Study on the Effect of Reservoir Heterogeneity on Air Foam Flooding

Abstract

Air foam flooding is to use foam as a profile control agent and air as an oil displacement agent to drive edge adjustment, so as to achieve the purpose of effectively improving recovery. CMG reservoir numerical simulation software is used to simulate the effect of air foam flooding in different heterogeneous reservoirs. The results showed that: ① The foam will first enter the high-permeability layer or the dominant seepage channel and block it, forcing the subsequent system to flow into the low-permeable layer to expand the affected volume and improve the oil displacement efficiency; ② The sealing ability of foam on the high-permeability layer and crack is limited. When the permeability of high permeability is too large or the crack is relatively developed, the foam cannot achieve the purpose of effective sealing. ③ In the positive rhythm or slightly strong heterogeneity reservoir, the increase of air foam flooding recovery rate is the largest, and the site should give priority to the selection of such reservoirs to carry out experiments. This study has clarified the influence law of reservoir characteristics on air foam flooding effect and has important guiding significance for the decision making and evaluation of air foam flooding.

Copyright 2018, Shaanxi Petroleum Society.

This paper was prepared for presentation at the 2018 International Field Exploration and Development Conference in Xi’an, China, 18–20 September, 2018.

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