bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Immiscible Water Alternating Gas (IWAG) EOR: Current State of the Art
Authors: Holtz Mark H
Published: March 2016

Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) is a general application used in mature oil fields to generate additional reserve growth. Several types of EOR applications are implemented in the oil industry. One such application is the injection of gas into a reservoir as a gas displacement recovery (GDR) mechanism to induce additional reserve growth. A specific type of GDR application is the immiscible water-alternating-gas (IWAG) displacement process. In this application a slug of water is put into an injection well, followed by gas, which exists as a separate phase from the water and oil. Water and gas injection slugs are alternated until the designed amount of gas has been injected, or as field production dictates. Continuous water (case water) is typically injected after the IWAG process.

Herein, the state-of-art of IWAG EOR is described from an extensive literature review. First, the theories of the recovery mechanisms that cause IWAG to produce incremental oil are described. These mechanisms include viscosity reduction, 3-phase relative permeability, oil swelling, and oil film flow, all of which are a function of fluid and rock-fluid interactions. Next, salient laboratory studies are summarized, including micromodel and core floods. These studies test pore-level characteristics, displaying ranges of residual non-wetting phase saturations (hydrocarbons) down to 0.13 to 0.25 and incremental oil recovery ranging from 14% to 20% of OOIP. Some experiments isolate a specific recovery mechanism in order to determine its validity and contribution to recovery. Studies generally point to the conclusion that the gas type shows no discernable difference in recovery character.

The paper concludes with a synopsis of results from small-scale field trials and field-scale projects in both heavy and light oil. Both simulation modeling and field trials are summarized. Projects have been implemented with varying types of gases, WAG ratios, and gas slug sizes, resulting in incremental reserve growth being reported in the range of 2 to 9%. The fundamental immiscible recovery mechanisms in IWAG can produce lower cost and faster response EOR projects, with moderate recovery efficiency gains.
Survey and Data Analysis of the Pilot and Field Polymer Flooding Projects in China
Authors: Zhang Yandong , Wei Mingzhen , Bai Baojun , Yang Hongbin , Kang Wanli
Published: March 2016

Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) processes are regarded as important methods to recover remaining oil after primary and secondary recovery. It is important to select the most appropriate EOR process among the possible techniques for a candidate reservoir. Therefore, EOR screening criteria have been constructed using available EOR data sets and serve as the first step to compare the suitability of each EOR method for a particular reservoir. Most screening criteria for polymer flooding are based on data sets from EOR surveys published biannually by the Oil & Gas Journal. These surveys missed significant polymer flooding parameters such as formation water salinity and hardness, polymer types and molecular weight, polymer concentration, reservoir heterogeneity, and so on. All of these topics are covered in this paper with data from relevant literature and records provided by oil companies in China.

Polymer flooding has been widely applied in China for over 20 years and a large number of pilot and field projects have been conducted. These projects include important information to quantify the development of polymer flooding as an EOR method. Nevertheless, most of them have been published in Chinese, and are not accessible to the global research community due to the language barrier. This paper represents an effort to collect all relevant information of polymer flooding from available Chinese publications and reports from all of the major oil companies in China. The primary objectives of this survey is to reveal EOR advances, to trace the development of the polymer flooding EOR methodology in China, and to benefit EOR worldwide.

This project collected information on 55 polymer flooding projects after reviewing nearly 200 publications in Chinese, including 31 pilot projects and 24 field projects from 1991 to 2014. A data set was constructed by collecting all relevant information for polymer flooding. Statistical analyses and graphical methods were used to analyze the whole data set. Box plots combined with violin plots were used to show the distribution and the range of each parameter. By defining and calculating lower and upper limits in box plots, special projects were identified and explained. Scatter plots, which show multiple parameters in one plot, were used to identify significant relationships among different parameters, especially for dependent parameters. This method overcomes some disadvantages of the range method, which is traditionally used for EOR screening. For example, using polymers with high concentration in low salinity reservoirs can lead to higher incremental oil recovery than in high salinity ones, and lower permeability usually correlates with the use of polymers with lower molecular weight. However, the traditional range method cannot show this relationship. Finally, comprehensive screening criteria for polymer flooding were updated based on information revealed in the field application projects.
Characterization of Wormhole Growth and Its Applications for CHOPS Wells Using History Matching
Authors: Fan Zhaoqi , Yang Daoyong
Published: March 2016

A wormhole dynamic growth model has been developed and incorporated with a commercial reservoir simulator, i.e., CMG, to characterize wormhole growth for cold heavy oil production with sand (CHOPS) processes and extends its application to a field well. More specifically, geomechanics analysis associated with a collapsed pore and its throat structure has been performed to quantify the sand production. Then, a sand failure criterion and a four-direction pressure difference analysis are respectively proposed to determine the sand production rate and the potential direction of wormhole generation and growth. By considering the uncertainties associated with the parameters involved in the wormhole growth model, history matching is respectively conducted to estimate the critical breakdown pressure, superficial area of the collapsed throats, and coefficients of the permeability-porosity correlation for a field CHOPS well. Subsequently, the dynamic wormhole growth model has been validated with a synthetic model and then extended to a CHOPS well for determining its wormhole network. It is found from both the synthetic case and field application that the newly proposed technique can be used to determine the corresponding wormhole network as a function of time by history matching the production profile. Furthermore, the history matched models can also be utilized to optimize the following enhanced oil recovery processes such as cyclic solvent injection.
A Novel Fast-Track Methodology to Evaluate CO2 Foamers Performances
Authors: Chabert M. , Cuenca A. , Lacombe E. , Chevallier E. , Nabzar L. , Batot G.
Published: March 2016

Use of foams to control CO2 floods conformance is attracting a renewed interest in recent years due its flexibility and ease of application. This application becomes even more attractive in current times of low oil price, as it can be an inexpensive mean to maximize CO2 utilization efficiency and increase production at no capital expenses. However, it is generally recognized that to maximize chances of success of a pilot application, an appropriate foaming formulation must be designed for a given reservoir and characterized in petrophysics lab. This usually requires an extensive laboratory work that is not always compatible with cost constraints.

We present a new cost-effective workflow that focuses on evaluating two formulation performance indicators derived from the population balance model: foam creation (related to foaming power) and resistance to foam destruction (related to foam stabilization against coarsening and coalescence).

We assess these two parameters in representative reservoir conditions by measuring foam mobility reduction in porous media and foam lifetimes. Experimental results and simple scaling arguments show that these two measurements, both of importance to the application, are mostly independent. This shed light on a recurring question pertaining to the relevance of bulk foam experiments to predict foam efficiency in porous media. With this in mind, we present a new approach for measuring mobility reduction in porous media with a higher throughput than usual corefloods experiments. This methodology is based on sandpack experiments as well as serial coreflood experiments that allow multiple successive formulations testing. We show that the link between sandpack and coreflood results is far from being straightforward, and depends on static (geometrical) as well as dynamic (flow) parameters.

Overall, this work provides new insights on the major performance indicators used to evaluate foam efficiency for gas conformance control in oil reservoirs. We build on this understanding to present a novel approach that can help developing more efficient foam EOR solutions. In particular, it allows tailoring foaming agents properties (such as foaminess and foam stabilization) to specific conditions of a given application (oil saturation, vertical heterogeneity, etc…).
Characterizing Tracer Applicability in Different Mineralogy
Authors: Spilker K. K. , Dwarakanath V. , Malik Taimur , Burdett Tao Emily , Mirkovic Zoran
Published: March 2016

Fluorinated benzoic acids (FBA) have been widely used in the oil industry as conservative tracers. However, some of these tracers have been shown to rapidly degrade when tested at temperatures above 121°C within three weeks. Naphthalene sulfonates (NSAs) have been shown to be excellent tracers in geothermal applications. However, a broader study was required to determine tracer conservation in reservoir fluids and formations typically encountered in the oil field.

In this study we compare the oil field industry standard FBA tracers to NSA tracers under dynamic test conditions in the presence of reservoir oil, sandstone, carbonates and clays. We also compare the two sets of tracers under static conditions in the presence of four crude oils and different clay mineralogy to establish tracer conservation. Seven different sodium salts of naphthalene sulfonic acids were tested to determine if the tracers were adsorbed onto natural porous media (reservoir rock) at reservoir conditions. A broad range of conditions were selected to target typical reservoirs encountered. In addition, reservoir rock and a pseudo formation containing 10 Wt.% clay in silica sand were used in sand packs saturated with surrogate brine to ensure the tracer recovery under dynamic conditions.

High pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC-FLD) separation was used for simultaneous detection of seven NSAs while FBAs were analyzed using HPLC-UV. GC analysis of isopropyl alcohol (IPA) was used as a standard against which the others were measured.

Dynamic tracer tests demonstrated that the sodium salts of naphthalene sulfonates behaved similarly to the control, IPA, with none of the tracers adsorbing on to the rock surface or partitioning into the oil phase. The naphthalene sulfonates can be successfully used as conservative tracers most specifically for high temperature applications. NSA tracers are an attractive replacement for conservative FBA tracers in the oil field due to their superior thermal stability, solubility in oil field brine, lower detection limits and cost.
Proper Simulation of Chemical EOR (CEOR) Pilots - A Real Case Study
Authors: Najafabadi Nariman Fathi , Chawathe Adwait
Published: March 2016

Pilots are widely used for the purpose of gathering valuable information about performance and practical challenges of implementing a particular CEOR process in a given field (Adibhatla and Wattenbarger, 2009; Cheng et al., 2012). A critical step in proper design and optimization of any CEOR process, in full field or pilot scale, is appropriate and precise numerical simulations. Many considerations need to be taken into account for such simulations.

Addition of chemical species to the material balance equations alongside finer resolution requirements for CEOR simulations compared to waterfloods (WF), often make it impractical to run full field CEOR simulations to the required accuracy. Massively parallel computing, dynamic local grid refinement and sector modeling have been used with varying success, of which sector modeling is the most common. Sector models, by their very definition, are also naturally suited for modeling of pilots.

The art of sector modeling needs mastering a few important steps such as: appropriate selection of the sector model extent, details on carving it out of the Full Field Model (FFM), populating it with proper petrophysical and fluid properties, initializing it to correct initial conditions and optimizing its boundary conditions. On top of that, choice of optimum grid size for proper trade-off of simulation run times and accuracy needs to be considered.

This paper presents a case study for appropriate simulation of a CEOR pilot within Chevron. The candidate has a waterflood history matched FFM. This model is used to generate a sector model for the CEOR pilot area. This paper outlines how the extent of the sector model and all the regions in communication with the Area of Interest (AOI) is decided. It also discusses proper initialization and optimization of the boundary conditions of the sector model along with its appropriate refinement and grid optimization. Proper CEOR simulations on the final optimized sector model and sensitivity analysis are also presented. The challenges, lessons learned and best practices are shared and important considerations for adequate simulation of CEOR processes are outlined.
Surfactant Huff-n-Puff Application Potentials for Unconventional Reservoirs
Authors: Shuler Patrick J. , Lu Zayne , Ma Qisheng , Tang Yongchun
Published: March 2016

Improved Oil Reocvery (IOR) technologies may offer a new strategy to improve the initial production (IP) and slow the production decline from oil-rich shale formations. Early implementation of chemical IOR technologies largely have been overlooked during strategic planning of unconventional reservoirs. The purpose of this study is to improve understanding of the dynamic processes of oil displacement by surfactants and to investigate mechanism of how surfactants extract oil. A successful conventional surfactant "huff-n-puff' treatment is described with a focus on any relationship between increased oil production and the surfactant soaking period. Surfactant chemistry has been considered as one of a few ultimate IOR solutions. Despite being well proven as effective chemicals to recover oil from convenetional reservoris, surfactants commonly are used in hydraulic fracturing of unconventional reservoris are just to promote flow back of the injected aqueous fluid over a relatively short time frame. In order to better understand the functionality of surfactants for obtaining favorable oil interaction with both the stimulation fluid and rock matrix, a specifically-designed "oil-on-a-plate" (OOAP) setup and procedure is employed to examine the penetration of surfactant into the oil-film that is adhereing to a solid surface. In addition to the well-recognized spontaneous imbibition and surface wettability alternation processes, surfactant also can gradually penetrate and mobilize oil droplets, resulting in improved oil recovert. If properly selected and designed, the surfactant additives in stimulation/fracturing fluids could have multi-functions towards improving both IP and the longer-term oil production. Besides serving as a demulsifier and flowback enhancer to boost IP, the surfactants could continuously lift-up and mobilize adsorbed oil to increase recoverable oil in place.
Observations of Microemulsion Viscosity for Surfactant EOR Processes
Authors: Suniga P. T. , Fortenberry R. , Delshad M.
Published: March 2016

Microemulsion properties significantly impact any EOR process that relies on surfactants or soaps to generate ultralow interfacial tension to displace trapped oil. Unfavorable microemulsion viscosity can lead to high chemical retention, low oil recovery, and overall unfavorable performance across all modes. Controlling microemulsion properties is important in conventional approaches like surfactant-polymer (SP) and alkaline-surfactant-polymer (ASP) flooding, in addition to new applications like gravity stable displacements, spontaneous imbibition in fractured carbonates and unstable floods of viscous oil. Despite the central importance, microemulsion viscosity and rheology remain poorly understood.

This paper describes the results of an extensive experimental microemulsion study. We evaluated the effect of polymer on microemulsion viscosity in different microemulsion phase types (i.e. oil in water, bi-continuous, water in oil emulsions). We measured microemulsion viscosities across a broad salinity range for several crudes from light (API >30°) to heavy oils (API<14°) and observed Newtonian rheology for all phase types. The effect of cosolvents on microemulsion viscosity was also evaluated. Finally, we evaluated microemulsions with and without alkali to help understand potential differences between ASP and SP microemulsions.

We include many observations consistent with earlier literature using recently developed surfactants and report the microemulsion viscosity details for many high performance surfactant formulations across a wide range of conditions. We have also describe several observations, including polymer decreasing the required time to achieve equilibrium in microemulsion pipettes and the qualitative change in microemulsion behavior with and without polymer in Windsor Type III microemulsions.
Fast-Slim Tube: A Reliable and Rapid Technique for the Laboratory Determination of MMP in CO2 - Light Crude Oil Systems
Authors: Adel Imad A. , Tovar Francisco D. , Schechter David S.
Published: March 2016

We present a technique that enables the determination of the minimum miscibility pressure (MMP) of a CO2 – oil system using a short 20 ft slim tube in less than two weeks, about a third of what it normally takes using the conventional 80 ft slim tube. MMP is a crucial parameter in designing a CO2 enhanced oil recovery project and its value needs to be known with a degree of accuracy that cannot be provided by the use of equations of state or correlations, and therefore, needs to be determined experimentally. The slim tube technique is recognized to be the most accurate experimental method for determining the MMP, however its use has not been favored because it is time consuming.

We determined the MMP for five CO2 – crude oil systems from the North Burbank Unit and the Oklahoma/Texas Panhandle. The reduction in the length of the slim tube from 80 ft to 20 ft resulted in a decrease in the total time of the experiment. The validity of our technique was proven with performing recovery factor measurements using a conventional 80 ft long slim tube. The MMP values obtained are valid when the length of the slim tube is sufficient to host the mixing zone and the velocity of the displacement is slow enough to enable the transverse dispersion to eliminate viscous fingering. In the case of light oil, the use of the 20 ft slim tube is justified as the length of the mixing zone is shorter. We support our results with the use of numerical simulation.

The reduction in the time required for slim tube experiments results in a fast, economic and accurate technique for the determination of MMP in CO2 – light crude oil systems. Taking into account that CO2 flooding is the most applied EOR technique in the US and that it is mainly applied to light oil reservoirs, this work can be of great impact by providing a rapid and reliable method to determine the MMP for designing a CO2 enhanced oil recovery project.
Co-solvent Partitioning and Retention
Authors: Chang Leonard Y. , Lansakara-P Dharmika S. , Jang Sung Hyun , Weerasooriya Upali P. , Pope Gary A.
Published: March 2016

Favorable microemulsion rheology is required for achieving low surfactant retention and economic viability of chemical EOR. Co-solvents play a pivotal role in obtaining favorable microemulsion rheology as well as many other aspects of chemical EOR. We measured the partitioning of co-solvents between phases to better understand their behavior and how to select the best co-solvent for chemical EOR. There is an optimal co-solvent partition coefficient for microemulsion systems. Commercial co-solvents used for chemical EOR are actually mixtures of different components. We used HPLC to measure the partitioning of the constitutive components of phenol ethoxylate co-solvents between oil and water phases and between microemulsion and excess oil and water phases. These measurements show that the components partition independently and the partitioning of individual components is often different from the average. The co-solvent partition coefficients between oil and water were systematically evaluated as functions of the number of ethylene oxide groups, number of propylene oxide groups, temperature, salinity, and the equivalent alkane carbon number (EACN) of the oil. Novel alkoxylate co-solvents were also evaluated for chemical EOR. The novel alkoxylate co-solvents can be more effectively tailored to match the characteristics of different crude oils. Coreflood experiments were conducted to investigate co-solvent transport and retention. Co-solvents were identified that showed excellent performance and low retention.
Application of Nanofluids for Improving Oil Mobility in Heavy Oil and Extra-Heavy Oil: A Field Test
Authors: Zabala R. , Franco C. A. , Cortés F. B.
Published: March 2016

An important factor during the life of a heavy crude reservoir is the oil mobility. It depends on two factors, oil viscosity and oil relative permeability. Two characteristics of nanoparticles that make them attractive for assisting IOR and EOR processes are their size (1 to 100 nm) and ability to manipulate their behavior. Due to their nano-sized structure, nanomaterials have large tunable specific surface areas that lead to an increase in the proportion of atoms on the surface of the particle, indicating an increasing in surface energy. Nanoparticles are also able to flow through typical reservoir pore spaces with sizes at or below 1 micron without the risk to block the pore space. Nanofluids or "smart fluids" can be designed by tuning nanoparticle properties, and are prepared by adding small concentrations of nanoparticles to a liquid phase in order to enhance or improve some of the fluid properties. However the use of nanoparticles and nanofluids for oil mobility has been poorly studied. Hence, the scope of this work is to present the field evaluation of nanofluids for improving oil mobility and mitigate alteration of wettability in two Colombian heavy oil fields; Castilla and Chichimene. Asphaltenes sorption tests with two different types of nanomaterials were performed for selecting the best nanoparticle for each type of oil. An oil based nanofluid (OBN) containing these nanoparticles was evaluated as viscosity reducer under static conditions. Displacement tests through a porous media in core plugs from Castilla and Chichimene at reservoir conditions were also performed. OBN was evaluated to reduce oil viscosity varying oil temperature and water content. Maximum change in oil viscosity is achieved at 122°F and 2% of nanofluid dosage. The use of the nanofluid increased oil recovery in the core flooding tests, caused by the removal of asphaltenes from the aggregation system, reduction of oil viscosity, and the effective restoration of original core wettability. Two field trials were performed in Castilla (CNA and CNB wells), by forcing 200 bbl and 150 bbl of nanofluid respectively as main treatment within a radius of penetration of ~3 ft. Instantaneous oil rate increases of 270 bopd in CNA and 280 bopd in CNB and BSW reductions of ~11% were observed. In Chichimene also two trials were performed (CHA and CHB), by forcing 86 bbl of and 107 bbl of nanofluid as main treatment within a radius of penetration of ~3 ft. Instantaneous oil rate increases of 310 bopd in CHA and 87 bopd in CHB were achieved not BSW reduction has been observed yet. Interventions were performed few months ago and long term effects are still under evaluation. Results look promising making possible to think extending application of nanofluid in other wells in these fields.
Design of a Robust ASP Formulation for Clay Rich and Moderate Permeability Sandstone Reservoir: From Laboratory to Single Well Chemical Tracer Test in the Field
Authors: Rohilla Neeraj , Ravikiran Ravi , Carlisle Charlie T. , Jones Nick , Davis Marron B. , Finch Kenneth B.
Published: March 2016

Sandstone reservoirs containing significant amount of clays (30-40 wt%) with moderate permeability (20-50 mD) provide a unique challenge to surfactant based enhanced oil recovery (EOR) processes. A critical risk factor for these types of reservoirs is adsorption of surfactants due to greater surface area attributed to clays. Clays also have high cation exchange capacity (CEC) and can release significant amounts of di-valents that lead to increased retention of the surfactant. These factors could adversely affect the economics of a flood.

We present a case study where a robust formulation was designed and tested in lab/field for a reservoir located in Wyoming, USA and contains up to 35-40 wt% clays (predominately Kaolinite and Illite). The residual oil saturation is high (Sor=0.4) while the permeability of the formation is between 20-50 mD. The reservoir has been waterflooded historically with low salinity water which has led to formation permeability damage. Due to high levels of clays, adsorption of the surfactant on the rock surface was determined to be between 3-4 mg/g rock by static adsorption tests.

This publication demonstrates how the following challenges have been successfully addressed in the lab as well as in the field in the form of single well chemical tracer test (SWCTT).

Designed a robust alkaline-surfactant-polymer (ASP) formulation that showed ultra-low interfacial tension (IFT) values and aqueous solubility remains soluble in the aqueous solution over a broad range of salinity. Mitigated surfactant adsorption issues to make the cEOR solution economic. A sacrificial agent was identified that acted synergistically with alkali and also did not alter the optimum salinity of the formulation. Performed restored state core analysis using the available damaged core material. The main challenge being restoration of the coreplugs to current reservoir conditions for coreflood experiment without causing additional formation damage due to injection of low salinity formation brine. Designed a flood that utilized a pre-flush to provide a favorable salinity gradient and to inject sacrificial agent ahead of the surfactant front. Performed polymer screening to select right molecular weight of polymer so that the right balance of mobility control and injectivity in the reservoir can be obtained.
Scaling of Low IFT Imbibition in Oil-Wet Carbonates
Authors: Li Yuxiang , Lu Jun , Churchwell Lauren , Tagavifar Mohsen , Weerasooriya Upali , Pope Gary A.
Published: March 2016

Primary and secondary oil recovery from naturally fractured carbonate reservoirs with an oil-wet matrix is very low. Enhanced oil recovery from these reservoirs using surfactants to alter the wettability and reduce the interfacial tension have been extensively studied for many years, but there are still many questions about the process mechanisms, surfactant selection and testing, experimental design and most importantly how to scale up the lab results to the field. We have conducted a series of imbibition experiments using cores with different vertical and horizontal dimensions to better understand how to scale up the process. There was a particular need to perform experiments with larger horizontal dimensions since almost all previous experiments have been done in cores with a small diameter, typically 3.8 cm. We adapted and modified the experimental method used for traditional static imbibition experiments by flushing out fluids surrounding the cores periodically to better estimate the oil recovery, including the significant amount of oil produced as an emulsion. We used microemulsion phase behavior tests to develop high performance surfactant formulations for the oils used in this study. These surfactants gave ultra-low IFT at optimum salinity and good aqueous stability. Although we used ultra-low IFT formulations for most of the experiments, we also performed tests at higher IFT for comparison. Even for the higher IFT experiments, the capillary pressure is very small compared to gravity and viscous pressure gradients. We also developed a simple analytical model to predict the oil recovery as a function of vertical and horizontal fracture spacing, rock properties and fluid properties. The model and experimental data are in good agreement considering the many simplifications made to derive the model. The scaling implied by the model is significantly different than traditional scaling groups in the literature.
A Microfluidic Investigation of the Synergistic Effect of Nanoparticles and Surfactants in Macro-Emulsion Based EOR
Authors: XU Ke , Zhu Peixi , Tatiana Colon , Huh Chun , Balhoff Matthew
Published: March 2016

Injecting oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions stabilized with nanoparticles or surfactants is a promising option for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) in harsh-condition reservoirs. Stability and rheology of flowing emulsion in porous media are key factors for the effectiveness of the EOR method. The objective of this study is to use microfluidics to (1) quantitatively evaluate the synergistic effect of surfactants and nanoparticles on emulsion's dynamic stability and how nanoparticles affects the emulsion properties, and (2) investigate how emulsion properties affect the sweep performance in emulsion flooding.

A microfluidic device with well-defined channel geometry of a high-permeability pathway and multiple parallel low-permeability pathways was created to represent a fracture – matrix dual-permeability system. Measurement of droplets’ coalescence frequency during flow is used to quantify the dynamic stability of emulsions. A nanoparticle aqueous suspension (2 wt%) shows excellent ability to stabilize macro-emulsion when mixed with trace amount of surfactant (0.05 wt%), revealing a synergic effect between nanoparticles and surfactant.

For a stable emulsion, it was observed that flowing emulsion droplets compress each other and then block the high-permeability pathway at a throat structure, which forces the wetting phase into low-permeability pathways. Droplet size shows little correlation with this blocking effect. Water content was observed much higher in the low-permeability pathways than in the high-permeability pathway, indicating different emulsion texture and viscosity in channels of different sizes. Consequently, the assumption of bulk emulsion viscosity in the porous medium is not applicable in the description and modeling of emulsion flooding process.

Flow of emulsions stabilized by the nanoparticle-surfactant synergy shows droplet packing mode different from those stabilized by surfactant only at high local oil saturation region, which is attributed to the interaction among nanoparticles in the thin liquid film between neighboring oil-water interfaces. This effect is believed to be an important contributing mechanism for sweep efficiency attainable from nanoparticle-stabilized emulsion EOR process.
Successful Field Application of Microgel Treatment in High Temperature High Salinity Reservoir in China
Authors: Qiu Yue , Wei Mingzhen , Geng Jiaming , Wu Fengxiang
Published: March 2016

This paper presents the detailed descriptions of successful field application for a high-temperature and high-salinity resistance microgel in a mature reservoir in the northwest part of China. The reservoir with low permeability (230 md) experienced serious vertical and lateral heterogeneity problems, which caused low sweep efficiency and high water-cut (more than 95%). The treatment was designed based on laboratory experiments and experience from previous field application, providing detailed information of mechanism of microgel treatment and project execution. Thermal stability test showed that the microgel could resist the salt concentration up to 230,000 ppm at 125 °C for more than 1 year. From the core analysis, permeability of the long-term water-flooded zone was measured around 1,489 md, proving the evidence that high-permeability zones existed. Pilot test has been done before field application and valuable experience about how to design the injection parameters was provided. According to the information from laboratory experiments and the pilot test, four injection wells associated with nine offset production wells were selected for microgel treatment. For about 10 months treatment, 169 t of microgel was injected by five slugs.

Gradually increased injection pressure suggested that microgel could be placed deeply into the reservoir. The ultimate incremental oil production was approximately 29,635.8 t with the water cut decreasing from 95.3% to 93.1%. Microgel can be successfully used in relative low permeability (230 md) reservoir with harsh conditions for conformance control.
Displacement Efficiency for Low Salinity Polymer Flooding Including Wettability Alteration
Authors: Khorsandi Saeid , Qiao Changhe , Johns Russell T.
Published: March 2016

Polymer flooding can significantly improve sweep and delay breakthrough of injected water, thereby increasing oil recovery. Polymer viscosity degrades in reservoirs with high salinity brines, so it is advantageous to inject low salinity water as a preflush. Low salinity water flooding (LSW) can also improve local displacement efficiency by changing the wettability of the reservoir rock from oil wet to more water wet. The mechanism for wettability alteration for low salinity waterflooding in sandstones is not very well understood, however experiments and field studies strongly support that cation exchange (CE) reactions are the key element in wettability alteration. The complex coupled effects of CE reactions, polymer properties, and multiphase flow and transport has not been explained to date.

This paper presents the first analytical solutions for the coupled synergistic behavior of low salinity waterflooding and polymer flooding considering cation exchange reactions, wettability alteration, adsorption, inaccessible pore volume (IPV), and salinity effects on polymer viscosity. A mechanistic approach that includes the cation exchange of Ca2+, Mg2+ and Na+ is used to model the wettability alteration. The aqueous phase viscosity is a function of polymer and salt concentrations. Then, the coupled multiphase flow and reactive transport model is decoupled into three simpler sub-problems, one where cation exchange reactions are solved, the second where a variable polymer concentration can be added to the reaction path and the third where fractional flows can be mapped onto the fixed cation and polymer concentration paths. The solutions are used to develop a front tracking algorithm, which can solve the slug injection problem where low salinity water is injected as a preflush followed by polymer. The results are verified with experimental data and PennSim, a general purpose compositional simulator.

The analytical solutions show that decoupling allows for estimation of key modeling parameters from experimental data, without considering the chemical reactions. Recovery can be significantly enhanced by a low salinity pre-flush prior to polymer injection. For the cases studied, the improved oil recovery (IOR) for a chemically tuned LSP flood can be as much as 10% OOIP greater than with considering polymer alone. The results show the structure of the solutions, and in particular the velocity of multiple shocks that develop. These shocks can interact, changing recovery. For example, poor recoveries obtained in core floods for small low salinity slug sizes are explained with intersection of shocks without considering mixing. The solutions can also be used to benchmark numerical solutions and for experimental design. We demonstrate the potential of LSP as a cheaper and more effective way for performing polymer flooding when the reservoir wettability can be altered using chemically-tuned low salinity brine.
New Surfactants and Co-Solvents Increase Oil Recovery and Reduce Cost
Authors: A. Nadeeka Upamali Karasinghe , Liyanage Pathma Jith , Cai Jiajia , Lu Jun , Jang Sung Hyun , Weerasooriya Upali P. , Pope Gary A.
Published: March 2016

The ability to develop high performance, low cost chemical formulations for chemical EOR involves the use of not only highly efficient surfactants tailored to specific crude oil and reservoir conditions, but also the technical know-how for combining the surfactants and other chemicals to create the best formulation as a complete package. Scientific understanding of how the molecular structures of surfactants and co-solvents affect microemulsion properties greatly speeds up the process of arriving at optimal formulations for enhanced recovery of a specific crude oil in a specific oil reservoir. With the main emphasis on reducing the chemical cost of the formulations, a new slate of novel chemicals, both surfactants and co-solvents, has been developed and shown to have superior performance. We have synthesized and tested new classes of surfactants with different hydrophobe sizes and structures varying from large-medium-short-ultrashort in order to meet the needs of a variety of crude oil requirements. We have also developed ultra-short hydrophobe surfactants (with 2-ethylhexanol hydrophobe) possessing dual surfactant / co-solvent properties. Such duality in performance helps, in some cases, to minimize or altogether offset the use of co-solvents while maintaining low microemulsion viscosities, faster equilibration, and other desirable behavior. Thus, 2-ethylhexanol-propoxy-sulfate was developed as a surfactant that also encompasses co-solvent properties. The novel Gemini surfactants have also been incorporated in formulations and core flood experiments with excellent results. The new co-solvents offer advantages such as short equilibration time for the microemulsion formation and lower microemulsion viscosity. Systematic studies using these new surfactants and co-solvents clearly show that we now have the capability of developing highly robust formulations to meet the needs of a variety of reservoirs, resulting in high oil recoveries with low surfactant retention, which is the key to lowering the chemical costs and improving the economics of chemical enhanced oil recovery.
Characterization of Mixed Wettability using Surface Energy Distribution
Authors: Arsalan Naveed , Nguyen Quoc P.
Published: March 2016

A systematic approach to characterize the mixed wet configurations of various reservoir rocks (sandstone and carbonates) by evaluating their surface energy distributions has been presented in this paper. This approach was tested against the macroscopic spatial distribution of oil-wet and water-wet sites and at different temperatures for validation.

The new approach used to characterize the mixed wettability of a reservoir rock pertains to establishing a relation between the volume fraction of the mixed-wet reservoir rocks and surface energy of the mixture. This approach is based on an accurate description of the various physico-chemical interfacial forces present at the reservoir rock surface using Inverse Gas Chromatography (IGC). Mixed-wet configurations of various reservoir rocks are created by combining water-wet and oil-wet samples of the rock in different volume fractions and shaken together to establish uniform distribution. These samples are then subjected to the IGC analysis at different temperatures to deduce their surface energy distribution. The relation developed herein is tested against spatial heterogeneity by combining the oil-wet and water-wet rock samples in a layered fashion to validate the approach. The complete method to deduce the surface energy distribution of a rock surface using IGC has also been explained in detail.

A definite and conclusive relationship between the surface energy and mixed wettability of silica glass beads, calcite, and dolomite samples was established in this study. The mixed-wet configurations of the rock samples ranged from 0% oil-wet (meaning water-wet samples) to 100% oil-wet samples. The findings indicated that the Lifshitz-van der Waals component of the rock mixture did not undergo any change with change in the wetting state of the system under study. However the acid base components showed a marked decrease with increasing oil wetness before plateauing. Temperature was found to have a profound impact on the surface energy of a rock surface. Spatial heterogeneity by way of layered and segregated distribution of oil-wet and water-wet sites did not affect the eventual surface energy distribution thereby validating the new approach.
Irrigation and Trinexapac‐Ethyl Effects on Seed Yield in First‐ and Second‐Year Red Clover Stands
Authors: Anderson Nicole P. , Chastain Thomas G. , Garbacik Carol J.
Published: March 2016

Irrigation and trinexapac‐ethyl (TE) [4‐(cyclopropyl‐α‐hydroxymethylene)‐3, 5‐dioxo‐cyclohexanecarboxylic acid ethylester] plant growth regulator (PGR) have been reported to enhance seed yield in red clover (Trifolium pratense L.). This study examined the interaction of irrigation and TE on seed productivity in first‐and second‐year stands in western Oregon (OR). Two field trials were established and followed over a 2‐yr period (2012–2013, 2013–2014). Treatments consisted of an untreated control, and 140, 280, 420, 560, and 700 g a.i. ha−1 TE PGR applied at BBCH growth stages 32 and 51, and in split applications at BBCH 32 + 51. A single irrigation (100 mm) applied at BBCH 55 increased seed yield and weight in first‐and second‐year stands by 13 and 5%, respectively. Seeds m−2 increased nearly 10% with irrigation in both first‐and second‐year stands in 2013 but not in 2014. Application of TE at BBCH 32 increased seed yield by 13.8% in second‐year stands, except at the 700 g a.i. ha−1 rate, and had no effect or reduced seed yield in first‐year stands. Seed weight was reduced by TE at all timings and reductions were proportional to the rate of application. Seeds m−2 increased in first‐year stands with TE rates ≥280 g a.i. ha−1 and ≥420 g a.i. ha−1 in 2012 and 2013, respectively, and with all rates in second‐year stands. There was no interaction between irrigation and TE in any year. First‐ and second‐year stands will likely benefit from irrigation; however, TE only increased seed yield in second‐year stands.

Core Ideas

Irrigation and trinexapac‐ethyl independently increase red clover seed yield but there is no interaction between the two.

Red clover seed yield is enhanced by increasing seed weight with irrigation whereas seed weight is reduced with trinexapac‐ethyl.

Irrigation increases seed yield in first‐and second‐year stands but trinexapac‐ethyl only increases seed yield in second year stands.
Development of a Yellow Flag Assessment Tool for Orthopaedic Physical Therapists: Results From the Optimal Screening for Prediction of Referral and Outcome (OSPRO) Cohort
Authors: Lentz Trevor A. , Beneciuk Jason M. , Bialosky Joel E. , Zeppieri Giorgio , Dai Yunfeng , Wu Samuel S. , George Steven Z.
Published: March 2016

Study Design

Clinical measurement, cross-sectional.

Background

Pain-associated psychological distress adversely influences outcomes for patients with musculoskeletal pain. However, assessment of pain-associated psychological distress (ie, yellow flags) is not routinely performed in orthopaedic physical therapy practice. A standardized yellow flag assessment tool will better inform treatment decision making related to psychologically informed practice.

Objectives

To describe the development of a concise, multidimensional yellow flag assessment tool for application in orthopaedic physical therapy clinical practice.

Methods

A 136-item yellow flag item bank was developed from validated psychological questionnaires across domains related to pain vulnerability (negative mood, fear avoidance) and resilience (positive affect/coping). Patients seeking physical therapy with neck, back, knee, or shoulder pain completed the item bank. Iterative statistical analyses determined minimal item sets meeting thresholds for identifying elevated vulnerability or low resilience (ie, upper or lower quartile, as indicated). Further item reduction yielded a concise yellow flag assessment tool to assess 11 psychological constructs measuring pain-associated psychological distress. Correlations between the assessment tool and individual psychological questionnaires were measured and compared between anatomical regions. Concurrent validity was assessed by determining variance explained in pain and disability scores by the assessment tool.

Results

Subjects with elevated vulnerability and decreased resilience were identified with a high degree of accuracy (minimum of 85%) using a 17-item tool. Correlations were moderate to high between the 17-item tool and individual psychological questionnaires, with no significant differences in correlations between different anatomical regions. Shorter 10- and 7-item versions of the assessment tool allow clinicians the flexibility to assess for yellow flags quickly with acceptable trade-offs in accuracy (81% and 75%, respectively). All versions of the tool explained significant additional variance in pain and disability scores (range, 19.3%-36.7%) after accounting for demographics, historical variables, and anatomical region of pain.

Conclusion

Concise assessment of yellow flags is feasible in outpatient physical therapy settings. This multidimensional tool advances assessment of pain-associated psychological distress through the addition of positive affect/coping constructs and estimation of full questionnaire scores. Further study is warranted to determine how this tool complements established risk-assessment tools by providing the option for efficient treatment monitoring. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 2016;46(5):327–345. Epub 21 Mar 2016. doi:10.2519/jospt.2016.6487
Modeling and Design Optimization of A Shaft-Coupled Motor and Magnetic Gear
Authors: Zanis R. , Jansen J.W. , Lomonova E.A.
Published: March 2016

This paper presents the modeling and design of an actuator consisting of an electrical motor and a magnetic gear. To minimize the overall actuator dimensions, both of the electromagnetic devices need to be optimally designed and matched. An issue in performing a simultaneous design as such arises from a high number of design variables that significantly increases the complexity of the optimization problem. A method to reduce the design variables is discussed in this paper, which is the application of response surface methodology (RSM) to represent the optimized torques of the electrical motor and magnetic gear as polynomial functions of their respective dimensions. Prior to the application of RSM, optimization problem statements are defined for the electrical motor and magnetic gear, for which the optimization objective and constraint functions are derived from analytical electromagnetic models of the considered electromagnetic devices.