Article
Energy & Fuels
Yang Xuewen, Wang Rujun, Deng Xingliang, Li Shiyin, Zhang Hui, Yao Chao
Summary: Based on the analysis of geological characteristics and division of reservoir units, this study established physical models and conducted physical simulations to investigate the water flooding mechanism in the fault-controlled fracture-cavity carbonate reservoir under complex flow state. A mathematical model of fault-controlled carbonate reservoir with coexisting seepage and free flow was established, and pilot water injection tests were conducted to evaluate its effects on enhancing oil recovery. The results show that the fault-controlled fracture-cavity carbonate reservoir units can be divided into three types, and the mathematical model can quantitatively describe the fluid flow law in the fracture-cavity body.
PETROLEUM EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT
(2022)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Emil R. Saifullin, Polina O. Putintseva, Rustam N. Sagirov, Mikhail A. Varfolomeev, Chengdong Yuan, Roman S. Pavelyev, Sergey A. Nazarychev, Aleksei O. Malahov, Lucia Akimushkina, Dmitrii A. Zharkov, Alexey O. Bykov, Ulukbek Mirzakimov
Summary: This study successfully synthesized three novel anionic-nonionic surfactants based on the nonionic surfactant NPEO and evaluated their effectiveness for enhanced oil recovery in high salinity water. The modified surfactants showed significant reduction in interfacial tension and improved wettability of the rock, leading to increased oil production. Filtration experiments indicated the great potential of these novel surfactants for enhanced oil recovery in high salinity reservoirs.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Abdolali Mosallanezhad, Azim Kalantariasl
Summary: Ion-engineered water injection (EWI) is an advantageous enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technique that has gained considerable attention in recent years. This study investigates the optimization of EWI through adjusting the concentration of active and non-active ions in injection water on a laboratory scale, suggesting an optimum EWI design with high accuracy in predicted responses. The model developed in this study can be applied for experimental design and optimizing water composition.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Mehdi Zallaghi, Ali Reza Khaz'ali
Summary: The study investigates the efficiency of a mixture of cationic and nonionic surfactants combined with smart water for enhanced oil recovery in carbonate reservoirs. Through experiments and analysis, it demonstrates a strong synergy between low salinity water and surfactant for recovering oil from carbonate reservoirs, showing significant improvements in oil recovery.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Mariam Shakeel, Aida Samanova, Peyman Pourafshary, Muhammad Rehan Hashmet
Summary: The study investigated hybrid approaches using engineered water (EW) and chemical enhanced oil recovery (CEOR) for carbonate reservoirs. The best combination was found to be the EWASP flooding in slug-wise injection mode, resulting in 36% incremental oil recovery. Hybrid designs were more effective in recovering residual oil due to better mobility control and lower interfacial tension.
JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
(2021)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Rohit Kumar Saw, Ajay Mandal
Summary: The low salinity water flooding (LSWF) technique is cost-effective and environmentally friendly, but its mechanisms are not yet clear. Recovery in LSWF depends on fluid/fluid and rock/fluid interactions. This study investigated both interactions and found different optimal conditions for improved oil recovery. Rock/fluid interaction showed an incremental recovery of 14%, while fluid/fluid interaction showed an incremental recovery of 7% over simple seawater injection. Results highlight the importance of considering both interactions and wettability alteration in LSWF design.
Review
Polymer Science
Anas M. Hassan, Emad W. Al-Shalabi, Mohammed A. Ayoub
Summary: This study investigates the feasibility of improving polymer displacement technology in high temperature, high salinity oil carbonate resources using optimized polymers and hybrid methods. The selected novel polymers exhibit stability and tolerance, whereas adding alkali-surfactant can enhance mobility control and reduce interfacial tension, thus increasing displacement efficiency.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Saheed Olawale Olayiwola, Morteza Dejam
Summary: This study investigates the best recovery mechanisms during alternating injection of nanoparticles (NPs), low salinity water (LSW), and surfactant, achieving an additional oil recovery of 5-6% through the alternation of NPs and surfactant after LSW injection. It is observed that less than 5% of the oil in place is recovered from the tertiary alternating injection of NPs, LSW, and surfactant, with the improvement in oil recovery attributed to wettability alteration, reduction in interfacial tension (IFT), and increase in sweep efficiency.
JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR LIQUIDS
(2021)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Aleksei O. Malahov, Emil R. Saifullin, Mikhail A. Varfolomeev, Sergey A. Nazarychev, Aidar Z. Mustafin, Chengdong Yuan, Igor P. Novikov, Dmitrii A. Zharkov, Rustam N. Sagirov, Rail I. Kadyrov
Summary: This study explores the impact of screening surfactants in carbonate oilfields with high salinity and heterogeneity. The results show that surfactants have a higher impact on wettability alteration and permeation mechanisms for cores with microporosity, while showing a higher oil displacement factor in flooding experiments for homogeneous cores with lower oil viscosity.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Sajjad Ahmadi Goltapeh, Saeed Abdolahi, Jens Jahren, Rohaldin Miri, Helge Hellevang
Summary: This study uses molecular dynamics to simulate the behavior of the calcite-brine-oil system during low salinity water flooding in oil reservoirs. The results reveal the changes in ion positions and the extended trend of the double electric layer, which might be the cause of oil displacement.
JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR LIQUIDS
(2022)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Anas M. Hassan, Mohammed Ayoub, Mysara Eissa, Emad W. Al-Shalabi, Abdullah Al-Mansour, Abdulrahman Al-Quraishi
Summary: The contribution introduces a new hybrid enhanced oil recovery method called smart water-assisted foam (SWAF) process, which combines smart water and foam flooding techniques. This method has the potential to improve oil recovery from carbonate reservoirs by altering rock wettability and reducing interfacial tension.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Ali Shafiei, Afshin Tatar, Mahsheed Rayhani, Madiyar Kairat, Ingkar Askarova
Summary: This study developed intelligent models using Artificial Neural Network (ANN), Support Vector Machine (SVM), Decision Tree (DT), Random Forest (RF), and Committee Machine Intelligent System (CMIS) to forecast the performance of Low Salinity Water Injection (LSWI) in carbonate reservoirs. Data preprocessing and feature selection were conducted to ensure the quality of the database. It was found that parameters such as brine permeability, core diameter, porosity, and initial recovery factor greatly influenced the LSWI performance. The RF model showed the best performance with a high agreement with experimental data.
JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Geological
Binh T. Bui
Summary: This study evaluates the effects of water injection on oil recovery in liquid-rich unconventional reservoirs using a new mass transport model and geomechanical model. The results show that osmosis significantly contributes to oil recovery from very low permeability shale matrix over a long time period, while shale swelling significantly reduces overall oil recovery. Water injection is not recommended for formations with swelling potential.
ROCK MECHANICS AND ROCK ENGINEERING
(2021)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Jiazhong Wu, Fanghui Liu, Siyu Yang, Haishui Han, Xinglong Chen, Hui Yang
Summary: Implementing the low-salinity effect through tuning injection seawater composition can improve the adaptability of low-salinity waterflooding technology in areas with scarce freshwater resources.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Tagwa A. Musa, Ahmed F. Ibrahim, Hisham A. Nasr-El-Din, Anas. M. Hassan
Summary: The study confirmed the potential of guar gum as a natural polymer for EOR applications in sandstone reservoirs, showing good stability and viscosity under high-temperature and high-salinity conditions. Additionally, flooding experiments demonstrated a 16% increase in recovery factor.
JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Petroleum
Ahmed Adila, Emad W. Al-Shalabi, Waleed AlAmeri
Summary: A numerical simulation model was developed to investigate the hybrid effect of surfactant/EWI in carbonates under harsh conditions. The model was validated using experimental data and showed promising results. The hybrid surfactant/EWI technique has the potential to enhance oil recovery from carbonates.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Ding Xiong, Shehzad Ahmed, Waleed Alameri, Emad W. Al-Shalabi
Summary: Foam injection is a promising technology for controlling gas mobility in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) processes. This study investigates the use of different surfactants and their combinations to establish foam performance and its ability to displace residual oil in challenging carbonate formations. The betaine surfactant (B1235) showed superior foamability and stability, and was found to be the most effective in maintaining foam properties in the presence of crude oil. The optimum concentrations for B1235 were determined to be 0.25 wt% without crude oil and 0.5 wt% with crude oil. The betaine-based surfactant-stabilized foam demonstrated effective control of gas mobility and achieved significant incremental oil recovery of 25%.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Anas M. Hassan, Emad W. Al-Shalabi, Waleed Alameri, Muhammad Shahzad Kamal, Shirish Patil, Syed Muhammad Shakil Hussain
Summary: Most oil fields in the Middle East are mature carbonate reservoirs with high temperature and high salinity. Traditional enhanced oil recovery methods are ineffective for carbonate reservoirs due to their complex properties. However, new surfactants and polymers have shown promise in improving oil recovery from carbonate reservoirs, providing economic and environmental feasibility.
GEOENERGY SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
(2023)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Shams Kalam, Sidqi A. Abu-Khamsin, Shirish Patil, Syed Muhammad Shakil Hussain, Mohamed Mahmoud, Muhammad Shahzad Kamal, Emad W. Al Shalabi
Summary: Surfactant adsorption is a significant challenge for cEOR techniques and it depends on the presence of silicate and clay minerals in carbonate outcrops. The higher the impurities, the higher the surfactant adsorption. The addition of a novel adsorption inhibitor, methylene blue, dramatically reduced the surfactant adsorption on carbonate outcrops. Curve fitting analysis showed that the Redlich-Peterson model described the adsorption isotherm well, while the pseudo-second-order model described the adsorption kinetics accurately.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Eric Sonny Mathew, Moussa Tembely, Waleed Alameri, Emad W. Al-Shalabi, Abdul Ravoof Shaik
Summary: This study developed machine learning models to estimate relative permeability (Kr) curves in steady-state drainage coreflooding experiments. By training these models with a large database of Kr and capillary pressure curves, accurate predictions of Kr curves were achieved. The developed models have the advantages of fast prediction speed and low cost, which are important for flow research in oil and gas production.
SPE RESERVOIR EVALUATION & ENGINEERING
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Xiao Deng, Muhammad Shahzad Kamal, Shirish Patil, Syed Muhammad Shakil Hussain, Mohamed Mahmoud, Dhafer Al-Shehri, Emad W. Al-Shalabi
Summary: Interfacial tension (IFT) reduction and wettability alteration (WA) are important mechanisms for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). They work together to release trapped oil in oil-wet formations. However, studies have shown conflicting observations about their coupled effect, necessitating further research. This study used oil-aged Indiana limestone samples to represent oil-wet carbonate rocks and conducted tests to assess wettability and IFT. Results showed that higher IFT values and stronger WA performance led to faster and higher oil recoveries. The importance of IFT reduction was enhanced in higher permeability conditions, while the importance of WA was enhanced in lower permeability conditions.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Shams Kalam, Sidqi A. Abu-Khamsin, Afeez Olayinka Gbadamosi, Shirish Patil, Muhammad Shahzad Kamal, Syed Muhammad Shakil Hussain, Dhafer Al-Shehri, Emad W. Al-Shalabi, Kishore K. Mohanty
Summary: This study investigated the synergistic application of low salinity water and a cationic gemini surfactant in carbonate rock. The results showed that low salinity water can significantly reduce the adsorption of the surfactant, thus improving the effectiveness and economic feasibility of chemical enhanced oil recovery (cEOR) techniques.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2023)
Review
Energy & Fuels
Muhammad Mushtaq, Emad W. Al-Shalabi, Waleed Alameri
Summary: This review article focuses on the mechanisms of surfactant adsorption onto different rock types and minerals encountered in reservoirs, as well as the methods for controlling the adsorption. The factors affecting adsorption, such as surfactant structure, temperature, brine composition, and surface properties, are discussed in detail. In addition, recent trends in mitigating surfactant adsorption, including the use of sacrificial agents, alkalis, low-salinity brine, nanoparticles, and ionic liquids, are covered. Overall, this review aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of surfactant adsorption behavior and mitigation techniques to improve the efficiency of chemical enhanced oil recovery processes.
GEOENERGY SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
(2023)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Shams Kalam, Sidqi A. Abu-Khamsin, Shirish Patil, Syed Muhammad Shakil Hussain, Mohamed Mahmoud, Muhammad Shahzad Kamal, Emad W. Al Shalabi
Summary: Surfactants are advantageous chemicals for enhanced oil recovery due to their ability to lower interfacial tension and modify wettability. However, their loss by adsorption on rock surfaces is a major drawback.
GEOENERGY SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
(2023)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Shehzad Ahmed, Alvinda Sri Hanamertani, Waleed Alameri, Emad W. Al-Shalabi, Muhammad Rehan Hashmet
Summary: This study evaluates the performance of polymer flooding in carbonate reservoirs with high salinity. In-situ saturation monitoring and CT scanner technology were used to analyze the flow diversion and retention of the injected polymer solution. The results showed significant flow diversion from fractures to matrix, and an increase in inaccessible pore volume in fractured rock compared to unfractured rock.
GEOENERGY SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
(2023)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Shams Kalam, Sidqi A. Abu-Khamsin, Shirish Patil, Syed Muhammad Shakil Hussain, Mohamed Mahmoud, Muhammad Shahzad Kamal, Emad W. Al Shalabi
Summary: Surfactant adsorption is a key factor affecting the efficiency of chemically enhanced oil recovery techniques. The presence of silicate and clay minerals increases the adsorption of surfactants on carbonate samples. High salinity and temperature decrease the adsorption. A new adsorption inhibitor, methylene blue, reduces the surfactant adsorption on carbonate samples significantly. The Redlich-Peterson and pseudo-second-order models provide the best fit for the adsorption isotherm and kinetics, respectively.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Mursal Zeynalli, Emad Walid Al-Shalabi, Waleed AlAmeri
Summary: Polymer flooding is a widely used chemical enhanced oil recovery method. This study proposes a novel viscoelastic model to accurately predict the rheological response of polymers in porous media, which can improve both macroscopic sweep efficiency and microscopic displacement efficiency. The model is validated using coreflooding tests and can reduce the need for time-consuming experiments in polymer screening works.
SPE RESERVOIR EVALUATION & ENGINEERING
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Javad Iskandarov, George S. Fanourgakis, Shehzad Ahmed, Waleed Alameri, George E. Froudakis, Georgios N. Karanikolos
Summary: In this study, machine learning models were used to predict the apparent viscosity of carbon dioxide foam and determine the critical foam quality and maximum apparent foam viscosity under different conditions. This helps to control CO2 mobility and optimize enhanced oil recovery and carbon sequestration.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Deena Elhossary, Waleed AlAmeri, Emad W. Al-Shalabi
Summary: This study experimentally evaluates the performance of a potential biopolymer (scleroglucan) in carbonates under harsh conditions of high temperature and high salinity. The biopolymer shows high viscosifying power and shear-thinning behavior, and exhibits better filterability and injectivity at high temperature. The study provides further insight into the performance of this biopolymer in carbonates under harsh salinity and temperature conditions.
SPE RESERVOIR EVALUATION & ENGINEERING
(2022)