Reinjection of Produced Water into Formations in Unconventional Gas Reservoirs

Haosen Xing, Peng Zheng, Ping Yue () and Yu Mu
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Haosen Xing: National Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500, China
Peng Zheng: National Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500, China
Ping Yue: National Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500, China
Yu Mu: National Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500, China

Energies, 2025, vol. 18, issue 12, 1-20

Abstract: This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of gas field produced water from four perspectives: water sources, chemical composition, treatment methods, and application scenarios. It identifies critical challenges in current formation reinjection practices, including poor containment performance for injection layers, difficulties in optimal layer selection, and uncertainties in injection volume determination. To address these issues, systematic selection criteria for reinjection layers were established. Taking a depleted gas reservoir in the Ordos Basin as a case study, we conducted a geological analysis of candidate formations based on previous research findings. We set up three groups of schemes regarding injection wells, injection rate, and permeability inhomogeneity and studied reservoir reinjection water volume, reinjection formation pressure, reinjection waves and range, and reinjection safety using three-dimensional numerical simulation technology. Finally, we selected the preferred scheme of reinjection well location in consideration of permeability inhomogeneity, with a cumulative reinjection volume of 1554.3 × 10 4 m 3 and a change in reinjection formation pressure of 0~20 MPa. The pressure change in the upper overburden of the reinjection layer was kept within 3 MPa, a value consistent with actual historical reinjection data, confirming again the accuracy of this layer selection strategy and the aforementioned layer selection analysis and providing a basis for layer selection and reinjection safety for the assessment of recovered water reinjection in other unconventional gas reservoirs.

Keywords: produced water treatment; produced water injection layer selection; geological modeling; numerical simulation (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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