State-of-the Art Low Salinity Waterflooding for Enhanced Oil Recovery

Abstract

Summary Low salinity waterflooding (LSW) is an emerging enhanced oil recovery technique in which the salinity of the injectedwater is controlled to improve oil recovery vs. conventional, higher salinity waterflooding. Despite significant growing interest in LSW, a consistent mechanistic study has not yet emerged, and the mechanisms behind the LSW process have been debated for the last decade due to the complexity of the crude oil-brine-rock interactions. The intent of this paper is to: Provide a concise review of the current understanding of LSW mechanism and prediction methods; Address the current development and challenges of LSW modeling and numerical simulation; Summarize and highlight the success and failur of LSW implementation in pilot tests; Discuss the potential of a Hybrid LSW in the current and future projects.