Wettability Alteration and Flow Coupling in Gas Flooding of Asphaltenic Reservoirs

Abstract Mixing of an asphaltenic oil with light gases (e.g., CO2) and/or depressurizing such a crude oil can lead to phase separation in which a second liquid phase L2 -highly concentrated in asphaltene- is formed. Asphaltene may precipitate or deposit out of the second liquid phase. This causes formation damage, wettability alteration, and recovery reduction. While asphaltene phase behavior have been studied under static conditions (where equilibrium is imposed), the behavior of asphaltene under dynamic flow conditions is relatively unexplored. Here, we investigate the coupling of asphaltene phase behavior and flow in porous media. As such, two asphaltenic crudes are characterized using the PC-SAFT equation-of- state. The fluid models were then used to fit the experimental asphaltene deposition data under static conditions. Subsequently, asphaltene flow and deposition was studied during miscible gas flooding where four phases (water, oil L1, gas, and second liquid L2) are present. Our results show that (i) wettability alteration increases the mixing zone and decreases both the displacement and sweep efficiencies; (ii) asphaltene deposition, hence wettability alteration and formation damage are maximal near the producer.