Carbonated Water Injection

CO2 injection is increasingly considered as having potential applications as a possible EOR process for mature oil reservoirs. Carbonated Water Injection is one of the joint industrial projects of this research group, which the first phase of this project was started in Nov. 2006 by the support of several industrial Sponsors. The objective of this project is to conduct a comprehensive experimental and theoretical study to investigate the process of carbonated water injection through conducting: Flow visualisation (micromodel experiments), Displacement tests (core experiments), Mathematical modelling, Numerical simulation.

The following plots show and compare the solubility of different gases in water.  As can be seen from these images, CO2 solubility compared to other gases such as C1H4, C2H4 and C2H6 is copious.

2 plots show and compare the solubility of different gases in water

The objective of this project is to conduct a comprehensive experimental and theoretical study to investigate the process of carbonated water injection through conducting:

  1. Flow visualisation (micromodel experiments)
  2. Displacement tests (core experiments)
  3. Mathematical modelling
  4. Numerical simulation

Publications

20101Riazi, M., Sohrabi, M., Jamiolahmady, M.: "Experimental Study of Pore-Scale Mechanisms of Carbonated Water Injection (CWI)", Accepted for publication in Journal of Transport in Porous Media, DOI 10.1007/s11242-010-9606-8.
2Sohrabi, M., Kechut, N., Riazi, M., Jamiolahmady, M., Ireland, S., Brown C., and Robertson, G.: "Coreflooding Studies to Investigate the Potential of Carbonated Water Injection as an Injection Strategy for Improved Oil Recovery and CO2 Storage", Submitted for publication to Journal of Transport in Porous Media.
3Riazi, M., Sohrabi, M., Jamiolahmady, M., Ireland, S. and Brown, C.: "Oil Recovery Improvement Using CO2-Enriched Water Injection", Submitted to SPEJ for publication.
4Riazi, M., Jamiolahmady, M., Sohrabi, M.: "Theoretical Study of Pore-Scale Mechanisms of Carbonated Water Injection (CWI)-Sensitivity Studies", Submitted for publication to Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering.
5Riazi, M., Sohrabi, M., Bernstone, C., Jamiolahmady, M., Ireland S.: "Visualisation of Mechanisms Involved in CO2 Injection and Storage under Various Reservoir Conditions", Submitted for publication to Journal of IChemE.
6Sohrabi, M., Riazi M., Jamiolahmady M., Ireland, S and Robertson, G.: "Safe Storage of CO2 Together With Improved Oil Recovery by CO2-Enriched Water Injection", submitted to IChemE (Institution of Chemical Engineers) Journal for publication in a special issue on Carbon Capture and Storage, May 2010.
7Sohrabi, M., Kechut, N., Riazi, M., Jamiolahmady, M., Ireland, S., and Robertson, G. : "Carbonated Water Injection (CWI) for Improved Oil Recovery and CO2 Storage", DEVEX 2010, 7th European Production & Development Conference & Exhibition, 12-13 May 2010, Aberdeen, UK.
8 Mehran Sohrabi, Masoud Riazi, Mahmoud Jamiolahmady, Nor Idah Kechut, Shaun Ireland, Graeme Robertson and Chris Brown: "Carbonated Water Injection (CWI) – A Productive Way of Using CO2 for Oil Recovery and CO2 Storage", will be presented in International Conference on Greenhouse Gas Technologies (GHGT), 19-23 September 2010, RAI Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
20091Riazi, M., Sohrabi, M., Jamiolahmady, M., Irland, S. and Brown, C.: "Direct Observation of CO2 Transport and Oil Displacement Mechanisms in CO2/Water/Oil Systems", 15th European Symposium on Improved Oil Recovery, 27-29 April 2009 Paris, France.
2Sohrabi, M., Riazi, M., Jamiolahmady, M., Irland, S. and Brown, C.: "Enhanced Oil Recovery and CO2 Storage through Carbonated Water Injection", DEVEX 2009, The production & Development Conference & Exhibition, Aberdeen, UK, 12-13 May 2009.
3Riazi, M., Sohrabi, M., Jamiolahmady, M., Irland, S. and Brown, C.: "Oil Recovery Improvement Using CO2-Enriched Water Injection" SPE 121170, Proceedings of the 2009 SPE EUROPEC/EAGE Annual Conference and Exhibition, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 8-11 June 2009.
4Masoud Riazi, Mehran Sohrabi, Mahmoud Jamiolahmady, Shaun Ireland, Christopher Brown, Noridah Kechut: Poster "Enhanced Oil Recovery Using Carbonated Water Injection", SPE Forum: CO2 Capture and Storage: Can the Oil and Gas Industry Support its Development and Deployment?, 13-18 September 2009, Cadiz, Spain
5Mehran Sohrabi, Masoud Riazi, Mahmoud Jamiolahmady, Shaun Ireland and Chris Brown: "Mechanisms of Oil Recovery by Carbonated Water Injection" International Symposium of the Society of Core Analysts held in Noordwijk aan Zee, The Netherlands 27-30 September, 2009
6Sohrabi, M., Riazi, M., Jamiolahmady, M., Irland, S. and Brown, C: "Enhanced Oil Recovery and CO2 Storage by Carbonated Water Injection", International Petroleum Technology Conference (IPTC 14070) in Doha, Qatar, 7-9 December 2009
20081Sohrabi, M., Riazi, M., Jamiolahmady, M., Irland, S. and Brown, C.: "Carbonated Water Injection for Oil Recovery and CO2 Storage", Sustainable Energy UK: Meeting the science and engineering challenge, Oxford, UK 13-14 May 2008.
2Sohrabi, M., Riazi, M., Jamiolahmady, M., Ireland, S. and Brown, C.: "Carbonated Water Injection (CWI) Studies", 29th Annual Workshop & Symposium, IEA Collaborative Project on Enhanced Oil Recovery, Beijing, China, 3-5 Nov 2008.