Fatemeh Kamali

Bio: Fatemeh Kamali is an academic researcher from University of New South Wales. The author has contributed to research in topics: Enhanced oil recovery & Relative permeability. The author has an hindex of 9, co-authored 16 publications receiving 306 citations.

An Experimental and Numerical Analysis of Water-Alternating-Gas and Simultaneous-Water-and-Gas Displacements for Carbon Dioxide Enhanced Oil Recovery and Storage

Abstract: This paper presents an experimental and numerical study that delineates the co-optimization of carbon dioxide (CO2) storage and enhanced oil recovery (EOR) in water-alternating-gas (WAG) and simultaneous-water-and-gas (SWAG) injection schemes. Various miscibility conditions and injection schemes are investigated. Experiments are conducted on a homogeneous, outcrop Bentheimer sandstone sample. A mixture of hexane (C6) and decane (C10) is used for the oil phase. Experiments are run at 70 degrees C and three different pressures (1,300, 1,700, and 2,100 psi) to represent immiscible, near-miscible, and miscible displacements, respectively. WAG displacements are performed at a WAG ratio of 1: 1, and a fractional gas injection (FGI) of 0.5 is used for SWAG displacements. The effect of varying FGI is also examined for the near-miscible SWAG displacement. Oil recovery, differential pressure, and compositions are recorded during experiments. A co-optimization function for CO2 storage and incremental oil production is defined and calculated by use of the measured data for each experiment. The results of SWAG and WAG displacements are compared with the experimental data of continuous-gas-injection (CGI) displacements. A compositional commercial reservoir simulator is used to examine the recovery mechanisms and the effect of mobile water on gas mobility.Experimental observations demonstrate that the WAG displacements generally yield higher co-optimization function than CGI and SWAG with FGI = 0.5 displacements. Numerical simulations show a remarkable reduction in gas relative permeability for the WAG and SWAG displacements compared with CGI displacements, as a result of which the vertical-sweep efficiency of CO2 is improved. More reduction of gas relative permeability is observed in the miscible and near-miscible displacements than in the immiscible displacement. The reduced gas relative permeability lowers the water-shielding effect, thereby enhancing oil recovery and CO2-storage efficiency. More water-shielding effect is observed in SWAG with FGI = 0.5 than in WAG. However, increasing FGI from 0.5 to 0.75 in the near-miscible SWAG displacement shows a significant increase in oil recovery, which is attributed to reduced water-shielding effect. So, an optimal FGI needs to be determined to minimize the water-shielding effect for efficient SWAG displacements.

A laboratory and numerical-simulation study of co-optimizing CO2 storage and CO2 enhanced oil recovery

Abstract: This paper presents experimental observations that delineate co-optimization of carbon dioxide (CO2) enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and storage. Pure supercritical CO2 is injected into a homogeneous outcrop sandstone sample saturated with oil and immobile water under various miscibility conditions. A mixture of hexane and decane is used for the oil phase. Experiments are run at 70 degrees C and three different pressures (1,300, 1,700, and 2,100 psi). Each pressure is determined by use of a pressure/volume/temperature simulator to create immiscible, near-miscible, and miscible displacements. Oil recovery, differential pressure, and compositions are recorded during experiments. A co-optimization function for CO2 storage and incremental oil is defined and calculated using the measured data for each experiment. A compositional reservoir simulator is then used to examine gravity effects on displacements and to derive relative permeabilities.Experimental observations demonstrate that almost similar oil recovery is achieved during miscible and near-miscible displacements whereas approximately 18% less recovery is recorded in the immiscible displacement. More heavy component (decane) is recovered in the miscible and near-miscible displacements than in the immiscible displacement. The co-optimization function suggests that the near-miscible displacement yields the highest CO(2)storage efficiency and displays the best performance for coupling CO2 EOR and storage. Numerical simulations show that, even on the laboratory scale, there are significant gravity effects in the near-miscible and miscible displacements. It is revealed that the near-miscible and miscible recoveries depend strongly on the endpoint effective CO2 permeability.