A Computational Fluid Dynamics Study of Flared Gas for Enhanced Oil Recovery Using a Micromodel
The current handling of gas associated with oil production poses an environmental risk. This gas is being flared off due to the technical and economic attractiveness of this option. As flared gases are mainly composed of methane, they have harmful greenhouse effects when released into the atmosphere...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2022-12-01
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| Series: | AppliedMath |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-9909/2/4/44 |
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| author | Stephanie Were Somtochukwu Godfrey Nnabuife Boyu Kuang |
| author_facet | Stephanie Were Somtochukwu Godfrey Nnabuife Boyu Kuang |
| author_sort | Stephanie Were |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The current handling of gas associated with oil production poses an environmental risk. This gas is being flared off due to the technical and economic attractiveness of this option. As flared gases are mainly composed of methane, they have harmful greenhouse effects when released into the atmosphere. This work discusses the effectiveness of using this gas for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) purposes as an alternative to flaring. In this study, a micromodel was designed with properties similar to a sandstone rock with a porosity of 0.4, and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) techniques were applied to design an EOR system. Temperature effects were not considered in the study, and the simulation was run at atmospheric pressure. Five case studies were carried out with different interfacial tensions between the oil and gas (0.005 N/m, 0.017 N/m, and 0.034 N/m) and different injection rates for the gas (1 × 10<sup>−3</sup> m/s, 1 × 10<sup>−4</sup> m/s, and 1 × 10<sup>−6</sup> m/s). The model was compared with a laboratory experiment measuring immiscible gas flooding. Factors affecting oil recoveries, such as the interfacial tension between oil and gas, the viscosity, and the pressure, were studied in detail. The results showed that the surface tension between the oil and gas interphase was a limiting factor for maximum oil recovery. The lower surface tension recovered 33% of the original oil in place. The capillary pressure was higher than the pressure in the micromodel, which lowered the amount of oil that was displaced. The study showed the importance of pressure maintenance to increase oil recovery for immiscible gas floods. It is recommended that a wider set of interfacial tensions between oil and gas be tested to obtain a range at which oil recovery is maximum for EOR with flared gas. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T17:23:29Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-db4a645d963048c1a075e173bdd7a409 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2673-9909 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T17:23:29Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | AppliedMath |
| spelling | doaj.art-db4a645d963048c1a075e173bdd7a4092023-11-24T12:59:26ZengMDPI AGAppliedMath2673-99092022-12-012473875710.3390/appliedmath2040044A Computational Fluid Dynamics Study of Flared Gas for Enhanced Oil Recovery Using a MicromodelStephanie Were0Somtochukwu Godfrey Nnabuife1Boyu Kuang2School of Water, Energy, and Environment, Cranfield University, Cranfield MK43 0AL, UKSchool of Water, Energy, and Environment, Cranfield University, Cranfield MK43 0AL, UKCentre for Computational Engineering Sciences (CES), School of Aerospace, Transport, and Manufacturing, Cranfield University, Cranfield MK43 0AL, UKThe current handling of gas associated with oil production poses an environmental risk. This gas is being flared off due to the technical and economic attractiveness of this option. As flared gases are mainly composed of methane, they have harmful greenhouse effects when released into the atmosphere. This work discusses the effectiveness of using this gas for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) purposes as an alternative to flaring. In this study, a micromodel was designed with properties similar to a sandstone rock with a porosity of 0.4, and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) techniques were applied to design an EOR system. Temperature effects were not considered in the study, and the simulation was run at atmospheric pressure. Five case studies were carried out with different interfacial tensions between the oil and gas (0.005 N/m, 0.017 N/m, and 0.034 N/m) and different injection rates for the gas (1 × 10<sup>−3</sup> m/s, 1 × 10<sup>−4</sup> m/s, and 1 × 10<sup>−6</sup> m/s). The model was compared with a laboratory experiment measuring immiscible gas flooding. Factors affecting oil recoveries, such as the interfacial tension between oil and gas, the viscosity, and the pressure, were studied in detail. The results showed that the surface tension between the oil and gas interphase was a limiting factor for maximum oil recovery. The lower surface tension recovered 33% of the original oil in place. The capillary pressure was higher than the pressure in the micromodel, which lowered the amount of oil that was displaced. The study showed the importance of pressure maintenance to increase oil recovery for immiscible gas floods. It is recommended that a wider set of interfacial tensions between oil and gas be tested to obtain a range at which oil recovery is maximum for EOR with flared gas.https://www.mdpi.com/2673-9909/2/4/44immiscible gas floodingenhanced oil recovery (EOR)flared gasAPGoil and gas interfacial tensioncomputational fluid dynamics (CFD) |
| spellingShingle | Stephanie Were Somtochukwu Godfrey Nnabuife Boyu Kuang A Computational Fluid Dynamics Study of Flared Gas for Enhanced Oil Recovery Using a Micromodel AppliedMath immiscible gas flooding enhanced oil recovery (EOR) flared gas APG oil and gas interfacial tension computational fluid dynamics (CFD) |
| title | A Computational Fluid Dynamics Study of Flared Gas for Enhanced Oil Recovery Using a Micromodel |
| title_full | A Computational Fluid Dynamics Study of Flared Gas for Enhanced Oil Recovery Using a Micromodel |
| title_fullStr | A Computational Fluid Dynamics Study of Flared Gas for Enhanced Oil Recovery Using a Micromodel |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Computational Fluid Dynamics Study of Flared Gas for Enhanced Oil Recovery Using a Micromodel |
| title_short | A Computational Fluid Dynamics Study of Flared Gas for Enhanced Oil Recovery Using a Micromodel |
| title_sort | computational fluid dynamics study of flared gas for enhanced oil recovery using a micromodel |
| topic | immiscible gas flooding enhanced oil recovery (EOR) flared gas APG oil and gas interfacial tension computational fluid dynamics (CFD) |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-9909/2/4/44 |
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