Two-phase flow and solute transport in porous rocks for surfactant/polymer coreflooding applications
File(s)
Author(s)
Rovelli, Andrea
Type
Thesis or dissertation
Abstract
Multi-phase flow and transport in porous media plays a critical role in many established and developing fields. Among which, subsurface applications - such as CO2 sequestration and enhanced oil recovery (EOR) - have been, and continue to be, of great industrial relevance. Within EOR techniques, surfactant/polymer flooding is an attractive option given its great recovery potential - offering an avenue for the maximisation of available resources. Despite this, difficulties in translating laboratory scale recoveries to the field scale have been prevalent. A key element within this upscaling workflow are corefloods. Here, fluid combinations and injection schemes are tested with - via primarily the interpretation of outlet samples - the goal of extracting parameters for use in reservoir simulations. Given the complex nature of the flooding process, and the often conflicting physical phenomena, designing a successful system and extracting meaningful parameters can prove difficult given uncertainty in the in-situ behaviour. To address this, direct imaging techniques have a potential to help alleviate many of these difficulties by offering a less restricted and more comprehensive viewpoint. The primary goal of this work is the inclusion of two imaging techniques, X-ray computed tomography (CT) and positron emission tomography (PET), into surfactant/polymer coreflooding studies. To this aim, an experimental set-up and combination of fluids was devised to allow for successful and representative corefloods - further complemented by a number of numerical tools. The surfactant/polymer corefloods were of tertiary recovery nature and, through the use of X-ray CT, three-dimensional saturation profiles were reconstructed with which the effect of core size, surfactant choice and heterogeneity were investigated. On the other hand, in combination with PET, the transport of solute subject to a dynamically changing saturation was also investigated. Overall, direct imaging applied to surfactant/polymer corefloods is showcased, ultimately intending to display both its utility and versatility.
Date Issued
2024-10-24
Date Awarded
2025-02-01
Copyright Statement
Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International Licence (CC BY-NC)
Advisor
Pini, Ronny
Publisher Department
Department of Chemical Engineering
Publisher Institution
Imperial College London
Qualification Level
Doctoral
Qualification Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Rights Embargo Date
2025-07-31