Asphaltenes Versus Improved Oil Recovery Methodologies

Although extensive research studies focused on different injection scenarios for enhanced oil recovery purposes, the interactions between the injected fluid (e.g. gas, water) and residual oil and the actual mechanisms by which residual oil might move through porous media during the injection and its serious effect on asphaltene deposition and pore plugging have not yet been fully understood. What are the effects of various gas injection scenarios, high/low salinity water flooding, and high/low water alternating gas injection techniques on asphaltene precipitation/aggregation/deposition? One of the main objectives of this study is to provide novel insights into the effects of different injected gases on asphaltene instability in crude oil under real conditions. The influences of water with variety of ionic strengths and presence of different ion types on asphaltene aggregation and deposition phenomena, and induced water wettability transition at micro scale were investigated. This paper also presents a novel technique, high pressure high temperature quartz crystal microbalance (HPHT-QCM), for determination of asphaltene precipitation onset point and asphaltene deposition rate in presence of various gases and brines with different ionic strengths to cover the potential influences of different EOR strategies on asphaltenes in the oleic phase.