Open Access

ARTICLE

On the Development of an Effective Pressure Driving System for Ultra-Low Permeability Reservoirs

by Yapu Zhang^1,2, Zhengming Yang^1,2, Dajian Li³, Xuewei Liu¹, Xinli Zhao^1,2,*

1 Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration & Development, PetroChina, Beijing, 100083, China
2 College of Engineering Science, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
3 Oil and Gas Technology Research Institute of PetroChina Changqing Oilfield Company, Xi’an, 070000, China

* Corresponding Author: Xinli Zhao. Email:

Fluid Dynamics & Materials Processing 2021, 17(6), 1067-1075. https://doi.org/10.32604/fdmp.2021.016725

Received 20 March 2021; Accepted 13 May 2021; Issue published 08 September 2021

Abstract

Given its relevance to the exploitation of ultra-low permeability reservoirs, which account for a substantial proportion of the world’s exploited and still unexploited reserves, in the present study the development of an adequate water injection system is considered. Due to the poor properties and weak seepage capacity of these reservoirs, the water injection pressure typically increases continuously during water flooding. In this research, the impact on such a process of factors as permeability, row spacing, and pressure gradient is evaluated experimentally using a high-pressure large-scale outcrop model. On this basis, a comprehensive evaluation coefficient is introduced able to account for the effective driving pressure.

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Keywords

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