Enhanced Waterflood for Middle East Carbonate Cores — Impact of Injection Water Composition

TLDR

AIMSM improves waterflood performance by adding or removing ions, including specific salts or softening the water. Coreflood experiments and matching simulations show that AIMSM can significantly increase oil recovery by altering wettability, offering a cost‑effective injection water modification.

Abstract

Abstract Carbonate coreflood experiments have demonstrated the potential for Advanced Ion Management (AIMSM) to significantly increase oil recovery compared to waterflood using formation water. AIMSM involves adding and/or removing ions from the injection water to improve waterflood performance. AIMSM further improves current state-of-the-art processes through the addition of certain salts and/or the softening of water. Simulations have accurately matched the experiments, providing a tool to assess field-scale recovery and supporting the premise that the increased recovery is due to a change in wettability. This study shows that a relatively inexpensive and straightforward modification of injection water composition can significantly increase oil recovery.