Exothermicity and oxidation behavior of tight oil with cuttings from the Wolfcamp shale reservoir

ABSTRACT

Differential scanning calorimetry was employed to investigate the effect of shale core on the combustion reactions of tight oil from the Wolfcamp shale reservoir for the air injection process. The results indicated that the shale cuttings show a strong catalytic effect on the tight oil combustion process. It also implies the potential of the Wolfcamp shale reservoir for implementing air injection process. The effect of heating rates on light oil combustion was discussed, and corresponding recommendations were also made.

KEYWORDS:

• Air injection
• differential scanning calorimetry, DSC
• exothermicity
• oxidation kinetics
• tight oil

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Texas Tech University Materials Characterization Center for providing TG and DSC equipment for this study.

Funding

This work is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy under Award No. DE-FE0024311. The special fund from the NSFC (No. 51404202) is also greatly appreciated.