Enhanced Oil Recovery, Jan. Sem.

2015

4/3/2015

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Presentation Outline
Enhanced Oil Recovery, Jan. Sem. 2015

1. Introduction to ASP flooding

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2. Function of ASP Components

3. ASP Problems and Challenges
4. Typical Injection Scheme
5. How to Success
6. Design Parameters for ASP Process
7. Surfactant Adsorption
8. Development History Of ASP Flooding
9. ASP Performance from Tanner Field
10.ASP Projects in Different Fields
11.ASP Chemical Costs
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Introduction to ASP Flooding

Alkali-surfactant-polymer (ASP) is considered to be the
most promising and cost-effective chemical method in
recent years.
The new technique of ASP flooding has been developed on
the basis of alkali, surfactant, and polymer flooding
research in 1970s and 1980s.
ASP flooding uses the benefits of the three flooding
methods simultaneously, and oil recovery is greatly
enhanced by increasing the capillary number, decreasing
interfacial tension, enhancing microscopic displacing
efficiency, and improving the mobility ratio
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Introduction to ASP Flooding

Enhanced Oil Recovery, Jan. Sem. 2015

Mobility control is critical. According to Malcolm Pitts, 99%

of floods will fail without mobility control.

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Floods can start at any time in the life of the field.

Good engineering design is vital to success.
Laboratory tests must be done with crude and reservoir rock
under reservoir conditions and are essential for each
reservoir condition.
Oil companies are in the business of making money and are
risk adverse so....
Process design must be robust
Project life must be short
Chemicals must not be too expensive
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Enhanced Oil Recovery, Jan. Sem. 2015

High pH and/or ASP Flooding

Surfactant adsorption is reduced on both sandstones and
carbonates at high pH.
Alkali is inexpensive, so the potential for cost reduction is
large.
Carbonate formations are usually positively charged at
neutral pH, which favors adsorption of anionic surfactants.
However, when Na2CO3is present, carbonate surfaces
(calcite, dolomite) become negatively charged and
adsorption decreases several fold.
Alkali reacts with acid in oil to form soap, but not all crude
oils are reactive with alkaline chemicals.
High pH also improves microemulsion phase behavior.

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Introduction to ASP Flooding

Enhanced Oil Recovery, Jan. Sem. 2015

In ASP flooding, Two Surfactants From Different Sources

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Natural Soap (Naphthenic Acid + Alkali)

A hydrophobic surfactant
Generated in situ
Two Surfactants
Synthetic surfactant
A hydrophilic surfactant
Injected as the surfactant slug

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Enhanced Oil Recovery, Jan. Sem. 2015

Function of ASP Components

The function of the alkaline:
To form in-situ surfactant.
To reduce the interfacial tension between crude oil and the injection
solution.
To reduce the amount of surfactant adsorption onto formation.
The function of the surfactant:
To produce an ultra low interfacial tension between the
crude oil and the injection solution
The function of the polymer:
To drive ASP slug.
To increase the sweep efficiency.

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ASP Problems and Challenges

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1) Chemical cost and availability

2) Platform space limited
3) Alkali consumption by Ca and Mg either in the reservoir water
or in the injection water.
4) Plugging of injection wells
5) Corrosion and Scaling problems

Several variations
ASP
SAP
PAS

Polymer

Injected as premixed
slugs or in sequence

Alkali

Water drive

Surfactant

Enhanced Oil Recovery, Jan. Sem. 2015

Challenges:

Oil bank

Solutions may be
mixed onshore and
shipped
SPE 127714 (2010), SPE 129256 (2010), IPTC 13397 (2009)

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Typical Injection Scheme

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Enhanced Oil Recovery, Jan. Sem. 2015

How to Success

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The success of this process depends on the identification

of the proper alkali, surfactant, and polymer and on the
way they are combined to produce.
Compatible formulation that yields good crude oil
emulsification.
Low chemical losses
Good mobility control

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Design Parameters for ASP Process

Fluid-Fluid Interaction

Interfacial Tension Mechanism

Phase behavior test

Fluid-Rock Interaction

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Enhanced Oil Recovery, Jan. Sem. 2015

Fluid-Fluid Interaction

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In ASP flooding process, the complex interactions

between the various injected chemicals and
reservoir fluids is classified as fluid/fluid
interaction or compatibility test.
The compositions of the brine such as sodium salt, calcium, and
Magnesium have a significant effect on the chemicals added.
When the chemicals (alkali, surfactant, polymer) added to the injection
water, directly will be attacked by the divalent metal cations such as Ca
and Mg ions.
Therefore, it is impossible to maintain the preferred chemicals
concentrations in the flooding water. Therefore, the chemical will not act
effectively to increase the capillary number.
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Description Of The Problem

Enhanced Oil Recovery, Jan. Sem. 2015

sand

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Injection
well

ASP

Production
well

Reservoir
fluids
Reaction between the fluids and rock
surface

ASP

Crude oil
Divalent metal cations (Ca and Mg)
precipitation

Surfactant adsorption

Well pores blocking

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Enhanced Oil Recovery, Jan. Sem. 2015

Fluid-Fluid Interaction

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Several methods have been made to remove the Ca and Mg ions from
the injection brine or/and reservoir brine.

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Surfactant Adsorption
The most important cause of ionic surfactants adsorbing onto a solid is
often the electrical interaction between the charged solid surface and
surfactant ions.
The forces of adsorption due to electrostatic attraction or repulsion
between a charged solid surface and the charged surfactant can play a
governing role in the system with oppositely charged solid and
surfactant.

The amount of adsorbed surfactant depends on:

Surfactant character
Rock properties
pH
Salinity
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Enhanced Oil Recovery, Jan. Sem. 2015

Surfactant Adsorption

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The salinity may change the electrical potential of surface

sites for the adsorption.
The change in the pH of the aqueous phase usually
indicates changes in the adsorption of ionic surfactants on
charged solid surfaces. The sand surface will be positively
charged under a low pH conditions and negatively charged
under high pH conditions.
Adsorption of anionic surfactant on sandstone would
decrease with an increase of pH because the increasing OHmakes the sand surface more negative and electrostatic
repulsive force will drive more anionic surfactants to
solution.
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Surfactant Adsorption Isotherm

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Enhanced Oil Recovery, Jan. Sem. 2015

Alkaline Surfactant Polymer Field

Projects Since 1980

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Development History Of ASP Flooding

Enhanced Oil Recovery, Jan. Sem. 2015

Daqing Oil Field. Po pilot (China) (SPE 35383)

Pilot Injection scheme: 3 slugs (1994 1996)
1. ASP slug: 32.7% PV (1.25%; alkali, 0.3%; Surf, 1200 ppm polymer)
2. Polymer slug: 27.3% PV 800 ppm
3. Fresh water (water cut 98%)

ASP recovery: 20% OOIP

Fresh water was used to prepare the ASP slug

Viraj oil field (India) (SPE 88455)

Pilot Injection scheme: 4 slugs (2002 - 2004)
1. Preflush: 20% PV fresh water
2. ASP slug: 20% PV (1.5%; alkali, 0.2%; Surf, 800 ppm polymer).
3. Mobility buffer: 30% PV (10% PV with 600 ppm, 10% PV with 400 ppm,
and 10% PV with 200 ppm.
4. Chase water: 60% PV formation water.

ASP recovery: 18% 24% OOIP

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ASP Performance from Tanner Field

Enhanced Oil Recovery, Jan. Sem. 2015

ASP Flood -40% Oil Cut of Waterflood

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Formation
MinnelusaB
Depth
8,750 ft
Temperature
175 F
Pore Volume
2,528 Mbbl
Thickness
25 ft
Average Porosity 20%
Average Permeability 200 md
Oil API Gravity
21
Oil Viscosity
11 cp
Water Viscosity 0.45 cp
Mobility Ratio
3.2
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ASP Performance from Tanner Field

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ASP Performance from Tanner Field

Enhanced Oil Recovery, Jan. Sem. 2015

Recovery Summary through July 2005

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Ultimate Oil Recovery

65.0 %OOIP

Primary and Waterflood to 3% Oil Cut

48.0 %OOIP

ASP Increment Recovery

17.0 %OOIP

Primary and Waterflood to 7/2003 -26% Oil Cut

36.5 %OOIP

Cost per Incremental Barrel

(Includes Chemical and Facilities)

$4.49 (estimated)

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ASP Projects in Different Fields

White Castle, Q sand
West Kiehl, MinnelusaLower Bsand
Cambridge Minnelusa
Gudong
Daqing, West Central Saertu
Daqing, XF
Karamay
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ASP Projects in Different Fields

Enhanced Oil Recovery, Jan. Sem. 2015

Alkali and Surfactant Concentrations

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ASP Projects in Different Fields

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Alkali-Surfactant Slug Size

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ASP Projects in Different Fields

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Incremental Oil Recovery

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ASP Chemical Costs

Na2CO3:
Sulfonate:
Polymer:

ASP slug specifications

@ $0.0425/lb =
@ $0.68/lb =
@ $1.50/lb =

$0.45/bbl oil
$0.95/bbl oil
$1.75/bbl oil

Total chemicals: = $3.15/bbl oil

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1.5% Na2CO3
0.2% sulfonate
1000 ppm polymer
0.3 PV slug
0.2 PV drive
0.5 bbl inc. oil/bbl slug

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