Laboratory experiment in combustion tube was conducted to evaluate the potential of the high-pressure air injection method and to determine the main parameters of combustion process in the source rocks of the Bazhenov formation. This study is designed for physical modeling of oil recovery from the reservoir in high-pressure combustion tube. Core pack consisted of rock samples of various forms from several fields in Western Siberia and was saturated with dead oil from selected Bazhenov formation producing wells. Oil ignited readily after preheating of ignition zone of combustion tube up to 200 °C. During the process, gas composition was monitored to assess the intensity of the oxidation reactions. Produced oil samples composition was analyzed and pyrolysis analysis of rock chips prior to and after the chemical and thermal exposure was done. As a result, several exothermic peaks in each of the tube sections were observed, which might corresponds to the combustion of initial oil, synthetic oil and kerogen. Due to the combustion front propagation, the total residual oil saturation in the core pack was 2%. Minimal residual oil saturation was observed in zones that the combustion front has passed through. Maximum oil saturation corresponds to the areas in front of the combustion front. Conversion of kerogen was observed ahead of the combustion front. The maximum temperature that was achieved as a result of the exothermic combustion reactions, was 463 °C. Results indicated a high potential of high-pressure air injection based method for the development of Bazhenov formation deposits.
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