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[Display omitted] • Revealing the effect of CO 2 on oil potential energy in nanopores. • CO 2 solubility and oil swelling factor explained within nanopores. • Influence of CO 2 on the recovery law of different components in oil. • Analysis of different water film thickness on CO 2 enhanced oil recovery. Understanding the mechanisms of CO 2 extraction or flooding are vital for enhancing oil recovery (EOR) in tight reservoirs. In this study, the CO 2 EOR mechanism in the displacement-affected area (DPAA) and diffusion-affected area (DFAA) of quartz nanopores were thoroughly investigated using molecular dynamics simulation techniques. First, the following two contents were mainly simulated, namely CO 2 flooding oil in the single/double nanopores of DPAA and CO 2 extraction oil in dead-end nanopores of the DFAA with and without the water film. Then, tight oil potential energy, threshold capillary pressure, CO 2 solubility, and oil swelling in nanopores were calculated to clarify the effects of CO 2 on oil transport. Moreover, different CO 2 injection/flowback rates and different water film thicknesses on dead-end nanopores on oil recovery were discussed. In the DPAA, the CO 2 solubility and the oil swelling factor gradually decreased with distance from the CO 2 -oil interface (Y = 0 nm), where the higher the injection rate, the more easily the CO 2 dissolved in the oil. However, the injection rate of CO 2 was inversely proportional to oil recovery. In addition, it took longer for the displacement efficiency in the 6 nm pore of double pores to reach the same displacement efficiency as in the single 6 nm pore. In the DFAA, the effect of flowback rate on the displacement efficiency of oil was relatively low. However, the thickness of the water film was a key factor that affected the oil displacement efficiency in the DFAA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CO 2 -enhanced oil recovery (CO 2 -EOR) technology has shown great application potential in the development of tight reservoirs. Since the proportion of nano-pores in tight oil reservoirs exceeds 77%, it is necessary to further study the occurrence state of crude oil in nano-pores. In this paper, the molecular dynamics simulation was applied to study the adsorption and diffusion behaviors of multi-component crude oil in quartz (hydrophilic) nano-pores. Besides, the density discretization method was used to investigate the occurrence characteristics of crude oil, the proportion of movable fluid in nano-pores, and the effects of CO 2 and polar molecules (C 3 H 6 O) on the adsorption characteristics of crude oil. The simulation results showed that the adsorption state of crude oil in the quartz nano-pores was in the form of 4 adsorption layers with a thickness of 0.45 nm each. In nano-pores, the oil molecules with longer molecular chains were more likely to aggregate and adsorb on the quartz surface. Among them, polar oil molecules have the strongest adsorption capacity on the quartz surface. Moreover, the crude oil potential energy and the self-diffusion coefficient gradually increased from the vicinity of the quartz wall and tended to be stable in the free layer. Meanwhile, the content of movable crude oil gradually augmented with the increasement of nanometer pore width and temperature. Furthermore, the pressure had little effect on the density distribution of crude oil in the pores. In contrast, the temperature had a more significant effect on the density distribution of the adsorption layer. At last, due to the more substantial adsorption capacity of CO 2 on the rock surface, the crude oil adsorbed initially on the rock surface would be stripped off by CO 2 , converting from irreducible oil to moveable oil. [Display omitted] • Distribution profile of adsorbed and free crude oil in various nanoslits. • The self-diffusion coefficient and potential energy of crude oil at different positions. • Temperature has a great influence on the occurrence state of crude oil. • Effects of different proportions of CO 2 on the occurrence state of crude oil in nanoslits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CO 2 huff and puff (HNP) is one of the most effective methods to improve tight oil recovery after the primary depletion process. The seepage mechanisms between CO 2 and crude oil are complicated in porous media during CO 2 HNP process. Therefore, in this paper, the CO 2 HNP process of Chang-7 tight oil reservoir, Ordos Basin, China, was studied by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technology, microscopic observation and numerical simulation. Experimentally, using NMR technology and microscopy methods, the distribution characteristics of residual oil during CO 2 HNP process were measured intuitively. Numerically, a group of core-scale and field-scale simulations considering molecular diffusion and asphaltene precipitation were established to further verify and elongate the experimental results. The results show that at the initial state, the crude oil in the tight core was mainly distributed in nanopores, sub-micro-nanopores and sub-micropores, where the oil content exceeded at least 73% in these pores. During CO 2 HNP process, the oil recovery was more pronounced for the 1st and 2nd rounds than for 3rd to 5th rounds. Notably, even if the cores with more nano-pores were more favorable for the 4–5th CO 2 HNP rounds, the oil molecules in nanopores were still difficult to be available. Moreover, the CO 2 sweep scope could be divided into displacement affected region and diffusion affected region. CO 2 could effectively drive the crude oil in the displacement affected region. While the oil could be successfully displaced by dissolved gas flooding in the diffusion affected region only under the appropriate conditions. Meanwhile, the core-scale numerical models confirmed that it was necessary to consider molecular diffusion and asphaltene precipitation factors, which would make the simulation results in line with the experiment. In terms of the ultimate oil recovery, the field-scale model only considering the diffusion (2.456%) > the model both considering the diffusion and asphaltene (2.436%) > the model without considering the diffusion and asphaltene deposition (2.412%) > the model only considering the asphaltene deposition (2.388%). • The oil were difficult to be available in nanopores due to the nano-constraint effect. • The CO2 displacement area was associated with diffusion and asphaltene precipitation. • SP-T2 spectrum and microscopic image were applied to obtain CO2 sweep scope. • A group of simulations were established to analyse the effect of CO2 sweep scope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Alkaline agents have an appeal for enhanced oil recovery because of their low cost and favorable performance. In this paper, sodium carbonate (Na2CO3) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH) are used as the alkaline chemicals, at the same Na2O content, to investigate the oil/water interfacial reactions between the Daqing crude oil and the alkaline solutions. Moreover, oleic acid or the mixture of ethyl acetate and phthalic acid diethyl ester were added into the crude oil, respectively, to facilitate the direct observation of the interfacial reactions and to compare the functional effectiveness of alkalis. The results showed that: Na2CO3 reacted slowly and partly with the acid components in crude oil, while NaOH did it very fast and completely. Interestingly, Na2CO3 is better than NaOH in lowering the oil/water interfacial tension (IFT), due to its buffer effect. These help the optimum formulation design of flooding alkali, which should also be of great importance for tertiary oil recovery. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]