7 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE WORK
7.2 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE WORK
The main objective of this dissertation was to comprehensively study and perform pilot test on a novel EOR method that couples PPG conformance control and surfactant flooding method. In the following paragraphs, the future academic research potentials are outlined to extend the current research:
• In fractured core flooding experiments, the cores used are completely saturated with oil, which is different from the actual initial condition in reservoirs. The main advantage of completely saturating the core with oil is achieving accurate results and faster change of wettability towards oil-wet. However, it would be important to see how the presence of the initial water affects the performance of the combined method.
Therefore, it is suggested to perform similar experiments using oil-wet cores with initial water saturation.
• Low salinity water (LSW) flooding technique is gaining the attention of operators, despite that fact that its oil recovery mechanism is not fully understood yet. Giving that PPG is sensitive to salinity change and osmatic pressure cause the PPG to exchange ions; it will be worth pursuing to study the efficacy of coupling PPG with LSW flooding in one EOR technique. PPG can be used as a carrier for LSW to the target zones in the reservoir.
• Reservoir simulation is useful to study scaling up laboratory results to reservoir scale. It is important to develop a 3D model to simulate PPG flow behavior, also considering surfactants effect on rock surface and the interface phenomena between surfactant and formation fluids.
APPENDIX A.
EFFECT OF SURFACTANT ON PPG STORAGE MODULUS
This this appendix the original results of the effect of different surfactants on PPGs storage modulus (G’) is listed. These results were acquired by using HAAKe rheoscope device, G’ in Pascal is presented in the X axis and time in seconds is presented in the Y axis.
0
A1 . Effect of surfactant on NCG storage modulus (G’) at ambient temperature
0
A2. Effect of surfactant on NCG storage modulus (G’) at 80 °C (176 °F)
0
A3. Effect of surfactant on Cerogel® storage modulus (G’) at ambient temperature
100
A4. Effect of surfactant on Cerogel® storage modulus (G’) at 80 °C (176 °F)
APPENDIX B.
NITRATE TEST PREPARATION AND PROCEDURES
Sixty-six pounds (30 kg) of urea was added to the injection water in a mixing tank, which yielded a concentration of approximately 6,500 mg/l. Then, the mixture was injected into injection well #7 at an initial injection rate of 2.7 bbl/hr which generated an injection pressure of 300 psi. The average distance between wells is 330 ft.
A background test of the injection water and water from the four production wells was conducted to determine the amount of nitrogen in the water before adding the urea.
Table B1 shows that wells 13 and 16 had 8.8 mg/l of nitrogen in their formation water before the test began. Therefore, when the nitrogen content was measured after the urea injection, 8.8 was subtracted from the values in wells 13 and 16
Table B1—Background Test for Production Wells
Well No. Nitrogen Content (mg/L) TDS (mg/L)
4 0 2787
8 0 3920
13 8.8 2527
16 8.8 2012
Test preparation
• Assemble the color comparator by placing the color disc on the center pin with the lettering facing out.
• Use sunlight or a lamp as a light source when matching colors with the color comparator.
• Rinse tubes with the sample water before testing, and again with deionized water after testing.
• A deposit of un-dissolved metal will remain after the NitraVer® 5 dissolves. This deposit will not affect the results.
• To check reagent accuracy, use a standard solution in place of the sample.
• Multiply the test results by 5 to obtain the correct mg/L of nitrate nitrogen. The results of the other dilutions will follow a similar procedure; for example, the results of a 1:3 dilution would be multiplied by 3 to obtain the correct mg/L of nitrate nitrogen.
Procedures for using the Nitrate Test kit:
1. Fill a tube to the 5-mL mark with sample.
2. Insert the tube into the left opening of the comparator.
3. Fill another tube to the 5-mL mark with sample.
4. Add one NitraVer 5 Nitrate Reagent Powder Pillow to the second tube.
5. Cap and shake vigorously for 1 minute.
6. Wait 1 minute (an amber color will develop if nitrate is present).
7. Insert the second tube into the right opening of the comparator.
8. Hold the comparator so that a light source in directly behind the tubes. Rotate the color disc until the colors in the front windows match.
9. Read the result in mg/L of nitrate nitrogen in the scale window.
10.Multiply the mg/L nitrate nitrogen value by 4.4 to obtain the actual value of the nitrate nitrogen.
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VITA
Farag A Muhammed is from Al Labrag, Libya. In May 2004, he received his B.S.
in Petroleum Engineering from the Sirte University, Brega, Libya. He joined the National Oil Corporation as a Petroleum Engineer and worked for two and a half years before joining Al Harouj Oil Operations as reservoir engineer until 2009, when he enrolled in Missouri University of Science and Technology. In May 2011, he received his M.S.
degree in Petroleum Engineering from Missouri University of Science and Technology and in December 2014, he received his Ph.D. in Petroleum Engineering from the same University.
He has published conference and journal papers, some of which are listed with the references of this research and one of which won the second best conference paper
award. Farag A Muhammed has been a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers since 2009. He has been a member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologist (AAPG) since 2011.