Petroleum Engineering – Reservoir
Ramin Moghadasi; Jamshid Moghadasi; Shahin Kord
Abstract
As a physiochemical property, asphaltenes are known to be one the most surface active compounds in crude oil. Due to such property, their behavior is most probably influenced by fluid-fluid interactions at the contact surface (interface). Potentially and naturally, in most cases, water is in contact ...
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As a physiochemical property, asphaltenes are known to be one the most surface active compounds in crude oil. Due to such property, their behavior is most probably influenced by fluid-fluid interactions at the contact surface (interface). Potentially and naturally, in most cases, water is in contact with crude oil and is co-produced with it as well. Considering that asphaltene molecules are polar compounds similar to water molecules, asphaltenes are interfacially affected by water while they are absorbed to the interface. Such effects could be investigated by interfacial tension (IFT) changes when de-ionized water is used and dead-crude oil does not contain other surface active impurities like metallic compounds. In this study, extensive IFT experiments were conducted between three different oil samples and distilled water in a wide range of pressure from 2000 to 0 psia. The reversibility of asphaltene absorbance to the interface was also investigated by reversing the pressure path from 0 to 2000 psia. The results show that oil/water IFT changes with pressure, but upward/downward oscillations were detected. Such an oscillating behavior of IFT trends was related to asphaltenes surface activity as the oil samples used did not contain other impurities. Oscillations were reduced as resin to asphaltene ratio was increased, suggesting the non-absorbable behavior of the asphaltenes stabilized by resins. A microscopic surface experiment on one of the samples showed that at a certain concentration and particle size, a rigid film of absorbed asphaltenes was created at the interface instantaneously. The high rigidity of such a film gives rise to a hypothesis, which states that water affects asphaltene surface behavior possibly through strong hydrogen bonding (H-bond). Reversing the pressure path revealed that asphaltene surface absorbance is partially irreversible. The experiments were conducted three times, and each data set was presented along with an average of three sets for each sample.
Mahdi Kalantari Meybodi; Jamshid Moghadasi
Abstract
Onset of asphaltene precipitation is the key parameter in dealing with asphaltene problems because it is the starting point of the asphaltene separation from the solution. In this study, a new technique is provided based on the experimental observations for the determination of the onset of asphaltene ...
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Onset of asphaltene precipitation is the key parameter in dealing with asphaltene problems because it is the starting point of the asphaltene separation from the solution. In this study, a new technique is provided based on the experimental observations for the determination of the onset of asphaltene precipitation using accurate density measurements of the crude oils upon titration with precipitating agents like n-alkanes. Moreover, density measurements have been conducted for three different crude oils diluted with different ratios of precipitating agents, i.e. n-pentane, n-hexane, and n-heptane. The experimental results confirmed that, as it was expected, the density showed a decreasing trend as the dilution ratio increased, except at one point, at which the density increased with raising dilution ratio; this corresponded to the onset of asphaltene precipitation. For all the crude oils used, a sample diluted with a non-precipitating solvent (toluene) was also used as a reference system, its densities were measured upon titration with toluene, and the results were used for comparison with the other systems diluted with precipitating solvents. The measured onsets of asphaltene precipitation using this technique were confirmed with the onsets obtained by using interfacial tension approach.
Saeed Naseri; Jamshid Moghadasi; Mohammad Jamialahmadi
Abstract
Sulfate scale deposition (BaSO4, CaSO4, and SrSO4) is a common problem in oilfield operations around the world, which causes significant formation damage during production and injection activities. This paper presents the results of an experimental study on the permeability reduction of porous media ...
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Sulfate scale deposition (BaSO4, CaSO4, and SrSO4) is a common problem in oilfield operations around the world, which causes significant formation damage during production and injection activities. This paper presents the results of an experimental study on the permeability reduction of porous media due to sulfate scale deposition. A set of experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of cation (Ba2+, Ca2+, and Sr2+ ions) concentration and the number of cation species on the permeability reduction resulting from single sulfate scales (single BaSO4, CaSO4, and SrSO4 scales) and mixed BaSO4, CaSO4, and SrSO4 scale deposition in porous media during water injection. The experiments were performed at a constant temperature of 70 °C and a constant anion (SO42- ion) concentration of 3968 ppm in the pack of glass beads as the porous media. The results show that the intensity of permeability reduction increases with increasing cation concentration. These results also declare that the permeability reduction of porous media due to mixed BaSO4, CaSO4, and SrSO4 is clearly severer than single scales.
Mohsen Seid Mohammadi; Jamshid Moghadasi; Amin Kordestany
Abstract
Wettability alteration is an important method for increasing oil recovery from oil-wet carbonate reservoirs. Chemical agents like surfactants are known as wettability modifiers in carbonate systems. Oil can be recovered from initially oil-wet carbonate reservoirs by wettability alteration from oil-wet ...
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Wettability alteration is an important method for increasing oil recovery from oil-wet carbonate reservoirs. Chemical agents like surfactants are known as wettability modifiers in carbonate systems. Oil can be recovered from initially oil-wet carbonate reservoirs by wettability alteration from oil-wet to water-wet condition with adding dilute surfactant and electrolyte solutions. This paper investigates the effects of brine concentration, surfactant concentration, and the pH of injection water on the wettability alteration of carbonate reservoirs by different class of surfactants. Scanning electron microscopy images verified the formation of surfactant layer surfaces and the adsorption of surfactant molecules on the rock. The results revealed that TX-100, as a nonionic surfactant, and CTAB, as a cationic surfactant, were better wettability modifiers than SDS, as an anionic surfactant, for carbonate rocks. At the concentration of 1 wt.% and higher, the contact angle reduction was approximately unchanged. The results also proved that there was an optimum salinity for the maximum wettability alteration by surfactants. Increasing the pH of aging fluid resulted in better wettability alteration by CTAB, while, in the case of SDS, the wettability alteration was reduced. Acidic conditions had a negligible effect on the wetting behavior of TX-100.
Mohsen Seid Mohammadi; Jamshid Moghadasi; Saeed Naseri
Abstract
Wettability alteration is one of the most important methods for oil recovery from sandstone and carbonate reservoirs. The effects of salinity, pH, temperature, and chemicals such as surfactants and fatty acids on the alteration of the wettability were described in previous studies. In recent years, attention ...
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Wettability alteration is one of the most important methods for oil recovery from sandstone and carbonate reservoirs. The effects of salinity, pH, temperature, and chemicals such as surfactants and fatty acids on the alteration of the wettability were described in previous studies. In recent years, attention has been directed to nanoparticles as a wettability alteration agent. The effect of some nanoparticles on the wettability alteration and oil recovery of sandstone and a few carbonate reservoir rocks have been investigated in several works. In this study, the effect of γ-Al2O3 on the wettability alteration of one of the Iran carbonate reservoirs is presented. The results show that the adsorption of γ-Al2O3 nanoparticles on the calcite surface changes the wettability from oil-wet to water-wet. At a γ- Al2O3 nanofluid concentration of 0.5 wt.%, the maximum change in contact angle was observed. It was observed that the oil recovery increased by 11.25% when 0.5 wt.% γ-Al2O3 nanofluid was injected into the core sample in a tertiary mode. This work illustrates the successful application of gamma alumina nanoparticle in enhancing oil recovery in carbonate rocks through the wettability alteration of rock surfaces.
Hamid Heydari; Jamshid Moghadasi; Reza Motafakkerfard
Abstract
Cementation factor is a critical parameter, which affects water saturation calculation. In carbonate rocks, due to the sensitivity of this parameter to pore type, water saturation estimation has associated with high inaccuracy. Hence developing a reliable mathematical strategy to determine these properties ...
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Cementation factor is a critical parameter, which affects water saturation calculation. In carbonate rocks, due to the sensitivity of this parameter to pore type, water saturation estimation has associated with high inaccuracy. Hence developing a reliable mathematical strategy to determine these properties accurately is of crucial importance. To this end, genetic algorithm pattern search is employed to find accurate cementation factor by using formation resistivity factor and the porosity obtained from laboratory core analyses with considering the assumption that tortuosity factor is not unity. Subsequently, particle swarm optimization (PSO) fuzzy inference system (FIS) was used for the classification of cementation factor according to the predominated rock pore type by using the input variables such as cementation factor, porosity, and permeability to classify the core samples in three groups, namely fractured, interparticle, and vuggy pore system. Then, the experimental data which was collected from Sarvak formation located in one of the Iran southwestern oil fields was applied to the proposed model. Next, for each class, a cementation factor-porosity correlation was created and the results were used to calculate cementation factor and water saturation profile for the studied well. The results showed that the constructed model could predict cementation factor with high accuracy. The comparison between the model presented herein and the conventional method demonstrated that the proposed model provided a more accurate result with a mean square error (MSE) of around 0.024 and led to an R2 value of 0.603 in calculating the water saturation.
