TY - JOUR
T1 - Modelling air injection in shale oil reservoirs
T2 - Physical process and recovery mechanism
AU - Jia, Hu
AU - Jiang, Ping
AU - Yan, Zhao
AU - Sheng, James J.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work is supported by PetroChina Innovation Foundation (Award No. 2017D-5007-0202). The authors extend their sincere appreciation to the peer-review editor (Prof. Evren M. Ozbayoglu) and anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments to further improve this paper.
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2020 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - In this paper, reservoir simulation approach is conducted for qualitative analysis on EOR mechanisms of air injection in shale oil reservoirs. Effects of oxygen molecular diffusion, reaction enthalpy, activation energy, reaction scheme, and flowing well-bore pressure on the well performance of air injection are examined in detail. Results show that oxygen molecular diffusion has great effect on spontaneous ignition temperature, heat transfer and oil recovery, which should be considered in simulating air injection in shale oil reservoir for better understanding the real mechanisms. Reaction enthalpy and activation energy can significantly affect ignition temperature, but not on the production performance. High oil recovery can be favourably achieved when the crack reaction dominates, while the combustion reaction exhibits a negative effect on production performance. The development scheme with lower flowing well-bore pressure is more favourable for the air injection process. In-situ combustion and heat transfer cannot sustain due to the air low injectivity. More hydraulic fractures as well as an improved understanding of fracture and its distribution is helpful for enhancing air injectivity to better perform synergic recovery mechanisms of air injection in shale reservoirs.
AB - In this paper, reservoir simulation approach is conducted for qualitative analysis on EOR mechanisms of air injection in shale oil reservoirs. Effects of oxygen molecular diffusion, reaction enthalpy, activation energy, reaction scheme, and flowing well-bore pressure on the well performance of air injection are examined in detail. Results show that oxygen molecular diffusion has great effect on spontaneous ignition temperature, heat transfer and oil recovery, which should be considered in simulating air injection in shale oil reservoir for better understanding the real mechanisms. Reaction enthalpy and activation energy can significantly affect ignition temperature, but not on the production performance. High oil recovery can be favourably achieved when the crack reaction dominates, while the combustion reaction exhibits a negative effect on production performance. The development scheme with lower flowing well-bore pressure is more favourable for the air injection process. In-situ combustion and heat transfer cannot sustain due to the air low injectivity. More hydraulic fractures as well as an improved understanding of fracture and its distribution is helpful for enhancing air injectivity to better perform synergic recovery mechanisms of air injection in shale reservoirs.
KW - Air injection
KW - Enhanced oil recovery
KW - Mechanism study
KW - Reaction model
KW - Reservoir simulation
KW - Shale oil
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85086137685&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1504/IJOGCT.2020.107025
DO - 10.1504/IJOGCT.2020.107025
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85086137685
VL - 24
SP - 143
EP - 160
JO - International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Technology
JF - International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Technology
SN - 1753-3317
IS - 2
ER -