Operational Risk Assessment
Why Operational Risk Assessment?
Operational impact of a chemical EOR project must be investigated from the beginning of the feasibility study. The Alliance works to assess the operational risks associated with a Chemical EOR program, including:
- Checking the compatibility of the optimized EOR formulation with the recommended production chemicals;
- Assessing the primary risk of emulsion formation by performing bottle testing and visual observations of various emulsion breakers and water clarification chemistries;
- Determining scaling potential on the production side particularly in systems with heat exchangers or heater, treaters;
- Evaluating microbiological activity, determining impact of biocides on formulation/polymer viscosity;
- Determining foaming tendency and the impact of defoamers on polymer viscosity.
- In addition, especially for offshore applications, testing the topside facilities at semi-industrial scale before implementation is critical for the viability of the project.
Our Process
The EOR Alliance makes use of an inhouse industrial-scale test platform (i.e. the Gas-Oil-Waster Separation Platform loop) including a 3″ closed-loop operated with real fluids such as natural gas, crude oil and salted water. The platform enables the thorough study of three-phase separation, with specific tools dedicated to test complex technical challenges such as the impact of EOR chemicals in separators.
The GOwSP platform at IFPEN Lyon, France