HTC's EOR Technical Capabilities

Although CO2 flooding has been implemented in various oil fields in North America for the past few decades, successful implementation of a large scale CO2 flooding still poses serious challenges to oil companies, engineers and researchers. We operate under the premise that the key differentiation between the success or failure of an EOR operation is the disciplined implementation of experience and expertise and access to world-class testing facilities, all of which are part of HTC`s 'Team CO2'.

		CO2 EOR Process

At HTC, engineers and researchers working on CO2 EOR projects have access to state-of-the-art facilities and equipment, which combined with current expertise, enables them to test and innovate optimization strategies in order to develop winning CO2 projects around the world.

Laboratory Facilities

HTC, in collaboration with the University of Regina's Petroleum Systems Engineering (PSE), has access to the most advanced laboratory facilities and some of the most knowledgeable engineers and researchers who design and implement CO2 flooding in legacy oil fields. The points below detail the leading-edge laboratory facilities available to HTC:

State-of-the-Art PVT system equipped with laser light detection unit

One of the basic assessments required for any CO2 flooding project is PVT testing where the thermodynamic and phase behavior of CO2-water-oil systems is studied. The results of PVT experiments are used for developing and fine tuning appropriate models of Equation of State (EOS) for simulating a field-wide flood. The PVT apparatus is capable of conducting any evaluation up to 10,000 psi and temperatures between -70°C and 200°C. Additionally, this PVT apparatus is equipped with a laser detection system that can be used for detecting the onset and monitoring the extent of asphaltene precipitation in presence of an injected solvent, such as CO2.

High pressure Interfacial Tension (IFT) measurement apparatus

Another important parameter affecting the performance of CO2 flooding in oil reservoirs is the interfacial interactions between the oil, water and injected CO2. Engineers and researchers have access to a state-of-the-art interfacial tension measurement unit that allows studying the interaction between oil, water and CO2 at reservoir conditions. The results of tests conducted on this equipment can be used to optimize the results of any field scale CO2 flooding.

Advanced high-pressure core flooding apparatus

For any CO2 flooding, flow assessments must be conducted to investigate the performance of CO2 flooding in cores from the reservoir under study at reservoir conditions. Such assessments have two main uses:

• Determine the oil recovery under CO2 flooding.
• Tuning simulators on these core-floods before trying to simulate CO2 flooding in a reservoir.

HTC has the capability to conduct core-flood assessments for any reservoir conditions.

Measuring minimum miscibility pressure

Minimum miscibility pressure (MMP) is the minimum pressure, at reservoir temperature, that CO2 becomes miscible with oil in the reservoir. HTC has capabilities to measure the MMP between oil and CO2 at reservoir conditions. Additionally, HTC is capable of investigating the effect on MMP of various impurities in the CO2 stream.

CO2 conformance control processes

The injected CO2 at reservoir conditions has a liquid like density but a very low gas like viscosity. Therefore, one of the challenges in achieving high oil recovery during CO2 flooding is the issue of 'early breakthrough' of injected CO2 into production wells due to very low viscosity of CO2 compared to the viscosity of oil in place.

One possible method for improving the sweep efficiency and subsequent oil recovery from CO2 flooding is through blocking the high permeable and "thief zones" in a reservoir. Our engineers have experience in designing suitable processes for improving the conformance of CO2 in oil reservoirs. A variety of techniques such as gel placement, gel-foam and CO2-foam processes have been validated by HTC 'Team CO2' and can be used in oil fields when required.

Simulation Capabilities

At HTC, engineers and researchers have access to the latest versions of reservoir simulation programs that are used for investigating the effect of various parameters on the ultimate performance of CO2 flooding in oil fields. Also, we have our own software packages which can be used for production optimization and uncertainty assessment.

Reservoir monitoring capabilities

HTC`s team have experience and access to various technologies for optimizing and monitoring the performance of CO2 flooding in oil fields. Some of the capabilities include 4-D seismic, passive seismic, conducting and interpreting tracer tests, etc.