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Injection of Acid Gas Mixtures in Sour Oil Reservoirs: Analysis of Near-Wellbore Processes with Coupled Modelling of Well and Reservoir Flow

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Abstract

The reinjection of sour or acid gas mixtures is often required for the exploitation of hydrocarbon reservoirs containing remarkable amounts of acid gases (H2S and CO2) to reduce the environmental impact of field exploitation and provide pressure support for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) purposes. Sour and acid gas injection in geological structures can be modelled with TMGAS, a new Equation of State (EOS) module for the TOUGH2 reservoir simulator. TMGAS can simulate the two-phase behaviour of NaCl-dominated brines in equilibrium with a non-aqueous (NA) phase, made up of inorganic gases such as CO2 and H2S and hydrocarbons (pure as well as pseudo-components), up to the high pressures (~100 MPa) and temperatures (~200°C) found in deep sedimentary basins. This study is focused on the near-wellbore processes driven by the injection of an acid gas mixture in a hypothetical high-pressure, under-saturated sour oil reservoir at a well-sector scale and at conditions for which the injected gas is fully miscible with the oil. Relevant-coupled processes are simulated, including the displacement of oil originally in place, the evaporation of connate brine, the salt concentration and consequent halite precipitation, as well as non-isothermal effects generated by the injection of the acid gas mixture at temperatures lower than initial reservoir temperature. Non-isothermal effects are studied by modelling in a coupled way wellbore and reservoir flow with a modified version of the TOUGH2 reservoir simulator. The described approach is limited to single-phase wellbore flow conditions occurring when injecting sour, acid or greenhouse gas mixtures in high-pressure geological structures.

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Abbreviations

A :

pipe surface area, m2

D :

pipe diameter, m

f :

Darcy-Weisbach friction factor, dimensionless

h :

specific enthalpy, J/kg

l :

distance along well axis, m

g :

acceleration of gravity, m/s2

k :

absolute permeability, m2

M W :

molecular weight, g/mole

P :

pressure, Pa

P c :

critical pressure, Pa

Q :

heat exchanged, J/(s m)

Re:

Reynolds number, dimensionless

S s :

solid saturation, dimensionless

T :

temperature, °C

T c :

critical temperature, K

v :

fluid velocity, m/s

V c :

critical volume, l/mol

X :

mass fraction in the aqueous (AQ) phase, kg/kg

Y :

mass fraction in the non-aqueous (NA) phase, kg/kg

W :

mass flow rate, kg/s

\({\varepsilon}\) :

pipe roughness, m

μ:

dynamic viscosity, Pa s

ρ:

density, kg/m3

θ:

angle between the pipe axis and the horizontal, rad

ω:

acentric factor, dimensionless

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Operations Environment Unit, RISAMB Department, Saipem SpA, 61032, Fano, PU, Italy

    Alfredo Battistelli & Marica Marcolini

  2. E&P Division, TENC Department, Eni SpA, 20097, San Donato Milanese, MI, Italy

    Paola Ceragioli

Authors
  1. Alfredo Battistelli
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  2. Paola Ceragioli
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  3. Marica Marcolini
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Correspondence to Alfredo Battistelli.

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Battistelli, A., Ceragioli, P. & Marcolini, M. Injection of Acid Gas Mixtures in Sour Oil Reservoirs: Analysis of Near-Wellbore Processes with Coupled Modelling of Well and Reservoir Flow. Transp Porous Med 90, 233–251 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-010-9685-6

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