Reservoir, carbon

Carbonate reservoir rock is usually found at the place of formation ( in situ ). Carbonate rocks are susceptible to alteration by the processes of diagenesis. 

Carbonate rocks are not normally transported over long distances, and we find carbonate reservoir rocks mostly at the location of origin, in situ . They are usually the product of marine organisms. However, carbonates are often severely affected by diagenetic processes. A more detailed description of altered carbonates and their reservoir properties is given below in the description of diagenesis . 

Carbonate rocks are more frequently fractured than sandstones. In many cases open fractures in carbonate reservoirs provide high porosity / high permeability path ways for hydrocarbon production. The fractures will be continuously re-charged from the tight (low permeable) rock matrix. During field development, wells need to be planned to intersect as many natural fractures as possible, e.g. by drilling horizontal wells. 

If compaction occurs as a result of production careful monitoring is required. The Ekofisk Field in the Norwegian North Sea made headlines when, as a result of hydrocarbon production, the pores of the fine-grained carbonate reservoir collapsed and the platforms on the seabed started to sink. The situation was later remedied by inserting steel sections into the platform legs. Compaction effects are also an issue in the Groningen gas field in Holland where subsidence in the order of one meter is expected at the surface. 

Carbonate reservoirs are usually affeoted to varying degree by diagenesis. However the process of dissolution and replacement is not limited to carbonates. Feldspar for instance is another family of minerals prone to early alterations. 

Carbonate Reservoir Characterization A Geologic-Engineering Analysis, Part I... 

Wettabihty is defined as the tendency of one fluid to spread on or adhere to a soHd surface (rock) in the presence of other immiscible fluids (5). As many as 50% of all sandstone reservoirs and 80% of all carbonate reservoirs are oil-wet (10). Strongly water-wet reservoirs are quite rare (11). Rock wettabihty can affect fluid injection rates, flow patterns of fluids within the reservoir, and oil displacement efficiency (11). Rock wettabihty can strongly affect its relative permeabihty to water and oil (5,12). When rock is water-wet, water occupies most of the small flow channels and is in contact with most of the rock surfaces as a film. Cmde oil does the same in oil-wet rock. Alteration of rock wettabihty by adsorption of polar materials, such as surfactants and corrosion inhibitors, or by the deposition of polar cmde oil components (13), can strongly alter the behavior of the rock (12). 

Figure 3 Global carbon reservoirs and annual fluxes. Units are gigatons of carbon in the reservoirs and Gt C yr for fluxes...

Direct measurements made at Mauna Loa since 1958 (4) indicate that the rate of increase in atmospheric CO2 is increasing. In 1988, the atmospheric carbon reservoir was estimated at 351 and larger than at any time... 

Figure 1. The global carbon cycle. Estimates of reservoir size and annual fluxes are from Post et al. (4), Vegetation carbon reservoir was estimated from latest carbon density estimates. All values except the atmospheric reservoir are approximate only. All values are in gigatons. Fluxes are next to the arrows and are in gigatons ear.

The dynamics of these models depend strictly on carbon fluxes, but the fluxes are poorly measured or are calculated from carbon reservoir size and assumptions about the residence time of the carbon in the reservoir. In addition, model fluxes are linear functions while in reality few, if any, probably are linear. 

In situations where Tobs is comparable in magnitude to tq, a more complex relation prevails between Q, S, and M. Atmospheric CO2 falls in this last category although its turnover time (3 years, cf. Fig. 4-3) is much shorter than Tobs (about 300 years). This is because the atmospheric CO2 reservoir is closely coupled to the carbon reservoir in the biota and in the surface layer of the oceans (Section 4.3). The effective turnover time of the combined system is actually several hundred years (Rodhe and Bjdrk-strom, 1979). 

This treatment of the carbon cycle is intended to give an account of the fundamental aspects of the carbon cycle from a global perspective. After a presentation of the main characteristics of carbon on Earth (Section 11.2), four sections follow 11.3, about the carbon reservoirs within the atmosphere, the hydrosphere, the biosphere... 

The most abundant isotope is which constitutes almost 99% of the carbon in nature. About 1% of the carbon atoms are There are, however, small but significant differences in the relative abundance of the carbon isotopes in different carbon reservoirs. The differences in isotopic composition have proven to be an important tool when estimating exchange rates between the reservoirs. Isotopic variations are caused by fractionation processes (discussed below) and, for C, radioactive decay. Formation of takes place only in the upper atmosphere where neutrons generated by cosmic radiation react with nitrogen ... 

The content of the material in a carbon reservoir is a measure of that reservoir s direct or indirect exchange rate with the atmosphere, although variations in solar also create variations in atmospheric content activity (Stuiver and Quay, 1980, 1981). Geologically important reservoirs (i.e., carbonate rocks and fossil carbon) contain no radiocarbon because the turnover times of these reservoirs are much longer than the isotope s half-life. The distribution of is used in studies of ocean circulation, soil sciences, and studies of the terrestrial biosphere. 

There is a group of organic compounds in terrestrial ecosystems that are not readily decomposed and therefore make up a carbon reservoir with a long turnover time. There are... 

The freshwater cycle is an important link in the carbon cycle as an agent of erosion and as a necessary condition for terrestrial life. Although the amount of carbon stored in freshwater systems is insignificant as a carbon reservoir (De Vooys, 1979 Kempe, 1979a), about 90% of the material transported from land to oceans is carried by streams and rivers. 

Koch, P.L., Zachos, J.C. and Gingerich, P.D. 1992 Correlation between isotope records in marine and continental carbon reservoirs near the Paleocene/Eocene boundary. Nature 358 319-322. 

Chemically enhanced drilling offers substantial advantages over conventional methods in carbonate reservoirs. Coiled tubing provides the perfect conduit for chemical fluids that can accelerate the drilling process and provide stimulation while drilling [1471]. The nature of the chemical fluids is mainly acid that dissolves or disintegrates the carbonate rock. 

When the temperature of a carbonate reservoir that is saturated with high-viscosity oil and water increases to 200° C or more, chemical reactions occur in the formation, resulting in the formation of considerable amounts of CO2. The generation of CO2 during thermal stimulation of a carbonate reservoir results from the dealkylation of aromatic hydrocarbons in the presence of water vapor, catalytic conversion of hydrocarbons by water vapor, and oxidation of organic materials. Clay material and metals of variable valence (e.g., nickel, cobalt, iron) in the carbonate rock can serve as the catalyst. An optimal amount of CO2 exists for which maximal oil recovery is achieved [1538]. The performance of a steamflooding process can be improved by the addition of CO2 or methane [1216]. 

Water tracers were tested for use in carbonate reservoirs. Seven substances were tested tritiated water (HTO) and the ions S CN, Cl ,... 

H. A. Nasr-El-Din, J. D. Lynn, and K. C. Taylor. Lab testing and field application of a large-scale acetic acid-based treatment in a newly developed carbonate reservoir. In Proceedings Volume. SPE Oilfield Chem Int Symp (Houston, TX, 2/13-2/16), 2001. 

R. Rae and G. Di Lullo. Chemically-enhanced drilling with coiled tubing in carbonate reservoirs. In Proceedings Volume. SPE/Int Coiled Tubing Assoc Coiled Tubing Roundtable (Houston, TX, 311-318), 2001. 

L. M. Ruzin, O. E. Pleshkova, and L. V. Konovalova. Generation of carbon dioxide during thermal steam treatment of carbonate reservoirs containing high-viscosity oil. Neft Khoz, (ll) 59-62, November 1990. 

LIETARD AND DACCORD Acid Wormholing in Carbonate Reservoirs... 

The aim of a matrix acidizing job, which, in carbonate reservoirs, generally consists in injecting plain hydrochloric acid at pressures below the formation parting pressure, is to decrease 5 down to zero. 

---