The Feasibility Appraisal for CO2 Enhanced Gas Recovery of Tight Gas Reservoir: Experimental Investigation and Numerical Model

This paper proves the soundness of supercritical CO2 displacement for enhancing gas recovery of a tight gas reservoir via laboratory investigations and compositional modeling. First, a novel phase behavior experimental device with a screened supercritical CO2 dyeing agent were first presented to better understand the mixture characteristics between supercritical CO2 and natural gas. The mass transfer between two vapor phases was also measured. Then, based on experimental results, the compositional model considering the influence of CO2 diffusion on the gas recovery and critical property adjustment of supercritical CO2 was established. The miscibility process and mixing properties, such as density, viscosity, and the flowing velocity vector, of supercriticalCO2 and natural gas were visualized through a 3D display, which obtained a better understanding of the flooding mechanism of Enhanced Gas Recovery (EGR) via supercritical CO2. Finally, with experiments and numerical simulations, the main benefits of CO2 EGR were shown, which were partial miscibility between CO2 and natural gas, pressure maintenance, and CO2 displacement as a “gas cushion.” In general, experiments and numerical simulations demonstrate that CO2 EGR can be seen as a promising way of prolonging the productive life and enhancing recovery of tight gas reservoirs.