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Improvement of oil recovery using low oxygen water alternating air injection: A numerical simulation study

Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: As the global energy demand continues to rise, the hydrocarbon industry faces the formidable challenge of declining production rates from conventional reservoirs, particularly those containing heavy oil. Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) methods have emerged as a critical avenue for maximizing hydrocarbon extraction and meeting the growing demand. This article delves into the promising Water Alternating Low Oxygen Air Injection method and its comparison with High-Pressure Air Injection (HPAI), highlighting its potential and discussing its applications based on numerical simulations. A novel thermal Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) method, Water Alternating Air (WAA) injection and its possible applications were examined to improve the oil recovery. WAA technique demonstrated that it can reduce oil viscosity, postpone air breakthrough significantly and prolong the effective production period. Compared to the various conventional air-based thermal EOR methods investigated in this study, WAA showed the best performance. Investigation parameters included longevity of the process, cumulative oil production, recovery factor (RF), viscosity reduction and sweep efficiency. The reaction between oil and injected fluids involved in the WAA technique is considered low temperature oxidation (LTO). When compared the Conventional Air Injection method WAA method could comfortably produce for more than double the time without any sign of oxygen breakthrough. When subjected to Heavy Oil reservoir, the WAA method could produce 257% more oil than conventional air injection technique owing to the more production time and better heat capture throughout the process.
DOI: 10.1016/j.nexres.2025.100281
Language: English
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $2,500
OpenAlex ID: W4408726452
FWCI: 0.791
Cites: 69
Cited by: 2
Related to: 10