EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF THE INFLUENCE OF SALINITY AND EMULSIFIER ON THE MICROWAVE HEATING PROCESS EFFICIENCY FOR HEAVY OIL RECOVERY

• Main Author: Abalhassan Jaha, Idrisa
• Format: Theses
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/40398
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Conventional thermal recovery techniques have long been seen as a solution for production of heavy oil and bitumen. Most of thermal recovery techniques such as; cyclic steam stimulation, steam drive, and forward in-situ combustion faces a common challenge of depth limitation. Also, they cannot work well in highly heterogeneous formations. Microwave heating is considered to be the best alternative for heavy oil recovery since it overcomes the depth limitation found in other thermal recoveries also, it can avoid excessive water usage and minimize carbon emission. Furthermore, Microwave heating technique can work well in water hostile reservoirs such as shale oil reservoirs. However, it is imperative to enhance the microwave-thermal recovery process efficiency so that less energy can be spent during the heavy oil recovery process. In this study, a series of laboratory experiments were conducted to investigate the influence of oil based emulsifier and salinity concertation on the microwave heating process efficiency. Sand pack samples were prepared to simulate a reservoir in the form of core that is saturated with heavy oil and formation water. The first case involved heating the sand pack with varying concentrations of oil based emulsifier percentage saturations (i.e. 0%, 3%, 7% and 10%). And the second case involved heating the sand pack with different sodium chloride concentrations (500,000ppm, 100,000 and 350,000ppm). In both cases the sand pack samples were heated until the measuring point reaches 90°C. The experiments were conducted at different microwave power levels (i.e. 180-Watt, 378-Watt, 468-Watt, 657Watt, 792Watt, and 900Watt). The changes in sand pack temperature with time were recorded during the experiments. From both cases it has been observed that, the increase in salinity concentrations reduce the microwave heating time to reach 90°C. While the increase in oil based emulsifier delays the microwave heating process to reach 90°C. Also, microwave heating with salinity increase needs little energy to heat the sand pack to 90°C, while the experiment with oil based emulsifier need much power to heat the sand pack to 90°C.