Enhanced Oil Recovery

Resonance Macro- and Micro-Mechanics of Petroleum Reservoirs

O. R. Ganiev, R. F. Ganiev, L. E. Ukrainsky

• Publisher: Wiley-Scrivener
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781119293842
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Physical Sciences
• Subtopic: Energy

Fossil fuels, especially petroleum, are still the primary energy source all over the world. With the advent of hydraulic fracturing (i.e. "fracking"), directional drilling, and other technological advances, petroleum and reservoir engineers all over the world have been able to produce much greater results, in much more difficult areas, than ever before, to meet higher global demand. "Enhanced oil recovery (EOR)" is one of the hottest and most important topics in this industry. New technologies and processes must be continually discovered and developed, even as renewable energy begins to grow and become more fruitful, as the demand for more and more energy continues to grow worldwide.

This groundbreaking and highly anticipated study discusses the scientific fundamentals of resonance macro- and micro-mechanics of petroleum reservoirs and its petroleum industry applications. It contains an overview of the research and engineering results of resonance macro- and micro-mechanics of petroleum reservoirs, which provide the scientific and applied foundations for the creation of groundbreaking wave technologies for production stimulation and enhanced oil recovery.

A valuable tool for the petroleum or reservoir engineer in the field, this volume is also intended for students, teachers, scientists and practitioners who are interested in the fundamentals, development, and application of leading-edge technologies in the petroleum industry and other industrial sectors.

Chapter 1
Scientific Foundation for Enhanced Oil Recovery and Production Stimulation

First-Generation Wave Technologies for Improving Near-Wellbore Fluid-Flow Capacity of Oil-Bearing Formations and Enhanced Oil Recovery. Resonances in Near-Wellbore Formation. Large-Scale Laboratory Effects.

The Statement and Substantiation of the Problem of Resonance Macro- and Micro-Mechanics of Petroleum Reservoirs:

A Scientific Foundation for Enhanced Oil Recovery and Production Stimulation

1.1 The Practical Results of Near-Wellbore Formation Cleaning by Wave Stimulation

The wave technology that was introduced in the 1980s by NC NVMT RAN has been used for many years to remediate near-wellbore damage in productive reservoirs.

A wide range of field tests of wave principle-based devices has been conducted, mostly on oil fields operated by Nizhnevartovskneftegas, Yuganskneftegas, Langepasneftegas, Kogalymneft and Tomskneft, as well as on fields located in the Republics of Bashkortostan and Tatarstan, in the Perm Territory [9], and others.

These tests have been conducted on both injection and production wells. In a number of cases, the tests were performed on several dozens of injection wells while monitoring response in offset production wells. Increased injectivities of injection wells as well as increased flow rates and lower water cuts of the responding production wells indirectly indicate that oil recovery can be enhanced by wave stimulation of remote and stagnant reservoir zones.

Most of the tests were conducted on oil fields operated by Nizhnevartovskneftegas, where a total of about 400 wells (injection and production) were subjected to wave stimulation by the end of 1987.

An analysis of the results of the 1986 field tests of wave principle-based equipment has shown that the equipment is quite efficient in terms of stimulation of near-wellbore formation zones of production and injection wells. Average incremental injectivity and flow rate after wave stimulation jobs was 255 m³/day of water and 23.4 t/day of oil per well, respectively (from a report dated 1 January 1987 on wave stimulation performance at Nizhnevartovskneftegas oil production facilities in April/December 1986). It has been noted that the best performance is provided by combined well stimulation that includes hydrochloric acid treatment and the use of a downhole hydro-impact generator tool developed at NC NVMT RAN, with acid injection through the oscillation generator.

An analysis of the results of production well stimulations has shown that oil flow rates increased by an average of 15-20 t/day after combined well stimulation jobs (i.e. flow rates increased by 1.5–2.5 times). Downhole hydro-impact generator treatments account for 50–60% of the increase, i.e. 8–11 t/day of oil. This conclusion is confirmed by data on the wells that were stimulated using only downhole hydro-impact generators without any other stimulation methods. To hone the wave stimulation procedure, a dedicated program of injection and production well treatments was designed and implemented. The purpose of the program was to identify response to downhole hydro-impact tool stimulations only, without effects from other treatments such as acidizing, acid pickling, cleaning circulation, etc. The program involved a package of logs run into the stimulated wells. A bulk of the research scope was completed by the mid-June, 1987. An analysis of the results of production well stimulations shows that the flow rates of all the tested wells increased. For example, one well (No. 12104) demonstrated an increase in the oil flow rate from 90 to 147 t/day; another well (No. 297) showed an increase in total fluid flow rate from 86 to 150 m³/day with an unchanged water cut; while yet another well (No. 12397) showed an increase in total fluid flow rate from 38 to 48 m³/day with the water cut dropping from 5% to 1–2%. These results along with results of several other tests allowed us to confirm the earlier conclusion that wave stimulations are an efficient method of near-wellbore formation treatment.

The near-wellbore cleanup field tests were conducted on the basis of the authors’ theoretical studies. The results are described in [8, 9, 10, 11].

Fig. 1.1 shows a typical production history of a production well. A production well operated by Priobye oil company is taken as an example.

Fig. 1.1 Priobye Oil Company Production Well Wave Stimulation Results

As we see, the oil flow rate was declining and by the time of the stimulation job it had dropped more than 2 times below its initial value. It is an indication of near-wellbore formation damage. After the treatment which consisted in placing a source of pressure oscillations (with frequencies matching the estimated resonant frequencies for a particular well in order to drive contaminating particles from the near-wellbore zone into the wellbore) close to perforations in front of the productive reservoir, flow rates were practically restored to their initial levels and remained stable during the observation period (10 months).

These results are typical for the proposed technology. Many such tests were conducted in different regions of the Russian Federation and abroad. Based on results of the stimulation jobs conducted in Russia, this technology was officially accepted (a certificate of acceptance by the USSR Ministry of Petroleum Industry dated 1990 is available).

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Table of contents

• Cover
• Title page
• Copyright page
• Abstract
• Preface
• Introduction A Brief Historical Background and Description of the Problem
• Chapter 1: Scientific Foundation for Enhanced Oil Recovery and Production Stimulation
• Chapter 2: Remove Micro-Particles by Harmonic External Actions
• Chapter 3: Remove Micro-Particles by Impact Waves
• Chapter 4: The Wave Mechanisms of Motion of Capillary-Trapped Oil
• Chapter 5: Action of Wave Forces on Fluid Droplets and Solid Particles in Pore Channels
• Chapter 6: The Mobilization of Droplets and Blobs of Capillary-Trapped Oil from Microcavities
• Chapter 7: Statements and Substantiations of Waveguide Mechanics of Porous Media
• Chapter 8: The Resonant and Waveguide Characteristics of a Well
• Chapter 9: Experimental Study of Wave Action on a Fluid-Filled Porous Medium
• Conclusion
• References
• Index
• Also of Interest
• End User License Agreement