Swelling/extraction test of Russian reservoir heavy oil by liquid carbon dioxide

• Main Authors: A A LOBANOV, K A SHHEKOLDIN, I A STRUCHKOV, M A ZVONKOV, M V HLAN, E J PUSTOVA, V A KOVALENKO, A B ZOLOTUKHIN
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. 2018-10-01
• Series: Petroleum Exploration and Development
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1876380418300958

The mass transfer between heavy oil and liquid carbon dioxide and the changes of the heavy phase (mixture of heavy oil and CO2) and light phase (pure CO2) in the mixture were tested in lab with heavy oil samples from Russia. The experimental results showed that the heavy oil hardly expanded when the concentration of carbon dioxide in the mixture was 10%. When the concentration of carbon dioxide was higher than 26%, the volume of the heavy phase decreased, and the viscosity of the heavy phase increased exponentially as the light components extracted from the heavy oil exceeded the carbon dioxide saturated in the heavy oil. When the concentration of carbon dioxide in the mixture was 26%, the effect of viscosity reducing to the heavy phase was the strongest. The density of the light and heavy phases, volume factor, and solubility of gas and flash viscosity of heavy phase all increased with the rise of carbon dioxide concentration in the mixture. The best concentration of carbon dioxide in the mixture was 26%, when the heavy oil expanded the most and the viscosity of the heavy phase was the lowest. When the concentration of carbon dioxide in the mixture was between 10% and 26%, the volume of the light phase was the smallest and the oil displacement effect was the best. Key words: enhanced oil recovery, liquid CO2, heavy oil, swelling test, extract test, phase behavior