Integrated Experimental and Numerical Investigation on CO 2 -Based Cyclic Solvent Injection Enhanced by Water and Nanoparticle Flooding for Heavy Oil Recovery and CO 2 Sequestration

Yishu Li, Yufeng Cao, Yiming Chen () and Fanhua Zeng ()
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Yishu Li: Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Regina, Regina, SK S4S 0A2, Canada
Yufeng Cao: Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Regina, Regina, SK S4S 0A2, Canada
Yiming Chen: Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Regina, Regina, SK S4S 0A2, Canada
Fanhua Zeng: Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Regina, Regina, SK S4S 0A2, Canada

Energies, 2025, vol. 18, issue 17, 1-16

Abstract: Cyclic solvent injection (CSI) with CO 2 is a promising non-thermal enhanced oil recovery (EOR) method for heavy oil reservoirs that also supports CO 2 sequestration. However, its effectiveness is limited by short foamy oil flow durations and low CO 2 utilization. This study explores how waterflooding and nanoparticle-assisted flooding can enhance CO 2 -CSI performance through experimental and numerical approaches. Three sandpack experiments were conducted: (1) a baseline CO 2 -CSI process, (2) a waterflood-assisted CSI process, and (3) a hybrid sequence integrating CSI, waterflooding, and nanoparticle flooding. The results show that waterflooding prior to CSI increased oil recovery from 30.9% to 38.9% under high-pressure conditions and from 26.9% to 28.8% under low pressure, while also extending production duration. When normalized to the oil saturation at the start of CSI, the Effective Recovery Index (ERI) increased significantly, confirming improved per-unit recovery efficiency, while nanoparticle flooding further contributed an additional 5.9% recovery by stabilizing CO 2 foam. The CO 2 -CSI process achieved a maximum CO 2 sequestration rate of up to 5.8% per cycle, which exhibited a positive correlation with oil production. Numerical simulation achieved satisfactory history matching and captured key trends such as changes in relative permeability and gas saturation. Overall, the integrated CSI strategy achieved a total oil recovery factor of approximately 70% and improved CO 2 sequestration efficiency. This work demonstrates that combining waterflooding and nanoparticle injection with CO 2 -CSI can enhance both oil recovery and CO 2 sequestration, offering a framework for optimizing low-carbon EOR processes.

Keywords: cyclic solvent injection; heavy oil recovery; water flooding; nanoparticles; carbon dioxide sequestration (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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