Gas drive

Solution gas drive (or depletion drive) Gas cap drive Water drive with a large underlying aquifer Undersaturated oil (no gas cap) Saturated oil with a gas cap Saturated or undersaturated oil... 

Solution gas drive occurs in a reservoir which contains no initial gas cap or underlying active aquifer to support the pressure and therefore oil is produced by the driving force due to the expansion of oil and connate water, plus any compaction drive.. The contribution to drive energy from compaction and connate water is small, so the oil compressibility initially dominates the drive energy. Because the oil compressibility itself is low, pressure drops rapidly as production takes place, until the pressure reaches the bubble point. 

The characteristic production profile for a reservoir developed by solution gas drive is shown in Figure 8.3. 

Figure 8.3 Production profile for solution gas drive reservoir...

In the solution gas drive case, once production starts the reservoir pressure drops very quickly, especially above the bubble point, since the compressibility of the system is low. Consequently, the producing wells rapidly lose the potential to flow to surface, and not only is the plateau period short, but the decline is rapid. 

Commonly the wafer cuf remains small in solution gas drive reservoirs, assuming that there is little pressure support provided by the underlying aquifer. Water cut is also referred to as BS W(base sediment and water), and is defined as ... 

As solution gas drive reservoirs lose pressure, produced GORs increase and larger volumes of gas require processing. Oil production can become constrained by gas handling capacity, for example by the limited compression facilities. It may be possible to install additional equipment, but the added operating cost towards the end of field life is often unattractive, and may ultimately contribute to increased abandonment costs. 

As reservoir pressure is reduced by oil production, additional recovery mechanisms may operate. One such mechanism is natural water drive. Water from an adjacent more highly pressured formation is forced into the oil-bearing formation by the pressure differential between the formations. Another mechanism is gas drive. Expansion of a gas cap above the oil as oil pressure declines can also drive additional oil to the wellbore. Produced gas may be reinjected to maintain gas cap pressure as is done on the Alaskan North Slope. Additional oil may also be produced by compaction of the reservoir rock as oil production reduces reservoir pressure. 

The well is then opened, the CO2 provides a solution gas drive, and oil mobilized by the CO2 soak is produced. 

Oil production requires pressure from compressed gas or water to expel oil to the surface. There arc three main types of rcsci voir drives to flush oil to wells dissolved gas drive, gas-cap drive, and water drive. With a gas drive, the oil in the reservoir is saturated with dissolved gas. As pressures fall with oil production, the gas escapes from solution, expands, and propels oil to the surface. Hence it is important to control gas production so it remains available to remove the oil. With a gas-cap drive, the upper part of the reseiwoh is filled with gas, and oil lies beneath it. As oil is withdrawn, the compressed gas expands downward, pushing oil to the well bore. As with a dissolved gas drive, gas production from the gas cap should be restricted to maintain reservoir pressure to expel the oil. Finally, with a water drive, the oil lies above a layer of water. The compressed water... 

B. licheniformis JF-2 and Clostridium acetogutylicum were investigated under simulated reservoir conditions. Sandstone cores were equilibrated to the desired simulated reservoir conditions, saturated with oil and brine, and flooded to residual oil saturation. The waterflood brine was displaced with a nutrient solution. The MEOR efficiency was directly related to the dissolved gas/oil ratio. The principal MEOR mechanism observed in this work was solution gas drive [505]. 

In primary recovery the natural energy comes mainly from gas and water in reservoir rocks. The gas may be dissolved in the oil or separated at the top of it in the form of a gas cap. Water, which is heavier than oil, collects below the petroleum. Depending on the source, the energy in the reservoir is called solution-gas drive, gas-cap drive, or water drive. In solution-gas drive, the gas expands and moves toward the opening, carrying some of the liquid with it. In gas-cap drive, gas is trapped in a cap above the oil as well as dissolved in it. As oil is produced from the reservoir, the gas cap expands and drives the oil toward the well. In water drive, water in a reservoir is held in place mainly by underground pressure. If the volume of water is sufficiently... 

Figure 15.1—Inductively coupled plasma torch. A radiofrequency current (between 27 and 50 MHz) that induces circulation of the electrons in the inert gas drives the torch. The argon serves as an auxiliary gas, a cooling gas and the nebulisation gas. In the upper right is shown an optic device used to collect emitted light in the longitudinal axis of the plasma. Lower down, plasma generated by microwave.

Martin, J.C. Simplified Equations of Flow in Gas Drive Reservoirs and the Theoretical Foundation of Multiphase Pressure Buildup Analyses, Trans. AIME (1959) 216, 309-311. 

In nearly all cases, oil in an underground reservoir has dissolved in it varying quantities of gas that emerges and expands as the pressure in the reservoir is reduced. As the gas escapes from the oil and expands, it drives oil through the reservoir toward the wells and assists in lifting it to the surface. Reservoirs in which the oil is produced by dissolved gas escaping and expanding front within the oil are called dissolved-gas-drive reservoirs. See Fig. 19. 

The demand for nitrogen in a chemically fixed form (as opposed to elemental nitrogen gas) drives a huge international industry that encompasses the production of seven key chemical nitrogen products ammonia, urea, nitric acid, ammonium nitrate, nitrogen solutions, ammonium sulfate and ammonium phosphates. Such nitrogen products had a total worldwide annual commercial value of about US 50 billion in 1996. The cornerstone of this industry is ammonia. Virtually all ammonia is produced in anhydrous form via the Haber process (as described in Chapter 2). Anhydrous ammonia is the basic raw material in a host of applications and in the manufacture of fertilizers, livestock feeds, commercial and military explosives, polymer intermediates, and miscellaneous chemicals35. 

All these plastics are essentially the same compound, composed of terephthalic acid (para-phthalic acid) esterified with ethylene glycol. This polyester is made by a base-catalyzed transesterification of dimethyl terephthalate with ethylene glycol at a temperature around 150 °C. At this temperature, methanol escapes as a gas, driving the reaction to completion. We will study polyesters and other polymers in more detail in Chapter 26. 

Type of power supply. Rotary positive-displacement pumps and centrifugal pumps are readily adaptable for use with electric-motor or intemal-combus-tion-engine drives reciprocating pumps can be used with steam or gas drives. 

D. Bond and C. Holbrook, Gas Drive Oil Recovery Process, US Patent No2... 

Of the many experiments run in the PS micromodel, only Test 11-19A is described here (see Table II). It was a gas-drive of surfactant solution (GDS), in which the pressure drop across the micromodel was measured and analyzed in terms of the flow behavior recorded simultaneously on videotape. It was also of interest to examine bubble formation and breakup processes in the PS model, where the large and fairly regular pores might give a different behavior than the smaller, more variable pores of the RS model. The surfactant used in the PS model was an anionic-nonionic blend in a 10 wt.% (weight percent active) solution, and nitrogen was the gas used in the GDS test. Conditions were 1000 psi back pressure and ambient temperature. 

Figure 5. Bubble Formation During Gas-Drive a,b. Front of Finger c,d. End of Finger...

When comparing the gas-drive processes GDS and GDW the presence of surfactant in the displaced liquid has a great effect on the displacement mechanisms and flow patterns. Figure 9 shows schematically the final extent of sweep for gas-drive of brine without surfactant (Frame a) and with surfactant (Frame b). In each case the gas appears to have preferentially flowed through a few large channels that zig-zag across the raicromodel however, in... 

Figure 9. Final Fluid Saturations for Gas-Drive of Brine...

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