Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Geology|Petroleum geology|Petroleum engineering'

The Spraberry Formation is a Leonardian age submarine fan deposit restricted to the Midland Basin. The formation consists of very fine-grained sandstone, medium to coarse grain size siltstones, organic shales and carbonate mudstones. These rocks show variability in sedimentary structures and bedding types varied from thinly laminated to convolute laminations. Bioturbations were present in some samples and soft sediment deformation, such as water escape features, sediment loading and flame structures.

The Spraberry Formation is a naturally fractured reservoir with low porosity and low matrix permeability. Porosity measured varied from 2% in rocks with poor reservoir quality such as the argillaceous siltstone and mudstone while good reservoir rocks had an average porosity of 9%. Seven lithofacies were identified based on sedimentary structures, grain size and rock fabrics. Petrographic analysis showed four porosity types: (1) intragraular porosity; (2) dissolution porosity; (3) fracture porosity and (4) intergranular porosity. Fractured porosity was only observed in the argillaceous siltstone lithofacies.

The prominent diagenetic influences on the Spraberry Formation are: quartz cementation, quartz overgrowth, illtization of smectite, feldspar dissolution, clay precipitation, carbonate cementation, formation of framboidal pyrite and fracture formation. These diagenetic features were observed using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and in thin sections. Generally, petrophysical properties, such as porosity and permeability, vary gradually from reservoir rocks to non-reservoir rock. Observed trends where: 1) increasing organic and argillaceous content with decreasing porosity and 2) increasing carbonate sediments and calcite cements with decreasing porosity. Mineralogical analysis from FTIR showed an abundance of quartz and calcite, while illite is the prominent clay mineral observed in all samples.

The Pine Prairie Field is situated on a salt dome in northern Evangeline Parish, located in south-central Louisiana. Pine Prairie contains the only known Cook Mountain Formation hydrocarbon reservoir in Louisiana. Operators have targeted and produced hydrocarbons from the Cook Mountain reservoir in eight wells at the Pine Prairie Field. The source and origin of the Cook Mountain’s reservoir properties are unknown. The objective of this study is to determine the origin of the Cook Mountain Formation’s reservoir properties by identifying the processes associated with the formation of a Cook Mountain Reservoir. There are two carbonate outcrops at the surface expression of the Pine Prairie Dome. Samples were taken and thin sections made to determine the relationship, if any, to the Cook Mountain Formation. Thin section analysis of the carbonate outcrop was used to gain a better understanding of the depositional setting present at Pine Prairie Field. Well log, seismic, and production data were integrated to determine that, in all instances, commercial Cook Mountain production is associated with fault zones. The passage of acidic, diagenetic fluids through Cook Mountain fault zones generated areas of vuggy porosity proximal to Cook Mountain faulting. Further, fluctuations in short-term pressure gradients associated with salt diapirism resulted in the vertical migration of hydrocarbons via fault zones. In the Pine Prairie Field, fault seal breakdown occurs in Sparta and Wilcox Reservoirs, subsequently charging the Cook Mountain fault zone. Early hydrocarbon charge from the underlying Wilcox and Sparta Reservoirs prevented additional diagenesis, preserving secondary porosity in areas of Cook Mountain faulting.

This thesis describes the advantages of investigating gas shales reservoir description on a nanoscale by using petrographic analysis and core plug petrophysics to characterize the Barnett, Marcellus and Mancos shale plays. The results from this analysis now indicate their effects on the reservoir quality. Helium porosity measurements at confining pressure were carried out on core plugs from this shale plays. SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy) imaging was done on freshly fractured gold-coated surfaces to indicate pore structure and grain sizes. Electron Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy was done on freshly fractured carbon-coated surfaces to tell the mineralogy. Extra-thin sections were made to view pore spaces, natural fractures and grain distribution.

The results of this study show that confining pressure helium porosity values to be 9.6%, 5.3% and 1.7% in decreasing order for the samples from the Barnett, Mancos and Marcellus shale respectively. EDS X-ray spectroscopy indicates that the Barnett and Mancos have a high concentration of quartz (silica-content); while the Mancos and Marcellus contain calcite. Thin section analysis reveals obvious fractures in the Barnett, while Mancos and Marcellus have micro-fractures.

Based on porosity, petrographic analysis and mineralogy measurements on the all the samples, the Barnett shale seem to exhibit the best reservoir quality.

CO₂ flooding has proven to be an effective technique for enhanced oil recovery. However, the application of CO₂ flooding in the recovery process of asphaltenic crude systems is often avoided, as high asphaltene precipitation rates may occur. While the effects of asphaltene concetration and CO₂ injection pressure on asphaltene precipitation rate have been the focus of many studies, asphaltene precipitation rate is not a reliable factor to predict the magnitude of asphaltene-induced formation damage. Wettability alteration is only caused by the immobile asphaltene deposits on the rock surface. The enternmaint of flocs may occur at high fluid velocity. Morover, the effective permeability reduction is only caused by the flocs, which have become large enough to block the pore throats. The dissociation of the flocs may occur under certain flow conditions. In this study, a compositional reservoir simulation was conducted using Eclipse 300 to investigate the injection practice, which avoids asphaltene-induced formation damage during both immiscible and miscible CO₂ flooding in asphaltenic crude system. Without injection, at pressure above bubble point, slight precipitation occurred in the zone of the lowest pressure near the producing well. As pressure approached the bubble point, precipitation increased due to the change in the hydrocarbon composition, which suggested that the potential of asphaltene-induced formation damage is determined by the overall fluid composition. At very low pressure, precipitation decreased due to the increase in the density.

As CO₂ was injected below the minimum miscibility pressure, a slight precipitation occurred in the transition zone at the gas-oil interface due to the microscopic diffusion of the volatile hydrocarbon components caused by the local concentration gradients. The increase in CO₂ injection rate did not significantly increase the precipitation rate.

As CO₂ was injected at pressure above the minimum miscibility pressure, precipitation occurred throughout the entire reservoir due to the vaporizing drive miscibility process. While precipitation increased with the injection rate, further increase in the injection rate slightly decreased the deposition due to shear. The pressure drop in the water phase caused by the pore throat increased the local water velocity, resulting in a more effective removal of the clogging asphaltene material.

The objective of this study is threefold: 1) Build a dual-porosity, geological reservoir model of Niobrara formation in the Wishbone Section of the DJ Basin. 2) Use the geologic static model to construct a compositional model to assess performance of Well 1N in the Wishbone Section. 3) Compare the modeling results of this study with the result from an eleven-well modeling study (Ning, 2017) of the same formation which included the same well. The geologic model is based on discrete fracture network (DFN) model (Grechishnikova 2017) from an outcrop study of Niobrara formation.

This study is part of a broader program sponsored by Anadarko and conducted by the Reservoir Characterization Project (RCP) at Colorado School of Mines. The study area is the Wishbone Section (one square mile area), which has eleven horizontal producing wells with initial production dating back to September 2013. The project also includes a nine-component time-lapse seismic. The Wishbone section is a low-permeability faulted reservoir containing liquid-rich light hydrocarbons in the Niobrara chalk and Codell sandstone.

The geologic framework was built by Grechishnikova (2017) using seismic, microseismic, petrophysical suite, core and outcrop. I used Grechishnikova’s geologic framework and available petrophysical and core data to construct a 3D reservoir model. The 3D geologic model was used in the hydraulic fracture modeling software, GOHFER, to create a hydraulic fracture interpretation for the reservoir simulator and compared to the interpretation built by Alfataierge (2017). The reservoir numerical simulator incorporated PVT from a well within the section to create the compositional dual-porosity model in CMG with seven lumped components instead of the thirty-two individual components. History matching was completed for the numerical simulation, and rate transient analysis between field and actual production are compared; the results were similar. The history matching parameters are further compared to the input parameters, and Ning’s (2017) history matching parameters.

The study evaluated how fracture porosity and rock compaction impacts production. The fracture porosity is a major contributor to well production and the gas oil ratio. The fracture porosity is a major sink for gathering the matrix flow contribution. The compaction numerical simulations show oil production increases with compaction because of the increased compaction drive. As rock compaction increases, permeability and porosity decreases. How the numerical model software, CMG, builds the hydraulic fracture, artificially increases the original oil-in-place and decreases the recovery factor. Furthermore, grid structure impacts run-time and accuracy to the model. Finally, outcrop adds value to the subsurface model with careful qualitative sedimentology and structural extrapolations to the subsurface by providing understanding between the wellbore and seismic data scales.

In this study, imbibition experiments are used to explain the significant fluid loss, often more than 70%, of injected water during well stimulation and flowback in the context of natural gas production from shale formations. Samples from a 180 ft. long section of a vertical well were studied via spontaneous and forced imbibition experiments, at lab-scale, on small samples with characteristic dimensions of a few cm; in order to quantify the water imbibed by the complex multi-porosity shale system. The imbibition process is, typically, characterized by a distinct transition from an initial linear rate (vs. square root of time) to a much slower imbibition rate at later times. These observations along with contact angle measurements provide an insight into the wettability characteristics of the shale surface. Using these observations, together with an assumed geometry of the fracture system, has made it possible to estimate the distance travelled by the injected water into the formation at field scale.

Shale characterization experiments including permeability measurements, total organic carbon (TOC) analysis, pore size distribution (PSD) and contact angle measurements were also performed and were combined with XRD measurements in order to better understand the mass transfer properties of shale. The experimental permeabilities measured in the direction along the bedding plane (10 ^–1–10^–2 mD) and in the vertical direction (~10^–4 mD) are orders of magnitude higher than the matrix permeabilities of these shale sample (10^–5 to 10 ^–8 mD). This implies that the fastest flow in a formation is likely to occur in the horizontal direction, and indicates that the flow of fluids through the formation occurs predominantly through the fracture and micro-fracture network, and hence that these are the main conduits for gas recovery. The permeability differences among samples from various depths can be attributed to different organic matter content and mineralogical characteristics, likely attributed to varying depositional environments. The study of these properties can help ascertain the ideal depth for well placement and perforation.

Forced imbibition experiments have been carried out to better understand the phenomena that take place during well stimulation under realistic reservoir conditions. Imbibition experiments have been performed with real and simulated frac fluids, including deionized (DI) water, to establish a baseline, in order to study the impact on imbibition rates resulting from the presence of ions/additives in the imbibing fluid. Ion interactions with shales are studied using ion chromatography (IC) to ascertain their effect on imbibition induced porosity and permeability change of the samples. It has been found that divalent cations such as calcium and anions such as sulfates (for concentrations in excess of 600 ppm) can significantly reduce the permeability of the samples. It is concluded, therefore, that their presence in stimulating fluids can affect the capillarity and fluid flow after stimulation. We have also studied the impact of using fluoro-surfactant additives during spontaneous and forced imbibition experiments. A number of these additives have been shown to increase the measured contact angles of the shale samples and the fluid recovery from them, thus making them an ideal candidate for additives to use. Their interactions with the shale are further characterized using the Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) technique in order to measure their hydrodynamic radius to compare it with the pore size of the shale sample.

To efficiently produce oil from unconventional reservoirs, it is imperative to determine and understand the geomechanical properties of the formation. But, due to the high cost of obtaining these properties from geomechanical well logs, businesses are looking for all possible ways to cut cost. The plummeting oil prices have been reflected in company spending and have driven companies to prioritize focusing attention on the rising production costs and venture all possible ways to reduce these costs. The real challenge is how to preserve these profitable gains? There is a need for an alternate and cost- effective way to obtain geomechanical properties of the rocks.

By utilizing Data Analytics, Data Mining, and ANN, patterns are observed between parameters from large amounts of data and, thus, important information regarding the formation can be understood. In this study, a relationship between conventional well logs and geomechanical well logs are established. Properties such as Young’s Modulus, Poisson’s Ratio, Shear Modulus, Bulk Modulus, and Minimum Horizontal Stress are determined from Conventional Logs such as Gamma Ray and Density Log utilizing ANN. Ultimately, data-driven models are developed to predict accurate geomechanical properties for future wells of the Upper and Middle Bakken Formation. Finally, the efficacy of the data-driven models achieved is tested on randomly selected new wells that were not used in the training of the model. The accurate prediction and analysis of these properties help in better reservoir characterization and efficient production from the future wells in the Bakken Formation.

This study created a new tectonic model for the Arctic Alaska terrane (AAT) by connecting attributes interpreted from surface and subsurface maps. Lineaments that cross the Brooks Range and North Slope proclaim the presence of basement fault blocks trending to the northeast that locally are aligned with streams, coast and lake shorelines, submarine canyons, and periglacial features. These landforms and anomalies reflect upward propagation of long-lived transcurrent and rift fault fabrics. Facies mapping and analysis of heat-flow effects on permafrost, and data from aeromagnetic, gravity and reflection seismic surveys, support the correlation of basement faulting with geomorphic patterns. The conjugate pattern of fault blocks, seen across Paleozoic- and Mesozoic-age passive margin sequences, resembles a piano keyboard and was inherited from older rift margin and transcurrent-transfer faults. Seismic data and North Slope oil-reservoir characteristics reveal complex fault-block boundaries, and common fault reactivation and structural inversion. The rigid North American craton in the Yukon Territory directs deformation westward leading to continued crustal indention, migration of basement blocks, and thrusting of cover rocks north of the Arctic oroclinal bend. Differential south-vergent underthrusting and uplift of the basement blocks of the North Slope plate has episodically segmented and partitioned strain across the overlying weaker north-vergent cover rocks of the North Alaskan plate. These tectonic controls have influenced the structural and geomorphic evolution of the North Slope-Brooks Range foothills region, including the formation of oil and gas reservoirs and mineral deposits.

Petroleum is generated from finely grained source rocks rich in organic materials and accumulated and trapped in reservoir rocks with relatively higher permeability and porosity. Expulsion of petroleum through and out of source rocks is called primary migration. Primary migration, as a link between source rocks and carrier rocks, presents a vital challenge to the society of petroleum geosciences and exploration and attracts the research interests of many geologists and geochemists. Despite extensive research the effective mechanisms responsible for primary migration of hydrocarbons are still in intensive debate.

Conversion of kerogen to oil and/or gas results in appreciable volume increase due to the density difference between the precursor and the products. Overpressure is developed as a natural consequence in well-sealed dense source rocks at great depths. When the overpressure reaches some critical value, bedding-parallel microcracks are initiated owing to laminated structure and strength anisotropy of source rocks. As transformation proceeds, microcracks are driven to grow subcritically by the overpressure. Such microcracks serve as migration conduits for hydrocarbon flow and may connect to other preexisting conductive fractures to form fracture networks or systems, which may facilitate further migration of hydrocarbons. Convincing evidence from observations in nature and laboratory experiments is found to support the idea that microcracks caused mainly by overpressure buildup from hydrocarbon generation functions as effective primary migration pathways. Based on those published findings, the present dissertation adopted an integrated approach consisting of petroleum geochemistry, petrophysics and fracture mechanics to assess the role of self-propagating microfractures as an effective mechanism for primary migration of hydrocarbons. Four models were developed: migration though subcritical propagation and coalescence of collinear oil-filled cracks, migration through subcritical propagation of an oil-filled penny-shaped crack in isotropic source rocks, subcritical growth of a penny-shaped crack filled by hydrocarbon mix in anisotropic source rocks, and a penny-shaped crack driven by overpressure during conversion of oil to gas. To predict the migration time and quantities of oil and natural gas, we use the reaction kinetics taking into account of pressure and temperature histories during continuous burial of sediments. To account for the compressibility of gas at high temperatures and pressures, we adopt an equation of state for methane, the predominant component of natural gas. To address the excess pressure buildup through volume expansion associated with kerogen degradation and initiation of microfractures, we employ linear fracture mechanics. To simulate the propagation of microcracks, hence the migration of hydrocarbons, we use a finite difference approach. The time period for pressure build-up, the overpressure evolution over time, and crack propagation distance and duration are determined using the coupled model where the interaction of hydrocarbon generation and expulsion is included. A detailed systematic parametric study is carried out to investigate the sensitivity of hydrocarbon migration behavior to variations in the input parameters including elastic and fracture properties of source rocks, richness and type of organic matter and burial history.

Oil retained in the microfractures may be subjected to thermal cracking to form gas when the gas window is reached as the temperature and pressure continue to increase with the progressive burial. Numerical results are presented for the two cases: kerogen conversion to hydrocarbon mix and subsequently oil conversion to gas. The modeling results agree well with published geological observations which suggest that microfractures caused by overpressures mainly due to hydrocarbon generation serve as effective migration pathways for hydrocarbons within well-sealed source rocks under favorable burial conditions. The fully coupled multiphysics modeling allows us to gain some insight on the primary migration of hydrocarbons, which is essential for the exploration of source rocks.

We consider the structural and physical properties of complex model morphologies and microstructures obtained by Xray-CT imaging. The Minkowski functionals, a family of statistical measures based on the Euler-Poincaré characteristic of n-dimensional space, are shown to be sensitive measures of the morphology of disordered structures. Analytic results for the Boolean model are given and used to devise a reconstruction scheme, which allows one to accurately reconstruct a complex Boolean structure given at any phase fraction for all other phase fractions. The percolation thresholds of either phase are obtained with good accuracy. From the reconstructions one can subsequently predict property curves for the material across all phase fractions from a single 3D image. We illustrate this for transport and mechanical properties of complex Boolean systems and for experimental sandstone samples. By extending the Minkowski functionals to parallel surfaces using operations from mathematical morphology, a powerful discrimination of structure is obtained. Further the sensitivity of the Minkowski functionals under experimental conditions is analysed. Accurate calculations of conductive and elastic properties directly from tomographic images are achieved by estimating and minimising several sources of numerical error. Simulations of electrical conductivity and linear elastic properties on microtomographic images of Fontainebleau sandstone are in excellent agreement with experimental measurements over a wide range of porosity. The results show the feasibility of combining digitised images with transport and elasticity calculations to accurately predict physical properties of individual material morphologies. We show that measurements of properties based on microtomographic images are more accurate than those based on conventional theories for disordered materials. We study the elastic behaviour of model clean and cemented sandstones. Results are in excellent agreement with available experimental data, and are compared to conventional theoretical and empirical laws. A new predictive empirical method is given for predicting the elastic moduli of sandstone morphologies. The method gives an excellent match to numerical and experimental data.

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Agência Nacional do Petróleo, Gás Natural e Biocombustíveis (ANP)
A obtenção de informação sobre as condições da rede dutoviária representa papel primordial na operação dos dutos, não só com o propósito de manter a eficiência operacional, mas também, para a minimização dos riscos associados a possíveis acidentes, tanto decorrentes dos processos naturais quanto de causas antrópicas relacionadas ao uso e cobertura da terra. Neste sentido, o emprego de modelos matemáticos em estudos ambientais gera importantes contribuições científicas ao planejamento ordenado de uma área, uma vez que ajudam a entender o impacto das mudanças no uso e cobertura da terra e a prever alterações futuras nos ecossistemas. A área de estudo compreende porções dos municípios de Duque de Caxias, Belford Roxo e Nova Iguaçu e tem por objetivo realizar experimentos de mudanças da cobertura da terra em médio prazo (10 anos) para a faixa de dutos ORBEL. A modelagem realizada neste trabalho foi desenvolvida no software Dinamica-EGO, utilizando como entrada mapas classificados de cobertura da terra, obtidos através de imagens do satélite Landsat 5/TM, e variáveis espaciais para explicar as mudanças ocorridas na cobertura da terra. Para a calibração do modelo, utilizou-se o método de pesos de evidência, disponível no Dinamica-EGO, primeiramente categorizando-se os mapas de variáveis contínuas e, posteriormente, calculando-se os pesos de evidência. Valores positivos favorecem determinada transição, enquanto valores negativos indicam baixa probabilidade de transição, e valores próximos a zero não exercem efeito. A validação do modelo se deu pelo método de similaridade fuzzy, com decaimento exponencial. Os resultados mostram que, para os dois períodos analisados (1987-1998 e 1998-2010), a taxa de mudança para a transição “vegetação arbórea para outros” é bem maior do que para...
Reliable information about conditions of pipeline network represents a major role in the operation of pipelines, not only in order to maintain operational efficiency, but also to minimize the risks associated with possible accidents such as rupture of the ducts due to landslides or mudslides mass block, causing damage to humans and the environment. The use of mathematical models in environmental studies allows significant scientific contributions to the physical planning of an area, since they help to understand the impact of changes in land use and land cover and predict future trends of changes in ecosystems. The study area includes portions of the municipalities of Duque de Caxias, Nova Iguaçu, and Belford Roxo and aims to carry out experiments in land-cover changes in the medium-term (10 years) within the catchment area of ORBEL pipelines. The modeling performed in this work was developed using the software Dinamica-EGO, using as input classified land cover maps obtained from Landsat 5/TM satellite images as well as spatial variables to explain the observed changes in land cover. For the model calibration, we used the method of weights of evidence that is available at Dinamica-EGO. Initially, the maps of continuous variables were categorized according to discrete ranges, which were then employed for the calculation of the respective positive weights of evidence. Positive values foster certain transitions, while negative values indicate low probability of transition, and values close to zero have no effect on changes. Model validation was executed by means of the fuzzy similarity method using exponential decay. The results show that for the two study periods (1987-1998 and 1998-2010) the rate of change for the transition 'others to woody vegetation' is much higher than for the other transitions observed in the same... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

Orientador: Paulina Setti Riedel
Banca: Cláudia Maria de Almeida
Banca: Maria Lúcia Marques
Resumo: A obtenção de informação sobre as condições da rede dutoviária representa papel primordial na operação dos dutos, não só com o propósito de manter a eficiência operacional, mas também, para a minimização dos riscos associados a possíveis acidentes, tanto decorrentes dos processos naturais quanto de causas antrópicas relacionadas ao uso e cobertura da terra. Neste sentido, o emprego de modelos matemáticos em estudos ambientais gera importantes contribuições científicas ao planejamento ordenado de uma área, uma vez que ajudam a entender o impacto das mudanças no uso e cobertura da terra e a prever alterações futuras nos ecossistemas. A área de estudo compreende porções dos municípios de Duque de Caxias, Belford Roxo e Nova Iguaçu e tem por objetivo realizar experimentos de mudanças da cobertura da terra em médio prazo (10 anos) para a faixa de dutos ORBEL. A modelagem realizada neste trabalho foi desenvolvida no software Dinamica-EGO, utilizando como entrada mapas classificados de cobertura da terra, obtidos através de imagens do satélite Landsat 5/TM, e variáveis espaciais para explicar as mudanças ocorridas na cobertura da terra. Para a calibração do modelo, utilizou-se o método de pesos de evidência, disponível no Dinamica-EGO, primeiramente categorizando-se os mapas de variáveis contínuas e, posteriormente, calculando-se os pesos de evidência. Valores positivos favorecem determinada transição, enquanto valores negativos indicam baixa probabilidade de transição, e valores próximos a zero não exercem efeito. A validação do modelo se deu pelo método de similaridade fuzzy, com decaimento exponencial. Os resultados mostram que, para os dois períodos analisados (1987-1998 e 1998-2010), a taxa de mudança para a transição "vegetação arbórea para outros" é bem maior do que para... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo)
Abstract: Reliable information about conditions of pipeline network represents a major role in the operation of pipelines, not only in order to maintain operational efficiency, but also to minimize the risks associated with possible accidents such as rupture of the ducts due to landslides or mudslides mass block, causing damage to humans and the environment. The use of mathematical models in environmental studies allows significant scientific contributions to the physical planning of an area, since they help to understand the impact of changes in land use and land cover and predict future trends of changes in ecosystems. The study area includes portions of the municipalities of Duque de Caxias, Nova Iguaçu, and Belford Roxo and aims to carry out experiments in land-cover changes in the medium-term (10 years) within the catchment area of ORBEL pipelines. The modeling performed in this work was developed using the software Dinamica-EGO, using as input classified land cover maps obtained from Landsat 5/TM satellite images as well as spatial variables to explain the observed changes in land cover. For the model calibration, we used the method of weights of evidence that is available at Dinamica-EGO. Initially, the maps of continuous variables were categorized according to discrete ranges, which were then employed for the calculation of the respective positive weights of evidence. Positive values foster certain transitions, while negative values indicate low probability of transition, and values close to zero have no effect on changes. Model validation was executed by means of the fuzzy similarity method using exponential decay. The results show that for the two study periods (1987-1998 and 1998-2010) the rate of change for the transition 'others to woody vegetation' is much higher than for the other transitions observed in the same... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)
Mestre

Orientador: Osvair Vidal Trevisan
Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Mecânica e Instituto de Geociências
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Resumo: A injeção alternada de água e gás (WAG) configura um método mundialmente consagrado de recuperação de petróleo, no qual uma fase aquosa exerce controle de mobilidade e aumenta a área de varrido dos gases injetados no reservatório. O processo de injeção alternada de fluidos imiscíveis gera alterações irreversíveis nas curvas de permeabilidade relativa em função do efeito de histerese. Este efeito é consequente do processo e do histórico de saturações dos fluidos presentes no meio poroso. Sendo os dados de permeabilidade relativa parâmetros essenciais para a predição e gerenciamento da produção de reservatórios de petróleo, mostra-se necessário o conhecimento dos efeitos de histerese para o planejamento de projetos de injeção alternada de água e gás durante o desenvolvimento de campos petrolíferos. Este trabalho consistiu em um estudo laboratorial para investigação do efeito de histerese nas curvas de permeabilidade relativa. Os ensaios foram realizados em regime permanente e utilizou-se Tomografia Computadorizada de Raios-X para a quantificação in situ da variação das saturações dos diferentes fluidos no meio poroso durante os processos de deslocamento no meio poroso. Os deslocamentos consistiram na injeção alternada de salmoura de alta salinidade e nitrogênio em uma rocha calcária de afloramento, análoga aos reservatórios do Pré-Sal, saturada com óleo e água residual. Os principais objetivos foram à avaliação dos efeitos histeréticos nas curvas de permeabilidade relativa e a obtenção de parâmetros a serem utilizados em modelos numéricos para simulação de reservatórios. Efeitos histeréticos foram observados tanto nas curvas de permeabilidade relativa ao gás como nas relativas à salmoura. Estes efeitos foram atribuídos principalmente ao aprisionamento de gás no meio poroso ao longo dos ciclos de injeção. Observou-se também que a saturação residual de óleo se reduziu consideravelmente, ao longo da realização dos ciclos
Abstract: Water-alternating-gas (WAG) injection is a useful configuration for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). WAG consists in the improvement of the mobility control and areal sweep by cyclic injection of gas and water and it has been successfully applied worldwide. Application of WAG to carbonate reservoir has produced non-reversible changes in the permeability curves during the injection cycles in consequence of saturation path and history, which are assigned as permeability hysteresis. Consequently, hysteresis parameters obtained from experimental investigations are often required to adjust hysteresis models and to allow the improvement of the oil recovery prediction. This work reports a laboratorial investigation on relative permeability hysteresis during alternating injection of high salinity brine and nitrogen into an oil saturated carbonate core, analog to the reservoir rocks of Brazilian Pre-salt, under steady-state conditions. X-Ray Computed Tomography (CT) was applied to obtain a multiphasic quantitative analysis of the fluid in-situ saturations in the porous media. Main targets were to evaluate the permeability hysteresis and to assess the parameters to be applied in models of relative permeability hysteresis for numerical simulation. Hysteresis effects on the relative permeability curves were observed in each cycle. Permeability hysteresis was mainly attributed to gas trapping in the porous media during the injection cycles. In addition, the oil residual saturation was decreased along the successive cycles
Mestrado
Reservatórios e Gestão
Mestra em Ciências e Engenharia de Petróleo