Issue 69, 2020

A mechanistic investigation of low salinity water flooding coupled with ion tuning for enhanced oil recovery

Abstract

Oil recovery by low salinity water flooding (LSWF) from carbonate reservoirs has gained tremendous attention in recent years due to its cost-effectiveness and environment-friendly nature. The mechanisms of low salinity water flooding for enhanced oil recovery are very complex and depend on the mineralogy of the formation rock, properties of injection brine and reservoir fluids. The present work aimed at the optimization of salinity and concentration of potential determining ions (PDIs) in injection water for enhanced oil recovery from carbonate reservoirs. Initially, we conducted a series of experiments on the dilution effect of seawater (SW) with the help of rock/fluid and fluid/fluid interactions via interfacial tension (IFT), zeta potential and contact angle measurements. This offered an optimum salinity (20dSW) with an 11% increase in recovery of the original oil in place (OOIP) over the SW injection in secondary flooding mode. Then, the ion tuning was done on the optimum salinity (20dSW) by manipulating the PDIs (Ca2+, SO42− and Mg2+) while keeping ionic strength constant. The properties of ion tuned brine were optimized by zeta potential and contact angle measurements. The core flooding experiments performed with the injection of designed ion tuned water obtained by dilution and ion tuning of SW showed more than 20% OOIP as incremental recovery over the SW injection. Effluent analysis after the flooding confirms that the main mechanisms for enhanced oil recovery include calcite dissolution and wettability alteration due to interplay of PDIs.

Graphical abstract: A mechanistic investigation of low salinity water flooding coupled with ion tuning for enhanced oil recovery

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
28 Sep 2020
Accepted
06 Nov 2020
First published
24 Nov 2020
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

RSC Adv., 2020,10, 42570-42583

A mechanistic investigation of low salinity water flooding coupled with ion tuning for enhanced oil recovery

R. K. Saw and A. Mandal, RSC Adv., 2020, 10, 42570 DOI: 10.1039/D0RA08301A

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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