Four-phase equilibrium calculations of CO 2/hydrocarbon/water systems using a reduced method

Saeedeh Mohebbinia, Kamy Sepehrnoori, Russell T. Johns

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Three hydrocarbon phases can co-exist at equilibrium at relatively low temperatures in many CO 2 floods. Formation of an aqueous phase in contact with hydrocarbon phases is inevitable in almost all recovery processes, because of the permanent presence of water in the reservoirs either as injection fluid or as initial formation water. Successful modeling of CO 2 flooding requires accounting for the presence of four phases. However, as the number of phases increase, flash calculations become more difficult and time-consuming. A possible approach to reduce the computational time of the phase equilibrium calculations is to use reduced methods. This paper presents a general strategy to model the behavior of CO 2/hydrocarbon/water systems where four equilibrium phases occur using a reduced flash approach. The speedup obtained by a reduced flash algorithm compared to the conventional flash approach is demonstrated for a different number of components and phases. The results show a significant speedup in the Jacobian matrix construction and in Newton-Raphson iterations using the reduced method when four phases are present. The computational advantage of the reduced method increases rapidly with the number of phases and components. The developed four-phase reduced flash algorithm is used to investigate the effect of introducing water on the phase behavior of two West Texas oil/CO 2 mixtures. The results show significant changes in the phase splits and saturation pressures by adding water to these CO 2/hydrocarbon systems.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationSociety of Petroleum Engineers - 18th SPE Improved Oil Recovery Symposium 2012
Pages1213-1223
Number of pages11
StatePublished - 2012
Event18th SPE Improved Oil Recovery Symposium 2012 - Tulsa, OK, United States
Duration: Apr 14 2012Apr 18 2012

Publication series

NameSPE - DOE Improved Oil Recovery Symposium Proceedings
Volume2

Other

Other18th SPE Improved Oil Recovery Symposium 2012
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityTulsa, OK
Period4/14/124/18/12

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Chemical Engineering
  • Energy Engineering and Power Technology

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