Experimental Study of the Mechanisms in Heavy Oil Waterflooding using Etched Glass Micromodel

ABSTRACT

In western Canada, there have been more than 300 heavy oil waterflooding projects. Most of these projects displayed good economical and efficient variability even though they were operated in marginal pools. Although waterflooding of heavy oil has almost 50 years history, its mechanisms, especially in the situation of high oil water viscosity ratio, are still not well understood. In the situation of high viscosity ratio, fractional flow theory does not work because of severe water fingering and other mechanisms that are different from conventional waterfloods. The operation strategies of heavy oil waterflooding, such as water injection rate, injection pressure and VRR, are still under controversy.

In a water-wet environment, waterflooding (water displacing oil) represents a process of water imbibition. In this paper, the water imbibition mechanisms and their effects on the heavy oil recovery are studied using a water-wet micromodel. The effects of time, viscosity ratio and water injection rate on the imbibition rate are also studied. The imbibition rate of water was found to be proportional to the reciprocal of the square root of time, and inversely related to oil viscosity. The effects of injection rate on imbibition rate are complicated. At low injection rates, waterflooding becomes more efficient, and significant volume of oil is produced discontinuously. Images of the imbibition process were recorded and analyzed from visual micromodel studies. Water broke through quickly because of water fingering, and a considerable portion of recovery comes from post-breakthrough production of oil, under high water cuts. In the cases of low rate water injection, water imbibed into the original oil region perpendicularly to the water channel. In this stage, capillary imbibition was a key factor. Water film thickening and snap-off were the two main mechanisms that made water imbibition work. Emulsification was also another important mechanism observed, with W/O emulsions primarily being formed.

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