Simulation of Polymer Chemical Enhanced Oil Recovery in Ghawar Field

Maaike Berger, Francesco Picchioni and Pablo Druetta ()
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Maaike Berger: Department of Chemical Engineering, ENTEG, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
Francesco Picchioni: Department of Chemical Engineering, ENTEG, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
Pablo Druetta: Department of Chemical Engineering, ENTEG, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 19, 1-31

Abstract: This paper presents a 2D model of the Ghawar field and investigates the flow behavior in the field during secondary and tertiary recoveries using a simplified well scheme. For the latter, the focus is on chemical Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR), using polymer solutions. The difference in efficiency between secondary and tertiary recovery and the influence of factors such as degradation are analyzed and presented. Furthermore, the influence of oil viscosity on the recovery factor is investigated as well as the efficiency of the well placement of the model studied. In order to do this, a combined shear-thinning/-thickening model, the Unified Viscosity Model (UVM), is used. COMSOL Multiphysics is used in order to study the model, combining the fluid flow and mass transfer in one study, showing the interdependence of both physics transport phenomena. The results show how the influence of the polymer properties and the rock formation affect the recovery behavior. The particle tracing study allows us to determine the percentage of the chemical agent recovered in the producing wells. This paper shows how EOR agents works coupled with advanced numerical models in real-scale fields.

Keywords: EOR; polymer; reservoir simulation; Ghawar field; polymer degradation (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: 2022
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