Shale IOR Experiments and Simulation

  The application of CO2/natural gas huff-n-puff in unconventional reservoirs is currently implemented in organic-rich, tight and ultra-tight oil reservoirs to add energy supply for oil industry. TORP is well equipped to conduct laboratory and computational work to examine the effect of pressure, temperature, cycle of injection, shale oil composition and pressure gradient on a CO2/natural gas huff-n-puff process to improve oil recovery in shale formations.

  We use preserved or as-received core samples from target shale formations for the test. Laboratory experimental work is designed to simulate a typical huff-n-puff process to examine the

role of key parameters on the effectiveness of the proposed method. A high-pressure / high-temperature core holder with high-pressure gas injection set up is used to house the tested sample. Subjected to injection of CO2/natural gas soaking and production, the composition and amount of produced fluid is analyzed. The fluid distribution in the core sample prior to gas injection and postproduction is analyzed through NMR to assist material balance calculation. All the results are examined to evaluate the effect of operating pressure, soaking period and number of cycles on the effectiveness of the huff-n-puff process. We can formulate the gas composition to achieve optimum recovery conditions with shale oil, and examine the effect of diffusion and pressure gradient on oil recovery performance.

• Temperature: 77-500 °F
• Pressure: up to 10,000 psi
• Core dimension: 1, 1.5 inch ID and 3 inch length maximum
• Gas type: Carbon dioxide, Nitrogen, and Natural gas