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Molecular-Scale Considerations of Enhanced Oil Recovery in Shale

Author

Listed:
  • Mohamed Mehana

    (Los Alamos National Lab, Computational Earth Science Group, Earth and Environmental Science Division, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA)

  • Qinjun Kang

    (Los Alamos National Lab, Computational Earth Science Group, Earth and Environmental Science Division, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA)

  • Hari Viswanathan

    (Los Alamos National Lab, Computational Earth Science Group, Earth and Environmental Science Division, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA)

Abstract

With only less than 10% recovery, the primary production of hydrocarbon from shale reservoirs has redefined the energy equation in the world. Similar to conventional reservoirs, Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) techniques could be devised to enhance the current recovery factors. However, shale reservoirs possess unique characteristics that significantly affect the fluid properties. Therefore, we are adopting a molecular simulation approach that is well-suited to account for these effects to evaluate the performance of three different gases, methane, carbon dioxide and nitrogen, to recover the hydrocarbons from rough pore surfaces. Our hydrocarbon systems consists of either a single component (decane) or more than one component (decane and pentane). We simulated cases where concurrent and countercurrent displacement is studied. For concurrent displacement (injected fluids displace hydrocarbons towards the production region), we found that nitrogen and methane yielded similar recovery; however nitrogen exhibited a faster breakthrough. On the other hand, carbon dioxide was more effective in extracting the hydrocarbons when sufficient pressure was maintained. For countercurrent displacement (gases are injected and hydrocarbons are produced from the same direction), methane was found to be more effective, followed by carbon dioxide and nitrogen. In all cases, confinement reduced the recovery factor of all gases. This work provides insights to devise strategies to improve the current recovery factors observed in shale reservoirs.

Suggested Citation

  • Mohamed Mehana & Qinjun Kang & Hari Viswanathan, 2020. "Molecular-Scale Considerations of Enhanced Oil Recovery in Shale," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-13, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:13:y:2020:i:24:p:6619-:d:462526
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Yasaman Assef & Pedro Pereira Almao, 2019. "Evaluation of Cyclic Gas Injection in Enhanced Recovery from Unconventional Light Oil Reservoirs: Effect of Gas Type and Fracture Spacing," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-24, April.
    2. Fengshuang Du & Bahareh Nojabaei, 2019. "A Review of Gas Injection in Shale Reservoirs: Enhanced Oil/Gas Recovery Approaches and Greenhouse Gas Control," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-33, June.
    3. Nguyen, Phong & Carey, J. William & Viswanathan, Hari S. & Porter, Mark, 2018. "Effectiveness of supercritical-CO2 and N2 huff-and-puff methods of enhanced oil recovery in shale fracture networks using microfluidic experiments," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 230(C), pages 160-174.
    4. Xingbang Meng & Zhan Meng & Jixiang Ma & Tengfei Wang, 2018. "Performance Evaluation of CO 2 Huff-n-Puff Gas Injection in Shale Gas Condensate Reservoirs," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-18, December.
    5. J. David Hughes, 2013. "A reality check on the shale revolution," Nature, Nature, vol. 494(7437), pages 307-308, February.
    6. Middleton, Richard S. & Carey, J. William & Currier, Robert P. & Hyman, Jeffrey D. & Kang, Qinjun & Karra, Satish & Jiménez-Martínez, Joaquín & Porter, Mark L. & Viswanathan, Hari S., 2015. "Shale gas and non-aqueous fracturing fluids: Opportunities and challenges for supercritical CO2," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 500-509.
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    Cited by:

    1. Reza Rezaee, 2022. "Editorial on Special Issues of Development of Unconventional Reservoirs," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-9, April.

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