# US 12,001,767 B2 · Determination of oil removed by gas via miscible displacement in reservoir rock > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,001,767 B2 - Document ID: US12001767B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 18/317,473 - Filed: 2023-05-15 - Published: 2023-11-09 - Granted: 2024-06-04 - Earliest claimed: 2018-08-21 - Assignees: Dassault Systemes Americas Corp. - Applicants: Dassault Systemes Simulia Corp. - Inventors: Bernd Crouse; Rui Xu; Guangyuan Sun - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12001767B2 ## CPC - E21B 43/166: {Injecting a gaseous medium; Injecting a gaseous medium and a liquid medium (CO2 injection E21B43/164; steam injection E21B43/24)} - G06F 30/28: using fluid dynamics, e.g. using Navier-Stokes equations or computational fluid dynamics [CFD] - E21B 41/00: Equipment or details not covered by groups E21B15/00 - E21B40/00 - E21B 49/00: Testing the nature of borehole walls; Formation testing; Methods or apparatus for obtaining samples of soil or well fluids, specially adapted to earth drilling or wells - G01V 20/00: Geomodelling in general - G06T 7/60: Analysis of geometric attributes - E21B 43/168: {Injecting a gaseous medium} - E21B 43/20: Displacing by water - G06T 2207/10081: Computed x-ray tomography [CT] - G06T 2207/30181: Earth observation - Y02A 10/40: Controlling or monitoring, e.g. of flood or hurricane; Forecasting, e.g. risk assessment or mapping - E21B: EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR A SLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) - G01V: GEOPHYSICS; GRAVITATIONAL MEASUREMENTS; DETECTING MASSES OR OBJECTS; TAGS (means for indicating the location of accidentally buried, e.g. snow-buried, persons A63B29/02) - G06T: IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL - Y02A: TECHNOLOGIES FOR ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE ## Abstract Systems, methods, and computer program products can be used for determining the amount of oil removed by a miscible gas flood. One of the methods includes identifying locations of oil within a volume representing a reservoir rock sample. The method includes identifying locations of gas within the volume. The method also includes determining the amount of oil removed based on locations within the volume where oil is either coincident with the gas or is connected to the gas by a continuous oil path. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A computer implemented method for enhanced oil recovery from a porous medium, the method comprising: identifying one or more representations of oil within voxels representing the porous medium; identifying one or more representations of gas within the voxels representing the porous medium; and determining one or more of the voxels representing oil and gas to estimate the amount of oil that is recoverable from the porous medium. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein identifying one or more representations of oil further comprises: executing a first numerical multiphase flow simulation to obtain predictions of flow behavior of oil in the presence of a waterflood of the porous medium; and wherein identifying one or more representations of gas further comprises: executing a second numerical multiphase flow simulation to obtain predictions of flow behavior for a gas flood of the porous medium. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the amount of recoverable oil is determined based on voxels where oil is coincident with the gas. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the amount of recoverable oil is determined based on voxels where oil is connected to the gas by a continuous oil path. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 further comprising: generating a digital representation from data corresponding to a three-dimensional imaging of the reek porous medium. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The method of claim 5 further comprising: analyzing the digital representation to determine characteristics of a pore space network within the digital representation. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The method of claim 6 wherein determining one or more voxels representing oil and gas, comprises: performing a logical AND operation on data representing a state of the pore space after a waterflood stage and a state of the pore space after a gas flood stage. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The method of claim 7 wherein determining one or more of the voxels representing oil and gas, further comprises: identifying voxels that have oil and are in a direct displacement; and identifying voxels that have connected hydrocarbon phases to one or more of the voxels representing oil and gas. ### Claim 9 A system for enhanced oil recovery from a porous medium, the system comprising: one or more processor devices; memory operatively coupled to the one or more processor devices; and computer storage storing executable program instructions to cause the system to: identify one or more representations of oil within voxels representing reek the porous medium; identify one or more representations of gas within the voxels representing the representing porous medium; and determine one or more of the voxels representing oil and gas to estimate the amount of oil that is recoverable from the porous medium. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The system of claim 9 wherein the instructions to identify one or more representations of oil further comprise instructions to: execute a first numerical multiphase flow simulation to obtain predictions of flow behavior of oil in the presence of a waterflood of the porous medium; and wherein instructions to identify one or more representations of gas further comprise instructions to: execute a second numerical multiphase flow simulation to obtain predictions of flow behavior for a gas flood of the porous medium. ### Claim 11 (depends on 9) The system of claim 9 wherein the amount of recoverable oil is determined based on voxels where oil is coincident with the gas. ### Claim 12 (depends on 9) The system of claim 9 wherein the amount of recoverable oil is determined based on voxels where oil is connected to the gas by a continuous oil path. ### Claim 13 (depends on 9) The system of claim 9, wherein the instructions further comprise: generate a digital representation from data corresponding to a three-dimensional imaging of the porous medium; and analyze the digital representation to determine characteristics of a pore space network within the digital representation. ### Claim 14 (depends on 10) The system of claim 10 wherein determining one or more of the voxels representing oil and gas, comprises: perform a logical AND operation on data representing a state of the pore space after the waterflood stage and a state of the pore space after the gas flood stage. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The system of claim 14 wherein determining voxels where oil is connected to the gas by a continuous oil path, further comprises: identify voxels that have oil and are in a direct displacement; and identify voxels that have connected hydrocarbon phases to one or more of the voxels representing oil and gas. ### Claim 16 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein determining one or more of the voxels representing oil and gas comprises determining one or more of the voxels representing oil is either coincident with gas or is connected to gas by an oil path. ### Claim 17 A computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory storage device, for enhanced oil recovery from a porous medium, the computer program product comprising instructions to cause a system to: identify one or more representations of oil within voxels representing reek the porous medium; identify one or more representations of gas within the voxels representing the porous medium; and determine one or more of the voxels representing oil and gas to estimate the amount of oil that is recoverable from the porous medium. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The computer program product of claim 17 wherein the instructions to identify one or more representations of oil further comprise instructions to: execute a first numerical multiphase flow simulation to obtain predictions of flow behavior of oil in the presence of a waterflood of the porous medium; and wherein instructions to identify one or more representations of gas further comprises instructions to: execute a second numerical multiphase flow simulation to obtain predictions of flow behavior for a gas flood of the porous medium. ### Claim 19 (depends on 17) The computer program product of claim 17 wherein the amount of recoverable oil is determined based on voxels where oil is coincident with the gas and where oil is connected to the gas by a continuous oil path. ### Claim 20 (depends on 17) The computer program product of claim 17, further comprising instructions to: generate a digital representation from data corresponding to a three-dimensional imaging of the porous medium; analyze the digital representation to determine characteristics of a pore space network within the digital representation; and perform a logical AND operation on data representing a state of the pore space after a waterflood stage and a state of the pore space after a gas flood stage. ### Claim 21 (depends on 20) The computer program product of claim 20 wherein instructions to determine one or more of the voxels representing oil and gas, further comprises instructions to: identify voxels that have oil and are in a direct displacement; and identify voxels that have connected hydrocarbon phases to one or more of the voxels representing oil and gas.