Masters Theses

Abstract

"Excess water production is one of the most prevalent operational problems that oil companies are facing. Polymers and polymer gels have been used widely to control excess water production for mature oilfields. It is well known that polymers/gels can reduce the permeability to water (Krw) much more than that to oil (Kro). This phenomenon is called disproportionate permeability reduction (DPR) and the polymers or gels that exhibit this behavior are called relative permeability modifier (RPM). When RPMs are placed in reservoir, reduced permeability to water can lead to decreased water production, and sometimes increased hydrocarbon production, therefore prolonging the useful life of the reservoir. However, arguments exist about where and when RPM can be used.

Numerical simulation was run to investigate whether RPM can be used to reduce water production and increase oil recovery for two reservoir models: one layer homogeneous formation, two-layer heterogeneous formation with crossflow. Linear flow and five-spot well patterns were considered for the simulation. Results showed that the relative permeability modification with five spot and two layers flow pattern is more effective than linear flow with two layers and one layer. The effective period of DPR treatment is longer if treated in low water cut than in high water cut. DPR can improve oil production and reduce water production during the effective period of a treatment but the final recovery could not be significantly improved even sometimes worse. Results also show that better water control results can be achieved with more gel injection"--Abstract, page iii

Advisor(s)

Bai, Baojun

Committee Member(s)

Wei, Mingzhen
Flori, Ralph E.

Department(s)

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering

Degree Name

M.S. in Petroleum Engineering

Sponsor(s)

Saudi Ministry of Higher Education's King Abdullah Bin Abdul-Aziz Scholarship

Publisher

Missouri University of Science and Technology

Publication Date

Fall 2011

Pagination

xiv, 87 pages

Note about bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages 83-85).

Rights

© 2011 Murad Mohammedahmed Abdulfarraj, All rights reserved.

Document Type

Thesis - Open Access

File Type

text

Language

English

Subject Headings

Mathematical optimizationOil fields -- Production methodsOil saturation in reservoirsPermeability -- Testing

Thesis Number

T 9910

Print OCLC #

794669841

Electronic OCLC #

765336470

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