SPE-28540 - 1994-Water Oil Separation Characteristics of Daqing Oilfield Polymer Flooding Production Fluid
SPE-28540 - 1994-Water Oil Separation Characteristics of Daqing Oilfield Polymer Flooding Production Fluid
SPE-28540 - 1994-Water Oil Separation Characteristics of Daqing Oilfield Polymer Flooding Production Fluid
SPE 28540
.m., m
This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE 69th Annual Technical Conference and EshiMlon held in New Orleans, LA, U.S.A., 25-28 September 1P94.
This paper was selected for presentatkm by an SPE Program Cmnmlttee following review of InformalIon comelnsd In an abstract submitted by the author(s). ConIent$ of the paper,
as IXeSented, have not bsen reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to scfrection by the author(s). The mafefial, as presented, @es not necessarily reflect
any poslllon of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, 1!sofficers, or members. Pspsca presented at SPE meetings are subject to publlcatkm review by Edlforlal Committees of the Society
of Petroleum Engineers. Permission to copy is restricted to an ab8trcst of not mcfe than 300 wads. Illustrations may nof IM ccpied. The abstract should contain conspicuous acknowledgment
of where and bv whom the paper IS rxesenfed. write Librarfen, SPE, p.o. BOX 83W@ Rlchard~, ~ 75033-3335, fJ.S.A. Te[ex, 1=245 SpEIJT-
sonable methods for produced fluid treatment, three years
Abstrstct have been spertt for the necessary experiments and research-
es in the laboratory and the field. Some resuits have been
As an effeotlve EOR method, polymer flooding has been rac- achieved.
ognizad all over the world for Its excellent floodlng effect un-
der certain conditions, large scope of recovery percentage The general conditlona of the experiments
improvement and good aoonomlc benefit. However, because
of the large quantity of polymer oontalned in the produced flu- The polymer flooding pilot test in the west part of the central
id from the polymer flooding ,aroas, oil-water separation Is area of Daqing Oilfield is divided into two parts. part A and
baooming more and more difficult. This article, based on the part B. Each part consists of four Inveme-five-points well
actural conditions of the polymer flooding pilots ,and the data nets. There are fifteen wells in each part among which four
from the frilots ,discstss the gravity settling separation charac- are injection welis, nine are prcduoing wells, one for sam-
teristics and the characteristics of electro-ctramical dehydra- pling and one for observation. The distance between lnjeo-
tlcm under the condition of produced fluid with various con- t ion well and production weli is It)&n. The whoie pilot test
oantration of polymer, analyzing fhe effect of water phase covers an area of 9.0 x Ivmz.
viscosity increase of polynw onfo fhe oil-water separation The polymer inJaoted in Daqlng Oiifield is anlonIc partial hy-
rate, oil-water emulsification itttenslty, water-cut varation of drolyses polyacrylamlde. with a molecular weight of ten mN-
the produced fiuid and the electrochemical dehydration. Iion and injeotion concentration 1000 ppm. During the period
Some research direotlons and the problems which shouid be of polymer flooding, the highest polymer concentration in the
paid attention to are also put forward. produced fluid reached as high as 750ppm. And the water-cut
of the produoed fhrid is between 70— 98. 5%. .
~. ....
Introduction B&&d on ihe kctural conditions of the two piiots for poiymer
flooding and taking into consideration the polymer concentra-
tion of the produced water ,the variation of the water-cut and
Poiymer flooding pilot test In Daqlng Oilfleid was startad in the wateruat of every producer ,two wells in each part were
Ott. 1989. The first two piiot tests are iocatad in the west selaoted as tesfing and sampling wells. The natural condi-
part of centeral area of Daqing Oilfield with high permeality tions of the four testing and sampling wells are given in table
layers. After thrae-yaar-srxpariment, fhe effaot of polymer L
247
0-, ,
the digitai-simulation ,Ihe variation of the polymer concenfra. field. First stage is free water chemical settllng dewaterlng.
ticm of the produced fluld from polymer flooding wells pre- and second stage is electrochemical dewatering. First, the
sents a characterisflc of rise, peak and desend ,three chang- coming fluid Is heafed to 4)C by some heat-axtranger. Some
ing periods. So to ensure that the testing can cover the demulsifier is added during this stage ( < 1&pm). The set-
whole process of experiment, It Is decided that fhe testings tling and separation time is less than or equal to 20 minutes.
should be done while the polymer concentration of the pro- The gas separated is tranapwted by a gas-collecting pipe.
duced fluid is in the mid-de of the rising period, at the peak, and the oily water separafad is transpwtad to the waste wa-
and In fhe middle of the desending period respectively. ter treating stations. The oil content of the waste wafer is
controlled at less than l(Xi(J ppm. The oil separated with
Analysis methods some emulsified water goes into the second stage for electro-
chemical dawatering. The water content of the oil here is
Field testing and analyzing method
controlled at less than 3054. AC/DC compound electro-dewa-
The field three-phase (oil ,gas and water) separation system terlng tecdltnology and some demusiffer are usad for fhe seo-
is used as testing system. Under the normal production oon- ond stage. The water content of the dawatered oil can meef
dition, samples are obtained at different points before and the requirements of the standard for commodity oil ( <
after three-phase separation. The data, such as separation 1%).
temperature, pressure, quantity treatad, are recorded. The The technology mentioned above is adopted as the treating
samples are analizad in the Iaborafory to get the water-cut of system for the produced fluid from the polymer flooding pilots
the produced fluid before separation (C), emulsified water in Daqing Oilfield.
content of the oil after separation (C.), and the oii content
Af the waste water (C.). The fluid retention time is calculated Analysis on the experiment
according to the quantity treated. The calculation is as foi-
Iows , Because of the short distance betwean the injection well and
the production well ,the high permeability, high concentration
v ... ... ... ...... ... ...... ... ... ...... ... ... ... ...... (1) of fhe polymer solution injected, afler polymer inlection, it
‘=?X does not take a long time to see polymer at the production
Static settling separation test (bottle test ) wells. The water+xt decreases quickly. The polymer con-
centnratlom and tha water content of the produced fluid
Sample of the produced fluid from a single w~ll is obtained changes quickly and the changing rate is comparatively high.
before the three-phase separator any pgt into. a water Since Aug. and Oct. 1990, pert A and pert B of the first pilot
ttwough with constant temperature. The 011and water settllng bs@sm to In]eat polymer In succession, only in two to three
separation process ttnd the separation WA are observed. month, polymer can be tested at the production wells. In
Samples of the oil, water and emulsion at different points about ten months, the polymer concentration of the produced
during the settling separatirxr pwiod are obtained. The “wafer fiuid began to reach Its peak period. The polymer concenfra-
content of the oil and the oil content of the waste water are tion of the produced fluid from the centreral well reached
tested. All the data such obtained are regressively processed above 7M ppm. During the peak period, the average pc4y-
and put in a curve. mer concentration of the whole pilot reached 420 ppm. After
two months injecticm of poiymet, the water+xtt of the pro-
Tests in the laboratory duced fiuid began to decrease. In, about 5 – 6 months, the
water cut reached its lowest point. The average water-cut of
The polymer concentration of the produced fluid Is tasted by
the whole pilot decreased about 15%. The general tendency
acdic acid-sodkrm hypochlorite turbidity testing using UV —
of the variation of the polymer concentration and water-cut of
2201 ultraviolet spaotropfrotometer. the produced ffuid is: the rising period of the polymer cortcen-
The viscosity of the polymer solution produced is testad by
tratlon is about ten months, peak period two month, de-
RV 20 / CV If)t) rotory viscometer from HAKKE. After twice
scending period mcxe than eighteen monfhs. For water-cut,
filtration by filtrating paper, the viscosity and the ‘Y - p
the descending period is about six months, the lowest period
changing pattern of the samples are tested with the shear
two-four month, and the rising period abput six to ten
rate range of 0—400 a:l.
months.
Water content of the oil Is tested by distillation and oil con-
tent of the ‘waste water is testad by ultraviolet spaotroph~ The separation rates of the produced fluid containing polymer
brneter.
The oil-weter interface tension is tested by R 12 Interface te- A@ordlng to fhe formula below:
sionmeter.
V=WI- pdg . .. . .. .. . . . . . .. .. . .. . .. . .. . . . . . ...*. (2)
Present condition of the ‘oil/water saps raticm technology for 18P2 ~
produced fluld from water flooding layers
the main factors whl@r have SCYIY?effect on the.oil/water. -
Two-stage-dkfryckatia” is used” for oil/wat6~ separation of settling-seperaticm-rates are dsmsity difference, viscosity in
the produced fluid frcsn water flooding wells in Daqing Oil- continuous phase, emulsifying degree of oil and water, parti-
248
. .
cle size Indlsper$ion phase, oil/water Interface intensity and scope of the water content of the prochm?d fluid from the cen-
separMion temperature. e(c. The oil/wafer separ.stlort rate tral wells has reached 17. 7%. And that of the produced fluid
is In Inverse proportion to the viscosity Incontlnuous phese. from the wells en the border tras reached 14. 7%. During the
The higher the viscosity, the slower the separation rttfe. whole process of the polymer flooding experiment. the varia-
Polymer flooding makes the viscosity of the produced water tion of the weter content of tha produced fluid presents a pat-
Increase. thus makes the separation rate of oil/water slow- tern Of descending first and then rlslng again. Atfer !WO
. .
er. ‘ months polymer injection, the water content of !he producmd
The polymer concentration of the produced water from the fluid began to descend slowly in a small scope. As the poly.
polymer flooding pilot In the west part of the middle area of mar concentraticir of the produced fluid Increasedcd. the d+.
Daqing Oilfield is within the rang of O-735ppm. Thecorre- scending Of the water content was speeded up. Whrrn the
spending viscosity of thewater phase is between 0.6-3.22 polymer concentration increased to middle and higtr slagc.
mPa . s. When at Its peak valule, the polymer ccircentration the water content decreased 10 Its lowest point. The polymer
makes the viscosity of the water phase Increase 5.37 times, concentration continued to increase* bul the water content
Only the effect of Increased vlricoslty in water phase makes stayed at Its lowest point. As the poiiymer concentration got
the separation fate of oii/water “iowed 5.37 times. ciose to or teached its hlghe$t point, the waler content be.
gan to increase again. During the later seage of potymer
“c, Y P2
flcocfing, as the poiymer concentration of the produced fluid
ppm : s-l
mPa ● S began to decrease, the water content increased quickly a-
gain. At last it exceeded the water content before poiymer
92.5 0.91
flooding.
330 45 107.7 1.44 Polymer flooding makes the water content of the produced
’480 2.03 fluid change undulatiy. Compared with water flooding. the
735 3.22 change scope is larger and the change speed is quicker ,
which has brought a lot of difficulties to the separation of 011
Table I , viscosity of the produc~ water with different poly- and water.
mer concentration.
The settllng separation pattern of the produced fiuid from the
—--------
wdis of polymer fiooding
Witer ficectini .Ooivmer
. floodkm
c, T Y p* c, T Y According to Stokes formula, as the viscosity of the produced
ppm c s’! mPe . S ppm c S-1 ~p:. s Iiulci increases. the separation speed ot oil and waler de-
trace 32.7 735 0.5 21.2 creases. Meanwhile. the increase of the viscosity in water
phase makes the emulsifying strength of oil and water in-
0 [t;q 5 I 76.0 25.6 340
95.8
20
36
45 12.5
48.6
creases, making the demulsiflcat ion more clifficuit. That Is to
say during the same settilng period of time. the separation
10.51 I 35.5 135410.1[ I 21.8 quaiity Is not up to the standard required. During the experi-
ment, the settiing separation characteristics of the produced
Table 1 t comparison of the viscosity of the produced oil fiuid containing poiymer was tested by static settling separa-
with and without polymer. tion. Aii the tests were done when the water content was iow
Polym& &Ming makes the viscosity of the produced water and the poiymer concentration was high.
increase.’ meanwhile the viscucity of oil _decreases about
40%. The difference between the viscosity of oil and thaf of Weil No. I
water k3reduced ~ ,
, ——
1311
c:% 82.4
.— -—- .. –,
(p.- ,4) - (,%- *-) ~ 100%-43% Cp, ppm O 83.39
—.—
.....” (3)
(/%– p,) =+= t c.
coi co c.
8636
;
\
pprn
10606
10818
ppm
——
9689
2386
.
249
WATER-OIL SEPARATION CHARACTERISTICS OF DAQING OILFIELD SPE 28540
4
250
. ..
3. Electrochemlcel dewatering lsmediffialt cmase the time tha eleotrcctramloel dewaterlng ahoufd take
and the electric load neccesaary for afs@ric dewatering. The
Electrochemical dewata$ing simulated tests were performed Increase of the oil oontent of the wafite wats# wIII make the
in laboratory for the samples of produced flu!d with diffwent waste water treatment down stream more difficult. Therefore
polymer conc-entrations. Theresuits skwthat beceuse of the the treating time and the dosage of cfremloaks wilf Irtcfease.
existence of polymer. the dawatering efficiency will be re-
duced . To keep the dawatering percentage, the voltage and & Because of the Interference of the polymer toward darnui-
the electric ourrent should be increased. and the effactiva sifiers, the rasults of the demusifiers which has bean selected
time of the electric field power naaxrasary for the demulsifi- for their god effect bacerna poor and tha dosage has to be
cation should be prolongad. The reason is as foltow$: First, increased.
the difference of the viscosities of oil and water is radwwci,
after dewatexing, it takes more time for the oil and water to i’. The ways to solve to problems mentioned above.
separate. Second, the ionic characteristic of the polymer a) Diluted tha fluld with waste water without petymar, ra-
makes more electric current to loss and the electrlc load ht- duca the viscosity of the water containing polymer, ~liMlnSte
creases. The higher the polymer Corrcentratimr. the less per- the effect caused by the increase of water phase viscosity,
centage of dawsJering, the mc+e electric load for dewatering b) Based on the anionic nature of the polymer, use some high
is needed. It is prwticted based on this law that in the field efficient demulsifiers Inctuding high mofeculer weight caticmic
product ion * as the polymer concentration goes up the dewa- chemicals to improve the affioiericy and quality of Uemutsifi-
fering electric field will become unstable. cation.
c) modify the power supply pattern and the electrode struo-
Conclusion ture of tha electric dehydrator to Imfxove tha demuislfying ef-
ficiency and quality of the elaofrlc field.
1. The effecf of polymer on oil/water separation is to make d) treat the mixing emulsion layer independently.
the separation more difficult. If the normal separation tech-
nology for water flooding produced fluid is used, the treating Nomenclature:
ability of the system will be reduced more than 5f)% . There Q, = quantity of fluld produced by a single well t/d
are fwo reasons for this effect. First is the water phase vis- 0, = quantity of gas produced by a slngie well m3/d
cosity increase characteristic of polymer itself . Second is c, == polymer cormntration of the produced fluid ppm
that the water content of the produced fluld decrease, the c = water content of fhe produced Yluid ~
oil/water ratio rises, the percentage of the w/o type sxnui- c. = water contentof oil %
sion increases. When polymer flooding comes into its later P = dynamic vIscoslty mPa a ●
stage * the unfavorable effect of polymer to oii/water sepa- Pe = dynamic viscosity of oil mPa ● s
ration will disappear gradually. P- = dynamic viscosity of the produced watet mPa s ●
polymer flooding is when the polymer concemtratlon of the ~ = viscoslfy of the Prodtied water cmtairrhrg polymer
produced fluid is in the middle and later period of its rising mPa ● s
stage. That is the period before the water content of the pro- v = settling spaad m/s
duced fluid comes to its lowest point. the polymer concentra- D = diamatar of tha fluld drop m
tion reaches its maximum. and the water cantent begins to PI ,PI= dispersion phase densit y and continuous phase dansi-
rise again. During this period, the most serious mixihg emwt- ty kg/m3
sion in the process of oil/water separation can be observed . P2 = dynamic viscosity in continuous phasa Pa s
●
with free water and the existance of polymer will surely ln-
2. K. D. Drei’rer, T. D. Shoppman, “Separation of Oil and
251
. -,
,.
-.. . ..
—,..
,,-, ,,
..4
252
.
..-
PART A PAf?T B
- @w”&w*
O Prochchg we#
● Cbsewdorlvml
@ “b
~ie~ ~OCfWiB fiOVJ sheet
note
1: valves 2 valves fa’ mcterhg
Zdsrnulsifkrtu’k 4 pur@forc&nicol a&irlg
she&13xctkmger 6h0tw4W8L@br
7 td Wsh k)ww.). a thwnwlneter
9sar@@p<f13rli@d 10: pressuregwge
Il:smPlk-w PcWtorms 1z Wase Waer sal’@ng p@-k
13ealMlhgtilwdl 14thm@a9emeterlng se@arrSar
253
.,,
\
\
.—
fj.udd) do UOBE11UWU133
J~uJfWd
254
1. No potfrner
2. Potyrw content 400 ppm
3. Polymer content 600 ppm
3
0
50 100 150
Votlage
appridiimnc(s)
.