Redistribution of filtration flows by thermogel at boundary water flooding of oil reservoirs

The results of physical simulation by a two-dimensional reservoir model and numerical calculation by a finite element method for the GALKA-NT thermogel influence on the redistribution of filtration flows of injected water in the oil production by boundary water flooding are presented. The reserve development by this method, especially in the case of viscose oil pools, occurs with an unstable displacement front that causes growing water fingers, which finally transform into the network of water-conducting channels in the direction of the least filtration resistance between well rows. Here the most amount of oil remains in the nonmobile capillary-locked state, which is in dynamic equilibrium with the flow of displacing water. The injection of thermogel into the reservoir area between the wells is shown to widen the displacement front and to increase the reservoir coverage by water flooding at a later stage in order to enhance oil recovery.