Natural Gas Technology - A Laboratory Investigation of Oil Displacement from Porous Media by a Liquefield Petroleum Gas

INTRODUCTION The results of a series of laboratory flood tests using liquid Iso-butane to displace refined oils from test cores are pre- ented and interpreted on an empirical bask. The study Revealed the similarity of the miscible liquid displacement to that of the immiscible-fluid displacement mechanism. The efficiency of the iso-butane flood decreased markedly as the oil Viscosity increased. but the effect of injection rate on the effectiveness of the primary production stage was negligible over the range investigated. The presence of free-gas saturation prior. to iso-butane breakthrough increased the volume of iso- Butane required to recover a given percentage of the oil present. Injection of liquid i.e.-butane prior to water follicle sculpted in a marked improvement in oil recovery by the water flood. INTRODUCTION The production of petroleum is often enhanced by the injec-1i1)n of extraneous fluids into the reservoir. It has been suggeited that the injection or cycling of a wet gas or a liquefied petroleum gas would he instrumental in increasing the effic.ienr!; of oil recover! to a greater degree than the commonly injected fluids. dry pas and water. Although instances of injection of light liquid hydrocarbons are not unknown, a systrmatic recording of the result is unavailable and superfi- cially, the practice gives the impression of being economicaIIy unsound. For specific types of displacement, analytic: solutions have been advanced which aid in understanding the physical mechanisms involved. However, there is no generalized theoretical concept which permits adequate prediction of displacement efficiency from a knowledge of readily measured reservoir rock and fluid properties. The Buckley-Leverett approach to oil displacement by an immiscible phase is an admirable analysiy of that type of mechanism. Dykstra and Parsons have introduced a useful concept in their evaluation of the role of the mobility ratio and its merit in rationalizing displacement phenomena. Everett, Gooch and Calhoun3 in their report on the effect of viscosity ratio and miscibility have pointed out the lack of a comprehensive theoretical approach and the desirability of investigating the mechanism of miscible-miscible displacement. In lieu of a well-developed theory concerning miscible-111isci1)le displacement and in view of the scarcity of engineering information on actual LPG injection trials, the limited program of laboratory experimentation described below was undertaken. OBJECTIVES The original broad objectives of the program, to study the oil recovery process using LPG as the displacing phase, defined the direction and scope of the laboratory tests. The specific objective. of the experimentation were to evaluate