A Microscopic Experimental Study on the Dominant Flow Channels of Water Flooding in Ultra-High Water Cut Reservoirs

The water drive reservoir in Shengli Oilfield has entered a stage of ultra-high water cut development, forming an advantageous flow channel for the water drive, resulting in the inefficient and ineffective circulation of injected water. Therefore, the distribution characteristics of water drive flow...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Chunlei Yu, Min Zhang, Wenbin Chen, Shiming Zhang, Shuoliang Wang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-11-01
Series:Energies
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/22/5756
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1846153646520139776
author Chunlei Yu
Min Zhang
Wenbin Chen
Shiming Zhang
Shuoliang Wang
author_facet Chunlei Yu
Min Zhang
Wenbin Chen
Shiming Zhang
Shuoliang Wang
author_sort Chunlei Yu
collection DOAJ
description The water drive reservoir in Shengli Oilfield has entered a stage of ultra-high water cut development, forming an advantageous flow channel for the water drive, resulting in the inefficient and ineffective circulation of injected water. Therefore, the distribution characteristics of water drive flow channels and their controlled residual oil in ultra-high water cut reservoirs are of great significance for treating water drive dominant flow channels and utilizing discontinuous residual oil. Through microscopic physical simulation of water flooding, color mixing recognition and image analysis technology were used to visualize the evolution characteristics of water flooding seepage channels and their changes during the control process. Research has shown that during the ultra-high water content period, the shrinkage of the water drive seepage channel forms a dominant seepage channel, forming a “seepage barrier” at the boundary of the dominant seepage channel, and dividing the affected area into the water drive dominant seepage zone and the seepage stagnation zone. The advantage of water flooding is that the oil displacement efficiency in the permeable zone is as high as 80.5%, and the remaining oil is highly dispersed. The water phase is almost a single-phase flow, revealing the reason for high water consumption in this stage. The remaining oil outside the affected area and within the stagnant flow zone accounts for 89.8% of the remaining oil, which has the potential to further improve oil recovery in the later stage of ultra-high water cut. For the first time, the redundancy index was proposed to quantitatively evaluate the control effect of liquid extraction and liquid flow direction on the dominant flow channels in water flooding. Experimental data showed that both liquid extraction and liquid flow direction can regulate the dominant flow channels in water flooding and improve oil recovery under certain conditions. Microscopic physical simulation experiments were conducted through the transformation of well network form in the later stage of ultra-high water content, which showed that the synergistic effect of liquid extraction and liquid flow direction can significantly improve the oil recovery effect, with an oil recovery rate of 68.02%, deepening the understanding of improving oil recovery rate in the later stage of ultra-high water content.
format Article
id doaj-art-3da8450c97484e24bd1f065a3d1a9061
institution Kabale University
issn 1996-1073
language English
publishDate 2024-11-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Energies
spelling doaj-art-3da8450c97484e24bd1f065a3d1a90612024-11-26T18:02:39ZengMDPI AGEnergies1996-10732024-11-011722575610.3390/en17225756A Microscopic Experimental Study on the Dominant Flow Channels of Water Flooding in Ultra-High Water Cut ReservoirsChunlei Yu0Min Zhang1Wenbin Chen2Shiming Zhang3Shuoliang Wang4Research Institute of Exploration and Development, Shengli Oilfield Company, Sinopec Corporation, Dongying 257001, ChinaResearch Institute of Exploration and Development, Shengli Oilfield Company, Sinopec Corporation, Dongying 257001, ChinaCollege of Energy Resources, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Beijing 100190, ChinaResearch Institute of Exploration and Development, Shengli Oilfield Company, Sinopec Corporation, Dongying 257001, ChinaCollege of Energy Resources, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Beijing 100190, ChinaThe water drive reservoir in Shengli Oilfield has entered a stage of ultra-high water cut development, forming an advantageous flow channel for the water drive, resulting in the inefficient and ineffective circulation of injected water. Therefore, the distribution characteristics of water drive flow channels and their controlled residual oil in ultra-high water cut reservoirs are of great significance for treating water drive dominant flow channels and utilizing discontinuous residual oil. Through microscopic physical simulation of water flooding, color mixing recognition and image analysis technology were used to visualize the evolution characteristics of water flooding seepage channels and their changes during the control process. Research has shown that during the ultra-high water content period, the shrinkage of the water drive seepage channel forms a dominant seepage channel, forming a “seepage barrier” at the boundary of the dominant seepage channel, and dividing the affected area into the water drive dominant seepage zone and the seepage stagnation zone. The advantage of water flooding is that the oil displacement efficiency in the permeable zone is as high as 80.5%, and the remaining oil is highly dispersed. The water phase is almost a single-phase flow, revealing the reason for high water consumption in this stage. The remaining oil outside the affected area and within the stagnant flow zone accounts for 89.8% of the remaining oil, which has the potential to further improve oil recovery in the later stage of ultra-high water cut. For the first time, the redundancy index was proposed to quantitatively evaluate the control effect of liquid extraction and liquid flow direction on the dominant flow channels in water flooding. Experimental data showed that both liquid extraction and liquid flow direction can regulate the dominant flow channels in water flooding and improve oil recovery under certain conditions. Microscopic physical simulation experiments were conducted through the transformation of well network form in the later stage of ultra-high water content, which showed that the synergistic effect of liquid extraction and liquid flow direction can significantly improve the oil recovery effect, with an oil recovery rate of 68.02%, deepening the understanding of improving oil recovery rate in the later stage of ultra-high water content.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/22/5756ultra-high water cut periodadvantageous seepage channelsseepage barrierremaining oil distributionimproved oil recovery
spellingShingle Chunlei Yu
Min Zhang
Wenbin Chen
Shiming Zhang
Shuoliang Wang
A Microscopic Experimental Study on the Dominant Flow Channels of Water Flooding in Ultra-High Water Cut Reservoirs
Energies
ultra-high water cut period
advantageous seepage channels
seepage barrier
remaining oil distribution
improved oil recovery
title A Microscopic Experimental Study on the Dominant Flow Channels of Water Flooding in Ultra-High Water Cut Reservoirs
title_full A Microscopic Experimental Study on the Dominant Flow Channels of Water Flooding in Ultra-High Water Cut Reservoirs
title_fullStr A Microscopic Experimental Study on the Dominant Flow Channels of Water Flooding in Ultra-High Water Cut Reservoirs
title_full_unstemmed A Microscopic Experimental Study on the Dominant Flow Channels of Water Flooding in Ultra-High Water Cut Reservoirs
title_short A Microscopic Experimental Study on the Dominant Flow Channels of Water Flooding in Ultra-High Water Cut Reservoirs
title_sort microscopic experimental study on the dominant flow channels of water flooding in ultra high water cut reservoirs
topic ultra-high water cut period
advantageous seepage channels
seepage barrier
remaining oil distribution
improved oil recovery
url https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/22/5756
work_keys_str_mv AT chunleiyu amicroscopicexperimentalstudyonthedominantflowchannelsofwaterfloodinginultrahighwatercutreservoirs
AT minzhang amicroscopicexperimentalstudyonthedominantflowchannelsofwaterfloodinginultrahighwatercutreservoirs
AT wenbinchen amicroscopicexperimentalstudyonthedominantflowchannelsofwaterfloodinginultrahighwatercutreservoirs
AT shimingzhang amicroscopicexperimentalstudyonthedominantflowchannelsofwaterfloodinginultrahighwatercutreservoirs
AT shuoliangwang amicroscopicexperimentalstudyonthedominantflowchannelsofwaterfloodinginultrahighwatercutreservoirs
AT chunleiyu microscopicexperimentalstudyonthedominantflowchannelsofwaterfloodinginultrahighwatercutreservoirs
AT minzhang microscopicexperimentalstudyonthedominantflowchannelsofwaterfloodinginultrahighwatercutreservoirs
AT wenbinchen microscopicexperimentalstudyonthedominantflowchannelsofwaterfloodinginultrahighwatercutreservoirs
AT shimingzhang microscopicexperimentalstudyonthedominantflowchannelsofwaterfloodinginultrahighwatercutreservoirs
AT shuoliangwang microscopicexperimentalstudyonthedominantflowchannelsofwaterfloodinginultrahighwatercutreservoirs