Compositional Modeling of Dimethyl Ether–CO2 Mixed Solvent for Enhanced Oil Recovery
1
Department of Earth Resources and Environmental Engineering, Hanyang University, 222 Wangsimni-ro, Seongdong-gu, Seoul 04763, Korea
2
Center for Climate/Environment Change Prediction Research, Ewha Womans University, 52 Ewhayeodae-gil, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 03760, Korea
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(1), 406; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11010406
Received: 16 December 2020 / Revised: 26 December 2020 / Accepted: 28 December 2020 / Published: 4 January 2021
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Oil Recovery Technologies)
Dimethyl ether (DME) is a compound first introduced by Shell as a chemical solvent for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). This study aims to investigate the efficiency of EOR using the minimum miscible pressure (MMP) and viscous gravity number when a mixed solvent of CO2 and DME is injected. Adding DME to the CO2 water-alternating-gas process reduces the MMP and viscous gravity number. Reduction in MMP results in miscible conditions at lower pressures, which has a favorable effect on oil swelling and viscosity reduction, leading to improved mobility of the oil. In addition, the viscous gravity number decreases, increasing the sweep efficiency by 26.6%. Numerical studies were conducted through a series of multi-phase, multi-component simulations. At a DME content of 25%, the MMP decreased by 30.1% and the viscous gravity number decreased by 66.4% compared with the injection of CO2 only. As a result, the maximum oil recovery rate increased by 31% with simultaneous injection of DME and CO2 compared with only using CO2.
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Keywords:
dimethyl ether (DME); water alternating gas (WAG); enhanced oil recovery (EOR); chemical solvent; miscible gas
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MDPI and ACS Style
Lee, Y.W.; Lee, H.S.; Jeong, M.S.; Cho, J.; Lee, K.S. Compositional Modeling of Dimethyl Ether–CO2 Mixed Solvent for Enhanced Oil Recovery. Appl. Sci. 2021, 11, 406. https://doi.org/10.3390/app11010406
AMA Style
Lee YW, Lee HS, Jeong MS, Cho J, Lee KS. Compositional Modeling of Dimethyl Ether–CO2 Mixed Solvent for Enhanced Oil Recovery. Applied Sciences. 2021; 11(1):406. https://doi.org/10.3390/app11010406
Chicago/Turabian StyleLee, Young W.; Lee, Hye S.; Jeong, Moon S.; Cho, Jinhyung; Lee, Kun S. 2021. "Compositional Modeling of Dimethyl Ether–CO2 Mixed Solvent for Enhanced Oil Recovery" Appl. Sci. 11, no. 1: 406. https://doi.org/10.3390/app11010406
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