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 Recently,
operators in Canada have been experimenting with developing new
frontiers of this technology including new polymers and new
solvents.ASP (Alkali Surfactant Polymer) is a fairly new flood technology. Most ASP floods in Canada have started in the last 10 years. Some companies are diluting polymer in produced water. This has benefits of reduced load on fresh water sources – rivers and lakes. However, it has several technical challenges to overcome including a higher dry polymer load requirement. Some operators are experimenting with different polymers. At least one company is experimenting with nanosphere polymers made for high temperature water blocking applications. ASP can be used to flooding 19 API oil and boost recovery to 50% in some conventional reservoirs. ASP is used to combat fingering and improve sweep. How will ASP be used in horizontal multi-fractured reservoirs? These will be prime targets for sweep improvement and fingering mitigation. But very few operators have tried this flood technology combined with multi-frac wells. The combination of the three chemicals is synergistic. Together they are more effective than as components alone. Addition of a surfactant lowers the interfacial tension between water and oil which helps to reduce capillary pressure in the reservoir. This allows residual oil to be mobilized and produced from the formation. The use of alkali adds many benefits to an ASP flood. The alkali reacts with elements of the oil to form in-situ surfactants. Additionally, it helps make the reservoir rock more water wet, thus increasing the flood effectiveness. As alkali is inexpensive, this helps to reduce the cost of an ASP flood. ~Granger J. Low |
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