Abstract
Capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) at its combustion point and thereby storing it in geological sites or its usage for enhancing oil recovery (EOR) through miscible gas flooding technology aims to mitigate atmospheric/anthropogenic CO2 emissions. Injection of CO2 possesses an immense potential for production improvement in matured oil reservoirs. Oil recovery is increased by viscous fluid drive, oil phase swelling and oil viscosity reduction. Miscible CO2 floods diminish interfacial tension (IFT ∼ 0) between gas and oil, and alters the wettability. This review discusses the various technical aspects of oil production enhancement via miscible CO2 application with identification of the significant research gaps. The mechanisms of first contact and multiple contact miscibility, techniques of minimum miscibility pressure (MMP) determination (experimental, theoretical and numerical), the influence of CO2 concentration on rock mineralogy and surface roughness with various associated reservoir parametric (pressure, temperature, salinity, etc.), and the mechanisms of oil displacement from laboratory experiments to field applications are discussed elaborately. The review also deals with the new approaches of CO2 flooding viz. carbonated water injection, near miscible CO2 flooding, water alternating gas (WAG) injection, CO2 huff ‘n’ puff, and CO2 thickening. Finally, CO2-EOR in carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS), the environmental aspects, challenges and future outlooks of CO2 miscible flooding are discussed. Therefore, a repository of CO2 miscible EOR is established in this review assisting an enrichment in our current understanding of this topic.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 125633 |
| Journal | FUEL |
| Volume | 330 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Aug 26 2022 |
Bibliographical note
KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2022-11-14Acknowledgements: The authors are grateful to the Department of Petroleum Engineering, IIT(ISM), Dhanbad, EPIC — Energy Production Innovation Center, hosted by the University of Campinas (UNICAMP), the Center for Petroleum Studies (CEPETRO), School of Mechanical Engineering (FEM), and Polytechnic School of the University of Sao Paulo (USP), LASG (Laboratory of Reservoir Simulation and Management) for encouraging and supporting this research. Authors also acknowledge the financial assistance provided by the Department of Science and Technology (CRG/2020/000828), Govt. of India and by Equinor, Brazil and FAPESP — Sao Paulo Research Foundation (2017/15736-3). Acknowledgements are extended to the support of ANP (Brazil's National Oil, Natural Gas and Biofuels Agency) through the R&D levy regulation.