Green Oil Recovery (GRO) UAE Innovation on Oil Recovery Dr. Omar Chaalal Associate Professor Abu Dhabi University Dr. Omar

UK Intellectual Property Office, Patented UK Intellectual Property Office, GB1506690.5, 3rd June 2015. “The Secondary and Tertiary Green Water Flooding Of Fractured and Heterogeneous Oil Reservoir at High Salinity and High Temperature” Speaking note   I think what I am going to speak about is going to create a big impact in oil industry. This is an invention for oil recovery which can be used from stage 2 of oil recovery or even for any dead oil reservoirs. We have invented a formula taken from plant sources and tested on real oil rock samples taken from different places in UAE. The result shows that we are able of extracting 96% of the trapped oil in the porous rock. The test was done in very high tech and advanced lab.  Show the patent picture We got the patent last June from the UK Intellectual Property Office.  Show the green product attributes One of the major objectives that we are tackling here by this invention is facing the great disadvantages of using CO2 for EOR.  Show the comparison between CO2 and our GOR 7 barrel of oil production, it require 1.5 kg of our green product The estimated cost for 1kg of our green product is 1.5 dollar Then, for each barrel of oil production, it cost around 32 cents.

Life Cycle of a Well Oil recovery goes into three stages: Primary Phase: At the start of oil production, oil flows naturally to the surface due to existing reservoir pressure Secondary phase: As reservoir pressure drops, water is typically injected to boost the pressure to displace the oil Tertiary Phase: About 30% of the oil is trapped in the reservoir. We need EOR to displace this oil

Growing need for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) To recuperate this trapped oil, the petroleum industry has devoted billions of dollars for research and development to develop enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technologies and find better methods.

Forecast of EOR-based Oil Production

Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) methods These are the most Common techniques for EOR: Thermal injection Gas injection natural gas, nitrogen, or carbon dioxide (CO2) Chemical injection Microbial injection

Most Popular: CO2 flooding Advantages Challenges Used at high pressure and reservoir temperature Mixes with the oil to form a low viscosity, low surface tension fluid that can be more easily displaced. Has the capability of invading zones not previously invaded by water and releasing trapped oil Availability High cost production ( 97% purity) Transport Harming environment (Global Warming) Corrosions [The first patent for CO2 EOR technology was granted to Whorton, Brownscombe, and Dyes of the Atlantic Refining Company in 1952]

CO2 vs GRO Recovery Similarity Difference in GOR Used at high pressure and reservoir temperature Mix with the oil to form a low viscosity, low surface tension fluid that can be more easily displaced. Have the capability of invading zones not previously invaded by water and releasing trapped oil Both can recover more than 90% of the trapped oil Very low cost production Raw materials are available Environmentally friendly Applicable for different types of oil reservoir Avoid corrosion (PH 6-7) Can be used from secondary phase

UAE Innovation in Oil Recovery Green Recovery Oil UAE Innovation in Oil Recovery

Preparation of the Green Water Extract G1: 1g of dry (G1) leaves in 100 ml of water that contains variable concentrations of salt varying from zero ppm to 171600 ppm. Extract (G2) 1g of dry (G2) leaves in 100 ml of water that contains variable concentrations salt varying from zero ppm to 171600 ppm. Extract G2 Extract G1: Mixture 80:20 Green Water

Physical Characteristics of the Green Water Density and Viscosity at 20 C Interfacial tension (IFT) mN/m at 20 C G1 G2 Viscosity of G1_80_G2_20 = 7.99 mN/m

Sugars reduce viscosity and IFT Patent WO2011049923A2 polysaccharide materials as viscosity reducers in petroleum applications. The disclosed hydrophobically modified polysaccharides have been demonstrated to reduce interfacial tension to below 65 mN/m and thereby improve the transportability of inherently viscous hydrocarbon fluids, such as heavy crude oils. This invention accordingly relates to improved methods of reducing the apparent viscosity of hydrocarbon fluids encountered in petroleum operations to facilitate the flow of such fluids between two locations. In a preferred aspect, the invention relates to reducing the viscosity of petroleum products, such as heavy oil and crude oils, to facilitate its transport out of the subterranean formation or between the site of recovery (e.g., oil well). These emulsions, in turn, will increase the oil production and provide a cost-effective alternative to heated pipelines or diluents for transportation of heavy oil.

Concentrations (mg/l) 563.10 The mixture 80-20 % (Our GRO) contains some sugars, proteins, lipids and saponin. The total content of the organic compounds in the mixture is presented in the Table below Compounds Concentrations (mg/l) Fructose 563.10 Sucrose 179.50 Maltose 183.61 Total sugars 926.21 Proteins 281 Lipids 6 Saponin 13.6 (mg/gr) 1.36 %

Laboratory experimental work Materials: The oil and the water were supplied by the oil company ADCO. The green mixture was provided by the company Aashab. Oil from Abu Hassa Brine Water from Um Rudhuma Green mixture Four types of cores

Experimental setup

Experimental Results (90oC) Core Length cm Diameter Porosity % Salinity Oil Recovery 1 8.22 3.85 18.90 86000 77 2 7.16 3.84 13.48 68 3 7.81 19.80 163054 90 4 5.22 15.68 170000 96

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