A Simplified Predictive Model for Micellar-Polymer Flooding

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to present a simple, reliable and inexpensive predictive model which allows the economic assessment of micellar-polymer flooding. An oil recovery algorithm is developed from theory and the results of numerical simulation. The model contains correlations which relate factors impacting oil recovery to reservoir and process data: capillary number (permeability, depth, spacing), heterogeneity (Dykstra-Parsons coefficient), crossflow (kv/kh), surfactant sorption (clay fraction) and wettability (relative permeability). Oil breakthrough, peak oil rate and project life are estimated from oil-water fractional flow theory, augmented with an effective mobility ratio to represent heterogeneity. The model is validated against the results of numerical simulation and is compared with the results of several field projects.