Abstract
In this work, the analytical and numerical solutions for modeling miscible gas and water injection into an oil reservoir are presented. Conservation laws with three levels of complexity are considered. Only the most complex model has the correct phase behavior for the example system, which is a multicontact miscible condensing gas drive with simultaneous water and gas injection. Example displacements in which one or both of the simpler models result in accurate simulations in a fraction of the computation time are presented, along with an example in which neither simplified thermodynamic model achieves a truly satisfactory result. A methodology is presented that can be used to establish the accuracy of simplified models in 1-D simulation based on convergence to analytical solutions for the full three-phase system.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ghedan, S.: Global laboratory experience of CO2-EOR flooding. Paper presented at the 2009 SPE/EAGE reservoir characterization and simulation conference, SPE 125581, Abu Dhabi, UAE, 19–21 October 2009
Giordano, R.M., Salter, S.J.: Comparison of simulation and experiments for compositionally well-defined corefloods. Paper presented at the SPE/DOE fourth symposium on EOR, Tulsa, Oklahoma, 15–18 April 1984
Jessen, K., Stenby, E.H., Orr, Jr., F.M.: Interplay of phase behavior and numerical dispersion in finite-difference compositional simulation. SPE J. 9(2), 193–201 (2004)
Johns, R.T., Orr, Jr., F.M.: Miscible gas displacement of multicomponent oils. SPE J. 1(1), 39–50 (1996)
Johns, R.T.: Analytical theory of multicomponent gas drives with two-phase mass transfer. Dissertation, Stanford University (1992)
LaForce, T.: Mathematics of partially miscible three-phase flow. Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX (2005)
LaForce, T., Jessen, K.: Analytical and numerical investigation of multicomponent multiphase WAG displacements. Comput. Geosci. 14, 745–754 (2010). doi:10.1007/s10596-010-9185-3
LaForce, T., Jessen, K., Orr, F.M.: Four-component gas/water/oil displacements in one dimension: part I, structure of the conservation law. TIPM 71(2), 199–216 (2008). doi:10.1007/s11242-007-9120-9
LaForce, T., Jessen, K., Orr, F.M.: Four-component gas/ water/oil displacements in one dimension: part II, example solutions. TIPM 72(1), 83–96 (2008). doi:10.1007/s11242-007-9137-0
LaForce, T., Orr, F.M.: Four-component gas/water/oil displacements in one dimension: part III, development of miscibility. TIPM 79(2), 225–247 (2009)
Lake, L.W.: Enhanced Oil Recovery, 1st edn. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs (1989)
Lantz, R.B.: Quantitative evaluation of numerical diffusion (truncation error). SPE J. 11(1), 315–319 (1971)
Lohrenz, J., Bray, B.G., Clark, C.R.: Calculating viscosities of reservoir fluids from their compositions. J. Pet. Technol. 16, 1171–1176 (1964)
Marchesin, D., Plohr, B.: Wave structure in WAG recovery. SPE J. 6(2), 209–219 (2001)
Orr, Jr., F.M.: Theory of Gas Injection Processes. Tie-Line Publications, Copenhagen (2007)
Pritchard, D.W.L., Nieman, R.E: Improving oil recovery through WAG cycle optimization in a gravity-overide-dominated miscible flood. Paper presented at the 8th SPE/DOE symposium on EOR, SPE 24181, Tulsa, OK, 22–24 April 1992
Qi, R., LaForce, T.C., Blunt, M.J.: A three-phase four-component streamline-based simulator to study carbon dioxide storage. Comput. Geosci. 13(4), 493–509 (2009). doi:10.1007/s10596-009-9139-9
Rupp, K.A., Nelson, W.C., Kristian, L.D., Zimmerman, K.A., Metz, B.E., Styler, J.W.: Design and implementation of a miscible water-alternating-gas flood at Prudhoe Bay. Paper presented at the 1984 SPE ATCE, SPE 13272, Houston, TX, 16–19 September 1984
Sandler, S.I.: Chemical and Engineering Thermodynamics, 3rd edn. Wiley, New York (1999)
de Souza, A.J.: Wave structure for a nonstrictly hyperbolic system of three conservation laws. Math. Comput. Model. 22, 1–29 (1995)
Stalkup, F.I.: Carbon dioxide miscible flooding: past, present and outlook for the future. J. Pet. Technol. 30(8), 1102–1112 (1978)
Walsh, M.P., Lake, L.W.: Applying fractional flow theory to solvent flooding and chase fluids. J. Pet. Sci. Eng. 2, 281–303 (1989)
Yaws, C.L. (ed.): Chemical Properties Handbook. McGraw-Hill, New York (1999)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
LaForce, T.C. Insight from analytical solutions for improved simulation of miscible WAG flooding in one dimension. Comput Geosci 16, 1007–1020 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10596-012-9300-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10596-012-9300-8