Development of an analytical model for performance prediction of chemical FOR methods

The main objective of this study is to develop an analytical model that can predict the performance of chemical enhanced oil recovery methods (polymer and surfactant-polymer flooding). The developed model uses the fractional flow theory and the areal and vertical sweep models (such as Craig-Geffen-Morse CGM and streamtube models) to predict several performance parameters with time, including oil production rate, water cut, and the cumulative production of oil. The model was validated through several case studies under different conditions. The validation step showed good results for the developed model against the results of a commercial simulator "Eclipse". In addition, the model was run with the data of two actual field applications: the polymer flooding project of the Brelum field and the surfactant-polymer flooding project of the North BurBank Pilot. The study indicates that the results of the developed model are almost consistent with (a) the actual performance of Brelum field; and (b) the original simulation study results of North BurBank Pilot project. The results of the model deviate from the results of the simulator and the field measurements with a range of 5 to 12% only. This match demonstrated the ability and the strength of the developed model. Unlike previous attempts on this topic, this model takes into consideration the effect of reservoir heterogeneity and the physical and chemical properties of chemical fluids such as adsorption, permeability reduction, and non-Newtonian effects for different injection patterns. Accordingly, this model can be used as a pre-simulation tool to support the decision-making during the critical technology selection phase.