Nanofluidic Study of Multiscale Phase Transitions and Wax Precipitation in Shale Oil Reservoirs

Zhiyong Lu, Yunqiang Wan (), Lilong Xu, Dongliang Fang, Hua Wu and Junjie Zhong ()
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Zhiyong Lu: Jianghan Oilfield Branch of Sinopec Group, Wuhan 430223, China
Yunqiang Wan: Sinopec Shale Oil and Gas Exploration and Development Key Laboratory, Exploration and Development Research Institute, Sinopec Jianghan Oilfield Company, Wuhan 430223, China
Lilong Xu: State Key Laboratory of Deep Oil and Gas, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, China
Dongliang Fang: Jianghan Oilfield Branch of Sinopec Group, Wuhan 430223, China
Hua Wu: Sinopec Shale Oil and Gas Exploration and Development Key Laboratory, Exploration and Development Research Institute, Sinopec Jianghan Oilfield Company, Wuhan 430223, China
Junjie Zhong: State Key Laboratory of Deep Oil and Gas, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, China

Energies, 2024, vol. 17, issue 10, 1-12

Abstract: During hydraulic fracturing of waxy shale oil reservoirs, the presence of fracturing fluid can influence the phase behavior of the fluid within the reservoir, and heat exchange between the fluids causes wax precipitation that impacts reservoir development. To investigate multiscale fluid phase transition and microscale flow impacted by fracturing fluid injection, this study conducted no-water phase behavior experiments, water injection wax precipitation experiments, and water-condition phase behavior experiments using a nanofluidic chip model. The results show that in the no-water phase experiment, the gasification occurred first in the large cracks, while the matrix throat was the last, and the bubble point pressure difference between the two was 12.1 MPa. The wax precipitation phenomena during fracturing fluid injection can be divided into granular wax in cracks, flake wax in cracks, and wax precipitation in the matrix throat, and the wax mainly accumulated in the microcracks and remained in the form of particles. Compared with the no-water conditions, the large cracks and matrix throat bubble point in the water conditions decreased by 6.1 MPa and 3.5 MPa, respectively, and the presence of the water phase reduced the material occupancy ratio at each pore scale. For the smallest matrix throat, the final gas occupancy ratio under the water conditions decreased from 32% to 24% in the experiment without water. This study provides valuable insight into reservoir fracture modification and guidance for the efficient development of similar reservoirs.

Keywords: shale oil reservoir; hydraulic fracturing; nanofluidic; phase behavior experiment; wax precipitation (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: 2024
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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