Experimental Investigation of the CO2 Flooding Characteristics of Tight Sandstone Reservoirs Using a High-Temperature and-Pressure Visualization Apparatus

The microscopic pore structure of tight sandstone reservoirs significantly impacts CO2 flooding characteristics. In this work, two types of realistic sandstone visualization models were selected based on petrophysical properties and the pore structure feature. CO2 flooding experiments under different injection pressures and volumes were carried out using the in-house high-temperature and-pressure visualization flooding system. Then, the characteristics of oil movement and residual oil distribution were quantitatively described and analyzed for two rock types. The results show that the type I model has better physical properties and a more favorable pore structure, thus a higher oil recovery than the type II model. The immiscible CO2 flooding efficiency of the type I model is up to 64.5%. On the other hand, the oil recovery of the type II model increases when the miscible pressure is reached, and the maximum oil recovery is 49.5%. In the high-pressure miscible flooding stage, two types of models have similar oil recovery increments, which are 10.7 and 10.6%, respectively. Additionally, the residual oil distribution varies with the pore structure. The type I model has a small residual oil region and thus a high oil recovery efficiency. In contrast, the residual oil saturation of the type II model is larger, and the final oil recovery decreases. Furthermore, as the injection pressure and volume increase, the residual oil saturation becomes smaller, and oil recovery of both models increases. The occurrence characteristics of residual oil are oil droplet, cluster-shaped residual oil, flake oil, and dead corner oil, and the main influencing factors are capillary force, injection pressure, and pore connectivity.

Automated summary

In this study, the influence of the microscopic pore structure on CO2 flooding characteristics in tight sandstone reservoirs was investigated. Two types of sandstone visualization models were used in experiments, and the results showed that the model with more favorable pore structure had a higher oil recovery efficiency. Additionally, increasing the injection pressure and volume improved the oil recovery rate.