Research on the Development Mechanism of Air Thermal Miscible Flooding in the High Water Cut Stage of Medium to High Permeability Light Oil Reservoirs

作者：Daode Hua, Changfeng Xi, Peng Liu, Tong Liu, Fang Zhao, Yuting Wang, Hongbao Du, Heng Gu, Mimi Wu · 发表于：Energies · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.3390/en18112783 · 被引用次数：3 · 研究领域：Enhanced Oil Recovery Techniques、Hydrocarbon exploration and reservoir analysis、Hydraulic Fracturing and Reservoir Analysis

Currently, the development of oil reservoirs with high water cut faces numerous challenges, including poor economic efficiency, difficulties in residual oil recovery, and a lack of effective development technologies. In light of these issues, this paper conducts research on gas drive development during the high water cut stage in middle–high permeability reservoirs and introduces an innovative technical approach for air thermal miscible flooding. In this study, the Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) mechanism and the dynamic characteristics of thermal miscible flooding were investigated through laboratory experiments and numerical simulations. The N2 and CO2 flooding experiments indicate that gas channeling is likely to occur when miscible flooding cannot be achieved, due to the smaller gas–water mobility ratio compared to the gas–oil mobility ratio during the high water cut stage. Consequently, the enhanced recovery efficiency of N2 and CO2 flooding is limited. The experiment on air thermal miscible flooding demonstrates that under conditions of high water content, this method can form a stable high-temperature thermal oxidation front. The high temperature, generated by the thermal oxidation front, promotes the miscibility of flue gas and crude oil, effectively inhibiting gas flow, preventing gas channeling, and significantly enhancing oil recovery. Numerical simulations indicate that the production stage of air hot miscible flooding in reservoirs with middle–high permeability and ...