D.N. Rao, B.D. Saikia
Louisiana state university,
United States
Keywords: environment, sustaianabilty, flared gas elimination, gas-assisted gravity drainage, hydroflame
Summary:
The International Energy Agency forecasts that oil and gas will remain central to the global energy system through 2050. This presentation describes two novel and patented technologies, HydroFlame (HF) and Gas-Assisted Gravity Drainage (GAGD) enhanced oil recovery, that would enable the oil and gas industry to achieve environmental sustainability. The first innovation is a new way of carrying out combustion directly in a flowing stream of water – called the “HydroFlame” or “fire-in-water” technology. This new concept enables the capture of natural gas from remote oilfields that is currently being flared causing energy wastage and large CO2 emissions. The second innovation is the novel Gas-Assisted Gravity Drainage process of enhancing oil recovery by flue gas injection. The GAGD process consists of placing horizontal producers near the bottom of the payzone and injecting gas through existing vertical wells used in prior waterfloods. Since the GAGD process allows for the natural segregation of gas and liquid, unlike current industry practices that attempt to confront natural segregation, high hydrocarbon recoveries (65-95%) have been obtained in laboratory experiments. Both these technologies have been field-tested with positive results which will be shared in the presentation.