The movement of individual hydrocarbons in a high pressure displacement process

Abstract

In this investigation the effects of sand grain size, injection rate, and type of gas injected upon the recovery of the intermediate (C₂-C₆) hydrocarbons by high pressure gas injection were studied by making a series of displacement tests on a sand-pack 20ft. long and one inch in diameter. In each of the displacement experiments an attempt was made to maintain a constant flow rate at a constant injection pressure. All of the reported data were obtained from experiments made with one mixture of intermediate hydrocarbons. Three different sands were used. The finest had a permeability of 2.1 Darcys while the coarsest had a permeability of 13.7 Darcys. Injection rates of 1, 2, and 3 ml/min with the gases methane, nitrogen and flue gas were used. During each experiment, samples of the produced fluid were analyzed for each component. In spite of constant concentrations before the breakthrough time, separation of components was noticed after that time. The concentrations of the produced hydrocarbons after breakthrough formed profiles with peaks in the same order as the volatility of the hydrocarbons. ...