Difficulty to predict injectivity in polymer floods
Difficulty to predict injectivity in polymer floods. 📄 Analyzing the 2019 Paper: “Why is it Challenging to Predict Polymer Injectivity During Chemical EOR Processes?”
Difficulty to predict injectivity in polymer floods. Injectivity remains one of the most debated topics in polymer flooding, often misunderstood or oversimplified in simulations. A common industry claim is that polymer should follow waterflooding in heavy oil reservoirs to prevent low injectivity—but does this approach truly optimize recovery?
Injectivity vs. Sweep Efficiency – What Really Matters?
💡 Focusing solely on injectivity without considering sweep efficiency is misleading.
🔍 If waterflooding achieves “good” injectivity but only sweeps 20% of the reservoir, is it truly effective?
📉 Polymer flooding may reduce injectivity, but this often results from improved sweep efficiency, leading to better oil displacement and recovery.
Key Findings from the 2019 Paper
The study reviewed published field cases where polymer flooding was successfully implemented. Contrary to pessimistic simulation predictions, real-world results showed that polymer injectivity was often better than expected. This discrepancy highlights gaps in modeling techniques that fail to capture:
✅ Simulation Limitations. Issues with reservoir modeling, well modeling, grid resolution, and properties.
✅ Polymer Rheology & Modeling. How polymer properties are simulated and their real-world behavior.
✅ Near-Wellbore & Reservoir Dynamics. The impact of microfractures, permeability enhancement, and formation dilation, which are often ignored in standard simulations.
Why Simulations Underestimate Polymer Injectivity
📌 Microfractures in consolidated formations can enhance flow pathways.
📌 Permeability enhancement via dilation in unconsolidated formations improves injectivity.
📌 Dynamic reservoir behavior is not always incorporated into 3D models, leading to overly conservative injectivity estimates.
The paper emphasizes the need for better integration of field evidence into simulations to accurately predict polymer injectivity. Instead of relying solely on static assumptions, reservoir models should account for real-world injection dynamics, ensuring more reliable predictions and improved EOR outcomes.
Final Thoughts – Rethinking Injectivity in CEOR
This paper challenges conventional wisdom and highlights the importance of evaluating polymer flooding in the context of overall recovery efficiency, not just injectivity metrics. The industry must move beyond outdated assumptions and refine simulation approaches to better reflect field-tested realities.
Keywords:
Polymer Flooding, Injectivity in EOR, Chemical Enhanced Oil Recovery, Reservoir Simulation, Polymer Rheology, Microfractures in EOR, Sweep Efficiency, Permeability Enhancement, Near-Wellbore Effects
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