Experimental study the flow behaviors and mechanisms of nitrogen and foam assisted nitrogen gas flooding in 2-D visualized fractured-vuggy model.

Fractured-vuggy carbonate reservoir played a significant role in unconventional reservoirs, but it was difficult to be developed due to its complex reservoir types. Therefore, it was crucial to find a suitable development program to enhance oil recovery. In this work, a two-dimensional visual physical model of fractured-vuggy reservoir was designed and fabricated according to actual geological data and injection-production characteristics of a representative fractured-vuggy carbonate reservoir, Tahe Oilfield in China. Nitrogen flooding experiment, nitrogen flooding under the high gas energy experiment, nitrogen flooding under strong bottom water energy experiment and foam assisted nitrogen gas flooding experiment were carried out respectively by using two-dimensional visual model. The flow behaviors and the main mechanisms for enhanced oil recovery were revealed by analyzing the oil displacement performance in the visual physical model. Experiment results showed that the gas cap energy and the bottom water energy played a synergistic effect in the nitrogen flooding. The stronger the bottom water energy was, the larger the gas spread area was, and the increase of oil recovery would be very high. If the gas injection rate was too strong, the dominant gas flow channel would be formed prematurely, and the oil recovery was little increase. In addition, foam could effectively control the gas mobility, delay the formation of gas channeling. Meanwhile, the oil recovery of foam assisted nitrogen gas flooding was higher 12% than that of nitrogen flooding. Therefore, the mechanism for improving the degree of development was obtained mainly through gravity differentiation to form the secondary gas top and realize the development of the remaining oil. • A two-dimensional visual physical model of fractured-vuggy reservoir was designed and fabricated. • The flow behaviors and the main mechanisms for nitrogen and foam assisted nitrogen gas flooding were studied. • The oil recovery of foam assisted nitrogen gas flooding was higher 12% than that of nitrogen flooding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]