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presented/displayed results. Results are analyzed and PHASES BEHAVIOR AND MISCIBILITY
interpreted by using tables and graphs for their better
understanding and a set of conclusions and recommendations The final objective of the processes of miscible displacement
is also given. is to recover the greater volume of hydrocarbons by natural or
by artificial mechanisms, which are limited in effectiveness by
APPLICATIONS OF THE NITROGEN IN IMPROVED the influence of capillary and interface forces. Exist few
RECOVERY processes of miscible displacement in which reliable liquids
are used and they are known as miscible displacements, in
Nitrogen, like injection gas, has several applications such addition there are processes like miscible displacements gas-
as maintenance of pressure, inmiscible displacement, catched condensed gas. In the operations of gas reinjection, which
oil production and miscible displacement, among others. The have been used in gas condensed reservoirs for many years,
propose application in this work is the miscible volatile oil the second case is had. This process also falls within the
displacement by nitrogen injection. Depending on a the classification of miscible displacement, because the injected
pressure, amount and location, nitrogen can get to cost from gas is completely miscible with the fluid of the reservoir. The
one fourth part to half of the price that is paid by the natural recovery, in these cases, is not affected by capillary forces,
gas. and in theory the displacement efficiency is of the one
hundred percent, that is hydrocarbons which are contacted by
A great number of methods of oil recovery and gas that the miscible pocket are moved totally. The gas recovery of
uses nitrogen, which go from pressure maintenance to ones, as condensed gas in channels of low permeability is difficult to
it is the miscible displacement. In Literature are six methods obtain in operations of reinjection of the gas.
that use nitrogen, these are shown in table 1.
The miscible displacement of the type vaporizing gas was
physically simulated in this research, the use of nitrogen as
SOURCES OF NITROGEN FOR THE OIL INDUSTRY displacement fluid has been studied by several researchers, in
IN OPERATIONS OF IMPROVED RECOVERY which the effects of temperature, reservoir fluid composition,
injection fluid composition, on the minimum miscible pressure
Between the advantages of nitrogen on other injection gases, are considered. The miscibility can be explained like the
like dioxide of carbon and the natural gas, it is its abundance. physical condition between two fluids that allows them to be
This advantage is due to the fact that nitrogen is in the air, and mixed in all the proportions without an interface between the
additionally it can become an economic resource, if appropiate materials forms. If both fluids are not mixed in any proportion,
technology is used to extract it. The operator has two options, then they are not miscible.
(1) to buy the equipment of nitrogen generation so that it is
part of the facilities of the field, or (2) to directly buy nitrogen SCALED PHYSICS MODELS
to a supplier. Historically the second option has been more
economic because it does not require initial investment of Three dimensionless groups exist which are used to define the
capital, and the suppliers have personnel to operate nitrogen regions of flow, these are: group of relation between viscous
plants. In each project the operator must evaluate both and capillary forces; and shape factor. The analysis shows that
alternatives. the relative magnitudes of the forces involved in the system
combined with the properties of the deposit determine the
region of flow and distribution of the fluids in the media. The
At the moment three processes of nitrogen generation are used dimensionless numbers are:
in the the industry, that turn great air volumes into nitrogen (or
at least in a consistent gas of 88% N2 and something of CO2,
call chimney gas). Ngv = ∆ρLkavg v / Hqµo ................................................(1)
.
These numbers of gravity and capillary are dimensionless and RESULTS OF THE TESTS
defer from the work presented/displayed by other authors like
Pozzi15 and others. Whereas authors like Peter, Zhou and Because the tests can represent of the best way the
Blunt 14 propose it like advantageous for cases in which the reservoir conditions, the pressure was defined according to
mobility relation is unfavorable. The advantage to use Ngv some values of present pressure of deposit in the area of
and Ncv is that they represent the magnitude of the gravity and Piedemonte. Therefore, the back pressure system was loaded
capillarity forces in the transverse direction with respect to the to 5700 psi (39,3 Mpa), since this it represents the pressure of
viscous forces in the lenghtwise direction, including the production of the deposit. The temperature of the test is of 244
influence of the shape factor. °F (117.8°C), and also obeys to the temperature of present
deposit. These two conditions help to promote the mechanism
of displacement by multiple contacts between the fluids.
The term miscible displacement refers to displacements with
effects of negligible capillarity (Ncv=0), which also can The main suppositions to initiate the tests are: homogenous
include two phases, since the interface voltage is very low or porous media, only are two phases in flow (oil and nitrogen),
almost zero. When the capillary forces are despised, single consider the effects of the gravity forces, viscoses and the
viscous and gravitational forces contribute to the flow. The mixture mechanisms, the law of Darcy is applicable, the flow
mechanisms of transferences of masses as dispersions and occurs in a single dimension, and the porous media constituted
diffusion influence, since they affect the mixture and the by the nuclei this water wet.
differences of viscosity and density. Nevertheless, the
dispersion usually, is the only factor that contributes in The variable that is going away to analyze is the number
displacements in where the hair forces and gravity are small dimensionless (Ng) that describes the balance between the
and the rates of injection are relatively small. After an viscous and gravitational forces. The obtained results agree
extensive recopilacion of works done on miscibles with the behavior registered in the different articles that make
displacements, Zhou constructed figure 4 with data of reference on this subject. Figure 5 compares the recovery
different investigations, among them Fayers22, Araktingi, factors obtained for each value of number of gravity.
Ingsoy, Christie and Pozzi15.
As it is possible to be observed in figure 5, the best results
were obtained in a regime that balances the two forces that
EXPERIMENTAL EQUIPMENT AND PROCEDURES govern the displacement. In the study made by Peters12 a
OF TEST graph with similar behavior appears, although this graph is
single qualitative but nonquantitative, it express what it is
In the laboratories of the Colombian Petroleum Institute three possible to be appreciated in this work. The best recoveries are
miscibles representative volatile oil displacements were when the Ng is in the middle of the regions where the
carried out using nitrogen to determine the recovery gravitational force and the viscous force act with greater
efficiency, at typical conditions of deposit of this area, that is intensity. As the Ng depends on the rate, also we can assume
pressure of 5700 psi and temperature of 244 °F (39,3 Mpa and that when being the Ng in a balance between the two regions
118°C). One of these displacements was made in the before described, is going to be, also, in the middle of two
coreflooding equipment on an adjustment of nuclei of Berea, problems that desmega the recovery, which are the digitation,
which contained initially saturations of crude recombined and and the gravitational segregation.
synthetic salt. The other two displacements were made in the
equipment coreflooding for steam, connected in series with The digitation happens by the high speed of the fluid injector
slim tube with a length sufficiently long to guaranteeing that and discharge relation of mobilities, that when finding a
the multiple contacts between the fluids take place there, and channel of high permeability begins to flow that way
thus to have a miscible displacement in the nucleus contained preferential, causing an early irruption with the consequent
in the steam equipment. Three different rates from injection diminution in the recovery.
were used, each one of which represents a region of flow in
the balance between the gravitational and viscous forces. In all The gravitational segregation appears due to the low rate of
the cases, the displacement equipment was in horizontal injection of nitrogen and to the smaller density of this with
position. respect to the oil, causing that nitrogen mounts on the oil
causing that the gas flows preferedly by above and leaves
without sweeping the part of down, producing a decrease in
This way, the main factor of displacement studied was the the recovery.
effect of the rate of injection on the recovery efficiency. The
scheme of the equipment is in figure 1 and 2. As much for
coreflooding, as for the steam equipment connected to the
Slim tube.
4 JUAN RIVERA, JUAN CORREA, CESAR MANTILLA, CESAR DUARTE SPE 70053
21. Zhou, D., Fayers, F.J., and Orr, F.M.: Scaling of multiphase flow
∂φ j
in simple heterogeneous porous media”. SPE 27833, (1994) U j = − k h ( X , Y )λ j ......................( A − 7)
22. Jefri rotating coreholder and stand operating and maintenance ∂X
manual, DB Robinson design & manufacturing Ltd. May 1993
23. Jefri back pressure regulator operating and maintenance manual, 2
H k avgh ∂φ
DB Robinson design & manufacturing Ltd. May 1993
v j = −k v ( X , Y )λ j j .......( A − 8)
L k avgv ∂Y
Appendix-Scale
The nature of the flow in the porous media is determined by Where H and Ls are the thickness and the length of means,
the interaction of the physics properties of the fluids and kav and kah are the permeabilities averages of means in the
porous media, and by the forces involved in the displacement horizontal and vertical direction, and q is the speed of total
process. Several regions of flow in agreement with the forces flow in the horizontal and vertical direction, and q is the speed
are identified that dominate the process. Three dimensionless of total flow in the horizontal direction. Notice that the flow
groups exist that are used to define these regions of flow: these potentials Φj are dimensionless and it is expressed with
are relation between gravitational and viscous forces, relation relation to the oil viscosity, and that dimensionless mobilities
between capillary and viscous forces shape factor. also contain the viscosity of the oil like factor.
And the speeds of Darcy flow for two phases are given by: This scale group relates the time that the fluid throughout a L
distance in the horizontal direction takes, and the time that
k rj ∂ψ j takes the flow from the same fluid to cross a distance H in the
U j = −k h ( X , Y ) ............................( A − 3) vertical direction, to the same difference of potential
µ j ∂X throughout the distance. Rt also is called the effective shape
factor, and represents the relative capacity of flow within
means in the horizontal and vertical directions.
k rj ∂ψ j
V j = −kv ( X , Y ) ..............................( A − 4)
µ j ∂Y Considering that the position of the cores is horizontal, the
viscous forces are in the direction of longitudinal flow,
whereas the gravitational and capillary forces, it is in the cross
Where ψ is the potential of flow in j phase, Uj and Vj are the flow direction. With the purpose of identifying the flow
speeds of flow of phase j in the horizontal and vertical regions, in where each force dominates the movement of the
directions, kv and kh are the permeabilities in the horizontal fluid in the transverse direction, the equations of Darcy for
and vertical directions, respectively. each phase are combined.
If it is replaced formulates A-11 in formulates A-10, it gives Ngv and Ncv are the relations times characteristic so that the
like result: fluid flows in the transverse direction due to the gravity or
capillary forces, with respect to the time of flow in horizontal
∂Φ o − (vo + vw ) M
N gv − N cv 1 ∂J direction due to the viscous forces.
= −
2
Rt
∂y λo kv (x, y )(1 + M ) 1 + M
K v ∂y
................................................................................(A-12)
Where:
∆ρLk avgv
N gv = ......................................( A − 13)
Hqµ o
Lpc * k avgv
N cv = ...................................( A − 14)
H 2 qµ o
λw
M= ............................................( A − 15)
λo
NR: No restrictions
SPE 70053 EVALUATION OF DISPLACEMENT EFFICIENCY IN VOLATILE OIL RESERVOIRS UNDER NITROGEN INJECTION 7