Diffusion coefficients of natural gas in foamy oil systems under high pressures

Abstract

The diffusion coefficient of natural gas in foamy oil is one of the key parameters to evaluate the feasibility of gas injection for enhanced oil recovery in foamy oil reservoirs. In this paper, a PVT cell was used to measure diffusion coefficients of natural gas in Venezuela foamy oil at high pressures, and a new method for determining the diffusion coefficient in the foamy oil was developed on the basis of experimental data. The effects of pressure and the types of the liquid phase on the diffusion coefficient of the natural gas were discussed. The results indicate that the diffusion coefficients of natural gas in foamy oil, saturated oil, and dead oil increase linearly with increasing pressure. The diffusion coefficient of natural gas in the foamy oil at 20 MPa was 2.93 times larger than that at 8.65 MPa. The diffusion coefficient of the natural gas in dead oil was 3.02 and 4.02 times than that of the natural gas in saturated oil and foamy oil when the pressure was 20 MPa. However, the gas content of foamy oil was 16.9 times higher than that of dead oil when the dissolution time and pressure were 20 MPa and 35.22 h, respectively.