Category:Secondary Recovery
From Eurêka
Secondary recovery Recovery of oil from a reservoir using artificial techniques, e.g. water flooding and gas injection, after the natural drive mechanism has been exhausted.
- Gas drive Action of gas in pushing oil out of a reservoir and into production wells.
- Water drive Action of water pushing oil out of a reservoir and into production wells.
Shoot a well (Torpedoing) v To detonate nitroglycerine or some other explosive in the bottom of a well. It is done either to fracture a rock formation in order to increase the flow of oil or to unclog a well that has become clogged by paraffin or cement-like accumulation of mud. This practice has its roots in the early days of oil drilling and was first successfully used in 1865 by E. A. L. Roberts, a Civil War veteran.
- Torpedo Explosive device, initially black powder and later nitroglycerine, used to shoot a well.
- Soup (slang) Nitroglycerine used in shooting a well.
Waterflood (Water flooding) Use of injected water to recover more oil, one of the earliest techniques for secondary recovery.
- Water-coning Condition that occurs in a waterdrive reservoir when an excessive rate of production causes the encroachment of water into the well bore. Water under immense pressure under the oil bypasses the oil, moving upward to the well bore.
Acidization Process injecting acid into reservoir rock to dissolve hard carbonate and thereby enlarging pore spaces and increasing the flow of oil and gas.
- Fracture acidizing Pumping acid into a formation rapidly to fracture and etch rock.
- Matrix acidizing Pumping acid into a formation slowly to prevent fracturing of the rock.
- Corrosion inhibitors Chemicals added to acid to protect metal equipment from attack.
Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) (Tertiary recovery) Recovery of trapped oil after conventional secondary recovery methods have been exhausted, by injecting steam, fire, chemicals or genetically-engineered bacteria. Techniques include injection of rich miscible gas, carbon dioxide, polymers, solvents, surfactants, or micellar fluids.
Thermal recovery (Thermal stimulation) Recovery process that utilizes heat (in the form of steam or hot gas) to thin viscous oil in an underground reservoir and allow it to flow more readily toward well through which it can be brought to the surface.
Steam flooding Technique of recovering oil by using steam.
- Huffing Injecting steam into a closed-off oil well.
- Puffing Opening it up again to recover oil that has been made to flow more freely by the heat from the steam.
Chemical flooding Use of surfactants dissolved in injected water.
- Polymers Chemicals that thicken the injected water, increasing the efficiency with which it sweeps out trapped oil.
- Surfactants Detergent-like chemicals.
Miscible flooding Technique based upon using some gas - such as enriched reservoir gas or carbon dioxide - to miscibly displace some oils, thereby permitting the recovery of most of the in-place oil contacted.
Pressure cycling Technique of injecting natural gas or carbon dioxide into a producing formation and alternating high and low pressures to induce mixing with the crude and thus stimulating the flow.
Fire flooding Trapped oil can be heated by fire flooding - injecting air or oxygen and burning oil in situ. Still at experimental stage.
Bacterial flooding Injecting bacteria underground and supplying them with a suitable energy source, such as molasses, where they could in theory produce natural polymers. Introducing bacteria deliberately, as bacteria are normally regarded as hazardous because they produce corrosive and poisonous hydrogen sulfide, is an idea that arouses little enthusiasm.
Residual oil Amount of oil remaining in a reservoir after primary and secondary production.
- See also Oil pipelines
- See also Oil tankers
- See also Transportation of oil
