A STUDY OF WAG AND FAWAG INJECTION INDUCED ASPHALTENE PRECIPITATION IN LIGHT OIL RESERVOIR

• Main Author: KOH LIANG YI, KOH LIANG YI
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Universiti Teknologi Petronas 2012
• Online Access: http://utpedia.utp.edu.my/5611/1/FYP%20REPORT%20FULL%20VERSION_Koh%20Liang%20Yi.pdf; http://utpedia.utp.edu.my/5611/

Petroleum is the backbone of world energy. We can’t live without it. From the efforts put in primary to tertiary recovery (Enhanced Oil Recovery, EOR), the ultimate objective is to maximize the recovery and to squeeze out the last drop of oil from reservoir. . Asphaltene is an aromatic hetero-compound with aliphatic substitutions and asphaltene formed the most polar fraction of crude oil. The instability of asphaltene precipitation can causes permeability and porosity reduction, alteration of formation wettability, plugging of reservoir and fouling of surface facilities. In this project, two EOR methods are being studied. The first objective is to investigate and compare the amount of asphaltene precipitated during Wateralternating- gas (WAG) injection and Foam-Assisted-Water-Alternating-Gas (FAWAG) injection. Through this experimental research, dynamic core flooding experiments is conducted to study the effect of WAG injection and FAWAG injection in inducing asphaltene precipitation in light oil reservoir. WAG injection is the mobility enhancement method of CO2 injection and it is believed that the presence of water could reduce the asphaltene precipitation. The amount of asphaltene precipitation in light oil will also be recorded for WAG and FAWAG injection. It is proven that FAWAG injection is able to further reduce asphaltene precipitation than WAG. Core properties before and after displacement is being investigate to study the effect of on porosity, permeability and wettability alteration. Through the studies, it is found out that FAWAG has less effect on changing rock properties. FAWAG injection gives less asphaltene precipitation, less formation damage, and higher oil recovery compare to WAG injection.