The Importance of Formation Fluids and Reservoir Rock Mineralogy Characteristics in Chemical Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR)
Azad Anugerah Rosli1, Ahmad Shamsul Izwan Ismail2, Mohd Zaidi Jaafar3, Ahmad Kamal Idris4, Mohd Akhmal Muhamad Sidek5
1Azad Anugerah Rosli, Department of Petroleum Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Johor, Malaysia (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway.
2Ahmad Shamsul Izwan Ismail, Department of Chemical Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway.
3Mohd Zaidi Jaafar, Department of Petroleum Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Johor, Malaysia.
4Ahmad Kamal Idris, Department of Petroleum Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP), Perak, Malaysia.
5Mohd Akhmal Muhamad Sidek, Department of Petroleum Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Johor, Malaysia.
Manuscript received on 25 April 2019 | Revised Manuscript received on 08 May 2019 | Manuscript Published on 17 May 2019 | PP: 228-233 | Volume-8 Issue-1S May 2019 | Retrieval Number: A10330581S19/2019©BEIESP
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© The Authors. Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering and Sciences Publication (BEIESP). This is an open access article under the CC-BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Abstract: Hydrocarbons are produced from the ground to the surface via natural reservoir drive energy. However, substantial amount of hydrocarbons still remain trapped in the reservoir. Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) method has been introduced to recover the remaining trapped oils. EOR is a method to enhance the displacement efficiency of the crude oil. These include reducing the interfacial tension (IFT), increasing the viscosity, and wettability alteration. Presently, the chemical EOR (CEOR) method such as surfactant flooding is utilized due to its efficiency, technical and economic feasibilities. Nonetheless, performance of CEOR is greatly relying upon the characteristics of formation fluids and rock mineralogy. Therefore, uncharacterized these factors prior to CEOR method may result in unsuccessful recovery process. This includes surfactants adsorbed onto the rock surfaces instead of at oil-water interface. Hence, lowering the IFT for mobility control may become impractical as surfactants do not function desirably. Experimental works have been performed to provide comprehensive insight on characteristics of formation fluids in terms of salinity and pH along with rock mineralogy, particularly silica and kaolinite. Effect of zeta potential and surface charge on different rock mineralogy is also discussed to elucidate the behavior of the solid surface when in contact with aqueous solutions.
Keywords: Surfactant Flooding, Formation Fluids, Rock Mineralogy.
Scope of the Article: Fluid Mechanics