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Status and Assessment

of Chemical Oil Recovery
Methods
Sara Thomas, S. M. Farouq Ali
Published online: 29 Oct 2010.

To cite this article: Sara Thomas, S. M. Farouq Ali (1999) Status and Assessment
of Chemical Oil Recovery Methods, Energy Sources, 21:1-2, 177-189, DOI:
10.1080/00908319950015046
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00908319950015046

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Statu s an d Assessm en t of Ch em ical Oil

Recovery Meth od s
SARA THO MAS
S. M. FARO UQ ALI

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Unive rsity of Albe rta

E dmonton, Albe rta, Canada
Ov er two-thirds of the origin al oil rem ains u nrecov ered in an oil reserv oir, after
prim ary an d secon dary recov ery m ethods hav e been exhausted. Many chem ically
based oil reco v ery m ethods hav e been proposed and tested in the laboratory and
field. Indeed, chem ical oil recov ery m eth ods offer a real challenge in v iew of their
su ccess in the laboratory and lack of success in the field. The problem lies in the
in adequacy of laboratory experim en ts on on e h and, and the v ery lim ited knowledge
of the reserv oir characteristics on the other.
Field test perform ances of polym er, alkalin e, an d m icellar flooding m ethods are
exam in ed for nearly 50 field tests, results for which are tabu lated. The oil recov ery
perform ance of m icellar floods is the h igh est, followed by polym er floods. Alkaline
floods hav e been largely unsuccessful. The reasons u nderlying success or failure are
exam ined.
K eywor ds
ing

che mical flooding, enhance d oil re cove ry, field te sts, micellar flood-

O ver two-thirds of the original oil is le ft unrecove red in a typical oil rese rvoir whe n
it re ache s its e conomic limit s i.e ., after primary and secondary } wate rflood } re cove ry.. Many me thods } often calle d ``tertiary recove ry } have be e n propose d for
re covering this ``unre cove rable oil. The class of ``che m ical me thods is of particular intere st, be cause it largely pe rmits the use of e xisting oilfield e quipme nt and
facilities. The intere st in te rtiary oil recove ry, and particularly the field activity,
rises and falls with the prospe ct of increasing or de creasing oil price s, and also with
the pe rce ived fore ign oil supply situation and governme nt ince ntive s. Thus e conomics dom inate much of the oil recove ry activity refle cted by the e xte nsive field
proje ct surveys publishe d by the Oil an d G as Jou rn al e ve ry two ye ars s e .g., Moritis
1998 .. The large number of fie ld projects for a give n me thod doe s not ne ce ssarily
me an that the me thod is te chnically succe ssful. Similarly, very fe w fie ld te sts of a
particular proce ss do not imply that the proce ss is technically ine ffective. Figure 1
shows a plot of the numbe r of che mical flooding field proje cts by ye ar, while Figure
2 shows the total daily oil production for the proje cts. The pe aks in 1986 ] 88
corre spond to spe cial tax conce ssions introduce d by the gove rnme nt for those
years only.

Received 7 March 1996; accepte d 4 Fe bruary 1998.

Addre ss corresponde nce to Dr. S. M. Farouq Ali, Unive rsity of Albe rta, Edmonton T6G
2G6, Canada. E-mail: farouq.ali@ ualbe rta.ca

177
En ergy Sources, 21:177 ] 189, 1999
Copyright Q 1999 Taylor & Francis
0090-8312 r 99 $12.00 q .00

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S. Th om as an d S. M. Farouq Ali

Che mical flooding field proje cts in the USA.

EOR

En h an ced Oil Recovery

O il re cove ry m e thods can be broadly classified as nonthe rm al and the rm al me thods, de pe nding on whe the r he at is e mployed in some form. Figure 3 shows a
classification of E O R m e thods; the more promising m e thods from the comme rcial
point of vie w are highlighted. Nonthe rm al E O R me thods broadly consist of
che mical and miscible processe s. Che mical me thods include polym e r, surfactant,
caustic, and micellar r e mulsion floods, and combinations the re of, such as ASP
s alkaline -surfactant-polyme r .. The ge ne ral feature s of the se me thods and field
e xpe rie nce form the subje ct of this article . E ven though che m ical floods have had
limite d succe ss in the field, the y hold prom ise for the future .

Figu re 2. Total oil production by che mical flooding proje cts in the USA.

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Ch em ical Oil Recov ery Methods

179

Figu re 3. Classification of EO R me thods.

Miscible me thods include high-pre ssure miscible drives, using a hydrocarbon

gas, nitroge n, or carbon dioxide , as we ll as displace me nt by liquid hydrocarbons.
Many variations are possible in the application of the se proce sses, an im portant
one be ing alternate inje ction of the miscible age nt and wate r.
The rmal me thods broadly consist of ste am inje ction and in situ combustion of
a portion of the oil. Many variations of steam injection and in situ combustion have
be e n tested.

Prin cip les of Ch em ical Flood in g Meth od s

Che mical floods, as also othe r oil recove ry me thods, are de signe d to lowe r
s im prove . the m obility ratio and incre ase the capillary numbe r. The se are discusse d
be low.
Improv ement of the Mobility Ratio
Mobility ratio, M, is usually de fine d as the m obility, l in g , s s k r m , whe re k is
e ffe ctive pe rm e ability and m is viscosity. of the displacing fluid divide d by the
mobility, l ed , of the displace d fluid s assume d to be oil in this discussion .. If M ) 1,
the displacing fluid, e .g., wate r in a wate rflood, move s m ore e asily than the
displace d liquid, i.e ., oil. This is not de sirable , be cause the displacing fluid will flow
past m uch of the displaced fluid, displacing it ine fficiently. Thus the mobility ratio
de te rmine s ``displacem e nt e fficie ncy, i.e ., the s m icroscopic . e fficie ncy of oil displace me nt within the pore s. For M much greate r than 1, the displacing fluid will
channe l past oil ganglia. This is often calle d ``viscous finge ring. For m aximum
displace me nt e fficiency, M should be F 1, usually de noted as ``favorable m obility
ratio. If M ) 1 s unfavorable ., the n, in the abse nce of viscous finge ring, it me rely
me ans that more fluid will have to be inje cted to attain a give n residual oil
saturation in the pore s. Like displace me nt e fficie ncy, re al swe e p e fficie ncy as we ll
as conformance s or vertical swe e p e fficiency . de cre ase as the mobility ratio
increases.

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S. Th om as an d S. M. Farouq Ali

Increasing the Capillary Nu mber

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The capillary numbe r, Nc, is de fine d as m v r s, which is same as k D p r s L, whe re m

is the displace d fluid viscosity, v is pore ve locity, s is inte rfacial te nsion s IFT .
be twe e n the displace d and the displacing fluids, k is e ffe ctive pe rm e ability to the
displace d fluid, and D p r L is pre ssure gradie nt. The capillary numbe r can be
increased and, the reby, the residual oil saturation de cre ased, by re ducing oil
viscosity or incre asing pressure gradie nt but, more than anything, by de cre asing
the IFT.
O the r e ffects such as in situ e mulsification, pore blockage of larger pore s by
e mulsion drops, formation of pre cipitates, inte raction with rock surface le ading to
we ttability changes and, he nce , relative pe rme ability shifts, and moveme nt of fine s
also play a role in che m ical floods.

Ch em ical EOR Meth od s

The che mical oil re cove ry me thods considere d in this article include polyme r,
surfactant, alkaline , and mice llar flooding. Polyme r flooding has be e n comme rcially
succe ssful to a mode rate e xte nt. Mice llar flooding is the only proce ss that has bee n
shown to produce the oil le ft in a re servoir after a wate rflood, but it is not
e conom ic at the pre sent oil price s. Brie f de scriptions of che mical floods follow.

Polymer Flooding
In this proce ss, a very sm all am ount s 200 to 1000 ppm . of a high mole cular we ight
s 2 to 5 million . wate r-soluble polyacrylamide or polysaccharide s biopolyme r. are
adde d to the wate r in a wate rflood ] type ope ration. The choice of the polyme r and
the conce ntration to be use d are the crucial steps in de sign. Care ful laboratory
tests are ne e de d. E ve n after that the laboratory re sults must be related to the field.
The goal in polyme r flooding is to lowe r the mobility of the flood wate r. This is the
re sult of an increase in the apparent viscosity of water and a pe rmane nt de cre ase
in the relative pe rme ability to wate r. Polyme r doe s not lowe r the residual oil
saturation, but it doe s increase oil recove ry as a re sult of improve d swe e p, be ing a
function of mobility ratio. The long polyme r chains can de crease the mobility of
water by a factor s re sistance factor . of 10 or m ore , much more than a polyme r
solution viscosity me asurem e nt would indicate . The ove rall result is a reduction in
the mobility ratio, which le ads to an incre ase in oil recove ry.
Many com plicating factors affect oil recove ry by polyme rs. Polyme r de gradation due to high salinity interstitial wate r, te mpe rature , aging of the polyme r,
polyme r gel formation, high she ar rate s, and so on are important factors. The point
in the life of a wate rflood at which polyme r inje ction is initiated is important also
s e arlier is bette r ..
Polyme r flooding has provided increm e ntal oil recove rie s on the orde r of 5%
on the ave rage . The re have be e n many failure s, due to imprope r de sign. E ve n
though laboratory te sts cannot be scale d up to fie ld, such te sts are use ful for
scre e ning various type s of polyme rs for a give n re se rvoir. Polyme rs show pseudoplastic, i.e ., she ar-thinning be havior. The pre sence of e le ctrolyte s s salts . and
divale nt cations s calcium and m agne sium . more so than monovalent cations
s sodium . in the formation waters also le ads to a re duction in the e ffe ctive viscosity

Ch em ical Oil Recov ery Methods

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of polyme r solutions. V e ry fe w fie ld proje cts have utilize d biopolyme rs such as

xanthan gum.
Loss of polyme r to the formation can occur by adsorption and m e chanical
e ntrapme nt. Laboratory tests tend to give highe r value s of adsorption than those
obse rve d in the fie ld. Adsorption te nds to incre ase with salinity, high clay content,
and lack of consolidation. Polym e r floods have be e n more succe ssful for m ode rate ly viscous oils, in the range of 5 to 200 mPa.s. Re se rvoir pe rme ability should be
highe r than 20 md, and tem pe rature should not be highe r than 80 8 C. Polyme r may
be ine ffe ctive in a mature wate rflood, in vie w of the low mobile oil saturation. As
se e n above, care ful laboratory and ge ological scre e ning is ne ce ssary to e nsure
succe ss. An important role of polyme rs is as driving age nts for mobility control, as
in mice llar flooding. O n the whole, polyme r flooding has a good chance of success
in the case of mode rately viscous oils.
Surfactant Flooding
Some of the e arliest rese arch was conducte d on surfactant flooding, the inte nt
be ing to lowe r the oil-wate r IFT, and thus incre ase the capillary num ber, and to
lowe r the re sidual oil saturation. Dunning and Johanse n s 1957 . teste d 165 surfactants as dilute aque ous solutions in laboratory te sts. The y } as we ll as othe r
inve stigators at the tim e } conclude d that surfactant flooding was ine ffe ctive,
mainly due to adsorption, and also be cause it was sensitive to rock and interstitial
fluid prope rties. Taber s 1958 . gives a comprehe nsive revie w of the e arly work on
surfactant flooding. O ver the years, many advance s have be e n made . Notable
among the m is the use of pe trole um sulfonates as surfactants. The se are more
e ffe ctive than conventional surfactants and le ss susce ptible to adsorption on the
rock surface and interactions with m ine rals. Many surfactant floods have bee n
carrie d out, using both high and low conce ntration slugs, using polyme r as the drive
fluid in many cases. O n the whole, succe ss in the fie ld has be e n limited. Use of
surfactants in the form of m ice llar solutions has be e n far more succe ssful.
Alkaline Flooding
Anothe r important cate gory of che mical flooding me thods is alkaline flooding. In
this case , a suitable alkali s usually sodium hydroxide . is inje cted as a dilute aque ous
solution, which reacts with the acid compounds in the crude oil to form surfactants
in situ. The se surfactants le ad to a re duction in IFT, and the e mulsions forme d as a
re sult he lp in improving the mobility ratio in a numbe r of ways. A concise
discussion of the proce ss has be e n give n by Johnson s 1976 ..
O ne of the proble ms with alkaline flooding is the consum ption of the che mical
s caustic . by the rock. This occurs by a numbe r of me chanism s, including clay
re actions. Furthe rmore, IFT studie s using caustic show that conside rable concentrations s often approaching 1% . are ne cessary in orde r to e ffect a significant
re duction in the IFT. Com binations with polyme r flooding and surfactant have also
be e n te ste d. Surkalo s 1990 . has discussed the alkaline -surfactant-polyme r flooding
proce ss, as a le ss e xpe nsive alte rnative to mice llar flooding. Be cause in caustic
flooding the che mical has to react with the oil, its flow pattern is im portant. Also to
be conside red is the dilution of the inje cte d solution by the formation wate r, as
we ll as the e ffe ct of salts on IFT. Caustic floods have had lim ited succe ss in the

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S. Th om as an d S. M. Farouq Ali

fie ld. Such a flood should be conside re d for a give n crude oil, if the acid numbe r is
0.5 m g KO H r g crude , or greater. He avy oils appe ar to be better suited for this
proce ss.

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Alkaline-Surfactant-Polymer ( ASP) Flooding

This proce ss is a combination of the above-me ntione d three proce sses, in that
three slugs are used in a se que nce . The obje ctive is to reduce the amount of
che mical pe r unit volume of oil re covere d. In anothe r version of the proce ss, the
three fluids are m ixe d toge the r and inje cted as a large single slug. ASP has bee n
studied in a numbe r of laboratory studie s, including that of the authors. Fre nch
s 1996 . de scribed a me thodology for laboratory te sting of the proce ss. Me ye rs e t al.
s 1992 . and Shutang e t al. s 1995 . de scribe d favorable fie ld results for the proce ss.
V e ry few fie ld te sts of the proce ss have be e n carrie d out. Comm e rcial succe ss is
claime d in at le ast one test.

Micellar Flooding
Mice llar or microe mulsion flooding is a comple x but prom ising te rtiary oil re covery
me thod for light oils. It has bee n e xte nsively te ste d in the laboratory and m any
succe ssful field te sts have be e n conducted. A re ce nt review was give n by Thomas
and Farouq A li s 1992 ..
Mice llar flooding consists of the injection of a m ice llar solution slug s about 5%
PV ., followe d by a polyme r solution slug s ``buffer of the orde r of 50% PV ., which
is driven by flood wate r. O ften a pre flush is inje cted ahe ad of the mice llar buffe r to
condition the rock. The mice llar solution use d is the ke y e le me nt in the proce ss. It
consists of wate r, a suitable hydrocarbon, and 10 ] 15% surfactant, toge the r with
smalle r quantitie s of a salt and a suitable alcohol. The latter pe rmit viscosity and
phase be havior control. The mice llar solution thus pre pare d is teste d for phase
inte ractions with the re servoir oil and brine , and also in core floods. U nde r optimal
conditions, a mice llar solution s le ss m obile than the in-place oil and wate r . would
displace oil and wate r in a ``miscible manne r in that the displace me nt is almost
like that by a mutually soluble alcohol, only more e fficie nt. The polyme r buffe r,
le ss mobile than the slug, de signe d to de lay the dilution of the slug by the drive
water, is an important part of the process.
Mice llar flood de sign re quire s a great de al of background work, but once a
prope r slug-buffer system is de signe d, the proce ss can be very e fficient. O ne of the
pe rformance indice s is the oil re covery-to-slug ratio. In the field, the se have
e xce e de d value s of 3.0. Mice llar flooding would normally be conside red for a light
oil s viscosity le ss than 20 mPa.s ., which has be e n pre viously wate rfloode d s low
salinity .. The re se rvoir pressure is not critical, based upon the authors work, but
tem pe rature should not be too high to cause m ice llar r polyme r de gradation. The
main impe dime nt in de veloping a mice llar flood is the cost of mate rials and we lls,
be cause small we ll spacings are e mployed. As a result, the mice llar flooding
proce ss has be e n succe ssful in de plete d, shallow rese rvoirs of Pe nnsylvania, whe re
the crude s are gene rally high-price d and costs are re latively low. The mice llar
flooding proce ss is the only recove ry me thod that has be e n shown to be e ffe ctive
for recove ring oil from wate red-out light oil rese rvoirs.

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Field Exp er ien ce with Polym er Flood in g

Polyme r flooding began in the United States in the late 1950s. Lite rally hundre ds
of polyme r floods have be e n conducte d. The m ain re ason is the pe rce ption that
this is a che ap and readily applicable proce ss. In reality, the proce ss is comple x
and re quire s a gre at de al of rese arch. The polyme r concentration is of the orde r of
500 ppm s mg r L ., and it is be lie ve d that the process is wide ly applicable. Partially
hydrolyze d polyacrylamide s and, to a much le sse r e xtent, polysaccharide s, are the
che micals of choice . Polyme r volume is 25 to 50% of the pore volume . Table 1
shows data for se le cted polyme r floods. The largest of the se , U nocal s Farnsworth,
was unsucce ssful. O n the whole , polyme r floods have produce d about 5% incre me ntal oil. Nearly 90% of the total che mical flood oil production s figure 2 . is by
polyme r flooding. The y have be e n more succe ssful in multilayer formations, whe re
the intent is to ``corre ct the inje ction profile. In such instance s, the injecte d
polyme r at first invade s the more pe rme able zone , re ducing its conductivity in
the proce ss, and the re after it is constraine d to pe ne trate the le ss pe rme able
formations.

Field Exp er ien ce with Alkalin e Flood in g

Many alkaline floods have be e n conducte d, primarily be cause of the low cost of
caustic s the alkali most ofte n used . and the de ce ptive simplicity of the proce ss.
V arious tax ince ntives we re also a factor in the large numbe r of fie ld te sts
conducted. A re vie w of the fie ld tests was give n by Maye r, Be rg, Carm ichae l, and
W e inbrandt s 1983 .. Table 1 shows the major alkaline floods in progre ss, as
re ported by Moritis s 1998 .. Two of the m appe ar to be succe ssful. Apart from
sodium hydroxide , sodium orthosilicate, sodium me tasilicate, amm onia, and sodium
carbonate have be e n use d in the field. The first three are in the same price range
s $300 ] 400 pe r ton .. Sodium carbonate costs about $100 pe r ton but is the le ast
e ffe ctive. It was utilize d in the first alkaline flood in Pe nnsylvania, in 1925, as
re ported by Nutting s 1927 ., with little succe ss. Sodium orthosilicate is ofte n use d as
a preflush for che mical r surfactant floods.
Alkali-rock s e spe cially clays . re actions are the most important source of loss of
the che mical in the proce ss. Ye t the se are not comple tely unde rstood and quantifie d, e spe cially if one conside rs the long reside nce time s in the fie ld. Silica
dissolution also occurs in alkaline flooding. The dissolved silica may pre cipitate and
cause pe rme ability loss. In most fie ld proje cts, the inje cted alkali conce ntration was
conside rably highe r than that planne d. Typical conce ntrations are in the range of
0.5 to 1% by wt, with an inje cte d slug size of about 50% pore volume . s Proje ct pore
volume s in the W ilmington field and Huntington Be ach fie ld, both in California,
we re 100 and 32 million barre ls, re spe ctive ly..
Alkali-rock re actions m ay alte r rock matrix we ttability from oil-we t to waterwe t, which is advantage ous from the point of view of re lative pe rme abilities to oil
and water. Re ve rse we ttability floods, discusse d by Le ach e t al. s 1962 ., we re base d
upon this e ffect.
The use of polyme r with caustic appe ars to improve pe rformance s Sloat and
Z lomke 1982 .. Howe ve r, polyme r-alkali re actions must be taken into account as far
as loss of alkali is conce rne d.

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Field Exp er ien ce with Micellar Flood in g

Ne arly 30 fie ld te sts s Gogarty e t al. 1971, Jone s e t al. 1971, Gogarty e t al. 1972,
Holm e t al. 1973, E arloughe r e t al. 1976, Mille r e t al. 1978, Howe ll e t al. 1978,
Howe ll and Thomas 1980, Putz e t al. 1981, Hause 1981, Bragg e t al. 1983,
Danie lson e t al. 1986, B ae e t al. 1986, O ndruse k 1986, Giordano 1987, Fanchi e t al.
1988, and Rate rman 1988 . of the mice llar flooding proce ss have bee n re ported.
Most of the se are listed in table 2, which gives the rese rvoir characte ristics and
data on oil recove ry. The source s indicated can be consulte d for information on the
mice llar slug de sign and fie ld re sponse pattern. It is clear that the oil re covery
re sponse has be e n impre ssive , in most case s, 50% or more of the oil at the start of
the flood. Note that in all e xce pt two case s, the formation had be e n previously
waterfloode d. The oil re covere d ] to-slug volume ratios we re of the orde r of 2 to 4,
and in a num ber of case s, the m ice llar flood was said to be e conomic. Se ve ral
pape rs give de taile d de scriptions of the laboratory work to support a given field
test. An e xample is the pape r by Kelle rhals s 1982 ..
Lake and Pope s 1979 . analyzed mice llar flooding fie ld te st re sults. The y found
little corre lation of oil re covery with the quantity of surfactant inje cte d, but the re
was strong corre lation with the polyme r buffer volume and also the polyme r
conce ntration.
The status of the mice llar flooding proce ss can be asse ssed on the basis of field
e xpe rie nce and e conom ic viability. The fie ld te sts did succe ssfully recove r tertiary
oil, with recove rie s on the orde r of 50% of the oil at the start of the flood. The fact
re mains that in m ost case s a gre at de al of laboratory work was ne e de d to
de te rmine the optimum mice llar slug composition and its recove ry pe rformance in
fie ld core s. Such work can take as much as five years. Also, a pilot test was carried
out prior to a full-scale flood, furthe r increasing the le ad time .
The e conomics of the m ice llar flooding proce ss re main unfavorable. This is
attributed to the high initial investme nt ne e de d, to relatively small we ll spacings,
re quiring much infill drilling, to the current oil price s, and to the lack of tax and
othe r ince ntives. The se factors, toge the r with a high risk, have re duce d fie ld te sting
of the proce ss to a minimum. At pre sent only a fe w fie ld tests are in ope ration.
Gogarty s 1983 . has shown that the cash flow using a mice llar flood would start to
approach that of a waterflood only after 10 to 12 years. In othe r words, the rate of
re turn would be unacce ptably low. Thus it can be said that if a waterflood s or a
polyme r flood or othe r more attractive recove ry me thod . is applicable, the n a
mice llar flood would be le ss attractive or e ven une conomic. O n the othe r hand, if
no othe r recove ry me thod is applicable and also alte rnative che ap oil supplie s are
none xistent, the n m ice llar flooding would be e conomically viable . Conside ring the
long le ad tim e ne e de d for de veloping this proce ss for candidate oil re servoirs, it is
important to continue fie ld te sts for the future .

Econ om ics of Ch em ical EOR

Che mical flooding is a high-cost proce ss for two re asons: first, e xpe nsive che micals
and the oil itse lf are involve d as injecte d fluids, and se cond, the we lls m ust be
drille d at a reduce d spacing of 2.5 to 5 acre s s 1 to 2 ha ., be cause at larger spacing,
the che m ical dissipation will occur be fore the oil is banked up. Highe r oil price s
s $25 r bbl or m ore . are ne ce ssary be fore the proce ss will be come e conomically
viable. Also, the cost of the che micals is dire ctly proportional to the oil price .

187

3 05

3 05
5 67

4 r 67

6 r 66

1 r 67

6 r 68

}
5 r 71

3 r 71

12 r 7 1
7 r 72

6 r 73

1 r 74
11 r 7 8
7 r 86

2 r 80
12 r 8 0

6 r 86
8 r 81
12 r 8 5

11 r 6 5

6 r 66

6 r 67

9 r 68
12 r 6 8

10 r 6 9

9 r 69
5 r 70

1 r 71

5 r 71
3 r 73

10 r 7 3
10 r 7 5
1 r 77

2 r 78
6 r 78

H e n ry-W , I llin o is

H e n ry-E 0 .7 5 A c , I llin o is

H e n ry-E 1 .5 A c , Illin ois

H e n ry-E 3 .0 A c , Illin ois

1 19 -R , I llin ois
b
B in gh a m 53 3, P a.

H e n ry-S , I llin o is

1 18 -K, Illin o is
A u x V as e s, I llin o is

B in gh a m E xpa n sion , P a.

G o od will H ill, P a . c
M T a 1, Illin ois

G le n n P oo l, O klah o m a
5 r 79
L ou d on , Illin ois
5 r 80
S p. P ro j. a 8 , B r ad for d, P a. 11 r 8 0

1 98

4 58
4 73
5 95

6 01
8 85

2 90
3 05
}

1 53
2 90

5 49

3 05
9 15

2 97

3 05

3 05

2
18

3
5
10

0 .8
4
4 .8

20 0

2 ] 4 .9
20

20

20

20.4
19.8
21
24

20 8 ] 26 5

30
31.5

20
20.8
14

20
}
13 ] 1 5

15 0
12 2 ] 17 3
18 8

10 00
43 9

2 00
1 05
}

}
2 00

7 ] 1 58

2 00
}

20

20 0

2 ] 4 .9

20

10 0 ] 30 0

20 0

2 ] 4 .9

20

20

19.3
13 ] 1 5

20 0

2 ] 4 .9

18.9
20

P o ros ity
%

2 11
7 ] 1 58

1 00 ] 3 40

4.9 ] 12 .8

3
7

77
20 0

P e rm e ab .
md

8 .5
2 .4 ] 3 .3

T h ic kn e ss ,
m

* No te wa te r flo od e d pr io r to m ic e llar flo od .

% O I P s a t s ta rt . .
a
8 5 in je c to rs on 2 .5 ac r e s pa c in g a n d 29 on 5 ac r e s pa c in g.
b
B r ad for d s an d , c o n side re d to be oil-we t.
c
V e n an go Sa n d, wate r -we t.

E l D or ado , Kan s as

C h a te a u re n a rd , Fr an c e
W ilm in gton , C a lifor n ia

11 r 7 5

3 05

1 r 65

1 r 64
11 r 6 5

W ilkin , Illin ois

M T a 2, Illin ois
2 19 -R , I llin ois
T or c h ligh t, W yom in g

3 05

12 r 6 4

2 r 77
11 r 6 2

M 1, I llin ois a
D e d ric k, I llin o is *

2 90
3 05

F in ish

D e pth ,
m

Sta rt

T e st Na m e

T e s t D ate

55
38

40
40
34

40

3 1 ] 33

30 .3
25 .4
40

40
}
4 0 ] 55

40

40
2 7 ] 35

40

40

40

40

40

40
50

O il S atn .
%

4
5
5

40
25

7
6] 8
}

7
5

8 .1
0 .2 75
88 .2 9

1 .0 1
4 .0 5

0 .0 53
45 .7 7
2 .5 9

4 .0 5
0 .0 81

19 .0 3

0 .9 72
1 .7 4

0 .0 81

16 .2
0 .3 03

1 .2 15

0 .6 07 5

0 .3 04

0 .3 04

1 .0 1

1 64 .8 4
1 .0 1

S iz e , h a

4 = 9-S po t 10 .3 7

I-5
R -5
S T -L D

I-5
LD

MT
I-5
R -5

9 1-5
MT

16 1-5

R -5
R -5

MT

LD
I-5

I-5

I-5

I-5

I-5

R -5

R -5
R -5

6] 8
11
9

T ype

O il V isc .
cp

P atte r n

9.0

3.5

3.5

1 2.0

1 0.0
4 0.0
9.5

1 0.0
?

7.0
1 0.3
1 8.1

5.0
7.0

5.0

8.5
2.5

4.8

7.0
1 0.0

1 0.0

2 0.0

4 0.0

S lu g in j.
% PV

Table 2
Sum mary of Mice llar Flood Fie ld Te sts

6 .6

6 .6

60 .0

35 .0
1 85 .0
1 05 .0

1 35 .0
?

93 .0
1 05 .2
16 .5

95 .0
93 .0

95 .0

87 .0
24 .0

1 75 .0

1 00 .0
2 00 .0

55 .0

83 .0

44 .0

2 00 .0

B u ffe r in j.
% PV

Downloaded by [Heriot-Watt University] at 19:52 10 August 2015

?
6 0%
?

7 0%
s 43 % ? .

38 6.1
2 7 ] 33 %
?

?
36 5.5

5 2%

25 7.4
}

45 0.5, s 6 4% .

20 4.6
34 7.5, s 3 9% .
29 6, s 5 7% .

26 3.8

21 7.5, s 6 3% .

4 92 .9 2

1 10 .6 8

}
49 4.2

R e c ove ry
m 3 r h a.m

M ille r an d R ic h m o n d s 19 78 .

B ae a n d Sa ye d s 1 98 6 .
B ra gg a n d G ale s 19 83 .
O n d ru s e k s 19 83 .

0
H o we ll e t al. s 19 78 .
R ate rm a n s 1 98 8 .
T h om a s e t al. s 19 88 .
H a u se s 1 98 1 . , F an c h i a n d C ar ro ll s 1 988 .

E a rlou gh e r e t al. s 19 76 .
0

D an ie lso n e t a l. s 1 98 6 .

E ar lo u gh e r e t a l. s 1 97 6 .
E a rlou gh e r e t al. s 19 76 . ,

0
E a rlou gh e r e t al. s 19 76 .
E a rlou gh e r e t al. s 19 76 . ,
D an ie lso n e t a l. s 1 98 6 .
E a rlou gh e r e t al. s 19 76 . ,
J o n e s a n d M c A te e s 1 97 1 .
E a rlou gh e r e t al. s 19 76 .

G o gar ty a n d Su r kalo s 19 72 .
0

H o we ll an d T h om a s s 19 80 .
G o gar ty a n d D a vis s 1 97 1 .
E a rlou gh e r e t al. s 19 76 .
E a rlou gh e r e t al. s 19 76 . ,

R e fe re n c e

188

S. Th om as an d S. M. Farouq Ali

Gogarty s 1978 . e valuated the e conomics of applying mice llar flooding to a

large area s 6000 acre s . of one of the fields in Illinois. He showe d that the rate of
re turn will be 10% s usually conside re d to be the m inim um acce ptable . only at a
re covery of 250 bbls r acre -ft, on 5-acre spacing, for oil prices of $18.50 r bbl.
The e conom ic success of che mical flooding proce sse s is also site -spe cific.
O the r than that, the cost would furthe r drop as improveme nts are made to the
basic proce ss and che ape r che m icals are de ve lope d. In particular, much laboratory
re search is ne e de d, dire cted to a particular re se rvoir. E qually important, scaling
crite ria are ne e de d to relate laboratory re sults to fie ld pe rformance .

Downloaded by [Heriot-Watt University] at 19:52 10 August 2015

Con clu s ion s

Che mical flooding me thods are important for e nhance d oil recove ry from de ple ted
conve ntional oil rese rvoirs. Fie ld results show that care fully de signe d te sts succe ssfully recove red as m uch as one -half of the oil le ft in the re servoir after a
waterflood. Mice llar flooding, and possibly A SP, are the most promising re covery
me thods for field application. The lim itations of che m ical flooding me thods are
attributed to insufficie nt unde rstanding of the me chanism s involve d and the lack of
scale -up crite ria.

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