Simultaneous oil recovery and residual gas storage: A pore-level analysis using in-situ X-ray micro-tomography
We imaged sandstone cores at residual gas saturation (Sgr) with synchrotron radiation at a nominal resolution of (9 μm)3. We studied two three-phase flooding sequences: (1) gas injection into a core containing oil and initial water followed by a waterflood (gw process); (2) gas injection into a wate...
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| Format: | Journal Article |
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Elsevier Ltd
2013
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/44079 |
| _version_ | 1848756894791892992 |
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| author | Iglauer, Stefan Paluszny, A. Blunt, M. |
| author_facet | Iglauer, Stefan Paluszny, A. Blunt, M. |
| author_sort | Iglauer, Stefan |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | We imaged sandstone cores at residual gas saturation (Sgr) with synchrotron radiation at a nominal resolution of (9 μm)3. We studied two three-phase flooding sequences: (1) gas injection into a core containing oil and initial water followed by a waterflood (gw process); (2) gas injection into a waterflooded core followed by another waterflood (wgw process). In the gw flood we measured a significantly higher Sgr (=20.6%; Sgr in the wgw flood was 5.3%) and a significantly lower residual oil saturation (Sor; Sor in the gw flood was 21.6% and Sor in the wgw flood was 29.3%). We also studied the size distribution of individual trapped clusters in the pore space. We found an approximately power-law distribution N ∝ s−τ with an exponent τ = 2.02–2.03 for the residual oil clusters and τ = 2.04 for the gas clusters in the gw flood. τ (=2.32) estimated for the gas clusters in the wgw process was significantly different. Furthermore, we calculated the surface area A–volume V relationships for the clusters. Again an approximate power-law relationship was observed, A ∝Vp with p ≈ 0.75. Moreover, in the gw flood sequence we identified oil layers sandwiched between the gas and water phases; we did not identify such oil layers in the wgw flood.These results have several important implications for oil recovery, carbon geo-sequestration and contaminant transport: (a) significantly more oil can be produced and much more gas can be stored using a gw flood; (b) cluster size distributions for residual oil or gas clusters in three-phase flow are similar to those observed in analogue two-phase flow; (c) there is a large cluster surface area available for dissolution of the residual phase into an aqueous phase; however, this surface area is significantly smaller than predicted by percolation theory (p ≈ 1), which implies that CO2 dissolution trapping and contamination of aquifers by hazardous organic solvents is slower than expected because of reduced interfacial contact areas. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T09:19:27Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-44079 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T09:19:27Z |
| publishDate | 2013 |
| publisher | Elsevier Ltd |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-440792019-04-09T03:10:22Z Simultaneous oil recovery and residual gas storage: A pore-level analysis using in-situ X-ray micro-tomography Iglauer, Stefan Paluszny, A. Blunt, M. carbon geo-sequestration residual gas Enhanced oil recovery residual oil We imaged sandstone cores at residual gas saturation (Sgr) with synchrotron radiation at a nominal resolution of (9 μm)3. We studied two three-phase flooding sequences: (1) gas injection into a core containing oil and initial water followed by a waterflood (gw process); (2) gas injection into a waterflooded core followed by another waterflood (wgw process). In the gw flood we measured a significantly higher Sgr (=20.6%; Sgr in the wgw flood was 5.3%) and a significantly lower residual oil saturation (Sor; Sor in the gw flood was 21.6% and Sor in the wgw flood was 29.3%). We also studied the size distribution of individual trapped clusters in the pore space. We found an approximately power-law distribution N ∝ s−τ with an exponent τ = 2.02–2.03 for the residual oil clusters and τ = 2.04 for the gas clusters in the gw flood. τ (=2.32) estimated for the gas clusters in the wgw process was significantly different. Furthermore, we calculated the surface area A–volume V relationships for the clusters. Again an approximate power-law relationship was observed, A ∝Vp with p ≈ 0.75. Moreover, in the gw flood sequence we identified oil layers sandwiched between the gas and water phases; we did not identify such oil layers in the wgw flood.These results have several important implications for oil recovery, carbon geo-sequestration and contaminant transport: (a) significantly more oil can be produced and much more gas can be stored using a gw flood; (b) cluster size distributions for residual oil or gas clusters in three-phase flow are similar to those observed in analogue two-phase flow; (c) there is a large cluster surface area available for dissolution of the residual phase into an aqueous phase; however, this surface area is significantly smaller than predicted by percolation theory (p ≈ 1), which implies that CO2 dissolution trapping and contamination of aquifers by hazardous organic solvents is slower than expected because of reduced interfacial contact areas. 2013 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/44079 10.1016/j.fuel.2012.06.094 Elsevier Ltd fulltext |
| spellingShingle | carbon geo-sequestration residual gas Enhanced oil recovery residual oil Iglauer, Stefan Paluszny, A. Blunt, M. Simultaneous oil recovery and residual gas storage: A pore-level analysis using in-situ X-ray micro-tomography |
| title | Simultaneous oil recovery and residual gas storage: A pore-level analysis using in-situ X-ray micro-tomography |
| title_full | Simultaneous oil recovery and residual gas storage: A pore-level analysis using in-situ X-ray micro-tomography |
| title_fullStr | Simultaneous oil recovery and residual gas storage: A pore-level analysis using in-situ X-ray micro-tomography |
| title_full_unstemmed | Simultaneous oil recovery and residual gas storage: A pore-level analysis using in-situ X-ray micro-tomography |
| title_short | Simultaneous oil recovery and residual gas storage: A pore-level analysis using in-situ X-ray micro-tomography |
| title_sort | simultaneous oil recovery and residual gas storage: a pore-level analysis using in-situ x-ray micro-tomography |
| topic | carbon geo-sequestration residual gas Enhanced oil recovery residual oil |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/44079 |