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Collaborating Authors
Results
Improved Amott Cell Procedure for Predictive Modeling of Oil Recovery Dynamics from Mixed-Wet Carbonates
Kaprielova, Ksenia (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology) | Yutkin, Maxim (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology) | Gmira, Ahmed (Saudi Aramco) | Ayirala, Subhash (Saudi Aramco) | Radke, Clayton (University of California, Berkeley) | Patzek, Tadeusz W. (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology)
Abstract Spontaneous counter-current imbibition in Amott cell experiments is a convenient laboratory method of studying oil recovery from oil-saturated rock samples in secondary or tertiary oil recovery by waterflood of adjustable composition. Classical Amott cell experiment estimates ultimate oil recovery. It is not designed, however, for studying the dynamics of oil recovery. In this work we identify a flaw in the classical Amott cell imbibition experiments that hinders the development of predictive recovery models for mixed-wet carbonates. We revise the standard Amott procedure in order to produce smoother experimental production curves, which then can be described by a mathematical model more accurately. We apply Generalized Extreme Value distribution to model the cumulative oil production. We start with the Amott imbibition experiments and scaling analysis for Indiana limestone core plugs saturated with mineral oil. The knowledge gained from this study will allow us to develop a predictive model of water-oil displacement for reservoir carbonate rock and crude oil recovery systems.
- North America > United States > California (0.28)
- Asia > Middle East > Saudi Arabia (0.28)
- North America > United States > Indiana (0.25)
- Reservoir Description and Dynamics > Unconventional and Complex Reservoirs > Carbonate reservoirs (1.00)
- Reservoir Description and Dynamics > Improved and Enhanced Recovery > Waterflooding (1.00)
- Reservoir Description and Dynamics > Formation Evaluation & Management (1.00)
- Reservoir Description and Dynamics > Reservoir Fluid Dynamics > Flow in porous media (0.94)
Fast Screening of LSW Brines Using QCM-D and Crude Oil-Brine Interface Analogs
Yutkin, M. P. (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology) | Kaprielova, K. M. (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology) | Kamireddy, S. (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology) | Gmira, A. (Saudi Aramco) | Ayirala, S. C. (Saudi Aramco) | Radke, C. J. (University of California โ Berkeley) | Patzek, T. W. (KAUST)
Abstract This work focuses on a potentially economic incremental oil-recovery process, where a brine amended with inexpensive salts (in contrast to expensive surfactants and other chemicals) is injected into a reservoir to increase oil production. Historically, this process received the name of low salinity waterflooding (LSW) although the salinity is not always low(er). Nevertheless, we keep using this terminology for historical reasons. The idea of LSW has been known for three decades, but to the best of our knowledge no specific brine recipes that guarantee success have been presented so far. The reasons hide in the problem's complexity, disagreements in the scientific community, and a race to publish rather than to understand the fundamental principles behind the process. In this paper, we present an experimental model system that captures many of the important fundamental features of the natural process of crude oil attachment to mineral surfaces, but at the same time decomposes this complex process into simpler parts that can be more precisely controlled and understood. We systematically investigate the first-order chemical interactions contributing to the well-known strong attachment of crude oil to minerals using SiO2 as a mineral for its surface chemistry simplicity. Our preliminary results suggest that magnesium and sulfate ions are potent in detaching amino/ammonium-based linkages of crude oil with a SiO2 surface. However, when used together in the form of MgSO4, they lose part of their activity to the formation of a MgSO4 ion pairs. We also find that sulfate-detachment propensity stems not from the interaction with prototype mineral surface, but rather from the interactions with the crude oil-brine interface analog. We continue the systematic study of the ion effects on crude oil detachment, with and more results following in the future.
- Research Report > New Finding (0.66)
- Research Report > Experimental Study (0.48)
Abstract Wettability alteration considered as the principal mechanism has attracted more attention for low salinity waterflooding effect. It was significantly affected by electrokinetic interactions, which occurred at the interfaces of rock/brine and crude oil/brine. The mineral impurities of natural carbonate releasing ions have an important impact on the electrokinetics, which could lead to wettability shift subsequently. In this study, the effect of dolomite and anhydrite as the main impurities in natural carbonate, which caused wettability alteration, was evaluated using triple-layer surface complexation and thermodynamic equilibrium models coupled with extended Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek (DLVO) theory. The electrokinetics of crude oil and carbonate in brines were predicted by the triple-layer surface complexation model (TLM) based on zeta potential, while thermodynamic equilibrium model was mainly used for analyzing the carbonate impurities on wettability alteration. The equilibrium constants of reactions were determined by successfully fitting the calculated zeta potentials with measured ones for crude oil and carbonate in different solutions, which were validated for zeta potential prediction in smartwater. The disjoining pressure results show that there is a repulsion between crude oil and carbonate in Na2SO4 brine (Brine3) or smartwater (Brine4) equilibrating with calcite when comparing to that in MgCl2 (Brine1) and CaCl2 (Brine2), indicating the water-wet condition caused by the presence of sulphate ions. Moreover, the equilibrium of carbonate impurities with smartwater increases the repulsion between oil and carbonate. When the sulphate ion concentration in the adjusted smartwater exceeds a certain value, the effect of carbonate impurities on wettability alteration is not significant. Finally, the influence of smartwater pH on the interaction between oil and carbonate was evaluated with or without considering the equilibrium of carbonate impurities.
- North America > United States (0.68)
- Europe (0.46)
- Geology > Geological Subdiscipline > Geochemistry (1.00)
- Geology > Mineral > Sulfate (0.79)
- Geology > Rock Type > Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate Rock (0.51)
- Geology > Rock Type > Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Rock (0.46)
Simulation of Advanced Waterflooding in Carbonates Using a Surface Complexation-Based Multiphase Transport Model
Abu-Al-Saud, Moataz (Saudi Aramco) | Al-Saleh, Salah (Saudi Aramco) | Ayirala, Subhash (Saudi Aramco) | Yousef, Ali (Saudi Aramco)
Abstract Understanding the injection water chemistry effect, in terms of both salinity and ionic composition, is becoming crucial to increase oil recovery from waterflooding in carbonate reservoirs. Various studies have shown that that surface charge alteration is the main mechanism behind favorable wettability changes toward water-wet conditions observed during the injection of controlled ionic composition water in carbonates. Therefore, the synergistic coupling between multiphase transport and electrokinetics of brine/calcite and brine/crude oil interfaces becomes important to optimize injection water compositions for enhanced oil recovery in carbonates. In this investigation, the electrokinetic interactions of brine and crude oil in carbonates are accounted for and coupled with the multiphase Darcy flow model. The electrokinetic interactions are parametrized by the zeta-potential values of brine/calcite and crude-oil/brine interfaces, which are determined using a Surface Complexation Model (SCM). The SCM zeta-potential parameters are computed based on the local concentration of aqueous ions that follow the transport equation. The relative permeability and capillary pressure curves are altered based on zeta potential shifts, which resembles the wettability alteration process. The SCM zeta potentials are compared with the experimental zeta-potential measurements, while the multiphase transport model coupled with geochemistry is validated through a comparative coreflood experimental data reported in the literature. The SCM results governed by specified surface geochemical reactions agreed well with zeta-potential measurements obtained at both calcite/brine and crude-oil/brine interfaces. The coupled geochemical SCM with multiphase transport model accurately matched both recovery and pressure drop data from forced imbibition tests reported by Yousef et al. (2011) in both secondary and tertiary modes. The generated relative permeability curves followed Craig's rules in shifting the wettability from oil-wet toward water-wet conditions for advanced waterflooding processes in carbonates. These results confirm the robustness of proposed model based on validated SCM electrokinetic interactions. The development of such a coupled geochemistry based multiphase transport model is an important step to simulate advanced waterflooding processes in carbonates at reservoir scale by taking into account of more representative physicochemical effects. The novelty of this work is that it validates the SCM results with experimental zeta-potential data for different injection water compositions. Also, the applicability of coupled SCM with a multiphase transport model is successfully demonstrated by history matching the experimental coreflood data. The developed model and new findings shed some light on the importance of lower salinity and controlled ionic composition during fluid flow and oil recovery in complex carbonate formations.
- Geology > Geological Subdiscipline > Geochemistry (1.00)
- Geology > Mineral > Carbonate Mineral > Calcite (0.70)
- Geology > Rock Type > Sedimentary Rock (0.68)
Crude Oil/Brine/Rock Interactions during SmartWater Flooding in Carbonates: Novel Surface Forces Apparatus Measurements at Reservoir Conditions
Kristiansen, Kai (University of California Santa Barbara) | Andresen Eguiluz, Roberto C (Unveristiy of California Merced) | Chen, Szu-Ying (University of California Santa Barbara) | Ayirala, Subhash C (Saudi Aramco) | Alotaibi, Mohammed B (Saudi Aramco) | Yousef, Ali A (Saudi Aramco) | Moskovits, Martin (University of California Santa Barbara) | Boles, James R (University of California Santa Barbara) | Israelachvili, Jacob N (University of California Santa Barbara)
Abstract In our previous paper (SPE-190281-MS), we presented results from a suite of multiscale experiments to understand interactions occurring across crude oil/brine/carbonate rock interfaces with different brine compositions. A new atomic to molecular scale mechanism was proposed based on changes in adhesion energies at different length- and time-scales to explain SmartWater effects for improved oil recovery (IOR) in carbonates. It was also understood that SmartWater effect is due to three distinct but interrelated physico-chemical mechanisms, involving changes to the colloidal interaction forces, surface roughening due to dissolution and re-precipitation, and removal of pre-adsorbed organic-ionic ad-layers (termed โflakesโ) from the rock surface. In the present study, we carried out surface forces apparatus (SFA) experiments to understand SmartWater IOR mechanisms at elevated temperatures and pressures (up to 150ยฐC and 2,200 psi) representative of realistic reservoir conditions. The results of earlier SFA measurements at elevated temperature showed a significant dependence of SmartWater effect on temperature, while the dependence of pressure still remained unexplored. To overcome this major shortcoming and fill the missing gap in existing knowledge, a unique High Pressure-High Temperature Surface Forces Apparatus (HPHT-SFA) has been designed with the same surface visualization capabilities as regular SFA (nm normally and ฮผm laterally). The calcite thickness and roughness changes measured using the HPHT-SFA at elevated pressures showed a significant difference between SmartWater flooding versus high salinity water (HSW) flooding. During SmartWater flooding, a high rate of removal of organic-ad layer from the aged calcite surface (manifested by a substantial decrease in the layer thickness) and an unexpected degree of smoothening of calcite (i.e., decrease in the difference between the maximum and minimum thicknesses of calcite) were observed. The change in maximum thickness (i.e., thickness of flakes removed) was found to be around 100 nm, consistent with measurements at atmospheric pressure. The rate of flake removal from carbonate surface with SmartWater, however, was aggravated at high pressures when compared to that observed at atmospheric conditions. Another set of experiments revealed that under high pressures HSW flooding was not able to remove organic flakes from aged calcite surface, in contrast to analogous results obtained at ambient pressure. These findings suggest that not only temperature has strong effect governing the restructuring of the calcite surface, but also the pressure plays an important role affecting the kinetics of organic layer detachment from the calcite surface. This study presents first ever results obtained from the newly designed HPHT Surface Forces Apparatus to demonstrate the importance of elevated pressures on crude oil/brine/rock interactions in SmartWater flooding. The novel findings obtained at reservoir temperature and pressure conditions are of practical significance to provide a better understanding of SmartWater flooding IOR mechanisms and subsequently guide the optimization of SmartWater flooding processes in carbonate reservoirs.
- Asia > Middle East (0.94)
- North America > United States > Texas (0.46)
- North America > United States > Oklahoma (0.29)
- North America > United States > California (0.29)
- Geology > Mineral > Carbonate Mineral > Calcite (1.00)
- Geology > Rock Type > Sedimentary Rock (0.48)
New Atomic to Molecular Scale Insights into SmartWater Flooding Mechanisms in Carbonates
Chen, Szu-Ying (University of California at Santa Barbara) | Kaufman, Yair (University of California at Santa Barbara) | Kristiansen, Kai (University of California at Santa Barbara) | Howard, A. Dobbs (University of California at Santa Barbara) | Nicholas, A. Cadirov (University of California at Santa Barbara) | Seo, Dongjin (University of California at Santa Barbara) | Alex, M. Schrader (University of California at Santa Barbara) | Roberto, C. Andresen (University of California at Santa Barbara) | Mohammed, B. Alotaibi (Saudi Aramco) | Subhash, C. Ayirala (Saudi Aramco) | James, R. Boles (UCSB) | Ali, A. Yousef (Saudi Aramco) | Jacob, N. Israelachvili (UCSB)
Abstract Waterflooding via injection of chemistry-optimized low-salinity โ also, low ionic strength/concentration โ waters, such as SmartWater, is becoming increasingly attractive for improved oil recovery, especially in carbonate reservoirs. In this manuscript, we describe the results from a series of experiments and theoretical modeling to determine the mechanisms that govern the โSmartWater Effect', whereby reducing the ionic strength (concentration) of the injection fluids (compared to high ionic strength formation water), also known as SmartWater flooding, has been found to improve oil recovery. We measured various interrelated crude-oil(CO)/brine(W)/calcite(R) interfaces, focusing on their physical and chemical โ both static and dynamic โ changes, such as contact angles, macro- to nano-scale surface topography (e.g., roughening, restructuring), and surface chemical composition (e.g., due to dissolution, precipitation). The experimental aqueous brine solutions varied in ionic strengths ranging from 350,000 ppm (high ionic strength, ~7 mol/L) to pure water (ultra-low ionic strength). Our results indicate that the SmartWater Effect on decreasing the CO/W/R adhesion energy โ which results in increased water-wettability and, in turn, increased oil recovery โ in carbonates is due to three different but interrelated mechanisms. We propose a semi-quantitative model to explain these effects, and demonstrate numerical solutions using realistic values for the relevant system parameters. From our experimental results and theoretical modeling, we conclude that the SmartWater Effect is due to the combination of: (1) changes to the well-known colloidal interaction forces (electric double-layer, van der Waals, and hydration), which has been the conventional explanation for the SmartWater Effect in carbonates; (2) increased roughness due to (electro)chemical reactions involving dissolution, pitting, and adsorption-(re)precipitation, resulting in physico-chemical changes (roughening, restructuring) of the calcite surfaces, especially at low ionic strengths. Both of these effects act together synergistically to reduce the adhesion energy between the oil and rock (calcite) surfaces across the aqueous brine (โwater') film, which increases the water-wettability; and (3) detachment of organic-ionic layers that adsorb onto the rock surfaces during aging as thin and suspended flakes. The detachment of these flakes into the solution removes organics from the rock surfaces, thereby directly increasing oil recovery. All three of these interrelated contributions โ reduced colloidal forces, increased surface roughness, and detachment of pre-adsorbed organic-ionic layers โ appear to be essential for the SmartWater Effect to be fully effective at all solution concentrations. We also discuss the very different time-scales or โdynamicsโ of these three processes, and their relationships to flooding rates and core pore geometry and topography. The results presented in this manuscript are of practical significance to provide a better understanding of SmartWater flooding mechanisms in carbonates at multiple length scales, including subnano-, nano-, micro-, and macroscopic scales. The new fundamental understandings presented in this study will also guide the optimization of SmartWater flooding processes in other reservoir systems.
- Asia > Middle East (0.93)
- North America > United States > Texas (0.46)
Effect of Salinity on Crude Oil/Brine/Rock Interfaces: A Cryo-BIB-SEM Approach to Carbonates Wettability
Gmira, A.. (Saudi Aramco) | Cha, D. K. (Saudi Aramco) | Al-Enezi, S. M. (Saudi Aramco) | Yousef, A. A. (Saudi Aramco)
Abstract Smart water and low salinity waterflooding has been established as an effective recovery method in carbonate reservoirs by demonstrating a significant incremental oil recoveries in secondary and tertiary modes compared to seawater injection. Therefore, understanding of multiphase flow phenomena in reservoir rocks is critical to optimize injected water formulations for substantial increase in oil recovery. Characterization of fluid-fluid and fluid-rock interactions have been extensively conducted at micro- and macroscopic scale, attempting to reveal the underlying mechanisms responsible for wettability alteration. Indeed, routine methods for assessing macro-wettability of fluids on rock surfaces (contact angle) include the sessile drop and captive bubble techniques. However, these two techniques can provide different contact angle depending on rock surface heterogeneities, roughness and drop size. Thus, contact angle measured at macroscale can only be used to characterize the average wettability and a direct visualization at nanoscale is needed to identify oil and brine distribution in the carbonate matrix and wettability state at the pore scale. The application of ion-beam milling techniques allows investigation of the porosity at the nanometer scale using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Imaging of carbonate porosity by SEM of surfaces prepared by broad ion beam (BIB) and under cryogenic conditions allow to investigate preserved fluids inside the rock porosity and, combined with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) identify crude oil and brine distributions and quantify carbonate-oil interfaces and wettability state. The experiments have been conducted on carbonate rock samples aged in crude oil and saturated with brines at high and reduced ionic strength. This study established an experimental protocol using Cryogenic high resolution broad ion beam (Cryo-BIB SEM) equipped with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The results show that ion-BIB milling provides a smooth surface area with large cross-section of few mm. High resolution imaging analysis allowed identification of the different phases, chemical mapping and distribution of oil, brine within the porous matrix. Segmentation of rock-oil-brine interface allowed an estimation of the in-situ contact angle and showed the effect of injected salinity brine on the 2D contact angle and more accurate description of the carbonate wettability at nanoscale.
- Europe (1.00)
- Asia > Middle East (1.00)
- North America > United States > California (0.28)
- Geology > Mineral (0.69)
- Geology > Rock Type > Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate Rock (0.56)
Microscopic Scale Study of Individual Water Ion Interactions at Complex Crude Oil-Water Interface: A New SmartWater Flood Recovery Mechanism
Ayirala, S. C. (Saudi Aramco) | Saleh, S. H. (Saudi Aramco) | Yousef, A. A. (Saudi Aramco)
Abstract SmartWater flooding through injection of chemistry optimized waters by tuning individual ions is recently getting more attention in the industry for improved oil recovery in carbonate reservoirs. Most of the research studies described so far in this area have been limited to studying the interactions at rock-fluids interfaces by measuring contact angles, zeta potential, and adhesion forces. The other widely reported interfacial tension data at oil-water interfaces do not consider the formation of interfacial monolayer and the interfacial tension is estimated as an average parameter relying on the properties of two individual bulk phases. As a result, such measurements have serious shortcomings to provide any details on complex microscopic scale interactions occurring directly at the interface between crude oil and water to understand the SmartWater flood recovery mechanism. In this study, two novel interfacial instruments of interfacial shear rheometer and surface potential sensor were used to study microscopic scale interactions of various individual water ions at both air-water and complex crude oil-water interfaces. The measured interfacial rheology data indicated totally different interfacial behavior at crude oil-water interface when compared to air-water interface due to presence of crude oil functional groups. Viscous dominated response was observed at crude oil-water interface for all brine compositions. These interfaces behaved like a viscous fluid without exhibiting viscoelastic solid like properties. Lower interfacial viscous modulus was observed for certain key ions such as calcium, magnesium, and sodium. The interfacial viscous modulus was found to be substantially much higher for sulfates, besides exhibiting some elasticity. The surface potential was gradually decreased by replacing seawater with calcium only brine. The better surface activity with seawater can be attributed to adsorption of more key water ions at the surface. The interesting results observed with certain water ions at fluid-fluid interfaces are expected to work in tandem with rock-fluids interactions to impact oil recovery in SmartWater flood. At first, they play a role to control the accessibility of active water ions to approach the rock surface, interact with it and subsequently alter wettability. Next oil droplets adhering to the rock surface will be detached and released due to favorable interactions occurring at rock-fluids interfaces. The interfacial film between oil and water can then quickly be destabilized due to less viscous interfaces observed with certain ions to promote drop-drop coalescence and easy mobilization of released oil droplets. This coalescence process is sequential and it would continue until the formation of small oil bank. This is the first study that showed added importance of fluid-fluid interactions in SmartWater flood by using direct measurements on individual water ions at crude oil-water interface. In addition, a new oil recovery mechanism was proposed by combining both the interactions occurring at fluid-fluid and rock-fluids interfaces. The new fundamental knowledge gained in this study will provide an important guidance on how to synergize water ion interactions at fluid-fluid interfaces with those at rock-fluids interfaces to optimize oil recovery from SmartWater flood.
- Europe (1.00)
- North America > United States > Texas (0.46)
- Asia > Middle East > Saudi Arabia (0.28)
- Geology > Rock Type > Sedimentary Rock (0.47)
- Geology > Geological Subdiscipline (0.46)
- Geology > Mineral > Sulfate (0.37)
A Comprehensive Approach to Assess Remaining Oil Saturation and Sweep Efficiency in a Large Carbonate Reservoir
Al-Anazi, Amer M. (Saudi Aramco) | Al-Zahrani, Tareq M. (Saudi Aramco) | Abdulmohsin, Mustafa I. (Saudi Aramco)
Abstract Accurate assessment of remaining oil saturation and sweep efficiency greatly depends on the implemented monitoring program, which requires the integration of all available geoscience and engineering data, by effective analysis using statistical and reservoir simulation methods. This will allow improvedunderstanding of sweep, validation of recovery factor and identifying new development opportunities. Comprehensive reservoir surveillance is also a critical factor for effective reservoir management in achieving optimal hydrocarbon recovery. Monitoring programs encompass the deployment of up-to-date reservoir saturation tools and techniques capable of delivering high-quality data. There are many complications to be considered such as mixed salinity environments, reservoir heterogeneities, tools with limited depth of investigation and mud invasion effects. These challenges must be considered for a successful reservoir saturation monitoring program. Therefore, the value established by an integrated program involves the use of the most efficient approach in analyzing the acquired saturation data and overcoming the field challenges. This paper presents a comprehensive approach that was implemented on in situ data acquired from a carbonate reservoir that has operated continuously for several decades with pressure support from peripheral water injection. The technique capitalizes on the wealth of data acquired both from saturation and production logs. The prime objectives of this technique are to evaluate remaining oil saturation, remaining unswept oil column and displacement, and vertical/areal sweep efficiency. The strength of this methodology is the capability of efficiently quantifying and mapping remaining oil saturation. This helps in identifying "sweet spots" behind the flood front and thereby guiding future development activities for maximizing hydrocarbon recovery.
- North America > United States (1.00)
- Asia > Middle East > Saudi Arabia (0.69)
- Reservoir Description and Dynamics > Unconventional and Complex Reservoirs > Carbonate reservoirs (1.00)
- Reservoir Description and Dynamics > Improved and Enhanced Recovery > Waterflooding (1.00)
- Reservoir Description and Dynamics > Improved and Enhanced Recovery > Conformance improvement (1.00)
- Reservoir Description and Dynamics > Formation Evaluation & Management > Open hole/cased hole log analysis (1.00)
Abstract The importance of tuning injection water chemistry for upstream is getting beyond formation damage control/water incompatibility to increase oil recovery from waterflooding and different improved oil recovery (IOR)/enhanced oil recovery (EOR) processes. The water chemistry requirements for IOR/EOR have been relatively addressed in the recent literature, but the key challenge for field implementation is to find an easy, practical, and optimum technology to tune water chemistry. The currently available technologies for tuning water chemistry are limited, and most of the existing ones are adopted from the desalination industry, which relies on membrane based separation. Even though these technologies yield a doable solution, they are not the optimum choice to alter injection water chemistry in terms of incorporating selective ions and providing effective water management for large scale applications. In this study, several of the current, emerging, and future desalination technologies are reviewed with an objective to develop potential water treatment solutions that can most efficiently alter injection water chemistry for SmartWater flooding in carbonate reservoirs. Standard chemical precipitation technologies, such as lime/soda ash, alkali, and lime/aluminum based reagent, are only applicable for removing certain ions from seawater. The lime/aluminum based reagent process looks interesting, as it can remove both sulfates and hardness ions to provide some tuning flexibility for key ions included in the SmartWater. There are some new technologies under development that use chemical solvents to extract salt ions from seawater, but their capabilities to selectively remove specific ions need further investigation. Forward osmosis and membrane distillation are the two emerging technologies, and these can provide good alternatives to reverse osmosis seawater desalination for the near-term. These technologies can offer a better cost-effective solution where there is availability of low grade waste heat or steam. The two new desalination technologies, based on dynamic vapor recovery and carrier gas extraction, are well suited to treat high salinity produced water for zero liquid discharge (ZLD). These technologies may not be able to provide an economical solution for seawater desalination. Carbon nanotube desalination, graphene sheet-based desalination, and capacitive deionization are the three potential future seawater desalination technologies identified for the long term. Among these, carbon nanotube based desalination is much attractive, although the technology is still largely under research and development. This review study results show that there is no commercial technology yet available to selectively remove specific ions from seawater in one step and optimally meet desired water chemistry requirements of SmartWater flooding. As a result, different novel schemes involving selected combinations of chemical precipitation, conventional/emerging desalination, and produced water treatment technologies are proposed. These schemes represent both approximate and improved solutions to selectively incorporate specific key ions in the SmartWater, besides presenting the key opportunities to treat produced water/membrane rejects and provide ZLD capabilities in SmartWater flooding applications. The developed novel schemes can provide an attractive solution to capitalize on existing huge produced water resources in Saudi reservoirs to generate SmartWater and minimize wastewater disposal during field-wide implementation.
- North America > United States (1.00)
- Europe (1.00)
- Asia > Middle East > Saudi Arabia (1.00)
- (5 more...)
- Research Report > New Finding (1.00)
- Overview (1.00)
- Water & Waste Management > Water Management > Water Supplies & Services (1.00)
- Water & Waste Management > Water Management > Lifecycle > Treatment (1.00)
- Energy > Oil & Gas > Upstream (1.00)
- North America > United States > West Virginia > Appalachian Basin > Marcellus Shale Formation (0.99)
- North America > United States > Virginia > Appalachian Basin > Marcellus Shale Formation (0.99)
- North America > United States > Texas > Permian Basin > Yeso Formation (0.99)
- (28 more...)