1995 Annual Report
Grigg, R.B., Heller, J.P., and Schechter, D.S.:
“Improved Efficiency of Miscible CO2 Floods and Enhanced Prospects of CO2 Flooding Heterogeneous Reservoirs,”
Annual Report, Contract No. DE-FG22-94BC14977, U.S. DOE (April 1996).

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  6. 1996 Annual Report - Improved Efficiency of Miscible CO2 Floods

Abstract

The overall goal of this project is to improve the efficiency of miscible CO2 floods and enhance the prospects for flooding heterogeneous reservoirs. This objective is being accomplished by extending experimental and modeling research in three task areas:

  1. foams for selective mobility control in heterogeneous reservoirs,
  2. reduction of the amount of CO2 required in CO2 floods, and
  3. low IFT (interfacial tension) processes and the possibility of CO2 flooding in fractured reservoirs.

This report provides results of the second year of the three-year project for each of the three task areas. The experimental results from the composite cores suggest that the rock heterogeneity has significant effect on two-phase (CO2/brine) flow behavior in porous media, and that foam can favorably control CO2 mobility. The numerical modeling results suggest that foam with selective mobility reduction can substantially increase the sweep efficiency and therefore improve oil recovery. The programming and testing of two reservoir simulators and testing on a reservoir scale for the foam option were completed this year. A new mathematical model was developed to describe free-fall gravity drainage with equilibrium fluids based on Darcy's Law and film flow theory.