Low-frequency Electromagnetic Waves Will Increase Oil Recovery
Another CFU technology for “facilitating” viscous oil was tested at the fields of Rosneft, Tatneft, as well as in Brazil and Kazakhstan.
Scientists from Kazan Federal University have developed a technology for enhanced oil recovery using an electromagnetic field. Representatives of the Institute of Physics, the Institute of Geology and Oil and Gas Technologies of KFU, as well as the Tyumen Industrial University took part in the study. The news agency “Devon” learned about this from a message from the press service of the Kazan Federal University.
Electromagnetic heating processes have been known since the middle of the last century. However, the nature of the interaction of the electromagnetic field with the heavy components of oil has not yet been studied. Therefore, scientists from the World-Class Scientific Center (NCMU) of KFU conducted spectroscopy using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR).
The competencies of the Institute of Physics of KFU were useful for studying the mechanisms of the influence of an electromagnetic field on the properties of heavy oil from the Bazhenov formation. In addition, a new task was set to study oil-containing samples from the Bazhenov deposit with a low content of vanadyl. In this regard, NCMU scientists used EPR spectroscopy to study the mechanisms of hydrocarbon transformation.
“The impact of electromagnetic waves on reservoir fluids significantly increases the porosity and permeability properties of the reservoir and the rates of heavy oil decomposition reactions,” said Fadis Murzakhanov, a junior researcher at the NTsMU. “Changing the fractional composition of heavy oil with a decrease in molecular weight contributes to the formation of light hydrocarbons and additional oil recovery. Under low-frequency electromagnetic action, heavy oil is modified into less viscous oil. It is much easier to mine,” Murzakhanov noted.
This technique was introduced at the Ust-Balykskoye field of Yuganskneftegaz. The tests were also carried out at the wells of Bashneft’s Ishimbayskoye field (both part of Rosneft), as well as the Sugushlinskaya and Mordovo-Karmalskaya bitumen deposits of the Tatneft company.
The effect of volumetric heating of the formation was obtained within a radius of more than 10 m in the bottomhole formation zones. During the experiments, the technology managed to positively prove itself in the bottom-hole formation zones in the fields of Russia, Kazakhstan and Brazil.
“We plan to further develop cooperation with colleagues from the Tyumen Industrial University to conduct experiments already on oil samples from other Russian fields with different mass contents of asphaltenes and sulfur,” the scientist emphasized.
The method of electron paramagnetic resonance was discovered in Kazan in 1944 by associate professor of Kazan University Evgeny Zavoisky. He later became an academic. The advantages of EPR include economic efficiency, the efficiency of the work performed, and the high accuracy of the experimental data obtained.
