Cyclic CO2-Based Solvent Injection in Post-CHOPS Reservoirs with Complex Wormhole Systems; From Reservoir-On-The-Chip to Field Scale Optimization: An Attempt Towards the Net-Zero Approach

The primary objective of this project is to provide Canadian petroleum companies with a set of reliable data derived from experiments conducted on reservoir-on-the-chip platforms that facilitate the visualization of pore-scale interactions between solvent and heavy oil during the CO2-based CSI process in the presence of complex wormhole systems in post-CHOPS reservoirs. The reservoir-on-the-chip is particularly effective in capturing the effects of the governing operational parameters on foamy oil stability and the overall performance of a CO2-based CSI process. Moreover, an up-scaling procedure will be developed for converting lab data to field scale to construct a field scale simulator that allows to optimize the operational parameters on a real oil field. Furthermore, the field scale simulator will enable companies to examine the capacity of post-CHOPS reservoirs to store CO2 and ultimately, mitigate the impact of this gas on the environment.

Faculty Supervisor:

Farshid Torabi

Student:

Partner:

Petroleum Technology Research Centre

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Mining; Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

University of Regina

Program: