JANUARY 1998 69

E O R / I O R
CO
2
foam has been used as an effective
mobility-reducing agent for CO
2
flooding
in the oil-recovery process. Recent research
indicates that some CO
2
foams can provide
selective mobility reduction (SMR). SMR in
foams reduces CO
2
mobility by more in
higher- than in lower-permeability cores in
laboratory experiments. Unlike Darcy flow
of ordinary fluids in rocks, where the
mobility is proportional to rock permeabil-
ity, the mobility of foam with SMR is less
than proportional to core permeability and
foam flows through higher-permeability
rocks at a lower rate than would be expect-
ed for the existing pressure gradient. This
allows foam to flow at the same velocity in
high- and low-permeability regions in the
reservoir, preserving the uniformity of the
flood front while propagating through
rocks with nonuniformpermeability. Use of
a CO
2
foam with SMR delays CO
2
break-
through and provides a high displacement
efficiency in heterogeneous reservoirs.
FOAM-DURABILITY TEST
For this study a high-pressure foam-dura-
bility test apparatus was constructed and
screening tests were conducted successfully
to select surfactants for field foam applica-
tion. The test determined the foaming abil-
ity of each surfactant, the stability of foam,
and surfactant properties, such as the inter-
facial tension (IFT) between a surfactant
and dense CO
2
and the critical micelle con-
centration (CMC) of a surfactant. The
foam-durability apparatus comprises a CO
2
source tank, a visual cell made from a trans-
parent sapphire tube, a buffer-solution
cylinder, and a pump. The major part of the
system, the CO
2
tank and sapphire-tube
high-pressure cell, is contained in a tem-
perature-controlled water bath. The buffer-
solution cylinder and the pump are
installed outside of the water bath, and
their temperatures are maintained at the
same temperature as the water bath by a
separate temperature-control system.
During operation, the sapphire visual cell
is first filled with the solution to be tested.
Once the system reaches the desired pres-
sure, the dense CO
2
is introduced through a
needle at the lower end of the cell. The CO
2
is drawn upward inside the cell. The densi-
ty difference between dense CO
2
and the
tested solution causes CO
2
bubbles to form
and collect at the upper end of the cell.
These bubbles will either form a layer of
foam-like dispersion at the top of the sap-
phire tube or coalesce into a clear layer of
dense CO
2
, depending on the effectiveness
of the surfactant. After 1.75 cm
3
of CO
2
has
been introduced into the sapphire tube, the
pump is stopped and the length of time that
the formed foam persists is measured.
Surfactant solutions (1 wt% active compo-
nent) were prepared by dissolving the sur-
factant as received from the suppliers into a
brine system consisting of 5.6 wt% NaCl
and 1.4 wt% CaCl
2
. Different concentra-
tions of the surfactant solution were pre-
pared by diluting the batch solution with
the 7 wt% brine. All screening tests were
conducted at 77F and 2,000 psig.
By measuring the time required to form a
bubble at the needle in the sapphire tube
and the number of bubbles formed within a
certain time period, the average volume
and radius of each bubble is calculated.
Once the average radius of dense CO
2
is
known, the IFT between surfactant solu-
tion and dense CO
2
can be calculated.
Results and Discussion. The IFT decreas-
es with surfactant concentration and levels
off at a region where the IFT no longer
decreases as surfactant concentration
increases. The concentration at which the
interfacial properties between surfactant
and CO
2
show no significant change is the
CMC and can be graphically determined.
The IFT curves and CMC values vary with
surfactant formula. The CMC values for
Surfactants 1 through 5 are 0.04, 0.06, 0.07,
0.07, and 0.35 wt %, respectively.
The foaming ability of a surfactant is
defined as the ease with which a bubble is
formed at the needle when the surfactant
CO
2
-FOAM FLOODS:
FOAM PROPERTIES AND
MOBILITY-REDUCTION EFFECTIVENESS
This article is a synopsis of paper SPE
37221, Assessment of Foam
Properties and Effectiveness in Mobility
Reduction for CO
2
-Foam Floods, by
Jyun-Syung Tsau, SPE, and Reid B.
Grigg, SPE, New Mexico Petroleum
Recovery Research Center, New
Mexico Inst. of Mining and Technology,
originally presented at the 1997 SPE
International Symposium on Oilfield
Chemistry, Houston, 1821 February.
Fig. 1Decay of CO
2
foam with Surfactant 4.

70 JANUARY 1998
E O R / I O R
solution contacts the CO
2
. Durability is
defined as the persistence of foam bubbles
after a standard volume of CO
2
has been
introduced. A cathetometer is used to mea-
sure the foam height and the weight of the
CO
2
to allow calculation of the percentage
of foam inside the sapphire tube and assess-
ment of the persistence of foam. Foam was
found to form more easily as the surfactant
concentration increases. The foaming abili-
ty of surfactant increases as the IFT between
CO
2
and the surfactant solution decreases.
The longest-lasting foams were not neces-
sarily found at the best foaming conditions.
For Surfactant 4 (Fig. 1), there is an opti-
mum concentration (0.075 wt%) at which
the foam has the best stability or the longest
durability. The persistence of foam decreas-
es at concentrations either above or below
this optimum concentration. This trend was
observed with Surfactant 1, with an opti-
mum concentration of 0.05 wt%. In both
cases, the optimum concentration is close to
the surfactants CMC (i.e., 0.07 for
Surfactant 4 and 0.04 for Surfactant 1). The
bubbles formed by Surfactants 5 and 2 coa-
lesced in less than 1 minute, whereas most
of the bubbles formed by Surfactant 3 lasted
longer than 90 minutes. The optimum con-
centration for generating the longest-lasting
foams were not identified for Surfactants 5,
2, and 3. Surfactant 3 generates the most
stable foams, followed by Surfactants 4, 1, 2,
and 5 (listed by decreasing level of stability).
FOAM-MOBILITY TEST
Core systems containing well-defined high-
and low-permeability regions were con-
structed to assess the flowing-foam proper-
ties and verify the existence of SMR in het-
erogeneous porous media. This experiment
used two well-defined permeability regions
in capillary contact arranged in series. The
series assembly uses two
1
/2-in.-diameter
cores approximately 3 in. long. The core-
holder is fitted with five equally spaced
pressure taps so that the middle tap is near
the junction of the cores. The abutting end
faces of the cores are carefully cut perpen-
dicular to their axes and ground flat before
mounting end to end. The space between
the two core faces is filled with fine sand.
Pressure differences between each pair of
pressure taps is recorded. The fluids flowing
into a foam generator and the composite
core are injected by two pumps, a positive-
displacement pump for the CO
2
and a pis-
ton pump for brine or surfactant solution.
The pressure is maintained at an almost
constant level by leading the output fluids
into a backward-running piston pump.
When the experimental conditions reach
steady state, pressure drops in each segment
of the core are recorded as functions of time.
The mobility of injected fluid, defined as the
ratio of Darcy or superficial velocity of the
fluid to the average pressure gradient along
each segment of core, is calculated and com-
pared for different injection conditions.
The foam generator and core sample are
preflushed with synthetic brine for at least 40
pore volumes (PV) before the brine perme-
ability measurements are begun. The hetero-
geneity of the series composite core was
determined by measuring the brine perme-
abilities for four different sections along the
core. Following the permeability measure-
ments, dense CO
2
and brine were injected
simultaneously into the core sample. The
mobility of the two-phase mixture was mea-
sured for each core section and used as a ref-
erence for later comparison. After establish-
ing the baseline, a sequence of foam experi-
ments was performed. To satisfy the adsorp-
tion requirement, 50 PV of surfactant solu-
tion was displaced. Then CO
2
and surfactant
solution were injected into the core until
steady-state conditions were reached. Foam
mobility was measured. The ratio of volu-
metric flow rate of CO
2
to aqueous phase was
maintained at four to one. The total injection
rate was varied from 5.0 to 15.0 cm
3
/hr cor-
responding to velocities of 3.1 to 9.4 ft/D.
The two composite cores had permeabilities
ranging from 525 to 128 md for Core 1 and
819 to 106 md for Core 2. Surfactant con-
centrations of 0.1 wt% were used in Core 1
experiments, while 0.05 wt% surfactant solu-
tions were used in Core 2 experiments.
Results and Discussion. Comparison of the
mobility data in the first three core sections
indicates that the mobility of CO
2
/brine is
reduced by the addition of surfactant. Foam
mobilities are significantly lower than the total
mobility of CO
2
/brine. This mobility reduc-
tion varies with surfactant, surfactant concen-
tration, and flow condition. In general, foam
mobility is lower when foam is generated at
higher surfactant concentrations or when
foam is displaced at a lower injection rate.
When mobility dependence on rock per-
meability is examined, SMR is also found to
depend on the surfactant type, concentra-
tion, and flow rate. When the mobility of
CO
2
/brine or CO
2
/foam is plotted vs. the
sectional permeability, the slope of the line
indicates the degree to which the the mobil-
ity of fluid depends on the permeability of
porous media. A slope of one indicates that
the mobility of the fluid is proportional to
the rock permeability as described by
Darcys law. A value of less than one shows a
favorable dependence of SMR that will lead
to a more uniform displacement front when
the fluid is flowing through heterogeneous
porous media. In general, the value of the
slope decreases when surfactant is added to
the brine as a foaming agent. This suggests
that foam is useful in correcting the nonuni-
form flow of CO
2
and brine in a porous sys-
tem containing differing permeabilities. At
lower velocities, the value of the slope
decreases, indicating a more favorable SMR
occurs at a lower displacement rate.
When results from the foam-durability
tests are compared with the mobility tests,
the stability of foam in the bulk phase can
be correlated with the effectiveness of
mobility reduction of flowing foam in the
porous media. The mobility reduction is
enhanced as foam stability increases. The
mobility-reduction factor (MRF), defined as
the ratio of total mobility of CO
2
/brine to
foam mobility, increases with the foam life.
When foams become more stable, more
resistance to flow results in a higher mobili-
ty reduction. On the basis of these observa-
tions, the capability of surfactant in stabiliz-
ing the bubble file or lamellae in the porous
media is believed to be the most likely rea-
son for the effectiveness of foam in reducing
the mobility of CO
2
.
Use of a proper CO
2
foam could minimize
the mobility contrast between high- and low-
permeability zones in reservoir flow, increas-
ing the efficiency of oil displacement.
Experimental research indicates that the SMR
property of CO
2
foam is real. It is observed in
parallel- and series-core tests with capillary
contact and can be presumed to function
similarly in actual field situations.
CONCLUSIONS
1. The stability of foam in the bulk phase
can be correlated with the performance of
foam flowing in porous media. When com-
paring different surfactants, greater foam
stability gives more mobility reduction in
foam displacement.
2. The MRF increases as the reduction
factor of the IFT between CO
2
and the
aqueous phase increases.
3. An optimum concentration exists at
which the most stable foam in the bulk phase
is formed. This optimum concentration is
close to the CMC of each surfactant solution.
4. Factors that favor reducing the mobili-
ty of CO
2
/brine also lead to a more favorable
SMR when foam flows in a composite core
consisting of differing permeabilities.
Please read the full-length paper for addi-
tional detail, illustrations, and references.
The paper from which the synopsis has
been taken has not been peer reviewed.
JANUARY 1998 71
E O R / I O R
After the 1973 oil embargo, the U.S. gov-
ernment funded several initiatives to pro-
vide additional worldwide resources as a
means of lowering oil prices. One of these
initiatives was Project Deep Steam. This
project evolved on the theory that signifi-
cant reserves of heavy oil, worldwide,
were beyond the reach of surface-generat-
ed steam because of heat losses in the tub-
ing. Two approaches were taken to achieve
the goal of steam delivery to deep forma-
tions. One was to improve or develop new
injection strings to minimize heat loss,
and the second was to design and demon-
strate the operation of a device that would
generate steam in the wellbore at the
depth of the formation. Sandia Natl.
Laboratory was given a U.S. $23 million
budget for a 4-year program beginning in
1976. Sandia initiated an in-house effort
for steam-generator development. Both
the insulated-injection-tubing develop-
ment and testing were carried out by
external contract.
The outside diameter (OD) of the down-
hole steam generator could not exceed 4.5
in. This OD would fit inside 7-in. casing. To
achieve large-magnitude firing rates, the
combustion process would have to occur at
high pressure. Steam would be generated in
either of two ways. One was by a tradition-
al heat-exchanger surface that separated the
hot flue gases from the water. Adequate sur-
face for efficient heat transfer was obtained
by heat-exchanger lengths of up to 100 ft.
The cooled flue gases were exhausted up
the annulus. Combustion did not have to
occur at pressures as high as those required
for injection. In the second method, com-
bustion occurred at high pressure and
water was injected directly into the hot flue
gases. Then, both steam and flue gases were
injected into the formation. Injection of the
flue gases proved to be either a benefit or a
problem; one benefit was that it was helpful
in the air-quality permitting process.
Operation of both downhole steam genera-
tors could be carried out on the surface,
with injection tubing transporting the
steam downhole. The Sandia development
and one of the outside contracts were based
on a direct-contact steam generator. The
other outside contract was for an indirect-
contact steam generator.
FIELD OPERATIONS
Kern River Field. The equipment for this
test was sized for a delivery of 5 million
Btu/hr at a maximum pressure of 400 psi.
Along with the steam, nitrogen and carbon
dioxide were generated. The combustion
was carried out with minimum excess air.
Because this was the first operation of a
direct-contact steam generator of Sandia
design, the generator was operated on the
surface rather than downhole. The OD of
the steam generator was 4.5 in., and liquid
propane was the fuel. The Kern River field
had been steamflooded for a number of
years before this test, and the injector well
communicated quickly with surrounding
production wells because of this previous
steaming. No particular increase in produc-
tion was noted because this was a rather
mature steamflooded field.
Wilmington Field. For this operation two
different generators and support systems
were demonstrated simultaneously. The
first was operated downhole, and the sec-
ond was operated on the surface. Both were
fired with air as the oxidizer and diesel as
the fuel.
Downhole Air/Fuel Generator. The out-
put for this system was sized for 5 million
Btu/hr at a pressure rating of 1,400 psi.
Installation of the generator was a rather
complex task. The connectors from the
generator to the surface consisted of two
jointed tubulars and four continuous tub-
ing lines. The air line was 2
3
/8-in. jointed
tubing and was the load-bearing element
for the installation. Water was conducted
down 1.66-in. jointed tubing that had to be
made up by hand tools after the larger tub-
ing had been made up with power tools.
The other lines were continuous coiled tub-
ing that had to be pulled out of the way by
hand to make up the jointed tubulars.
These four lines were attached to the 2
3
/8-
in. tubing by a custom-made cast-alu-
minum clamp. Because diesel contains sul-
fur that produces acids when burned, caus-
tic was injected through a
1
/4-in. line to
neutralize the generator effluent. Two
additional tubing strings were installed to
verify operation. One was a continuous,
fully sheathed,
1
/8-in. thermocouple line
and the other a
1
/4-in. sample return line.
The final line was a
3
/8-in. fuel line. A
thermal packer with a short stinger hung
below the generator. A cap on the end of
the stinger was used to keep annulus flu-
ids isolated from the generator assembly
before operation.
When the installation was complete,
the operation was begun by blowing the
plug off the end of the stinger. Then, a
volume of air was injected through the
generator to create a compressible cush-
ion before ignition. Next, water injection
began. Ignition was achieved by use of a
slug of pyrophoric fluid that was injected
into the diesel line that had first been
flushed with water. When ignition was
achieved, pressure transients were
observed at the surface monitoring point.
Usually 1 to 2 minutes were required for
flows to quasistabilize. An increasing
pressure was usually observed for a signif-
icant period of time following initiation.
Several problems occurred in the down-
hole equipment. The lines for the fuel, air,
and water had filters and check valves just
above the steam generator to ensure that
critical ports were not plugged and that
fluids from the formation could not flow
back through the generator during shut-
downs. In spite of corrosion inhibitors in
the water supply, large quantities of corro-
sion debris sloughed from the water line
and began plugging that filter. The gener-
ator had to be pulled, and the mesh size
and accumulation volume increased.
Improved production was observed
during this test because of the injected
flue gases and their communication with
surrounding production wells. The flue
gases reduced the caloric value of the pro-
duced market gas, but the blended pro-
REFLECTIONS ON A DOWNHOLE
STEAM GENERATOR
This article is a synopsis of paper SPE
38276, Reflections on a Downhole
Steam-Generator Program, by A.B.
Donaldson, SPE, New Mexico
Highlands U., originally presented at
the 1997 SPE Western Regional
Meeting, Long Beach, California, 2527
June.
72 JANUARY 1998
E O R / I O R
duction from the rest of the field kept the
value within specifications.
Surface Oxygen/Fuel Generator.
Oxygen was used in one trial to eliminate
the large amount of noncondensable
nitrogen and increase the partial pressure
of carbon dioxide. This also eliminated
compression equipment. While the exper-
iment with oxygen did not have the same
operational problems as the downhole
unit, it had its share of difficulties. The
major problem was survival time of the
combustor can that isolated the combus-
tion process from the injected water until
combustion was complete. None of the
conventional stainless steels used had suf-
ficient strength to survive the very high
thermal stresses caused by an oxygen/
hydrocarbon flame.
At the end of operations in the Long
Beach,California, area, the apparent scarci-
ty of oil disappeared and government fund-
ing was reduced. A number of the project
team members elected to leave Sandia and
obtain nongovernment funding to attempt
commercialization of the technology.
Enhanced Energy Systems, Inc. (EESI). A
number of deficiencies in the Sandia equip-
ment were obvious after the field experi-
ences. Manpower requirements and sophis-
tication were excessive for oilfield applica-
tions. The equipment was redesigned for
commercial applications, with the goal of
one-person operation and the use of field
gas or crude oil for generator fuel. The con-
cept of steamdrive was replaced by huff n
puff operation. Installation of the units
downhole was difficult, and many of the
later operations were conducted with the
generator on the surface.
Hondo, Texas. The formation is shallow
chalk with poor permeability and the pay
is thin (from 7 to 40 ft). A major oil com-
pany had attempted steaming in a shallow
sand zone in the area, but the return was
insufficient to continue the effort. Seven
wells were stimulated. The casings had
small diameters, and the steam generator
was installed at the surface with effluent
conducted to the wells. Neither insulated
injection string nor packer was used. Flue
gases were injected into the formation with
the steam. Because of poor injectivity, the
equipment was operated at the lowest out-
put, 2 million Btu/hr, at the maximum
pressure, 1000 psi. The fuel used for the
steam generator was site crude, and the
location water had a high hardness.
Production was improved from primary
production but was not sufficient for fur-
ther operation in this field.
Hospah, New Mexico. The formation is
a consolidated sand, approximately 1,100
ft deep, with a thickness from 10 to 20 ft.
The wells were not thermally insulated,
and a downhole packer was not used. Fuel
for the generator was old diesel. The injec-
tivity of the wells was good, and some flue-
gas production was observed at wells along
the path of least resistance. The oil pro-
duced was in the form of an emulsion.
Various chemicals were used in an attempt
to break the emulsion, but none was suc-
cessful. Production increases were attrib-
uted to creation of a high-pressure pocket
of gas that blocked the cold-water seepage
into the formation.
Long Beach. This customer was the first
to purchase a full line of equipment.
Because of the complexity of equipment
and procedures, EESI personnel were
retained to operate the equipment. Because
field gas was available at this location, both
the generator and compressors were fueled
by site gas. Expansion cooling of the fuel
gas led to icing conditions inside the con-
trol valve, and the flow could not be
bypassed. A desiccant was used to dry the
gas. A major problem was controlling deliv-
ery of fuel, air, and water 2,000 ft down-
hole. A thermal packer was used to isolate
the annulus from the reservoir, but filters
and check valves were used sparingly. The
equipment was designed to operate at
approximately 8 million Btu/hr at pressures
up to 1,850 psi. Two wells were steamed
with downhole units. One well was lost in
this operation because of parted casing at
400 ft.
As operating experience was gained,
many of the urgent operational bugs were
found and corrected, and some reasonable
periods of steam injection were experi-
enced. The generator had to be pulled on
one or two occasions because of deteriora-
tion of the combustion-chamber wall. At
this time, operation of the steam generator
was returned to the surface and no further
installations were made downhole.
Two other nearby wells were cyclicly
steamed from this surface location.
Insulated surface-injection piping was used
to transport the steam to the wells. Some of
the most reliable operations occurred dur-
ing this time. Peak production immediately
after bringing the well back into production
sometimes exceeded 500 BOPD, compared
with a prestimulation production of 20 to
40 BOPD. The customer calculated total
production costs of approximately U.S.
$12/bbl, which was the lowest of any of
their production. Although conventional
steam would probably have been economi-
cally viable at this location, compliance
with air-quality regulations was difficult.
THE COMPLETION
While conventional steam-generation tech-
nology has the advantage of being the
accepted technology for shallow reservoirs
with good injectivity, there are some areas
where improvements can be made. In insu-
lated injection tubing currently available,
heat losses at bare collars, expansion joints,
packers, and subs almost negate the bene-
fits of insulation unless the annulus is com-
pletely dry. This conclusion is based on a
water-reflux mechanism that occurs even
when the annulus fluids are initially
expelled. Residual water film or leaks into
the annulus can generally be expected.
CONCLUSIONS
In general, no advantage was evident in
placing the generator downhole, particu-
larly when injectivity of gases was a prob-
lem. It was evident that injection of the
combustion gases was desirable in some
cases and, in one case, necessary.
Formations with poor injectivity are a
major resource awaiting a viable recovery
mechanism. Placement of a direct-contact
steam generator downhole is not a solution
to this problem.
RECOMMENDATIONS
These recommendation focus on what
modifications can be made to the downhole
steam generator for successful stimulation
of tight formations.
New Concepts. A downhole steam genera-
tor that does not produce nitrogen gas
appears to offer potential for low-injectivity
applications. There have been field trials of
radio-frequency heating devices as well as
one that uses electricity for energy. It is
uncertain whether any of these have under-
gone extensive field tests. One other possi-
bility is to transpose submerged combus-
tion technology developed for toxic-waste
disposal to oilfield applications. Another
idea is to use the heat of mixing two fluid
components that can be separated by distil-
lation at the surface. A downhole heat
exchanger would be used to heat feed water
to steam, and the mixture of the two com-
ponents would be returned to the surface
for processing.
Please read the full-length paper for
additional detail, illustrations, and ref-
erences. The paper from which the syn-
opsis has been taken has not been peer
reviewed.
74 JANUARY 1998
E O R / I O R
Foam has the potential to relieve several
common problems by better areal sweep,
better vertical sweep, less viscous fingering,
and lower handling costs when compared
with gas-injection improved oil recovery
(IOR). Foam may be introduced by contin-
uous coinjection of gas and surfactant solu-
tion or by injection of a slug of surfactant
solution followed by injection of a gas slug,
known as a surfactant-alternating-gas
(SAG) process. SAG injection has certain
advantages over continuous foam injection
in foam IOR processes. SAG injection min-
imizes contact between gas and water in the
injection facilities, reducing corrosion, and
can achieve high injectivity and low mobil-
ity at the displacement front. High injectiv-
ity results as foam near the well dries out,
weakens, and collapses, while stronger,
wetter foam farther from the well maintains
mobility control. Recent simulation results
show that SAG processes can overcome
gravity override with less increase in injec-
tion-well pressure than is possible with
continuous foam injection.
SCALEUP OF LABORATORY RESULTS
There are a number of published coreflood
studies where gas is injected into core sam-
ples presaturated with surfactant solution.
Some show foam persistence for many pore
volumes (PVs) of gas injection. However,
extrapolating these results directly to field
scale is dangerous. Because of dispersive
effects, the mobility within the shock front
may exert influence in the length scale of a
coreflood that does not occur in the field.
Processes such as foam generation may
occur slowly on the time scale of a core-
flood but be virtually instantaneous on the
time scale of a field project. Unsteady-state
displacements in a coreflood may not be
directly proportional to field scale, and
foam behavior in a reservoir may not be
directly proportional to unsteady-state dis-
placements in a coreflood. Capillary end
effects in a coreflood study may prevent
water transport out of the core, prolonging
foam life beyond that observed in a larger
system without this effect. A more reliable
procedure is to derive the fractional-flow
curve from the coreflood and then scale to
reservoir size with fractional-flow methods.
APPARATUS AND MATERIALS
An unfired Berea core with a permeability of
720 md and porosity of 0.22 was used in the
experiments. It was cut into a 9.5-in.-long
right-circular cylinder. An N
2
gas phase
with a 1.0-wt% NaCl/0.01-wt% CaCl
2
/1.0-
wt% surfactant aqueous phase was used.
The coreholder, positioned downstream of
the foam generator, held the core in a verti-
cal position. The coreholder was designed
to be lightweight so that the weight of the
core could be measured effectively during
the flood to determine water saturation, S
w
.
Flow lines were flexible, transparent nylon,
and baffles were installed to restrict air flow
around the apparatus and minimize exter-
nal forces on the coreholder. Ports divided
the length of the core into three sections of
2.6, 2.75, and 4.15 in., respectively, from
inlet to outlet. The weight of the system,
with S
w
in the core equal to one and zero,
was measured before the tests, allowing
determination of S
w
during the test.
One goal of these tests was to measure cap-
illary pressure, P
c
. A probe was designed that
used a differential-pressure transducer to
measure the pressure in the gas phase on one
side and pressure in the water phase on the
other side of the transducer. A backpressure
regulator maintained a steady backpressure of
147 psi on the entire system during the two-
phase flow. Differential-pressure transducers
measured pressure drop, p, across each of
the three sections of the core. All transducers
had a range of 0 to 80 psi, and were calibrat-
ed before the test. Data were recorded by a
computerized data-acquisition system.
EXPERIMENTAL STRATEGY
Tests were performed at room temperature.
The core was vacuum saturated with brine,
then hundreds of PVs of brine were injected
as backpressure was changed between 0 and
100 psi to eliminate gas from the core.
Backpressure was set at 147 psi at the end of
the extended brine injection and held con-
stant. Dozens of PVs of surfactant solution
were then injected. Gas was then introduced
with the surfactant solution at a water volu-
metric fraction, f
w
, of 0.2. f
w
was incremen-
tally reduced as pressure responses stabi-
lized. When a minimum value of f
w
=0.002
was reached, water injection ceased and an
extended period of gas injection began.
EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
Gas/Water Coinjection. The value of S
w
was
derived from measured weight. Two methods
of estimating the amount of water in the dead
volume were used. The first assumes that the
imposed f
w
equals the water volume fraction
in the endcap. The second is based on endcap
weight that changes in a short time compared
with changes that occur across the core. Both
methods give qualitatively similar results.
Water relative permeability, k
rw
, values were
computed from measured p with a formof
Darcys law and with the assumption of a
water viscosity of 1.0 cp. The measured p in
Section 2 was used in all calculations to avoid
end effects. P
c
and p were measured, and P
c
of the Berea computed from S
w
values, by use
of capillary pressure curves for unfired Berea
during primary drainage, at values of N
2
/
aqueous interfacial tension (33 dynes/cm),
measured at room temperature. The Berea P
c
was computed to compare measured P
c
with
and without foam under the same conditions.
Foam strength is characterized by its
resistance factor (RF), the ratio of mobility
without foam to that with foam at the same
S
w
. An RF value of 1 indicates no foam,
while an RF value of 100 means that the
presence of foam has reduced gas mobility
100 times more than gas mobility without
foam at the same S
w
. Computation of RF
requires knowledge of gas relative perme-
ability, k
rg
, without foam. Because k
rg
is
high, and changed very little with the low
values of S
w
used in these tests, the value of
k
rg
was assumed to be 1.0.
Results. When gas and water are injected
together, the foam is strong (RF2,000)
COREFLOOD STUDY OF SURFACTANT-
ALTERNATING-GAS FOAM PROCESSES
This article is a synopsis of paper SPE
38318,Coreflood Study of Surfactant-
Alternating-Gas Foam Processes:
Implications for Field Design, by K.R.
Kibodeaux, SPE (now with Texaco E&P
Technology), and W.R. Rossen, SPE, U.
of Texas, originally presented at the
1997 SPE Western Regional Meeting,
Long Beach, California, 2527 June.
before f
w
=0.008, then there is catastrophic
weakening of the foam between f
w
=0.02
and f
w
=0.008, followed by a gradual weak-
ening as f
w
decreases. Foam strength is still
appreciable (RF=25) after breakage, and
foam collapse is not complete. When the
foam breaks, fluid is absorbed and swelling
results (imbibition), accompanied by a
decrease in P
c
. As S
w
increases, k
rw
also
increases as P
c
drops. Measured values of P
c
were high, compared with those expected
without foam.
DISCUSSION
In these tests, P
c
was measured during foam
flow in consolidated porous media for the
first time. Foam is strong as P
c
increases to
some limiting value. There is a critical P
c
above which foam lamellae rupture, and a
limiting P
c
value is expected to exist in
porous media at which a strong foam weak-
ens drastically. In these tests, the value of the
critical P
c
was approximately 12 psi. Other
investigators have reported a foam film sur-
viving at P
c
>17 psi. The P
c
measurements,
although unexpectedly high, were valid
indications of the actual values in the core.
One goal of this work was to apply frac-
tional-flow methods and a coreflood-derived
f
w
curve to scale up laboratory coreflood
results. A time/distance diagram for an SAG
process was generated from the fractional-
flow curve. Mobility is high at the initial con-
ditions behind the shock front. At the shock
front, mobility is low, with spreading waves of
gently increasing mobility behind it. A foam
of very low mobility exists in a thin, moving
front composing the shock. Within this zone,
foam forms, strengthens, exceeds critical P
c
,
and weakens. Fractional-flow theory states
that all the points between initial conditions
and the shock on the fractional-flow curve,
including the strong foam near f
w
=0.02, lie
inside the the shock. This extremely strong
foam within the narrow shock front improves
the mobility ratio of the displacement with no
adverse effect on injectivity.
CONCLUSIONS
1. P
c
was measured during foam flow in
consolidated porous media for the first
time. Unexpectedly high P
c
were measured
in the presence of strong foam.
2. S
w
declined and P
c
increased as injec-
tion f
w
was reduced in steps to a point
where foam abruptly weakened. This point
is defined as the limiting P
c
. The shape of
the fractional-flow curve was similar to
those proposed previously.
3. When the foam weakened, imbibition
occurred, with a increase in S
w
and a
decrease in P
c
. This imbibition event, as
well as multiple steady states of foam and a
multivalued fractional-flow function, may
complicate the use of fractional-flow meth-
ods for foam-performance prediction.
4. Coreflood results cannot be scaled direct-
ly to field performance because both evapora-
tion and capillary end effects alter water trans-
port late in the flood. Using laboratory core-
floods to derive f
w
as a function of S
w
, then
scaling up with fractional-flow methods or
computer simulation, provides more reliable
scaleup from the laboratory to the field.
5. Results suggest moderate mobility
reduction in a broad region behind the
shock front, while weakened foam near the
well allows good injectivity.
Please read the full-length paper for addi-
tional detail, illustrations, and references.
The paper from which the synopsis has
been taken has not been peer reviewed.
JANUARY 1998 77
E O R / I O R
78 JANUARY 1998
E O R / I O R
On 17 May 1996, Total Minatome Corp.
initiated an enhanced-oil-recovery (EOR)
high-pressure air-injection project at the
Horse Creek field in North Dakota. This
project is the third high-pressure air-injec-
tion program completed in the Ordovician
Red River formation in the Williston basin.
The Horse Creek field is 7 miles east of the
Cedar Creek anticline, in the south central
portion of the Williston basin. The field was
discovered in 1972 and comprised 15 pro-
ducing oil wells. In 1993, geological, labo-
ratory, and reservoir-modeling studies were
conducted to evaluate the EOR potential of
the field. On the basis of the results from
these studies, an EOR unit for this field was
formed in 1995. There are currently 11 pro-
ducing wells, three air-injection wells, one
monitor well, and one water-disposal well
within the unit area. Air is being injected
into the reservoir at a rate of approximately
8,500 Mscf/D at 4,700 psi discharge pres-
sure. Nine months after injection began,
the reservoir pressure continues to rise and
production has increased from 293 to 400
BOPD.
RESERVOIR CHARACTERIZATION
Geology. The Horse Creek field is a strati-
graphic oil accumulation within the
Ordovician Red River formation. The Red
River formation in this portion of the
Williston basin is subdivided into four
porosity zones. These porosity zones are
referred to as Zones A through D (Fig. 1).
Air injection and production in the Horse
Creek field has been limited to Zone D.
The upper portion of the Red River for-
mation consists of a series of brining
upward, cyclic carbonates deposited in a
subtidal to supratidal environment on a
restricted shelf during the Red River marine
transgression. Rock types include lime-
stones, dolomites, and anhydrites.
Lithology varies from laminated mudstones
to heavily bioturbated packstones, wacke-
stones, and mudstones. Dolomitization of
the heavily bioturbated units has resulted
in a secondary porosity within Zone D,
from which the Horse Creek field produces.
Stratigraphic cross sections, core data, and
petrophysical-facies maps indicate that
Zone D comprises two separate lobes that
are discontinuous across the field. The
HORSE CREEK AIR-INJECTION
PROJECT: AN OVERVIEW
This article is a synopsis of paper SPE
38359, The Horse Creek Air-Injection
Project: An Overview, by B.C. Watts,
T.F. Hall, SPE, and D.J. Petri, SPE,
Total Minatome Corp., originally pre-
sented at the 1997 SPE Rocky
Mountain Regional Meeting, Casper,
Wyoming, 1821 May.
Fig. 1Horse Creek field type log.
MASSIVE
ANHYDRITE
GAMMA RAY
8900
9000
9100
9100
GAMMA RAY
DENSITY @
CORE 2
CORE 1
C ZONE
D ZONE
A ZONE
TOP RED RIVER
B ZONE
North Dakota
DENSITY POROSITY 30 10
LITHOLOGY
CORE DESCRIPTION
DEPOSITIONAL
ENVIRONMENT
L
A
M
I
N
A
T
E
D

M
E
M
B
E
R
B
U
R
R
O
W
E
D

M
E
M
B
E
R
SUPRATIDAL
SUPRATIDAL
TO
UPPER
INTERTIDAL
(RESTRICTED
FAUNA)
LAMINATED
DOLOMITIC
MUDSTONE
HEAVILY
BURROWED
PACKST/WAKEST
DOLOMITE
HEAVILY
BURROWED
DOLOMITIC
MUDSTONE
TIGHTLY BURROWED
LIME MUDSTONE
SUBTIDAL
(NORMAL MARINE)
SUBTIDAL TO
LOWER INTERTIDAL
(NORMAL MARINE)

lower unit of Zone D is one continuous
unit that occurs across the entire field area.
Porosity and Permeability. Porosity and
permeability in Red River Zone D are
related to several stages of dolomitization.
The highly burrowed subtidal to lower-
intertidal lime muds in Zone D, which
contain mainly macroporous pore throats
(2 to 20 m), contain most of the reser-
voir-quality porosity and permeability.
Burrowing appears to have prepared these
rocks for dolomitization and porosity
development as compared with the sur-
rounding nonburrowed, laminated
supratidal to upper-intertidal lime muds,
which, although porous, contain mainly
microporous (0.2 to 0.5 m) pore throats
and are nonproductive. On the basis of
core data, thin-section descriptions, and
log analysis, reservoir-quality porosity is
intercrystalline and ranges from 8 to 20%
and averages 16%. Reservoir thickness
ranges from 0 to 45 ft and averages 20 ft.
Permeability ranges from 1 to 97 m, aver-
aging 10 to 20 md.
Net Pay. Net-pay thickness for Zone D was
determined by log analysis. The log data
were calibrated with core data, and petro-
physical values were calculated for all wells
from digital data. Net-pay cutoffs deter-
mined by porosity, permeability, produc-
tion, and relative oil/water permeability
data were established at 12% porosity and
water saturation < 50% for the primary
(moveable) oil reserves.
Original Oil in Place(OOIP). Well control
within the field is adequate to give a reliable
estimation of effective OOIP. A porosity
cutoff of 12%, average water saturation of
35%, and a formation volume factor of
1.205 yield an effective OOIP of 45.7 mil-
lion bbl.
PRODUCTION PERFORMANCE
AND EOR POTENTIAL
The primary producing mechanism for
Zone D is liquid and rock expansion. A
200- to 300-ft oil column has developed
within the macroporous petrofacies.
Production has included a water cut of
approximately 60%, which has remained
constant since the initial field production.
The constant water cut and steady decline
in reservoir pressure indicate that the trap-
ping mechanism is stratigraphic and sug-
gest that there is no active aquifer. Remain-
ing primary reserves of 1.25 million bbl
were calculated by decline-curve analysis.
The primary recovery factor for the field is
estimated to be 9.9% of OOIP.
EOR Potential. Several different EOR
methods were considered for the Horse
Creek field. Waterflooding was ruled out
because of oil and water relative permeabil-
ity differences which, coupled with the cur-
rent water saturation, impeded the ability of
the oil to form a bank, reducing recovery.
Gas (N
2
and CO
2
) injection was eliminated
because of excessively high costs.
The process finally selected was high-
pressure air injection. This method provid-
ed all the benefits of waterflooding and gas
injection. Technical parameters contribut-
ing to this decision include the following.
1. Reservoir temperature of 220F, indi-
cating that in-situ oxidation would occur
spontaneously without downhole igniters.
2. Oil with a gravity of 32 API and a
good affinity for oxidation.
3. An in-situ oxidation process with a
high oxygen-utilization rate that indicated
good oil recovery.
4. Rapid field repressurization that
would restore reservoir pressure and
enhance early oil recovery.
The decision to use the air-injection
method was influenced by the favorable
comparison of reservoir and fluid parame-
ters from the Horse Creek field with the
successful air-injection programs at two
other units in the same field.
RESERVOIR AND
LABORATORY STUDIES
A series of reservoir models, simulations,
and laboratory studies was conducted to
evaluate the EOR potential and to ensure
that the most efficient and economical
recovery process was used.
Pressure/Volume/Temperature (PVT)
Analysis. A PVT analysis of the oil was per-
formed and included differential liberation
and N
2
swelling tests.
Waterflood Study. A waterflood study
indicated that the field was not a good
waterflood candidate because of unfavor-
able water/oil relative permeabilities and a
low incremental-recovery factor. On the
basis of this study, waterflooding was ruled
out as a possible EOR process.
Black-Oil Models. The first phase of the
reservoir modeling consisted of a black-oil
model of the southern portion of the field.
The objective of this model was to confirm
the volumetric assumption in this portion
of the field and to estimate the incremental
recovery from gas injection. Results from
this model were encouraging and led to the
decision to construct a full-field model.
The objectives of the full-field black-oil
model were (1) to acquire a full-field his-
tory match and confirm the volumetric
OOIP, (2) to verify the lack of water influx
into the reservoir, (3) to examine the reser-
voir response to gas injection, and (4) to
provide a reservoir model for subsequent
simulations. Several different production
scenarios were tested with various injec-
tion rates and injection-well locations.
Model results indicated that the best pro-
duction scenario included three injection
wells with an initial injection rate of 10
MMscf/D. The model estimated incremen-
tal oil recovery of 7.6 million bbl. Fast and
reliable results from the black-oil model
enabled an initial economic projection to
be made for the project.
Accelerating Rate Calorimeter (ARC)
Tests. ARC tests were conducted to assess
the oil oxidation kinetic parameters under
quasiadiabatic conditions. Results from
these tests are qualitative but help to deter-
mine the range of conditions under which
the oil will react with air. Two main oxida-
tion reactions were detected by the ARC
tests. The first reaction began at 279 to
315F and was described as a low-tempera-
ture oxidation (LTO) reaction that pro-
duced polar compounds. The second reac-
tion, which began at 404 to 441F, is the
reaction that would produce significant
quantities of CO and CO
2
. Results from the
ARC test indicated that the oil would react
under low-temperature conditions.
Combustion-Tube Burns. Two combus-
tion-tube burns were performed at the U.
of Calgary to quantify the combustion
characteristics of the rock, oil, and brine.
Both burns were conducted in a 6-ft-long
vessel with a 4-in.-diameter core from the
Horse Creek field. The experiments used
different air-flux rates and ignition tem-
peratures to assess the displacement
process. The results indicated that a pro-
gressing temperature front is established at
approximately 600F. This temperature
range is indicative of LTO. The steady
thermal-front displacement, low air
requirement, low fuel load, and high per-
centage of oil recovered indicated an effi-
cient recovery process.
Thermal Model. To obtain parameters to
describe the oil oxidation kinetics, a ther-
mal simulation of the combustion-tube-
burn experiments was performed. A match
JANUARY 1998 79
E O R / I O R
80 JANUARY 1998
E O R / I O R
of the combustion-tube results was
obtained by use of a simple, complete oxy-
gen combustion with no coke formation.
Air-Injection Radial Model. An air-injec-
tion radial model was built with a thermal
simulator to study the conditions around
an air-injection well. This was important
because air-injection startup is the most
critical phase of project operations. The
radial model used the reservoir properties
from the full-field black-oil model and the
kinetic parameters from thermal modeling
of the combustion-tube experiments. The
following are some important results from
the thermal model.
1. Temperature Profile. The temperature
of the oxidation front was from 500 to
700F. Following 15 years of injection, the
heated zone was estimated to be a cylinder
with a diameter of approximately 900 ft.
2. Oxygen Behavior in the Reservoir.
Oxygen was consumed in a rapid and sta-
ble reaction. After 15 years of injection,
oxygen did not move beyond a radius of
500 ft from the injection well. The model
predicted that no oxygen would reach a fic-
titious producer located 3,500 ft from the
injection well.
3. Hetrogeneities. Sensitivity cases with
vertical permeabilities from 1 to 300 md
showed no oxygen breakthrough and indi-
cated that the oxygen did not go beyond a
radius of 700 ft from the injection well.
Full-Field Thermal Simulation. The final
phase of reservoir study included a full-
field model with a thermal simulator. The
model used the reservoir properties from
the full-field black-oil model along with a
compositional description of the oil and
introduction of chemical reactions that
enable oil oxidation and CO
2
formation.
Predictive-model runs were performed for a
20-year period, with air-injection rates
averaging 10 MMscf/D. Several different
injection scenarios were examined to deter-
mine the optimum location and number of
air-injection wells. The main results from
the thermal simulation follow.
1. Incremental oil recovery was estimat-
ed at 7.2 to 7.9 million bbl.
2. The oxidization front did not go
beyond 3,500 ft from the injection well.
3. Oxygen breakthrough did not occur in
the producing wells.
4. The incremental recovery with air
injection was approximately 10% more
than with nitrogen injection.
5. Gas sweeping and reservoir repressur-
ization are the main mechanisms influenc-
ing incremental recovery in this light-oil
reservoir. Viscosity reduction is not a sig-
nificant factor.
The results of the full-field thermal sim-
ulation confirmed the economic feasibility
of the project. Data from thermal simula-
tion helped to define a field production-
monitoring program that was implemented
in the field.
PRODUCTION FACILITIES
Engineering for the project facilities began
in March 1995. Detailed design of the com-
pressors was completed and contracts for
their construction were awarded in April
1995. Detailed engineering for all other
phases of the compression facility were
completed, and construction on the plant
foundations and installation of the 13-mile
fuel-gas pipeline were initiated. The com-
pressors were delivered in December 1995,
and construction of the remaining facilities,
including piping, instrumentation, well
conversions, and installation of high-pres-
sure air lines, was completed during the
first quarter of 1996.
The injection plant for the Horse Creek
project was designed (1) to build safety
and redundancy into all systems, (2) to
provide computer control and call-out
warning systems, and (3) to meter and
control rate and pressure accurately to
each injection well.
Compressors for the project were select-
ed on the basis of field-proven perfor-
mance and ability to supply the project
requirement of 10 MMscf/D at 5,000 psi.
Two Integral 8 throw, seven-stage conpres-
sors, driven by two V-16 turbo-charged
natural gas engines, are used to compress
the air.
Before air injection could begin, two pro-
ducing wells had to be converted to air-
injection wells and one new injection well
had to be drilled and completed. All injec-
tion wells were fitted with high-pressure
wellheads and permanent air-injection
packers with 2
3
/8-in. tubing with premium
two-step connections, and 20,000 ft of 2
3
/8-
in. 5,000-psi air-injection lines was
installed from the compression facility to
the injection wells. All production wells in
the unit are equipped with 2
3
/8-in.
anchored tubing and have beam pumps.
Each producing well has its own produc-
tion facility.
Safety and Environment Factors. Special
precautions must be implemented to pre-
vent explosions of hydrocarbons when
using high-pressure air injection. To reduce
this risk, the following equipment, materi-
als, and processes were employed.
1. Special packers, two-step tubing con-
nections, and innovative pressure testing to
minimize the potential for downhole leaks.
2. Special high-temperature lubricants
for the compressors, wellheads, and tubing
to minimize the danger of explosion.
3. Passivation of all tubulars to reduce
internal rust, corrosion, and scale.
4. Wellhead controls at the injection wells
to prevent backflow and overpresssuring.
5. Dual compressors to add redundancy
and maintain constant injection to the
reservoir.
6. A nitrogen-deployment system to
ensure continuous positive pressure to the
reservoir in the event that both compres-
sors malfunctioned at the same time.
7. An emergency generator to provide
automatic electrical backup in the event of
a power failure.
PROJECT PERFORMANCE
The average gas/oil ratio has decreased
with repressurization of the reservior. The
average bottomhole pressure has increased
approximately 550 psi. Average daily pro-
duction rate has increased from 293 BOPD
to approximately 400 BOPD. All these
changes were predicted by the reservoir-
simulation studies. On the basis of the lim-
ited production history, the production
goal of 1,100 to 1,300 BOPD probably will
be met.
CONCLUSIONS
1. The EOR potential of the Horse Creek
field was determined by an integrated team
of geologists and engineers.
2. A black-oil model provided fast and
reliable predictions of incremental recovery
and production required to make initial
economic projections and business deci-
sions for the project.
3. ARC and combustion-tube experi-
ments provided the kinetic parameters for
thermal modeling and indicated that air
injection would be an efficient recovery
process.
4. Thermal simulation of the project pro-
vided the ability to examine different pro-
duction scenarios to test injector locations
and production results.
5. Production results to date indicate
that the project is proceeding as predicted
by the reservoir models and simulation
studies.
Please read the full-length paper for addi-
tional detail, illustrations, and references.
The paper from which the synopsis has
been taken has not been peer reviewed.
JANUARY 1998 81
E O R / I O R
Polymer flooding is an enhanced-oil-
recovery method with great potential in
the Daqing oil field. Many new problems
will be encountered producing crude oil
mixed with polymer solution. During the
waterflood development phase, the
oil/water mixture is treated as a
Newtonian fluid. Analysis of oilfield fluids
indicates that fluids produced by polymer
flooding are non-Newtonian and that con-
ventional methods of calculating inflow-
performance-relationship (IPR) curves
cannot be used. This paper considers the
variation of rheological properties of fluid
produced from polymer-flooded reservoirs
on the basis of core-displacement and rhe-
ological-property experiments.
RHEOLOGICAL PROPERTIES
OF IN-SITU FLUID
The in-situ fluid in polymer-flooded reser-
voirs is a mixture of aqueous polymer
solution and crude oil. Many studies have
been conducted to determine the rheolog-
ical properties of polymer solutions, but
no studies have been published on their
rheological-property variation in the direc-
tion of flow. Rheological properties of
polymer solutions change continuously
along the flow direction as a result of
adsorption, retention, and shear degrada-
tion of the solution. In laboratory dis-
placement tests, the viscosity of a polymer
solution was measured at different outlet
points in an artificial column core.
Apparent viscosity decreases in the direc-
tion of flow. Assuming a power-law fluid,
the consistency coefficient, k, decreases
sharply near the inlet of the core and con-
tinues to decrease slowly in the direction
of flow, and the power-law exponent, n,
increases in the direction of flow. This
indicates that larger molecules of the poly-
mer are degraded and the non-Newtonian
behavior of the polymer solution is
reduced in the direction of flow.
FLOW BEHAVIOR OF POLYMER-
SOLUTION/OIL MIXTURE
Core-displacement experiments were per-
formed in the laboratory to compare the
behavior of polymer-solution/oil mixtures
with different volume ratios with that of
single-phase polymer solution. When pres-
sure drop is plotted vs. equivalent shear
rate on a log-log graph, the polymer-solu-
tion/oil mixture plots are identical to that
for polymer alone at shear rates greater
than 10 seconds
-1
. This indicates that a sin-
gle-phase fluid model can be used to calcu-
late the pressure drop of polymer-solu-
tion/oil mixtures.When flow rate and pres-
sure drop through a core are plotted, the
pressure drop varies linearly with the nth
power of the flow rate. The relationship of
pressure drop and flow rate exhibits the
behavior of a non-Newtonian power-law
fluid in the porous media. At high flow
rates, the pressure drop increases, deviating
from the power-law model, indicating that
the rheological properties of the polymer
solution in porous media are not the same
as in a capillary tube.
IPR CURVES FOR OIL WELLS
The apparent viscosity of polymer solution
varies greatly during the time the solution
is mixed at the surface, injected, and finally
produced with the oil. In the Daqing oil
field, the apparent viscosity decreases
approximately 30% from the time it is
mixed to the time it reaches the injection
wells. Apparent viscosity decreases 60%
when it reaches an observation well 30 m
from the injection well and 70% at a pro-
duction well 106 m away. This indicates
that the loss of apparent viscosity is large
near injection wells. Severe shear degrada-
tion of large polymer clumps usually occurs
near the bottom of injection wells, decreas-
ing the non-Newtonian behavior of the
polymer solution. When the shear rate is
greater than the critical shear rate, the fluid
exhibits viscoelastic behavior in the vicini-
ty of the wellbore and power-law fluid
behavior in the formation. The full-length
paper contains a differential equation for
inflow performance. This equation com-
bines equations of continuity, motion, and
state. Boundary conditions are defined.
Calculations. An IPR curve was calculated
with the derived equation. When calculat-
ed flowing bottomhole pressures were com-
pared with measured values, the maximum
absolute error was 230 kPa and the maxi-
mum relative error was 5.82%. The close
agreement of measured and predicted val-
ues indicates that variable rheological para-
meters must be used to predict IPRs for oil
wells in polymer-flooded reservoirs.
Analysis of IPR curves of oil wells shows
that, when the rheological parameters of
fluid vary in injection and production
wells, the pressure drop in the formation
increases as the k of the produced fluid
increases and n decreases. Pressure drops
decrease as k decreases and n increases.
Case History and Influence Factors.
Polymer-solution rheological parameters
were measured for an oil well in a poly-
mer-flooded reservoir in the Daqing oil
field with a permeability of 475 md, and a
porosity of 0.267. The concentration of
the injected polymer solution was 1000
mg/L, k = 0.0809 Pas, and n = 0.5637.
The value of k for the fluid produced from
an oil well in this field was 0.0145 Pas
and n was 0.809.
CONCLUSIONS
1. Rheological properties of formation
fluids in polymer-flooded reservoirs change
in the direction of flow.
2. Calculations of IPR curves for oil wells
in polymer-flooded reservoirs need to
include variations of rheological properties as
the fluids flow through the reservoir.
Please read the full-length paper for
additional detail, illustrations, and ref-
erences. The paper from which the syn-
opsis has been taken has not been peer
reviewed.
CALCULATION OF IPR CURVES FOR OIL
WELLS IN POLYMER-FLOOD RESERVOIRS
This article is a synopsis of paper SPE
38936, Calculation of IPR Curves of
Oil Wells for Polymer-Flooding Reser-
voirs, by Yue XiangAn, SPE, Xia
Huifen, Yunxiang Zhang, and Li
Jingyuan, Daqing Petroleum Inst., orig-
inally presented at the 1997 SPE
Annual Technical Conference and
Exhibition, San Antonio, Texas, 58
October.
82 JANUARY 1998
E O R / I O R
Field testing has confirmed that a newly
discovered, modified hot-lime process
(MHLP) is a significant improvement over
existing precipitation-softening options. A
Permian Basin produced oilfield water
containing 2,000 ppm hardness, 500 ppm
sulfides, 10,000 total dissolved solids
(TDS), and 200 ppm oil is being convert-
ed successfully to steam-generator-quality
feedwater. Alkali consumption and sludge
production have been reduced by 50%
compared with the conventional process.
In addition, alkali consumption by
entrained CO
2
is eliminated. Many hot-
lime softeners (HLSs) currently in service
can be inexpensively converted to this
more efficient process.
The lack of economical water treatment
is one of the most critical obstacles to
achieving a successful steam-injection pro-
ject. Because of strict environmental regula-
tions and lack of available fresh water, pro-
duced oilfield water is typically used as
source water for steam generation. For
most steamfloods, quality of the produced
water is fair and sufficient treating can be
accomplished with typical oil-removal and
softening techniques. In many west Texas
oil fields, however, produced-water quality
is much worse than that currently used for
steam generation. Hardness and sulfide lev-
els are 10 times the average for California
steamflood source waters.
Identification of the significant reserves
and economic potential of a thermal project
in a large west Texas oil field led Marathon
Oil Co. to embark on an operational steam
field test in 1995. The test consisted of
installation of a 5,000-BWPD oilfield
water purification facility and three sin-
gle-pass waste-heat steam generators and
drilling of one steam-injection well.
WATER QUALITY
Steam for most oilfield steamflooding is
produced in conventional steam genera-
tors. These generators are fired with nat-
ural gas or waste heat and use a single-
pass tube arrangement to produce 80-
quality steam. Saturated steam (including
the 20% liquid phase) is injected into the
oil formation with steam-injection wells.
Many impurities in the steam-generator
feedwater can be tolerated because the
20% liquid phase provides a place for
them to concentrate and still remain solu-
ble. However, according to typical steam-
generator-manufacturer guidelines, all oil,
sulfides, hardness, and suspended solids
must be removed to prevent damage to
steam-generator tubes. Oil in the feedwa-
ter contributes to film formation and cok-
ing in the generator tubes, resulting in
their eventual failure. Sulfides are
believed to be corrosive. Hardness deposi-
tion creates steam-generator scaling,
eventually leading to hot spots and tube
failures. Suspended solids must be
removed because they contribute to for-
mation of steam-generator sludge. Typical
steamflood source waters contain 200 ppm
hardness and essentially no sulfides. The
extremely high amounts of hardness and
sulfides in the source water in this west
Texas field made their removal the major
challenge for a successful project.
OVERALL PROCESS FLOW
Produced oilfield water first enters a hydro-
cyclone for rough-cut oil and water separa-
tion. Oil content is reduced from 200 to 40
ppm. Next, single-media filters are used to
reduce oil content further to 10 to 20 ppm.
Water then enters a packed column, where
nitrogen at 4 scf/gal is used to reduce sul-
fide levels from 500 to <200 ppm. An oxy-
gen scavenger is added to reduce oxygen
content from 20 to approximately 0 ppb.
Water is then pumped to the modified hot-
lime softener (MHLS), where heat, lime,
and caustic are added. Hardness is reduced
from 2000 to 4 ppm here. Anthracite filters
are used next to remove any suspended cal-
cium carbonate (CaCO
3
) and magnesium
hydroxide [Mg(OH)
2
] precipitates. Weak
acid cation vessels are then used to polish
hardness to <1 ppm. Remaining hardness
is chelated with ethylenediaminetetraacetic
acid. Product water is supplied as feed to
three waste-heat steam generators.
Precipitate from the MHLS is thickened
in a sludge thickener to recover as
much product water as possible.
Thickened sludge is then diluted with
produced water and disposed of in deep
disposal wells along with all other wastes
generated from the plant.
HARDNESS REMOVAL
The heart of the water-treating plant is the
hot precipitation-softening process.
Initially, standard hot-lime softening was
used for bulk hardness removal. The hot-
lime process (HLP), which has been in
existence for many decades, is the most
accepted and economical practice to soft-
en large volumes of water with high hard-
ness, high TDS levels, and significant car-
bonate alkalinity.
Standard HLP. In standard HLP softening,
hardness is removed by precipitation of
CaCO
3
and Mg(OH)
2
. Precipitation is
accomplished by the simultaneous addition
of heat, lime, caustic, and soda ash. These
chemicals may be used alone or in various
combinations to provide the necessary
hydroxide and bicarbonate ions for hard-
ness precipitation. HLP temperature is usu-
ally maintained between 205 and 250F.
In a typical HLS (Fig. 1), cold, hard water
enters the vessel through a regulating valve
that maintains a specified inlet rate. The
water is sprayed into a steam atmosphere
and heated to near boiling. Lime or caustic
is simultaneously added as hydroxide-ion
donors needed for hardness precipitation. If
naturally occurring alkalinity is not present
in sufficient quantities, soda ash is also
added. Chemical reactions that subsequent-
ly occur in the upper cone or reaction
chamber form CaCO
3
and Mg(OH)
2
pre-
cipitates. This sludge remains suspended in
the water as it passes through the down-
comer. Sludge is then separated from the
INNOVATIVE TREATING PROCESSES
ALLOW STEAMFLOODING WITH
POOR-QUALITY OILFIELD WATER
This article is a synopsis of paper SPE
38799, Innovative Treating Processes
Allow Steamflooding With Poor-Quality
Oilfield Water, by C.F. Garbutt, SPE,
Marathon Oil Co., originally presented
at the 1997 SPE Annual Technical
Conference and Exhibition, San
Antonio, Texas, 58 October.
JANUARY 1998 83
E O R / I O R
water and collected in the lower cone or
solid/liquid separation chamber. Here, pre-
cipitated material is separated from the soft-
ened water in the form of sludge. Periodic
blowdown is performed to remove this
material from the vessel.
MHLP. After additional laboratory and field
testing, a new, more efficient method was
discovered and commercially demonstrated.
The process is a variation of the standard
HLP. Fig. 2 shows a schematic of the modi-
fied vessel. Instead of adding heat, lime
and/or caustic simultaneously to precipitate
hardness, as in the existing HLP, the MHLP
precipitates hardness in two separate steps.
In the first step, cold, hard water enters the
vessel and is sprayed into a steam atmos-
phere and heated to near boiling, just as in
the standard HLP. Soda ash can be added at
this point to supply the necessary bicarbon-
ate ion for hardness precipitation if the ion
is not present in sufficient quantities natu-
rally. However, instead of adding lime or
caustic soda at this point, the MHLP allows
retention time for precipitation reactions
resulting from only the addition of heat to
take place. Laboratory and field testing has
shown that 10 to 20 minutes is required for
completion of thermal softening reactions at
vessel operating temperatures. If less reten-
tion time is allotted (as with the HLP), ther-
mal reactions will not take place. Instead,
the preference for reactions with lime and
caustic overrides thermal reactions. The
amount of thermal softening that takes
place can be significant. In the field test,
produced oilfield water was softened from
2,000 to < 1,000 ppm in this step, with-
out any chemical addition.
The second step of the MHLP consists of
adding lime and/or caustic soda to precipi-
tate hardness not removed during thermal
softening in the first step. Chemical reac-
tions that take place are identical to those in
the HLP. Resulting reactions from the addi-
tion of heat and chemicals form CaCO
3
and
Mg(OH)
2
precipitates. The amount of pre-
cipitates generated by the MHLP is signifi-
cantly less than that of the HLP. Only 1
mole of CaCO
3
is created per mole of hard-
ness during Step 1 (thermal softening)
compared with 2 moles /mole of hardness
generated in Step 2 (lime softening). This
translates to a significant reduction in the
amount of precipitated solids. Typically
these solids are hauled to a landfill, which
can prove costly. The MHLP has several
additional benefits.
1. Improved Removal of H
2
S. H
2
S is diffi-
cult to remove from water at elevated pH.
Because the typical HLP quickly elevates
water pH by introducing lime early, gaseous
H
2
S is converted to ionic sulfide, which
cannot be removed. The MHLP does not
elevate pH significantly for several minutes,
so H
2
S is removed by steam deaeration
much more effectively.
2. Elimination of Lime Consumption by
CO
2
. The standard HLP introduces lime
into the vessel in the steam/vapor space
where CO
2
can exist. CO
2
dissolved in the
produced water will react with added lime
and create CaCO
3
. Therefore, the presence
of CO
2
increases alkali demand and
increases the amount of precipitated solids,
both of which are unfavorable. The MHLP
eliminates these problems because the alka-
li is introduced below the water level in the
vessel. CO
2
does not exist in water at HLP
temperatures (it is driven off by Step 1 heat-
ing) and therefore cannot consume lime.
Existing HLS can be inexpensively con-
verted to this more efficient process. Most
vessel designs currently in service afford
necessary retention time for thermal reac-
tions to occur in the reaction chamber of
the vessel. The primary modification
required for conversion is lowering the
alkali feed point from the top of the reac-
tion chamber to the top of the reaction
chamber downcomer.
USE OF TWO ALKALIS TO
IMPROVE PERFORMANCE OF THE
PRECIPITATION PROCESS
When lime alone is used, pH must be main-
tained in the very tight pH range of 9.3 to
9.6 to achieve acceptable effluent hardness
levels. If the pH levels fall outside this
range, hardness levels climb quickly. To
overcome this chemistry problem, both
lime and caustic are fed to precipitate
hardness in the HLS. After thermal soft-
ening takes place in the upper portion of
the reaction chamber, hydrated lime is
added to boost the pH to near 9.0.
Hardness is reduced to approximately 100
ppm. The result is precipitation of large
amounts of hardness with cheap lime. A
relatively small amount of caustic soda is
then added to precipitate the majority of
remaining hardness. Because caustic soda
is free of calcium ions, hardness does not
increase when overfed. While caustic
could be used exclusively and accomplish
the same result, the relatively high cost of
the chemical makes this economically
unattractive for high-hardness waters.
Fig. 1HLS vessel.
Solid/Liquid
Separation
Chamber
Fig. 2MHLS vessel.
84 JANUARY 1998
E O R / I O R
In addition to producing CaCO
3
and
Mg(OH)
2
, sodium carbonate (Na
2
CO
3
) or
soda ash is also formed by caustic reactions.
Presence of these excess carbonates allows
the process to achieve extremely low hard-
ness levels. Effluent hardness levels less
than 4 ppm have been routinely achieved in
the precipitation softener.
TEST PROJECT OPERATING
CHALLENGES
Plugging. The MHLS has been in service
for more than 1 year. After design refine-
ments were complete, operating efficiency
and operability have surpassed expecta-
tions in many respects. However, the
major operational challenge still facing
the vessel is periodic plugging of the reac-
tion chamber and downcomer with pre-
cipitated hardness. Field testing estab-
lished that standard HLSs require signifi-
cant modification to accommodate the
solids generated from precipitation soft-
ening of west Texas produced oilfield
water. With the standard design HLS,
operation would be halted after 2 weeks
because of a plugged reaction-chamber
downcomer. Through a series of improve-
ments, periods of run time for the MHLS
extended significantly. Those modifica-
tions include the following.
1. Enlargement of the reaction-chamber
downcomer. Typically, reaction-chamber
downcomers are sized to achieve a down-
ward water velocity of 1 ft/sec. Field expe-
rience indicates that a more appropriate
design criterion for extremely hard waters
is 0.5 ft/sec.
2. Modification of the downcomer
splashplate to a witchs hat design.
Standard HLSs use a flat plate at the bottom
of the reaction-chamber downcomer to pre-
vent disturbance of the sludge below. Field
testing operations suggested that the stan-
dard splashplate design allowed precipitat-
ed solids to stack, eventually plugging the
downcomer. The current witchs hat design
allows solids to slough off much more
effectively.
3. Creation of a high-rate cyclonic
motion in the 10-ft-diameter reaction
chamber with tangential nozzles. To keep
precipitated solids in suspension as water
moves down the downcomer, 600 gal/min
of water (from the reaction chamber) is
recirculated.
4. Use of a steeper-sloped reaction-cham-
ber cone. Standard HLS design calls for a
45 from horizontal cone in the reaction
chamber, even though the sludge repose
angle is greater than 50. Future vessel
designs will use a 60 from horizontal cone
in an attempt to alleviate the plugging ten-
dencies further.
Sulfide Removal. Sulfide removal from the
source water was the second significant
technical challenge for project engineers.
Removal of an extremely large amount of
sulfides (500 ppm) in steam-generator
feedwater is very unusual. Use of conven-
tional methods to accomplish this would
adversely affect water-treating costs.
Initially, complete sulfide removal, as
recommended by steam-generator-manu-
facturers guidelines, was thought to be
necessary. Experience from other steam-
flood operators, however, indicated that
this was not necessarily true. Steamflood
operators in California have operated for
years with source waters containing 40
ppm sulfides and have reported no signif-
icant problems. With this information, a
two-pronged strategy to the sulfide issue
was adopted. First, an uncommon sulfide-
removal technique would be engineered
and installed that would reduce sulfide
levels to less than 40 ppm. Second, field-
testing facilities would be used to deter-
mine whether higher sulfide levels were
tolerable. For example, if the upper sul-
fide level limit could be extended to 200
ppm, water-treating costs would be
reduced, thereby improving project eco-
nomics. Also, field experience found that
sulfide levels below 200 ppm prevented
interference with hardness reactions in
the MHLS. Sulfides under certain condi-
tions were found to tie up available car-
bonate alkalinity needed for the process,
thereby creating permanent hardness in
the water.
After more than 1 year of steam injection,
no significant corrosion is evident in the
water plant or steam system with boiler
feedwater containing 200 ppm sulfides.
Therefore, 200 ppm sulfides will be the
newly established upper sulfide target for
future water-plant designs. Nitrogen with-
out any sort of pH adjustment will be used
to accomplish this level of reduction.
Conventional Sulfide Removal. Sulfides
exist in both ionic and gaseous forms at pH
levels of typical oilfield waters. To remove
all sulfides, water pH must be lowered to
below 5 to convert ionic sulfide to H
2
S.
Hydrochloric acid is the agent used typical-
ly for pH reduction. H
2
S can then be
removed effectively with conventional
stripping techniques. The problem with
using conventional methods before a pre-
cipitation process is that added acid signifi-
cantly reduces the amount of alkalinity
needed for hardness precipitation. Lost
alkalinity must therefore be replaced in the
form of Na
2
CO
3
. This approach of elimi-
nating alkalinity with acid to remove sul-
fides, then replenishing that lost alkalinity
with an additional chemical, is expensive
and unnecessary.
Uncommon Sulfide Removal Method.
The original sulfide removal technique
used CO
2
as both the stripping gas and
agent for pH reduction. CO
2
forms carbon-
ic acid, bicarbonate, and carbonate when
dissolved in water. The free hydrogen-ions
released by dissociation of carbonic acid
reduce the pH of the water. Laboratory and
field testing indicate the water pH can be
reduced to less than 5 by dissolved CO
2
.
Because the reactions are reversible, no
adverse effect on alkalinity occurs.
Nitrogen is not as effective as CO
2
because
the water pH actually increases as a result of
stripping of entrained CO
2
with the sul-
fides. Blending even small amounts of CO
2
into the nitrogen stream significantly
improves packed-column performance.
Adding only 10% CO
2
to the nitrogen strip-
ping gas stream removes an additional 90
ppm of sulfides. Any CO
2
dissolved in the
water is effectively removed by heating in
the downstream HLS.
CONCLUSIONS
1. A new process for converting hard oil-
field water to boiler-quality feedwater has
been developed and commercially demon-
strated. Alkali consumption and sludge
production have been reduced by 50%,
compared with the standard HLP.
2. The addition of small amounts of caus-
tic soda to the MHLP enhances the stability
and efficiency of softening in high-hardness
west Texas source waters.
3. CO
2
is effective at removing sulfides
from water without adversely affecting
water chemistry in regard to softening.
However, piping and vessels exposed to
dissolved CO
2
must be protected to pre-
vent corrosion caused by carbonic acid.
4. Sulfide levels up to 200 ppm in steam-
generator feedwater have resulted in no sig-
nificant corrosion to steam generation and
distribution equipment after 1 year of oper-
ation. At a typical produced-water pH, this
level of reduction can be accomplished
with nitrogen.
Please read the full-length paper for
additional detail, illustrations, and ref-
erences. The paper from which the syn-
opsis has been taken has not been peer
reviewed.
JANUARY 1998 85
E O R / I O R
The Simonette Beaverhill Lake A and B
pools were discovered in September 1993.
Enhanced recovery (EOR) by water-alter-
nating-gas (WAG) miscible flooding was
initiated in May 1995. This short, 20-
month cycle time was achieved through
careful planning, multifunctional team
work, and close cooperation between the
partners in all critical decisions. The chal-
lenges to develop Simonette, including uni-
tizing, well spacing and scheduling, con-
serving gas, and selecting the type of flood
were identified in a development plan cre-
ated before discovery. Keys to economic
success were also identified in the planning
stage. When the discovery was made, a
multidisciplinary development team was
formed. Much effort was spent on under-
standing and meeting the needs of all inter-
ested parties, including partners and regu-
latory agencies.
GEOLOGY
Oil is trapped in the Simonette Beaverhill
Lake A and B pools in the updip culmina-
tion of a Swan Hills reef, a part of the
Beaverhill Lake group. The Beaverhill Lake
group comprises the Swan Hills formation,
consisting of reefal carbonates, and the
Waterways formation, composed of basin-
filling marlstones and carbonate mud-
stones. The A pool is separated from the B
pool by a normal fault with approximately
30 m of throw. The reefs were deposited in
a series of eight reef stages that grew in
response to rising sea levels. Development
and management of the reservoir is driven
by the properties and relationships of these
stages. Stage porosities within a well range
from 7 to 12%, and permeabilities can
range from 1 to 400 md.
PLANNING
Exploration Economics. The Simonette
exploration prospect was characterized as
having a geologic risk of one in five and
recoverable oil from 795 to 550010
3
m
3
.
The area ranged from 24 to 4010
6
m
2
.
Net pay was expected to be from 7.5 to
12.0 m. The original development plan
called for a waterflood with 65-ha spac-
ing, the same as most Beaverhill Lake
reservoirs in Alberta, and a nominal five-
spot pattern. With the estimated
exploratory risk of one in five, the
prospect was considered uneconomical.
The performance of other Beaverhill
Lake reservoirs showed that 80% of the
recovery was obtained from 20% of the
wells. Flood-front mapping of other
waterfloods showed that water injectors
could sweep oil as much as 4.83 km. The
performance of these reservoirs caused
the development plan to be revised to use
130-ha spacing.
Improved Oil Recovery (IOR). Implicit in
the economic evaluation was the need for
EOR. Expected primary recovery factors
were 10 to 20%, which would not support
the well investment and facilities cost.
Waterflooding was considered the mini-
mum depletion mechanism. In addition,
the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board
(AEUB) limits production from a reservoir
by a maximum rate limitation (MRL) that is
typically 9000 m
3
per month/110
6
m
3
of
recoverable oil.
Development Plan Goals. A Gantt Chart
for the development plan was presented
to management. If this extremely aggres-
sive timeline could be met and the pool
developed on 130-ha spacing, the explo-
ration economics were very attractive.
The following were major challenges in
the timeline.
Designing and selecting a flood with
only three to four wells out of an ulti-
mate pool development of 19 wells.
Obtaining AEUB approval in 3 months
with limited data when 6 to 12 months
is typical.
Unitizing the pool within 2 years, with
the same data limitations.
After management was assured that the
timeline would be met, approval was
given for drilling the discovery well in
June 1993. After discovery, water injec-
tion was achieved 6 months ahead of plan
and gas injection began 4 months ahead
of the injection target date.
LABORATORY STUDIES
Reservoir fluid studies and laboratory
corefloods are critical sources of data for
designing and selecting a flood scheme for
a reservoir. Representative samples from
the dominant flow facies were selected for
waterflood tests, relative permeability
determination, and (combined with fluid
studies) miscible flooding potential. A set
of capillary pressure curves, covering a
range of porosities and permeabilities, was
determined. These data were gathered to
create a permeability transform to popu-
late a reservoir-simulation model. The
composition analysis revealed that solu-
tion gas from Simonette could be used as a
miscible solvent for the oil. This finding
was instrumental in the decision to use a
miscible flood.
REGULATORY ENGAGEMENT
The AEUB must approve all recovery
schemes as part of their mandate to con-
serve the energy resources of Alberta. AEUB
approval can take up to 1 year if they iden-
tify issues with a proposed scheme that
require additional laboratory or simulation
studies. Because approval was required
within 3 months of application with little
data, a meeting was held to explain the
nature of the reservoir, development plans,
and the need for a short cycle time. The
staff of the AEUB raised several questions.
The objectives of the simulation studies
were set to address these. The AEUB staff
was kept informed of the findings and con-
clusions of various studies. The final appli-
cation was submitted in October 1994 with
data from only three wells. The application
was updated with information from an
A MODERN EXAMPLE OF SHORT-CYCLE-
TIME DEVELOPMENT
This article is a synopsis of paper SPE
38824, Simonette Beaverhill Lake
A&B Pools: A Modern Example of
Short-Cycle-Time Development, by
T.J. Moynihan, SPE, Chevron Canada
Resources; J.C. Fryters, Chevron
Petroleum Technology Co.; and P.
Chernik, SPE, Shell Canada Ltd. origi-
nally presented at the 1997 SPE
Annual Technical Conference and
Exhibition, San Antonio, Texas, 58
October.
86 JANUARY 1998
E O R / I O R
additional five wells in January 1995, and
approval of miscible flood for the Simonette
A pool was obtained in March 1995.
EARLY PERFORMANCE
MONITORING
As each well was drilled, a temporary bat-
tery was installed at the wellsite. The well
was produced at its primary MRL of 15
m
3
/d and the gas was flared. Bottomhole
pressures, used to construct a pressure his-
tory and estimate the original oil in place
(OOIP), were measured on a routine basis.
Pressure data showed that Well 5-19 was
separated from the other wells by a sealing
fault. The fault had been imaged with
three-dimensional (3D) seismic. This fault
divided the Simonette Beaverhill Lake
reservoir into two pools, A and B. The
pools could be managed separately, facili-
tating accelerated development and flood
implementation. The calculated OOIP of
5800 to 610010
3
m
3
was close to the
volumetrically determined value of
770010
3
m
3
, providing confidence in
the adequacy of 130-ha spacing.
IOR
A hybrid finite-difference/streamtube
reservoir-simulation model was used to
determine the optimum recovery mecha-
nism. This method creates a 3D model by
combining detailed two-dimensional
finite-difference cross sections with areal
streamtubes. This method has been
applied successfully in similar horizontal
EOR evaluations.
With the limited reservoir data available
from Simonette and the need to accelerate
project timelines, analogous reservoir mod-
els were chosen to scope the EOR options.
Existing cross-section models from other
Beaverhill Lake reservoirs were selected.
After preliminary evaluation, focused
efforts began on two contrasting cross sec-
tions. Laboratory rock- and fluid-property
data from the first Simonette well were
incorporated into the analogous cross sec-
tions. These provided cross sections that
effectively represented various reef facies
on the basis of history-matched perfor-
mance data and accelerated the reservoir
study by identifying the most attractive
depletion options.
Digital well-log and core data from the
first three Simonette wells became avail-
able less than 1 month before EOR appli-
cation had to be made to the AEUB.
Without the scoping work on the analo-
gous pools, it would not have been possi-
ble to perform an effective evaluation with-
in the given time frame. Cross sections
generated from the Simonette wells pro-
duced similar results to those from the
analogous pools. The simulation study
indicated that incremental recovery could
be be attained with a high-WAG-ratio
hydrocarbon miscible flood. Gravity over-
ride was a problem with lower-WAG-ratio
floods. Waterflooding was also highly
effective, with a very favorable mobility
ratio because of the low-viscosity oil. A
WAG ratio of 4:1 was optimum. Overall oil
recovery estimates were 44% for water-
flood and 48% for miscible flood.
UNITIZATION
A unit- or production-sharing agreement
was necessary before any type of EOR could
be initiated. Initially the discussion between
Chevron and Shell involved individual
recovery forecasts for each tract in the pool.
Because of the limited amount of informa-
tion available and the limited time for
detailed forecasting, an agreement was
reached to use a common recovery factor for
all tracts. To address the issue of early pro-
duction from certain tracts, the companies
agreed to use remaining reserves. A reserve-
life index was calculated for each tract to
recognize the time value of the production.
This was done by dividing the remaining
reserves for the tract by the well productivi-
ty in the tract. A multiplier was applied to
the recoverable reserves for the tract. The
cost of an average trouble-free well and a
multiplier to reflect that low-deliverability
wells are less valuable in a unitized mode of
operation were used as a basis for equalizing
well costs. The participation percentage rec-
ommended by the technical committee was
unanimously approved.
FACILITIES
The presence of 1.5% H
2
S in the solution
gas had a major impact on the depletion
plan and the required facilities. The
required facilities agreed on were (1) a
gathering system, (2) a central oil battery,
(3) a water source/injection and distribu-
tion system, (4) gas-handling equipment,
and (5) an oil-sales pipeline. It was agreed
that the construction of the facilities dur-
ing the winter months would be most cost-
effective because of terrain and road condi-
tions during Spring and Summer. No gas
plant capable of handling the anticipated
quantity of sour gas existed in the area. A
long sour-gas pipeline or an on-site gas
plant would be required.
Project specifications had to be finalized
by August 1994 to have the facilities in
place by April 1995, and approval to pro-
ceed had to be obtained by September
1994. The key parameter in the project
specifications was the size of the central
battery. The final plan called for the con-
struction of a 1600-m
3
/d facility that could
be expanded to 2400 m
3
/d. Approval was
granted in September 1994, and the facili-
ties came on line May 1995.
Reinjection of all of the solution gas was
only an interim measure. A 110-km
pipeline was built to the Chevron Kaybob
south gas plant and was operational in
April 1996.
PERFORMANCE
The miscible WAG flood was terminated in
April 1996, and the EOR method changed
to waterflood. This decision was made on
the basis of limited solvent injectivity
resulting from relative permeability effects
and low solvent coreflood recovery. The
short-termmiscible flood was an economic
success because it yielded a favorable
return on the incremental investment, but
the miscible flood could not be supported
technically in the long term.
CONCLUSIONS
Production and performance from
Simonette has exceeded expectations. The
project has been successful in terms of pro-
ject execution and performance. Achieving
the goals of short cycle time, optimum
facility sizing, and conservation requires
the following.
Clearly defining project goals on the basis
of economic analysis.
Planning in detail before discovery and
continuing planning and disciplined exe-
cution through delineation and develop-
ment phases.
Planning for flexibility based on uncer-
tainties that can affect the project.
Establishing, understanding, and respect-
ing the needs and goals of the business,
professions, partners, and regulatory
agencies and working to meet their needs
throughout the project.
Involving all functional groups through-
out the project.
Collecting sufficient data to understand
and manage reservoir morphology and
performance.
Using analogous reservoirs to guide goals
and decisions.
Involving experienced technical staff.
Please read the full-length paper for
additional detail, illustrations, and ref-
erences. The paper from which the syn-
opsis has been taken has not been peer
reviewed.
JANUARY 1998 87
E O R / I O R
The Sanand field was discovered in 1962,
and production from Sanand Horizon-III
unit, the 4.210
6
m
2
main pool, began in
1969. Simulation studies indicate a recov-
ery of 14.9% of original oil in place
(OOIP) by Year 2010. The field was select-
ed for polymer flooding during 1980. The
polymer-flooding process was selected
because extensive laboratory tests indicat-
ed that more oil could be recovered than
with only a waterflood. Increasing the vis-
cosity of the displacement fluid improves
pore-to-pore, areal, and vertical sweep effi-
ciencies. A polymer pilot project began in
April 1985 and was followed by an
expanded polymer pilot and fieldwide
polymer flooding in December 1995.
RESERVOIR DESCRIPTION
Lithologically, the rock is composed of
sandstone, calcareous silty shales, and silt-
stones. The average depth is 1300 m, and
the pay thickness ranges from 6 to 8 m.
Porosity determined by log analysis ranges
from 24 to 32%, and permeability deter-
mined by pressure-transient tests averages
1000 md. Oil gravity is 22.3API, and vis-
cosity at reservoir conditions of 13 731 kPa
and 82C is 0.018 to 0.02 Pas.
PROCESS DESIGN
Laboratory Testing. The enhanced-oil-
recovery (EOR) process design included
extensive laboratory testing to screen com-
mercially available and economically viable
polymers. Use of biopolymers was ruled out
because of bacterial degradation. A literature
survey and earlier field tests by other opera-
tors suggested that a partially hydrolyzed
polyacrylamide (PHPA) could be used in the
polymer-flooding process. Several PHPA
polymers were tested on Berea cores at 82C.
Optimum polymer concentration was found
to be 800 ppm. The water/oil mobility ratio
was 7.5 for waterflooding, but 1.9 for poly-
mer flooding. Rheological studies indicated
that no shear-degradation or shear-thicken-
ing behavior was exhibited by the selected
PHPA polymer solutions even at high shear
or frontal-advance rates.
Polymer-Slug Design. There are three
types of polymer-slug designs: an in-situ
gelation process, high-concentration small
slug, and low-concentration large slug. The
in-situ gelation process that plugs channels
and thief zones was not considered suitable
for improving the recovery efficiency in
Sanand. A small slug of high-concentration
polymer was selected. On the basis of lab-
oratory experiments, a 15% pore volume
(PV) slug with a polymer concentration of
800 ppm was found to be optimum for
polymer flooding in the Sanand field.
Injectivity Testing. Field injectivity tests
were conducted with plain water and 400,
800, and 1200 ppm polymer solutions to
observe the variation in rates and pressures.
These tests showed that polymer solutions
as great as 1200 ppm could be injected into
the formation without sandface plugging.
During injectivity testing, pressure-falloff
tests were conducted with bottomhole
shut-in pressure measurements. The pres-
sure/time data were analyzed with a
method applicable for non-Newtonian flu-
ids. Pressure-falloff test results for different
concentrations of polymer solution indicat-
ed slower dissipation of pressure with
increased polymer concentration, indicat-
ing decreasing mobility of polymer solution
with increased polymer concentrations.
Potential Reserves. To evaluate the eco-
nomic viability of polymer flooding, it was
necessary to determine the field reserves.
OOIP was determined to be 15.710
6
m
3
with ultimate recovery of 4.310
6
m
3
,
which included 1.7210
6
m
3
of oil
resulting from EOR.
IMPLEMENTATION
Pilot Phase. An experimental polymer
pilot was commissioned in a limited
(5.710
5
m
2
) portion of Sanand Horizon-
III. The pattern was an asymmetrical,
inverted five-spot with four producers, one
injector, and one monitoring well.
Movement of fluids inside the reservoir was
monitored by injection of 1560 m
3
of
potassium iodide tracer solution at a con-
centration of 250 ppm. Approximately 96
000 m
3
of graded-concentration polymer
was injected into the system, followed by
38 000 m
3
of chase water. The wellhead
pressure (WHP) was approximately 3923
to 5888 kPa, which was less than the for-
mation fracturing pressure of 10 790 kPa.
WHP data indicated smooth injection of
polymer solution into the formation with-
out sandface plugging. This observation
was substantiated by a Halls plot. Pressure
logging-tool surveys were run on the injec-
tor to determine whether polymer injection
improved the injection profile. Before poly-
mer injection, injection was occurring in
only 3 m of the formation. This increased to
7 m during polymer injection. Another
indication of the success of the pilot was
breakthrough of polymer in Well S67 after
approximately 8 months, indicating that
the polymer-flood front was moving as
expected. A stabilized oil production rate of
approximately 15 to 20 m
3
/d from Well S28
was attributed to the effectiveness of poly-
mer injection in Well S66 nearby.
Expanded-Pilot Phase. After successful
completion of the pilot, an expanded-pilot
phase began in February 1993. Its size was
approximately 1.410
6
m
2
, which is
approximately 2.5 times the initial pilot
area. It has four inverted five-spot patterns
with nine producers and four injectors.
Production response to the expanded
polymer injection was encouraging. Oil
rates in the expanded-pilot-area wells
increased from 12 to 45 m
3
/d. Average water
cuts decreased from 85 to 55%. Polymer
injection caused the reservoir pressure to
increase. A cyclical increase and decrease in
oil rate occurred during the expanded-pilot
phase. After polymer breakthrough, an oil
bank gradually forms and movement of this
oil bank toward the producers increases the
FIELD IMPLEMENTATION OF
A POLYMER EOR TECHNIQUE
This article is a synopsis of paper SPE
38872, Field Implementation of
Polymer EOR Technique: A Successful
Experiment in India, by Mahendra
Pratap, SPE, R.P. Roy, R.K. Gupta, and
Daljeet Singh, SPE, Oil and Natl. Gas
Corp., India, originally presented at the
1997 SPE annual Technical Conference
and Exhibition, San Antonio, Texas, 58
October.
88 JANUARY 1998
E O R / I O R
oil production rate. Once the oil bank is
produced, the oil rate declines.
Field Monitoring. All injectors and produc-
ers were monitored during both pilot and ex-
panded-pilot phases. Injection rates of each
injector were monitored to ensure uniform
radial movement of the polymer-flood front,
and injection pressures were recorded.
Quality of the injected fluid was monitored
for polymer concentration, turbidity, dissolved
oxygen, and iron content. Production rate,
water cut, and gas/oil ratio were recorded for
production wells. Any breakthrough of poly-
mer/tracer in the produced fluids was also
monitored. Reservoir pressure, both static and
flowing, was measured at regular intervals.
Fieldwide Commercial Application. A
fieldwide polymer flood was designed on the
basis of simulation studies. Total area covered
is 4.210
6
m
2
, with 32 producers and 16
injectors. Graded concentrations of polymer
ranging from 200 to 800 ppm will be inject-
ed. Total polymer injection volume planned
is 9.710
4
m
3
/well over a 40-month period.
Chase-water injection will follow the poly-
mer injection. Estimated cumulative oil pro-
duction from Sanand Horizon-III is 3.910
6
m
3
, with a water cut of 75.73% by 2010. Oil
recovery is expected to increase from 14.9 to
24.5% of OOIP by 2010, with an incremental
recovery of 9.6% of OOIP by polymer flood-
ing. Plateau oil rate during the polymer flood
is estimated to be 445 m
3
/d for 8 years. Cost
estimates indicate the fieldwide use of poly-
mer flooding is economically attractive, with
an investment rate of return of 27.86% and a
payout period of less than 6 years.
INFILL DRILLING
A literature review indicated that water-
flooding combined with infill drilling will
improve recovery efficiency more than
waterflooding alone. Infill drilling will pro-
duce oil from parts of the reservoir that
might be bypassed because of suboptimal
well spacing. A map of the drained area indi-
cated nonuniform drainage from the reser-
voir because of spacing and well pattern.
Five infill locations are planned to synchro-
nize the producer pattern with the injection
wells. These five infill locations will initially
contribute approximately 94 m
3
/d of oil and
provide more-uniform drainage.
CONCLUSIONS
1. A polymer EOR technique has proved
to be successful in the Sanand field.
2. PHPA was identified as a nonplugging
polymer that could be successfully used in
a polymer-flooding process.
3. Performance evaluation of both poly-
mer pilot and expanded polymer pilot has
shown excellent agreement with laboratory
test data that predicted that oil rate would
increase and water cut would decrease.
4. Production data have shown that sig-
nificantly more oil has been produced with
the polymer flood than was expected with-
out EOR.
5. Polymer injection improved the per-
formance of injectors because it improved
their injection profiles.
6. Polymer flooding combined with infill
drilling improves recovery by providing
more-uniform drainage.
7. Successful field implementation of
polymer flooding requires continuous
efforts and close field monitoring to
improve the efficiency and effectiveness of
the polymer EOR technique.
Please read the full-length paper for addi-
tional detail, illustrations, and references.
The paper from which the synopsis has
been taken has not been peer reviewed.
JANUARY 1998 89
E O R / I O R
The Norman Wells oil-producing reservoir,
discovered in 1920, is located 450 m
beneath the Mackenzie River in Canadas
Northwest Territories, approximately 150
km south of the Arctic Circle. Development
occurred only on the mainland and natural
islands until 1981, when a major expansion
project was initiated with the latest tech-
nology in artificial island construction and
directional drilling to access the reservoir
beneath the river. A fieldwide five-spot
waterflood program was implemented, and
pool production in 1985 increased from
475 to more than 4000 m
3
/d. Currently,
164 active injectors and 170 producers
average 4500 m
3
/d of oil.
The presence of natural fractures at
Norman Wells has been known since
1920, when the discovery well produced
oil from the fractured shales overlying the
Kee scarp. Since that time, oriented cores
from 23 wells and more than 10 km of for-
mation microscanner data have been ana-
lyzed to characterize the orientation and
frequency of the natural fractures through
the reservoir. The natural fractures transect
the reef vertically and are observed to be
either open and effective or calcite cement-
ed and ineffective. Their sizes range from a
few millimeters to centimeters in width
and a few centimeters to several tens of
meters in height.
POOL DEVELOPMENT
The reservoir is overpresssured with an
average pressure of 6000 kPa at a shallow
depth of 310 to 600 m. Maximum pressure
differential between injectors and produc-
ers is key to increased production rates and
sweep efficiency in the low-permeability
matrix. Because of varying zonal permeabil-
ities in a thick net pay of 110 m, vertical
conformance plays an important role in
maximizing recovery.
The presence of natural fractures in the
Kee scarp formation has greatly enhanced
the productivity of the less-permeable
matrix rock. However, combinations of
less-than-optimum well placement and nat-
ural fractures create serious problems with
water cycling between injectors and pro-
ducers. Because the Kee scarp formation is
an oil-wet, naturally fractured reservoir, the
effects of short-circuited injection are much
more drastic than in a water-wet formation.
For the waterflood scheme at Norman
Wells, this can result in early water break-
through because capillary forces tend to
keep the injected water in the fractures,
resulting in a reduction of recovery (sweep)
in the area. During the 1981 expansion pro-
ject, deviated wellbores were drilled from
the limited surface locations to access the
shallow reservoir beneath the river. To mit-
igate early water breakthrough associated
with the orientation of the natural frac-
tures, injectors and producers were drilled
in a staggered linedrive arrangement along
the mean regional fracture trend.
Waterflood patterns were designed with an
elongated 2:1 aspect ratio, with average pat-
tern dimensions of 250500 m. This
alignment could not be extended to the
mainland because of the large number of
wells that were drilled before the fracture
orientation was understood. The presence
of these older wells created a large num-
ber of highly deviated wellbores with
asymmetric pattern geometries and
inconsistent spacing.
HISTORY
The impact of the nonideal wellbore con-
figurations in the mainland area was
observed soon after startup of the Norman
Wells pattern waterflood, when a number
of producers experienced almost immedi-
ate water breakthrough. Coreflood studies
showed that waterflood breakthrough
occurs after injection of 5 to 25% of a pat-
terns continuous pore volume. Tracer stud-
ies and pulse testing completed in the
1980s confirmed the existence of high-per-
meability channels in the northeast part of
the pool. Information from the tracer pro-
gram showed that breakthough times as
short as 3 days to 1 year were not uncom-
mon and suggested that connected fracture
networks have a significant influence on
flow within those patterns. Many of these
underperforming patterns have cumulative
oil recoveries of 10 to 25%, while a typical
pattern recovery of approximately 35% is
experienced in neighboring patterns where
fracturing-related conformance-control
problems do not exist. Workovers have
been attempted to enhance the perfor-
mance of wells in patterns where fractures
result in bypassed oil. Cement repairs and
mechanical shutoffs have not been success-
ful because of the inability to achieve zonal
isolation. All types of water-control
workovers in Norman Wells have been
costly because of the areas remoteness and
have experienced limited success. It was
concluded that chromium acetate-
crosslinked, partially hydrolyzed polyacry-
lamide (PHPA) polymer gel, which has
been used successfully in the industry for
controlling water production in naturally
fractured reservoirs, should be evaluated
for the Norman Wells waterflood.
CANDIDATE SELECTION CRITERIA
The selection of a good gel-treatment can-
didate is critical to a successful pilot of the
use of PHPA at Norman Wells. A set of site-
specific candidate-selection criteria was
developed from industry experience. The
key screening criteria included patterns
with low pattern oil recoveries, early water
breakthrough, high water cuts, potential
for increased drawdowns, and knowledge
of prior problems. A typical Norman Wells
pattern waterflood is forecast to recover
40% of the original oil in place (OOIP)
with water breakthrough times of 3 to 10
years. Wells where work had isolated
water-bearing zones were also considered
likely candidates, assuming that a gel treat-
IMPROVING SWEEP EFFICIENCY IN A
NATURALLY FRACTURED RESERVOIR
WITH POLYMER GELS
This article is a synopsis of paper SPE
38901, Improving Sweep Efficiency in
the Norman Wells Naturally Fractured
Reservoir Through the Use of Polymer
Gels: A Field Case History, by L.I.
Tweidt, SPE, W.D. Chase, SPE, and C.R.
Holowatuk, SPE, Imperial Oil Ltd.; R.H.
Lane, SPE, Northstar Technologies Intl.;
and C.M. Mitchell, Dowell, originally
presented at the 1997 SPE Annual
Technical Conference and Exhibition,
San Antonio, Texas, 58 October.
90 JANUARY 1998
E O R / I O R
ment could shut off water production
while reactivating production of isolated
oil reserves.
CANDIDATE WELL DIAGNOSTICS
A review of a number of potential water-
control candidates identified the E-43X/D-
42X well pair as a primary target because
the D-42X well had an expected oil recov-
ery of less than 2% of OOIP and was pro-
ducing at a water cut of 95% within 2
months of waterflood startup. An oil
recovery increase of only 0.2% was
required to pay out the PHPA-treatment
cost. Injector E-43X was identified as the
injection source on the basis of historic
Well D-42X production response to injec-
tion-rate changes at Well E-43X. Multiple
attempts were made with cement and phe-
nol-formaldehyde resin to shut off the
zone cycling water. None of the previous
water-control workovers provided sus-
tained success in reducing flow though
this fracture connection.
TREATMENT DESIGN
The system chosen consisted of a high-mo-
lecular-weight PHPA polymer with chromi-
um acetate as crosslinker. Extensive labora-
tory work verified the fracture-selective
nature of gels prepared from high-molecu-
lar-weight polymer. At the low bottomhole
temperatures of 22C and water tempera-
ture of 30C used for gel makeup, develop-
ment of viscosity significantly higher than
that of the initial gelant solution was not
expected for at least 24 hours after addition
of the crosslinker.
The gels high viscosity was expected to
minimize viscous fingering during place-
ment and be more likely than the low-vis-
cosity phenol-formaldehyde to fill the full
height of the fractures. The product also
exhibited very little syneresis in long-term
laboratory tests, reducing the probability of
water leakage past the polymer as the gel
aged. One of the concerns with the
crosslinked PHPA gel is that it does not
have the shear strength of the phenol-
formaldehyde resin used previously. This is
of particular concern at Norman Wells,
where the fracture apertures are quite wide
relative to those in most pools. Treatments
with relatively high concentrations of poly-
mer were used in an attempt to generate a
gel with enough strength to withstand the
pressures experienced during workovers or
in day-to-day operations. Because of its self-
selectivity to fracture penetration, this
gelant can be bullheaded, resulting in a
simpler procedure and rigup than a zone-
isolated treatment.
TREATMENT
The injector, E-43X, was selected for the
first treatment. Design volume of the
gelant was 100 m
3
, with polymer concen-
tration ramping up in stages from 0.5 to
1.5 wt%. The design also called for overdis-
placing the gelant with a few cubic meters
of uncrosslinked polymer solution in an
effort to retain a portion of near-well frac-
ture conductivity and improve connection
of the injector to the formation matrix. In
many cases, treatment of the injector may
be sufficient to correct a channeling prob-
lem through fractures. Given the demon-
strated extent of the interwell fracture net-
work and difficulties designing an appro-
priate treatment volume for an injection
well, a small treatment at the D-42X well
was designed. The original design called
for 10 to 15 m
3
of 1.5 wt% polymer with
very little overdisplacement.
Well E-43X Treatment Description. The E-
43X injection treatment was pumped in
three stages at 20, 40, and 40 m
3
/stage of 0.5,
1.0, and 1.5 wt% polymer as planned.
Because virtually no treating-pressure
increase was observed during placement, a
fourth stage of 40 m
3
of 1.75 wt% polymer
gelant was pumped. Offset producers D-44X
and C-40X were shut in after 93 m
3
of gelant
was pumped, and producer D-42X was
opened during the fourth stage of treatment.
While Well E-43X was being treated, pres-
sure readings at two offset wells, D-42X and
C-41X, indicated strong response and a rela-
tively direct link to the E-43X fracture net-
work. Two days after the E-43X treatment,
polymer gel was injected into Well D-42X.
No pressure response was observed at Well
E-43X at that time, which was considered an
indication of the success of the E-43X treat-
ment. However, a direct response was mea-
sured at Well C-41X, indicating that its con-
nection to Well D-42X was strong and had
not been affected by the E-43X treatment.
Other offset wells that also exhibit general
fracture flow behavior did not have a signif-
icant pressure response, indicating that they
were not in direct communication with the
E-43X/D-42X fracture system.
Well D-42X Treatment. Because no pres-
sure buildup or gelant breakthrough took
place during treatment of Well E-43X, the
D-42X treatment was redesigned. The new
design consisted of 20 m
3
of 1.75 wt% fol-
lowed by 5 m
3
of 2.0 wt% polymer gelant,
overdisplaced with 0.5 m
3
of 5000 ppm
polymer solution. The treatment design
included operation of offset producing wells
at the start of polymer injection to influence
gel flow into the dominant fracture. During
the E-43X treatment, no polymer gel was
detected at Well D-42X, whereas an earlier
treatment that used phenol-formaldehyde
resin resulted in resin being produced after
only 15 m
3
of injection at Well E-43X.
POST-JOB RESULTS
After the polymer gel injection, the treated
and offset wells were left shut in for at
least 5 days to minimize fluid flow in the
fracture during the gel setup time. Startup
procedures, with the primary objective of
maintaining gel integrity in the fracture
system by minimizing forces placed on the
gel, were developed for both injectors
and producers.
Well E-43X Pattern Results. After 1 week
of gradual rate increase, the E-43X injection
rate was 50 m
3
/d. After 2 months of contin-
uous operation, the injection rate stabilized
at 35 m
3
/d, or less than 20% of the prejob
injection rate. Injection profile logging
indicated poor vertical conformance, with
the majority of the water still entering the
reservoir top. The 25 m
3
gelled polymer
treatment on Well D-42X was of insuffi-
cient strength to block the fracture. On
startup, gelled polymer was produced to
the surface. Total volume reproduced was
approximately 80% of the injected polymer.
Successful reduction of water injection at
Well E-43X appears to have increased oil
production. Well D-42X oil production
increased by 8 m
3
/d over the 6 month peri-
od after the treatments, and drawdown
doubled after reduction of water that was
short circuiting through the fractures. In
another offset well that also had a historic
correlation to E-43X injection, oil produc-
tion increased by 5 m
3
/d.
CONCLUSIONS
1. Selection of wells based on the possi-
bility of improving bottomhole pressures
and stopping water cycling led to lower
flowing bottomhole pressures and
increased production from offset wells.
2. Bullhead treatment with high-molecu-
lar-weight polymer gelant was successful in
selectively shutting off excess water cycling
through fracture networks.
3. Monitoring adjacent well pressures
during treatment improved understanding
of the fracture network.
Please read the full-length paper for
additional detail, illustrations, and ref-
erences. The paper from which the syn-
opsis has been taken has not been peer
reviewed.
JANUARY 1998 91
E O R / I O R
Phase-equilibrium behavior of reservoir
fluids is an important phenomenon in
petroleum production, particularly in
enhanced-oil-recovery (EOR) processes.
However, phase behavior for heavy oils
(<15 API) generally has been thought to
be a minimal effect that can be neglected.
Steam provides heat to the oil in the
reservoir, reducing the viscosity of the liq-
uid oil and facilitating its movement into
the wellbore. Steam also creates a vapor or
gas space in the reservoir into which the oil
can distill or vaporize. The vaporization of
some of the oil into the gas phase and its
subsequent movement with the steam have
not been extensively exploited in steam-
flood operations. Steam distillation of crude
oil in petroleum reservoirs is recognized as
one of the major mechanisms responsible
for high oil recovery by steamflooding. The
practical limit of the amount of reservoir
fluid that can be distilled is determined in
dynamic-steam-distillation experiments.
Laboratory vaporization and steam-distil-
lation tests are vital to understanding the
steamflood mechanism. An appreciable
amount of incremental oil can be recovered
by steam distillation. The growth of commer-
cial thermal-recovery projects has created a
need for basic data on phase equlibria of
water and hydrocarbons. Compositional
reservoir simulators use the results of two-
phase flash calculations as input to equations
of state (EOSs) or use two-phase vapor/liquid
equilibrium ratios (K values) to account for
hydrocarbon/water/vapor separation.
Water is present in petroleum reservoirs
and recovery systems, and knowledge of its
effects on the hydrocarbon-separation
process is necessary to predict the effects of
steam distillation and the phase behavior of
hydrocarbon/water systems. Knowledge of
three-phase K values that include the
effects of steam distillation would greatly
increase the accuracy and reliability of ther-
mal simulators.
The goal of this research is to obtain
three-phase laboratory steam-distillation
data to gain better understanding of the
effects of water and its vapor on hydrocar-
bon-separation processes at high-pressure
and -temperature conditions. This includes
investigation of both pure hydrocarbon-
component/water systems and crude-
oil/water systems. The three-phase K values
determined from these laboratory investi-
gations are necessary to describe the effects
of steam distillation accurately in mathe-
matical reservoir simulation.
EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES
Static-system-pressure tests (SSPTs),
dynamic-distillation tests (DDTs), and
stage-wise isochoric distillation tests
(SWIDTs) were performed with a distilla-
tion test apparatus.
SSPT. SSPTs were conducted for hydrocar-
bons in the presence and absence of water.
These tests were performed on every sam-
ple to obtain the system pressures of hydro-
carbon/water mixtures and were used as an
indication of equilibrium conditions in dis-
tillation tests. Static-pressure data are
important to ensure that equilibrium or
near-equilibrium conditions are reached for
SWIDTs. These test results can also be used
to tune EOS methods.
DDT. DDTs were performed to investigate
the effect of steam-injection rate on steam-
distillation yields. This testing procedure
was used primarily to determine the maxi-
mum steam-distillation yield.
SWIDTs. The SWIDT is conducted in a
constant-volume cell (isochoric). The sys-
tem is brought to equilibrium at each stage
before the distillate sample is removed from
the vapor phase. Two types of SWIDTs
were performed. In one (SWIDT-1), the
temperature was increased in steps; and in
the other (SWIDT-2), the temperature was
held constant. After equilibrium was
reached at each stage, the distillate sample
was removed for compositional analysis of
the vapor phase. The overall cell composi-
tion was calculated from the distillate vol-
ume and the hydrocarbon-phase composi-
tion by mole balance. The remaining com-
ponents and calculated overall composition
were used for the next test stage. The
hydrocarbon and water vapors were
extracted from the vapor phase, separated,
condensed, and their volumes measured.
The composition of the hydrocarbons was
determined with gas chromatography.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
As the reservoir is produced, the reservoir
pressure and temperature and the composi-
tion of the fluids change. These changes are
studied in phase-behavior studies and are
important in estimating reservoir perfor-
mance. Most heavy-oil reservoirs contain
water and hydrocarbons in a liquid phase.
Steam injection introduces a gas, water
vapor, into the reservoir. To access the over-
all performance of a reservoir under steam-
flood fully, the pressure, temperature, and
hydrocarbon-compositional changes must
be predicted. The hydrocarbons used in
this study were water-free Kern River con-
densate and Kern River Oils AWT 6 and
Station 36 (Table 1).
Vapor-Pressure Measurements. The pres-
sure exerted by a crude-oil vapor is useful in
the development of an EOR process and in
estimating gross vapor composition in terms
of a vapor-phase steam/oil ratio. It is essen-
tial to the understanding of the steam-distil-
lation mechanism. Vapor-pressure measure-
ments, although strictly defined for a single-
component fluid, can be performed on mix-
tures of components like crude oils. Vapor
pressure was determined for three samples
of Kern River fluids. The two Kern River
crude oils have very similar vapor-pres-
STEAM-DISTILLATION STUDIES FOR THE
KERN RIVER FIELD
This article is a synopsis of paper SPE
38298, Steam-Distillation Studies for
the Kern River Field, by W.C.
Richardson, SPE, Texaco Inc./EPTD;
M.K. Beladi, SPE, Texaco E&P Inc.;
and C.H. Wu, SPE, Texas A&M U., orig-
inally presented at the 1997 SPE
Western Regional Meeting, Long
Beach, California, 2527 June.
Gravity Molecular Viscosity
Sample (API) Weight cp*
KR Station 36 13.0 458 10,000
KR AWT 6 12.6 512 17,000
Condensate 33.0 190 3.5
*Measurements at room temperature, 75F.
TABLE 1KERN RIVER FLUID
PROPERTIES
92 JANUARY 1998
E O R / I O R
sure/temperature curves, but AWT 6 oil
exhibits a slightly lower pressure at each
temperature compared with Station 36 oil.
This indicates that AWT 6 oil contains a
smaller amount of more volatile components
and is consistent with its higher viscosity.
Steam-Distillation Yields. Steam-distilla-
tion tests indicate the amount of oil vapor-
ized by a given amount of steam at different
temperature and pressure conditions. This
experiment approaches an equilibrium flash
test of an oil/water pressure/volume/temper-
ature (PVT) -type system. The steam-distil-
lation test isolates the steam-distillation
mechanism from all other mechanisms that
might be occurring in the steamflood
process. Early events within the steam-dis-
tillation experiment, especially at early
steam throughput, may provide estimates of
composition and water/oil ratios in the
vapor phase. These estimates can be useful
for certain steam-zone logging methods and
for gross estimates of K values used in sim-
ulations. In these experiments, steam is
passed through an oil phase in a fixed-vol-
ume cell at a certain pressure or temperature
and either under saturated- or superheated-
steam conditions. Steam-distillation experi-
ments can be run dynamically (DDT) or
stage-wise (SWIDT).
Six isothermal steam distillations,includ-
ing SWIDT-2 and DDTs were conducted
with Kern River oil. Two steam-distillation
runs were completed at 300F (Runs B07
and B08), and two distillations were com-
pleted at 400F (Runs B09 and B10). One
run (B02) was conducted at 467F, and one
run (BBR3) was conducted at 500F.
Four variable-temperature steam distilla-
tions, SWIDT-1, were completed. Runs
B04, B05, and B12 were initiated at 300F,
and the temperature was increased after
each distillate withdrawal. In most cases,
water was initially in contact with the oil.
One other variable-temperature run, B13,
was initiated at 400F.
The maximum oil yield resulting from
steam distillation was greater than 15% in a
400F isothermal steam-distillation run
(B09) with a 3.543 final steam throughput
(steam factor). Oil-production curves for
steam-distillation experiments conducted
at 300F show a steam-distillation yield as
high as 10% of the initial oil at a steam-dis-
tillation factor of 4.599.
Compositional Changes. Steam distillation
vaporizes light ends of heavy oils at all tem-
peratures investigated. The steam-vaporiza-
tion process is not constant, and steam con-
tinues to vaporize or distill heavier hydro-
carbons. Steam has the energy to distill
heavy hydrocarbons that boil at tempera-
tures much higher than that of the steam.
Rheology of Distillation Effluents. Rheol-
ogical data of the steam-distillation effluents
are useful for tuning computational models
of the steam-distillation process. Viscosities
were measured at three temperatures for dis-
tilled hydrocarbon samples from the 300F
steam-distillation run. Distillate viscosity
increases with steam throughput. Large vis-
cosity changes are observed in a comparison
of early and late distillate samples, with an
increase in viscosity from 3.52 to 6.02 cp at
77F as the steam distillation proceeded.
Molecular-Weight Changes. The molecu-
lar weight of the distillates was measured
where possible to corroborate results from
compositional, viscosity, and density mea-
surements. The molecular weight of the
samples generally increased with steam
throughput (Fig. 1). Fluctuations in some
samples are attributed to changes and
adjustments in the backpressure. The mol-
ecular weights of the distillates for the
superheated-steam distillation (B09) ap-
pear higher than those of the distillates
from the saturated-steam distillation (B10).
This is consistent with the presence of
water in the saturated steam causing sup-
pression of hydrocarbon vaporization.
CONCLUSIONS
1. Steam distillation causes large compo-
sitional changes in Kern River oils.
2. The amount of vaporized oil produced
by steam distillation increases with steam
temperature and throughput.
3. Hydrocarbon condensate produced in
the mature Kern River steamflood is similar
to distillates produced at low steam through-
put in laboratory steam-distillation studies.
4. The presence of some hydrocarbons in
the steam may affect logging tools that
respond to oxygen and carbon densities.
5. Superheated steam vaporizes more oil
than saturated steam. At 400F, superheated
steam distilled 25% more Kern River oil
than saturated steam.
Please read the full-length paper for
additional detail, illustrations, and ref-
erences. The paper from which the syn-
opsis has been taken has not been peer
reviewed.
Fig. 1Molecular weight of distillates from steam-distillation tests.
Distillate Number