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New Insights into Enhanced Oil Recovery Process Analysis and Application,...
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New Insights into Enhanced Oil Recovery Process Analysis and Application, 2nd Edition

A special issue of Processes (ISSN 2227-9717). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Systems".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 December 2025 | Viewed by 2103

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Kang Zhou

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Energy and Mining Engineering, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266590, China
Interests: enhanced oil recovery; chemical flooding; multiphase flow in porous media; intelligent oil production optimization
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Qingjun Du

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, China
Interests: enhanced oil recovery; thermal oil recovery method; cold production method for heavy oil reservoir
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Various enhanced oil recovery methods have been widely used to improve reservoir development performance. Chemical flooding methods effectively enhance the oil recovery of heterogeneous oil reservoirs. Thermal oil recovery methods have been successfully applied in heavy oil reservoirs. Considering the extensive depletion of easily accessible resources and environmental concerns, researchers and engineers must provide new insights into enhanced oil recovery methods for developing oil reservoirs operating in harsh conditions. In recent years, a promising chemical method that introduces viscoelastic soft solid particles into a polymer/surfactant solution was used successfully in a pilot test at the Shengli Oilfield in China. This new insight breaks the tradition of only using homogeneous liquid or gas phases when displacing fluid in petroleum engineering. Another example is the chemical cold production method for harsh heavy oil reservoirs, where traditional thermal methods show poor performance because of the high humidity of steam and poorly developed steam cavities, leading to serious heat loss and negative environmental impacts. In fact, the revolution in enhanced oil recovery methods is just beginning, and more efforts are needed from researchers worldwide.

This Special Issue on “New Insights into Enhanced Oil Recovery Process Analysis and Application” aims to gather and promote information on the development and application of enhanced oil recovery methods to improve oil development performance in harsh reservoirs. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Chemical flooding methods;
  • Thermal oil recovery methods;
  • Cold production methods for heavy oil reservoirs;
  • Multiphase seepage flow in enhanced oil recovery;
  • Intelligent oil production optimization.

The 1st Edition of this Special Issue published 12 papers: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/processes/special_issues/8MNVP8IB18

Dr. Kang Zhou
Dr. Qingjun Du
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Processes is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • enhanced oil recovery
  • chemical flooding
  • thermal oil recovery
  • cold production
  • multiphase seepage flow
  • intelligent oil production optimization

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

29 pages, 3835 KB  
Article
Pre-Trained Surrogate Model for Fracture Propagation Based on LSTM with Integrated Attention Mechanism
by Xiaodong He, Huiyang Tian, Jinliang Xie, Luyao Wang, Hao Liu, Runhao Zhong, Qinzhuo Liao and Shouceng Tian
Processes 2025, 13(9), 2764; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr13092764 - 29 Aug 2025
Viewed by 405
Abstract
The development of unconventional oil and gas resources highly relies on hydraulic fracturing technology, and the fracturing effect directly affects the level of oil and gas recovery. Carrying out fracturing evaluation is the main way to understand the fracturing effect. However, the current [...] Read more.
The development of unconventional oil and gas resources highly relies on hydraulic fracturing technology, and the fracturing effect directly affects the level of oil and gas recovery. Carrying out fracturing evaluation is the main way to understand the fracturing effect. However, the current fracturing evaluation methods are usually carried out after the completion of fracturing operations, making it difficult to achieve real-time monitoring and dynamic regulation of the fracturing process. In order to solve this problem, an intelligent prediction method for fracture propagation based on the attention mechanism and Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) neural network was proposed to improve the fracturing effect. Firstly, the GOHFER software was used to simulate the fracturing process to generate 12,000 groups of fracture geometric parameters. Then, through parameter sensitivity analysis, the key factors affecting fracture geometric parameters are identified. Next, the time-series data generated during the fracturing process were collected. Missing values were filled using the K-nearest neighbor algorithm. Outliers were identified by applying the 3-sigma method. Features were combined through the binomial feature transformation method. The wavelet transform method was adopted to extract the time-series features of the data. Subsequently, an LSTM model integrated with an attention mechanism was constructed, and it was trained using the fracture geometric parameters generated by GOHFER software, forming a surrogate model for fracture propagation. Finally, the surrogate model was applied to an actual fracturing well in Block Ma 2 of the Mabei Oilfield to verify the model performance. The results show that by correlating the pumping process with the fracture propagation process, the model achieves the prediction of changes in fracture geometric parameters and Stimulated Reservoir Volume (SRV) throughout the entire fracturing process. The model’s prediction accuracy exceeds 75%, and its response time is less than 0.1 s, which is more than 1000 times faster than that of GOHFER software. The model can accurately capture the dynamic propagation of fractures during fracturing operations, providing reliable guidance and decision-making basis for on-site fracturing operations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Insights into Enhanced Oil Recovery Process Analysis and Application, 2nd Edition)
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13 pages, 2158 KB  
Article
Fast History Matching and Flow Channel Identification for Polymer Flooding Reservoir with a Physics-Based Data-Driven Model
by Zhijie Wei, Yongzheng Cui, Yanchun Su and Wensheng Zhou
Processes 2025, 13(8), 2610; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr13082610 - 18 Aug 2025
Viewed by 345
Abstract
The offshore reservoir development involves large injection and production rates and high injection pressures. High-permeability flow channels usually occur in offshore unconsolidated heavy-oil reservoirs during long-term water flux, substantially impacting the production performance. As one important method for identifying channeling, the numerical simulation [...] Read more.
The offshore reservoir development involves large injection and production rates and high injection pressures. High-permeability flow channels usually occur in offshore unconsolidated heavy-oil reservoirs during long-term water flux, substantially impacting the production performance. As one important method for identifying channeling, the numerical simulation method with a full-fidelity model is hampered by the low computational efficiency of the history matching process. The GPSNet model is extended for polymer flooding simulations, incorporating complex mechanisms including adsorption and shear-thinning effects, with solutions obtained through a fully implicit numerical scheme. Four flow channel characteristic parameters are proposed, and an evaluation factor M for flow channel identification is established with the comprehensive evaluation method. Finally, the field application of the GPSNet model is made and validated by the tracer interpretation result. The history matching speed based on the GPSNet model is 58 times faster than the full-fidelity ECLIPSE model. In addition, the application demonstrates a high degree of consistency with tracer monitoring results, confirming the accuracy and field feasibility. The new method enables rapid and accurate identification and prediction of large and dominant channels, offering effective guidance for targeted treatment of channels and sustainable development of polymer flooding. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Insights into Enhanced Oil Recovery Process Analysis and Application, 2nd Edition)
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12 pages, 3650 KB  
Article
Research on the Damage Mechanism of Oilfield Water Injection System Based on Multiple Operating Conditions
by Chuanjiang Tan, Yan Fang, Fumin Li, Zeliang Chang, Yongbin Hou, Shuai Wang and Yang Du
Processes 2025, 13(6), 1798; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr13061798 - 5 Jun 2025
Viewed by 578
Abstract
Petroleum is an indispensable energy source in modern industrial society, and maintaining the safe and stable operation of its injection and production system is of great significance. To analyze the mechanism of pipeline damage caused by corrosion and scaling in the injection production [...] Read more.
Petroleum is an indispensable energy source in modern industrial society, and maintaining the safe and stable operation of its injection and production system is of great significance. To analyze the mechanism of pipeline damage caused by corrosion and scaling in the injection production system, taking a water injection pipeline in an oil field as an example, the causes of corrosion and scaling damage were studied by detecting pipeline samples and analyzing corrosion products and various service conditions of the pipeline. The results showed that there was more scaling on the inner wall of the pipeline, and there was local corrosion in the pipeline sections that had experienced water injection, shutdown, and gas injection conditions, while there was no significant corrosion thinning in the pipeline sections that had only experienced water injection and shutdown conditions. The scale layer formed under water injection conditions is mainly composed of barium strontium sulfate (Ba0.75Sr0.25SO4), barium sulfate (BaSO4) and a small amount of silica (SiO2). The main reason for scale formation is the high content of barium ions (Ba2+) in the injected water. The corrosion products formed under gas injection conditions, including strontium ions (Sr2+) and sulfate ions (SO42−), are mainly composed of ferrous carbonate (FeCO3) and ferric oxide (Fe2O3). The pipeline corrosion product FeCO3 is mainly caused by carbon dioxide (CO2) in the medium. In addition, the high liquid content, cecal position, high Cl− (chloride ion) content, and slightly acidic environment in the pipeline also accelerate the occurrence of corrosion damage. The Fe2O3 in the corrosion products is formed when the pipeline is exposed to air after sampling, and is not the main cause of pipeline corrosion. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Insights into Enhanced Oil Recovery Process Analysis and Application, 2nd Edition)
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36 pages, 28595 KB  
Article
Study of the Macro-Mesoscopic Shear Anisotropic Mechanical Behavior of Reservoir Shale
by Zifang Zhu, Bowen Zheng, Shengwen Qi, Songfeng Guo, Guangming Luo, Tao Wang and Jianrui Jiao
Processes 2025, 13(5), 1404; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr13051404 - 4 May 2025
Viewed by 495
Abstract
Shear failure is pivotal in fracture evolution and stimulated reservoir volume (SRV) during hydraulic fracturing, particularly in bedded shale formations. However, the limited availability of coupled macro- and mesoscale experimental data on the shear behavior of reservoir shale constrains a comprehensive understanding of [...] Read more.
Shear failure is pivotal in fracture evolution and stimulated reservoir volume (SRV) during hydraulic fracturing, particularly in bedded shale formations. However, the limited availability of coupled macro- and mesoscale experimental data on the shear behavior of reservoir shale constrains a comprehensive understanding of its anisotropic shear mechanical properties across scales. This study systematically investigates shear anisotropy at both macro- and mesoscales in shale with varying bedding orientations under different normal stress conditions. The key findings are summarized as follows: (1) At lower normal stresses, the anisotropy of peak shear strength was more pronounced, whereas the anisotropy of residual shear strength was relatively weak. As the normal stress increased, the anisotropic effects of bedding on peak and residual shear strengths exhibited opposite trends. The former exhibited a fluctuating decline, whereas the latter showed a progressive increase. (2) The internal friction angle of shale bedding planes was higher than that of the matrix, whereas cohesion exhibited the opposite trend. The internal friction angle corresponding to the peak shear strength reached its maximum at a bedding angle of 45°, while cohesion peaked at a bedding angle of 60°. (3) At lower normal stresses, the cumulative acoustic emission (AE) ringing count curves for shale shear failure followed an “S”-shaped pattern for bedded and matrix shear, differing from the piecewise linear pattern observed in bedded-matrix coupled shear. As the normal stress increased, the bedding-induced effects on macro- and mesoscale shear behavior evolved from non-uniformity to uniformity, reflecting a transition of anisotropy from uncoordinated to coordinated characteristics. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Insights into Enhanced Oil Recovery Process Analysis and Application, 2nd Edition)
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