IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v18y2025i5p1297-d1606685.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Simulation of Low-Salinity Water-Alternating Impure CO 2 Process for Enhanced Oil Recovery and CO 2 Sequestration in Carbonate Reservoirs

Author

Listed:
  • Kwangduk Seo

    (Department of Earth Resources and Environmental Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul 04763, Republic of Korea)

  • Bomi Kim

    (Department of Earth Resources and Environmental Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul 04763, Republic of Korea)

  • Qingquan Liu

    (School of Safety Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China)

  • Kun Sang Lee

    (Department of Earth Resources and Environmental Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul 04763, Republic of Korea
    School of Safety Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China)

Abstract

This study investigates the combined effects of impurities in CO 2 stream, geochemistry, water salinity, and wettability alteration on oil recovery and CO 2 storage in carbonate reservoirs and optimizes injection strategy to maximize oil recovery and CO 2 storage ratio. Specifically, it compares the performance of pure CO 2 water-alternating gas (WAG), impure CO 2 -WAG, pure CO 2 low-salinity water-alternating gas (LSWAG), and impure CO 2 -LSWAG injection methods from perspectives of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and CO 2 sequestration. CO 2 -enhanced oil recovery (CO 2 -EOR) is an effective way to extract residual oil. CO 2 injection and WAG methods can improve displacement efficiency and sweep efficiency. However, CO 2 -EOR has less impact on the carbonate reservoir because of the complex pore structure and oil-wet surface. Low-salinity water injection (LSWI) and CO 2 injection can affect the complex pore structure by geochemical reaction and wettability by a relative permeability curve shift from oil-wet to water-wet. The results from extensive compositional simulations show that CO 2 injection into carbonate reservoirs increases the recovery factor compared with waterflooding, with pure CO 2 -WAG injection yielding higher recovery factor than impure CO 2 -WAG injection. Impurities in CO 2 gas decrease the efficiency of CO 2 -EOR, reducing oil viscosity less and increasing interfacial tension (IFT) compared to pure CO 2 injection, leading to gas channeling and reduced sweep efficiency. This results in lower oil recovery and lower storage efficiency compared to pure CO 2 . CO 2 -LSWAG results in the highest oil-recovery factor as surface changes. Geochemical reactions during CO 2 injection also increase CO 2 storage capacity and alter trapping mechanisms. This study demonstrates that the use of impure CO 2 -LSWAG injection leads to improved oil recovery and CO 2 storage compared to pure CO 2 -WAG injection. It reveals that wettability alteration plays a more significant role for oil recovery and geochemical reaction plays crucial role in CO 2 storage than CO 2 purity. According to optimization, the greater the injection of gas and water, the higher the oil recovery, while the less gas and water injected, the higher the storage ratio, leading to improved storage efficiency. This research provides valuable insights into parameters and injection scenarios affecting enhanced oil recovery and CO 2 storage in carbonate reservoirs.

Suggested Citation

  • Kwangduk Seo & Bomi Kim & Qingquan Liu & Kun Sang Lee, 2025. "Simulation of Low-Salinity Water-Alternating Impure CO 2 Process for Enhanced Oil Recovery and CO 2 Sequestration in Carbonate Reservoirs," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-20, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:18:y:2025:i:5:p:1297-:d:1606685
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/5/1297/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/5/1297/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Abhishek Ratanpara & Myeongsub Kim, 2023. "Wettability Alteration Mechanisms in Enhanced Oil Recovery with Surfactants and Nanofluids: A Review with Microfluidic Applications," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(24), pages 1-42, December.
    2. Tiago A. Siqueira & Rodrigo S. Iglesias & J. Marcelo Ketzer, 2017. "Carbon dioxide injection in carbonate reservoirs – a review of CO 2 ‐water‐rock interaction studies," Greenhouse Gases: Science and Technology, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 7(5), pages 802-816, October.
    3. You, Junyu & Ampomah, William & Sun, Qian, 2020. "Co-optimizing water-alternating-carbon dioxide injection projects using a machine learning assisted computational framework," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 279(C).
    4. Wei, Ning & Li, Xiaochun & Wang, Yan & Zhu, Qianlin & Liu, Shengnan & Liu, Naizhong & Su, Xuebing, 2015. "Geochemical impact of aquifer storage for impure CO2 containing O2 and N2: Tongliao field experiment," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 198-210.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Abdoli, B. & Hooshmand, F. & MirHassani, S.A., 2023. "A novel stochastic programming model under endogenous uncertainty for the CCS-EOR planning problem," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 338(C).
    2. Li, Didi & Zhang, Hongcheng & Li, Yang & Xu, Wenbin & Jiang, Xi, 2018. "Effects of N2 and H2S binary impurities on CO2 geological storage in stratified formation – A sensitivity study," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 229(C), pages 482-492.
    3. Aminu, Mohammed D. & Nabavi, Seyed Ali & Rochelle, Christopher A. & Manovic, Vasilije, 2017. "A review of developments in carbon dioxide storage," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 208(C), pages 1389-1419.
    4. Bocoum, Alassane Oumar & Rasaei, Mohammad Reza, 2023. "Multi-objective optimization of WAG injection using machine learning and data-driven Proxy models," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 349(C).
    5. Jin, Wencheng & Atkinson, Trevor A. & Doughty, Christine & Neupane, Ghanashyam & Spycher, Nicolas & McLing, Travis L. & Dobson, Patrick F. & Smith, Robert & Podgorney, Robert, 2022. "Machine-learning-assisted high-temperature reservoir thermal energy storage optimization," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 197(C), pages 384-397.
    6. Zhong, Jinjin & Jiang, Xi, 2017. "A case study of using cosmic ray muons to monitor supercritical CO2 migration in geological formations," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 185(P2), pages 1450-1458.
    7. G. Cornelis van Kooten & Rebecca Zanello, 2023. "Carbon offsets and agriculture: Options, obstacles, and opinions," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 71(3-4), pages 375-391, September.
    8. Li, Didi & Jiang, Xi, 2017. "Numerical investigation of the partitioning phenomenon of carbon dioxide and multiple impurities in deep saline aquifers," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 185(P2), pages 1411-1423.
    9. Li, Didi & He, Yao & Zhang, Hongcheng & Xu, Wenbin & Jiang, Xi, 2017. "A numerical study of the impurity effects on CO2 geological storage in layered formation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 199(C), pages 107-120.
    10. Sheng Cao & Qian Sang & Guozhong Zhao & Yubo Lan & Dapeng Dong & Qingzhen Wang, 2024. "CO 2 –Water–Rock Interaction and Its Influence on the Physical Properties of Continental Shale Oil Reservoirs," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-20, January.
    11. Rozita Akbari & Elnaz Khodapanah & Seyyed Alireza Tabatabaei‐Nezhad, 2021. "Experimental investigation of CO2–brine–rock interactions in relation with CO2 sequestration in an Iranian oil reservoir," Greenhouse Gases: Science and Technology, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 11(1), pages 69-80, February.
    12. Wang, Zhiyu & Wang, Jinsheng & Lan, Christopher & He, Ian & Ko, Vivien & Ryan, David & Wigston, Andrew, 2016. "A study on the impact of SO2 on CO2 injectivity for CO2 storage in a Canadian saline aquifer," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 329-336.
    13. Fan, Jing-Li & Shen, Shuo & Wei, Shi-Jie & Xu, Mao & Zhang, Xian, 2020. "Near-term CO2 storage potential for coal-fired power plants in China: A county-level source-sink matching assessment," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 279(C).
    14. Aaditya Khanal & Md Fahim Shahriar, 2022. "Physics-Based Proxy Modeling of CO 2 Sequestration in Deep Saline Aquifers," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-23, June.
    15. Wei Jia & Ting Xiao & Zhidi Wu & Zhenxue Dai & Brian McPherson, 2021. "Impact of Mineral Reactive Surface Area on Forecasting Geological Carbon Sequestration in a CO 2 -EOR Field," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-22, March.
    16. Naghizadeh, Arefeh & Jafari, Saeed & Norouzi-Apourvari, Saied & Schaffie, Mahin & Hemmati-Sarapardeh, Abdolhossein, 2024. "Multi-objective optimization of water-alternating flue gas process using machine learning and nature-inspired algorithms in a real geological field," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 293(C).
    17. Shen, Bin & Yang, Shenglai & Hu, Jiangtao & Zhang, Yiqi & Zhang, Lingfeng & Ye, Shanlin & Yang, Zhengze & Yu, Jiayi & Gao, Xinyuan & Zhao, Ermeng, 2024. "Interpretable causal-based temporal graph convolutional network framework in complex spatio-temporal systems for CCUS-EOR," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 309(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:18:y:2025:i:5:p:1297-:d:1606685. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.