Recent developments, challenges, and prospects of ultrasound-assisted oil technologies

Abstract

There has been consistent drive towards research and innovation in oil production technologies in order to achieve improved effectiveness and efficiency in their operation. This drive has resulted in breakthrough in technologies such as the application of ultrasound (US) in demulsification and enhanced oil recovery (EOR), and usage of high-volume hydraulic fracturing and special horizontal well for shale oil and gas extraction. These can be observed in the increment in the number of commercial oil technologies such as EOR projects that rose from 237 in 1996 to 375 in 2017. This sustained expansion in EOR resulted in their total oil production rising from 1.5 million barrels per day in 2005 to 2.3 million barrels per day in 2020. And this is predicted to increase to about 4.7 million barrels per day in 2040, which represent about 4% of total production. Consequently, in this review, the developments in the utilization of US either as standalone or integrated with other technologies in EOR and dehydration of water in oil emulsions were analyzed. The studies include the optimization of fluid and US properties in EOR and demulsification. Reports on the treatment of formation damage resulting from inorganic salts, organic scales, drilling fluid plugs, condensate, paraffin wax and colloidal particle with US-assisted EOR were also highlighted. Moreover, the mechanisms were examined in order to gain insightful understanding and to aid research investigations in these areas. Technologies such as US assisted green demulsification, high intensity focused ultrasound, and potential pathways in field studies were assessed for their feasibilities. It is essential to evaluate these technologies due to the significant accrued benefits in them. The usage of green demulsifiers such as deep eutectic solvents, ionic liquids and bio-demulsifiers has promising future outlook and US could enhance their technical advancement. HiFU has been applied successfully in clinical research and developments in this area can potentiality improve demulsification and interfacial studies (fluid-fluid and solid-fluid interactions). As regards field studies, there is need to increase actual well investigations because present reports have few on-site measurements with most studies being in laboratory scale. Furthermore, there is need for more detailed modeling of these technologies as it would assist in conserving resources, saving research time and fast-tracking oil production. Additional evaluative studies of conditions such as the usage of Raschig rings, crude oil salinity and high temperature which have improved demulsification of crude oil emulsions should be pursued.

Keywords: Demulsification; Emulsion; Enhanced oil recovery; HiFU; Ultrasound.

Graphical abstract

Fig. 1

Total global installed power capacity between 2000 and 2040 in gigawatts (GW) .

Fig. 2

Development of EOR technologies in mb/d (million barrels per day) between 2000 and 2040 under the New Policy Scenario .

Fig. 3

Trends in the research publications in the last decade (2010–2021): a EOR b Demulsification based on Google Scholar.

Fig. 4

Outlook of the developments in the US assisted oil technologies.

Fig. 5

Forces involved in the coalescence of water droplets in crude oil continuous phase.

Fig. 6

Configuration of different online ultrasonic demulsification devices: a US assisted dehydration device for water in oil emulsions separation with secondary re-emulsification suppression capability b Power stabilized, time monitored US System for effective and continuous water in oil emulsion dehydration c Automatic US supported demulsification device d Water in oil emulsion separation aided by an ultrasonic coalescer .

Fig. 7

The mechanism of ultrasonic demulsification: a Effect of US with and without chemical demulsifiers b Effect of US on super heavy crude oil emulsion .

Fig. 8

Effect of ultrasonic transducer parameter on the mechanism of demulsification: a Pulsed vs Continuous US b Creaming effect under different US intensities and time c Low vs High Frequency d Horizontal vs Vertical Banding .

Fig. 9

Experimental set-ups for enhanced oil recovery with US and flooding: a US Supported Plug Elimination Device (Power = 1000 W, f = 18, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50 kHz) b Micro-model apparatus for carbon dioxide flooding of core samples with and without US application towards improved oil recovery assessment (Power = 500 W, f = 40 kHz) c Water Flooding Device with US Irradiation Capacity (Frequency = 37 kHz, Power = 150 W) .

Fig. 10

Removal of inorganic scales in near wellbore region with US: a Ultrasonic flooding set-up (f = 22 kHz, Power = 1000 W) b I Unplugging of sodium chloride deposit within a core sample through the injection of water with and without US treatment II Unplugging of potassium chloride deposit within a core sample through the injection of water with and without US treatment III Saturated Core Sample with Potassium Chloride Before Treatment .

Fig. 11

Displacement of organic scales, colloidal particles and condensates from core samples: a Simulated Improved Oil Recovery Coupled with US system (Power = 100, 200, 1000 W, Frequency = 18, 22, 25, 30, 40, 50 kHz) b Experimental set-up of the displacement device c Precipitate Unplugging Device (Power = 100, 200, 1000 W, Frequency = 18, 22, 25, 30, 40, 50 kHz) d Artificial Core Sample .

Fig. 12

Development of HiFU: a The spherical surface b Focusing surface showing the poly propylene membrane .

Fig. 13

Coalescence using ionic liquids as demulsifier at different times: a 0 min b 30 min c 1 h d 2 h .

Fig. 14

Configuration used in the field study of US stimulation at the Samotlor oil well .

Fig. 15

a Potential design for commercial application of sonochemical methods b Two-in-one cable for transducer and demulsifier delivery downhole .