Abstract
CO2 geosequestration in oil reservoirs is an economically attractive solution as it can be combined with enhanced oil recovery (CO2-EOR). However, the effectiveness of the associated three-phase displacement processes has not been tested at the micrometer pore scale, which determines the overall reservoir-scale fluid dynamics and thus CO2-EOR project success. We thus imaged such displacement processes in situ in 3-D with X-ray microcomputed tomography at high resolution at reservoir conditions and found that oil extraction was enhanced substantially, while a significant residual CO2 saturation (13.5%) could be achieved in oil-wet rock. Statistics of the residual CO2 and oil clusters are also provided; they are similar to what is found in analogue two-phase systems although some details are different, and displacement processes are significantly more complex.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 11146-11154 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Geophysical Research Letters |
Volume | 46 |
Issue number | 20 |
Early online date | 19 Aug 2019 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 28 Oct 2019 |
Keywords
- CO-geosequestration
- oil reservoir
- pore-scale flow
- residual trapping
- three-phase flow
- x-ray microtomography
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Geophysics
- General Earth and Planetary Sciences