MISCIBLE GAS DRIVE

HYDROCARBON based GAS INJECTION

Contents
Miscible Drive Procedure Importance of miscible injection Types of miscible injection High pressure gas injection Enriched gas injection LPG slug injection

Miscible Drive
It is a method of enhanced oil recovery. In this process various hydrocarbon gases such as LPG, methane, propane etc are injected into the reservoir. Non hydrocarbon gases are also encountered in this process. By injecting, the gas becomes miscible with the oil and displaces it from the reservoir rock towards the production wells.

Procedure
This process first involves the injection of a solvent slug. The solvent slug is placed in contact with the oil. The slug is followed by a cheaper gas such as air etc. The solvent slug is miscible with the oil and cheaper gas both while the cheaper gas is immiscible with the oil. The volume of slug is proportional to the square root of time. The size of miscible bank decreases as the sweep progresses. The volume of slug injected should be such that the bank of pure solvent is not exhausted before the OS mixture breaks through at the production well ( when this occurs it is known as miscibility rupture).

IMPORTANCE OF MISCIBLE DRIVE

Its is important because. It reduces viscosity of oil It is reduces interfacial tension between oil and water Through this process microscopic sweep efficiency is increased.

TYPES OF MISCIBLE GAS DRIVE

As we are focusing the hydrocarbon gases injection so this process involves the injection of, High pressure gas injection Enriched gas injection LPG slug injection Alcohol slug injection

High pressure Natural gas injection

In this process the natural gas is injected in the reservoir at
high pressure. At the start of injection the displacement is non miscible with the passage of time miscibility process starts. On the ternary diagram it can be seen that miscibility is achieved between gas and oil of fixed compositions G and O that is when the line Ogt is tangent to the dew point curve. This is possible when the pressure is equal or greater than miscibility pressure. This process is applicable when, The minimum reservoir pressure is 3000 to 4500psi and The API gravity of oil is above 35 degree.

ENRICHED GAS INJECTION

The miscible bank is formed by the injection of intermediate gas components c2-c6. This process is carried out when the reservoir oil possess heavy components. Miscibility is achieved in the same way as is achieved in the high pressure gas injection. No residual oil is left in the end while there is some residual oil left in the high pressure gas injection.

LPG SLUG INJECTION

The miscible bank is formed by injecting LPG. LPG is fully miscible with the reservoir oil in place when the reservoir pressure is higher than the critical pressure of LPG mixture. The LPG is followed by Cheaper gas. The pore volume of LPG required is proportional to the square root of the distance to be covered.