Nanofluidic EOR Evaluation for Recovery Efficiency Comparison
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) methods face challenges in determining the relative recovery performance and production efficiencies of different techniques, as well as quantifying potential reservoir damage, due to the complexity of evaluating various tertiary recovery methods and their associated fluid and additive combinations.
Innovation Solution
The use of nanofluidic devices and rock-on-a-chip technology, combined with digital rock tomography imaging and computational image processing, allows for the evaluation of EOR methods by measuring oil displacement, assessing flow assurance, and determining target fluid production efficiencies, including cost analysis, to identify the best-case recovery factor for each method.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If various tertiary recovery methods and fluid combinations are applied to increase oil extraction, then the recovery factor is improved, but it becomes difficult to determine the relative recovery performance and quantifying production efficiencies
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates simplified replica models (nanofluidic devices and digital rock models) that copy the essential pore-scale characteristics of real reservoirs. These models allow evaluation of multiple EOR methods without the complexity of full-scale reservoir testing, enabling direct comparison of recovery performances while maintaining geometric and physical fidelity to the original system.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces nanofluidic devices and digital rock models as intermediary systems between theoretical EOR method development and full-scale reservoir application. These intermediaries provide a controlled environment to quantify production efficiencies and compare different fluid combinations before committing to expensive field-scale implementations.
2Reliability
If comprehensive evaluation of EOR methods is performed to determine production efficiencies, then the quality of decision-making is improved, but the time and resources required for evaluation increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the evaluation process into distinct hierarchical levels: nanoscale pore-level simulations using nanofluidic devices, upscaled representations using digital rock models, and field-scale application guidance. This segmentation allows comprehensive evaluation to be conducted in manageable stages, reducing overall evaluation time while maintaining reliability through progressive refinement.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary pore-scale evaluations using nanofluidic devices and digital rock models before full-scale field implementation. This preliminary action identifies promising EOR methods and fluid combinations in advance, allowing more informed and faster decision-making at the field-scale level by eliminating obviously inferior options beforehand.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach provides a quantitative analysis of EOR efficiency, enabling the determination of production costs and optimal recovery strategies by simulating fluid flow at various scales, from nanoscale to macroscale, and identifying potential formation damage, thereby improving the decision-making process for EOR operations.
Implementation Method 1
The nanofluidic device is fabricated to replicate the pore structure of the reservoir rock formation, allowing capillary-driven fluid flow that mimics natural reservoir conditions at the nanoscale
Implementation Method 2
Digital rock tomography imaging is used to obtain three-dimensional visualizations of the nanofluidic device structure and track fluid distributions during EOR method evaluation
Implementation Method 3
Computational image processing techniques are applied to analyze tomography images and determine target fluid saturation levels, quantifying the effectiveness of different EOR methods
Data Source
AI summary
Evaluating enhanced oil recovery methods by identifying a first nanofluidic device associated with a reservoir rock formation and saturated with a target fluid, directing the injection of a secondary recovery fluid into the first nanofluidic device, determining a target fluid secondary recovery saturation level associated with injection of the secondary recovery fluid into the first nanofluidic device, identifying a second nanofluidic device associated with the reservoir rock formation and saturated with the target fluid, directing the injection of a tertiary recovery fluid into the second nanofluidic device, determining a target fluid tertiary recovery saturation level associated with the injection of the tertiary recovery fluid into the second nanofluidic device, determining a target fluid production efficiency associated with the tertiary recovery fluid, and providing the target fluid production efficiency to a user.