Methanol Tracer Application for Pre-EOR Water Flow Evaluation in a Simulated Reservoir
Keywords:
Methanol tracer, Mean Residence Time, Reservoir simulationAbstract
Understanding water movement in petroleum reservoirs is critical for the effective design of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) strategies. In this study, methanol was employed as a conservative aqueous-phase tracer to investigate pre-EOR water flow behavior in a simulated reservoir. Numerical modeling was conducted using ECLIPSE, and four production wells were monitored to evaluate tracer recovery, breakthrough time, mean residence time, water velocity, and swept pore volume. The results revealed notable spatial variation in flow characteristics across the reservoir. Tracer recovery ranged from to , while water velocity varied between 0.35 and 0.41 . The estimated swept pore volume extended from to . Mean residence times were between 3900 and 4810 days, and breakthrough times ranged from 3092 to 4247 days. Among the monitored wells, Production Well-2 demonstrated the highest tracer recovery and swept pore volume, along with favorable flow characteristics, indicating a stronger hydraulic connection with the injection well. This makes it a promising candidate for targeted EOR operations. The insights gained from tracer-based diagnostics are instrumental in identifying preferential flow paths and unswept zones, thereby enhancing the efficiency of subsequent EOR implementation and reservoir management.
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