to identify the mechanisms by which materials (particularly gels) selectively reduce permeability to water more than to oil. Topics covered in this report include (1) comparisons of the use of gels, foams, emulsions, and particulates as blocking agents; (2) propagation of aluminum-citrate-HPAM gels through porous rock; (3) gel properties in fractured systems; (4) gel placement in unfractured anisotropic flow systems; and (5) an investigation of why some gels can reduce water permeability more than oil permeability.

  18. Recovery of seabirds following the Exxon Valdez oil spill: An overview

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wiens, J.A.

    1995-01-01

    Following the Exxon Valdez oilspill in March 1989, over 35,000 dead birds were retrieved. Model analyses suggested that actual seabird mortality could have been in the hundreds of thousands, prompting concerns about severe and persistent impacts on populations of several species, especially murres (Uria spp.). Recovery for some populations was projected to take decades. The findings of several studies conducted following the oil spill, however, indicate that these concerns may not be justified. These studies examined colony attendance and reproduction of murres as well as habitat utilization for the prevalent species in Prince William Sound and along the Kenai Peninsula. Surveys of attendance by birds at murre breeding colonies in 1991 indicated no overall differences from prespill attendance levels when colonies were grouped by the degree of oiling in the vicinity. At a large colony in the Barren Islands, where damage was described as especially severe, counts of murres were generally similar to historical estimates made in the late 1970s. In 1990 and 1991, murres breeding at the Barren Islands colony also produced young at levels that were within the range of natural (prespill) variation for this site. Incidental observations indicated that several other species reproduced successfully in oiled areas in Prince William Sound and along the Kenai Peninsula following the spill. 161 refs., 2 figs., 2 tabs

  19. Adolescent Anorexia Nervosa: cognitive performance after weight recovery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lozano-Serra, Estefanía; Andrés-Perpiña, Susana; Lázaro-García, Luisa; Castro-Fornieles, Josefina

    2014-01-01

    Although there is no definitive consensus on the impairment of neuropsychological functions, most studies of adults with Anorexia Nervosa (AN) find impaired functioning in cognitive domains such as visual-spatial abilities. The objective of this study is to assess the cognitive functions in adolescents with AN before and after weight recovery and to explore the relationship between cognitive performance and menstruation. Twenty-five female adolescents with AN were assessed by a neuropsychological battery while underweight and then following six months of treatment and weight recovery. Twenty-six healthy female subjects of a similar age were also evaluated at both time points. Underweight patients with AN showed worse cognitive performance than control subjects in immediate recall, organization and time taken to copy the Rey's Complex Figure Test (RCFT). After weight recovery, AN patients presented significant improvements in all tests, and differences between patients and controls disappeared. Patients with AN and persistence of amenorrhea at follow-up (n=8) performed worse on Block Design, delayed recall of Visual Reproduction and Stroop Test than patients with resumed menstruation (n=14) and the control group, though the two AN groups were similar in body mass index, age and psychopathological scale scores. Weight recovery improves cognitive functioning in adolescents with AN. The normalization of neuropsychological performance is better in patients who have recovered at least one menstrual cycle. The normalization of hormonal function seems to be essential for the normalization of cognitive performance, even in adolescents with a very short recovery time. © 2013.

  20. Asphaltene precipitation and its effects on the vapour extraction (VAPEX) heavy oil recovery process

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Luo, P.; Wang, X.; Gu, Y. [Society of Petroleum Engineers, Canadian Section, Calgary, AB (Canada)]|[Regina Univ., SK (Canada). Petroleum Technology Research Centre; Zhang, H. [Society of Petroleum Engineers, Canadian Section, Calgary, AB (Canada)]|[Core Laboratories Canada Ltd., Calgary, AB (Canada); Moghadam, L. [Fekete Associates Inc., Calgary, AB (Canada)

    2008-10-15

    One of the most important physical phenomena during the solvent vapour extraction (VAPEX) of heavy oil recovery is asphaltene precipitation. After the asphaltene precipitation occurs, the produced heavy oil is deasphalted in-situ, resulting in a lower viscosity and better quality. However, precipitated asphaltenes may plug some small pores of the reservoir formation, thus reducing its permeability. This paper examined the effects of three operating factors on the asphaltene precipitation during the VAPEX process, notably solvent type; operating pressure; and sand-pack permeability. Eight VAPEX tests were conducted to recover two different Lloydminster heavy oil samples from a rectangular sand-packed physical model with a butane mixture and propane as the respective solvents. The accumulative heavy oil and solvent production from the physical model were measured in the entire VAPEX process. The paper described the materials, experimental set-up, and experimental preparation. The VAPEX test was also explained. Results were presented for sand consolidation; solvent effect; pressure effect; and permeability effect. It was concluded that when the extracting solvent is in a liquid-gas state, asphaltene precipitation occurs and leads to in-situ deasphalting. 15 refs., 3 tabs., 6 figs.