The mission of the Institute for Improved Oil Recovery (IIOR) is to develop technology to improve recovery of crude oil and natural gas from petroleum reservoirs and apply improved oil recovery technology to in situ clean-up of hazardous wastes. The IIOR research projects include imaging of porous and fractured media, formation evaluation, multiphase flow in porous and fractured media, interaction of phase behavior and fluid flow, enhanced oil recovery, viscous oil recovery, reservoir characterization, CO2 sequestration, production stimulation and flow assurance. State-of-the-art experimental and numerical methodologies are being developed. The current research is funded by oil and service companies, the U. S. Department of Energy and the State of Texas.

Current Projects:

• Improved Viscous Oil Recovery: Solvent injection processes are being developed to improve oil recovery from moderately viscous (50-200 cp) oil reservoirs. Horizontal wells and electromagnetic heating are being considered for improved well deliverability. Streamline simulators are being developed for accurate sweep efficiency calculation.

• Dilute Surfactant Methods for Fractured Carbonate Formations: Improved gravity drainage techniques are being developed to enhance recovery from fractured carbonates. Inexpensive surfactant methods are being developed for low interfacial tension, wettability alteration and reduced adsorption.

• NMR Logging for Core Characterization, with Rice University: The effect of pore structure and wettability on NMR response, permeability and relative permeability is being studied.

• Modeling of Hydrates in Porous Media: Hydrate reservoirs may contain large deposits of natural gas in marine and arctic environments. Robust simulators are being developed to model formation and decomposition of hydrates in natural sediments.

• Wettability Alteration for Gas Wells: Chemicals are being identified that alter the wettability of reservoirs to gas-wetting state in the near wellbore region. The rocks of a fractured carbonate reservoir have been characterized. Improved oil recovery techniques are being investigated.

• Foams: Highly stable aqueous foams are being developed. Their rheology and mass transfer properties are being characterized. Applications for fracturing and tank loading are being studied.

1. High pressure core flooding: Miscible flooding can be conducted in gas injection or WAG injection mode in cores, quarter 5-spots and slimtubes with live oils.

   

   

2. Chemical Flooding: Surfactant, polymer and other chemical flooding can be tested on cores. Spontaneous imbibition can be measured with chemicals. Adsorption, phase behavior, and rheology etc. can be measured.

   

   

3. Colloid and Surface Properties: Contact angles can be measured by a computer-aided goniometer. Interfacial tension can be measured by spinning tube tensiometers. Nanometer-scale depositions can be detected by atomic force microscopy (AFM).

   

   

4. Imaging & Porous Media Characterization: Vertical Technicare 2060 X-ray CT scanner, Skyscan microCT, imaging microscope, high pressure centrifuge, BET porosimeter etc.

   

   

   

1. Sun, X. & Mohanty, K. K., "Kinetic Simulation of Methane Hydrate Formation and Dissociation in Porous Media," Chem. Eng. Sci., 61, 3476-3495 (2006).

2. Adibhatla, B., Mohanty, K. K., Berger, P. & Lee, C. "Effect of Surfactants on Wettability of Near-Wellbore Regions of Gas Reservoirs," J. Pet. Sci. Eng., 52, 227-236 (2006).

3. Lewis, E., Dao, E. K., & Mohanty, K. K., "Sweep Efficiency of Miscible Floods in a High-Pressure Quarter Five-Spot Model," SPE 102764, Proceedings of SPE ATCE, San Antonio, Sept. 24-27, 2006.

4. Adibhatla, B. & Mohanty, K. K., "Oil Recovery from Fractured Carbonates by Surfactant–Aided Gravity Drainage: Laboratory Experiments and Mechanistic Simulation," SPE 99773, Proceedings of SPE/DOE 15th Symposium on Improved Oil Recovery, Tulsa, April 22-26, 2006.

5. App, J. F. & Mohanty, K. K., "Relative Permeability Estimation for Rich Gas-Condensate Reservoirs," Transport in Porous Media, 58 (3), 287-313 (2005).

6. Sun, X., Nanchary, N. & Mohanty, K. K., "1-D Modeling of Hydrate Depressurization in Porous Media," Transport in Porous Media, 58, 315-318 (2005).

7. Ogunlana, D. & Mohanty, K. K., "Compositional Upscaling in Fractured Reservoirs during Gas Recycling," JPSE, 46, 1-21 (2005).

8. Kumar, K., Dao, E. & Mohanty, K. K., "AFM Study of Mineral Wettability with Reservoir Oils," J. of Coll. Interf. Sci, 289, 206-217 (2005).

9. Sun, X. & Mohanty, K. K., "Estimating Flow Functions During Drainage Using Genetic Algorithm," SPEJ, 449-457 (December, 2005).

10. Sun, X. & Mohanty, K. K., "Simulation of Methane Hydrate Reservoirs," SPE 93015, Proceedings of SPE Reservoir Simulation Symposium, Woodlands, Feb. 2005.

11. Kumar, K., Dao, E. & Mohanty, K. K., "Atomic Force Microscopy Study of Wettability Alteration," SPE 93009, Proceedings of SPE Intl. Symp. on Oil Field Chemistry, Woodlands, Feb. 2-5, 2005.

12. Dao, E. K., Lewis, E., & Mohanty, K. K., "Multicontact Miscible Flooding in a High-Pressure Quarter Five-Spot Model," SPE 97918, Proceedings of SPE ATCE, Dallas, Oct. 9-12, 2005.

13. Bhambri, P. & Mohanty, K. K., "Streamline Simulation of Four-Phase WAG Processes," SPE 96940, Proceedings of SPE ATCE, Dallas, Oct. 9-12, 2005.

14. Adibhatla, B., Sun, X., & Mohanty, K. K., "Numerical Studies of Oil Production from Initially Oil-Wet Fracture Blocks by Surfactant Brine Imbibition," SPE 97687, Proceedings of SPE International Improved Oil Recovery Conference, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 4–6 December, 2005.

15. Gautam, P. S. & Mohanty, K. K., "Matrix-Fracture Transfer Through Countercurrent Imbibition in Presence of Fracture Fluid Flow," Transport in Porous Media, 55, 309-337 (2004).

16. Hidajat, I., Mohanty, K. K., Flaum, M., and Hirasaki, G., "Study of Vuggy Carbonates using NMR & X-ray CT Scanning," SPEREE, 7 (5), 365-377 (October, 2004).

17. Seethepalli, A., Adibhatla, B. & Mohanty, K. K., "Physicochemical Interactions During Surfactant Flooding of Carbonate Reservoirs," SPE J., 9 (4), 411-418 (December, 2004).

18. Tu, R., Mohanty, K. K. & Tirrell, M., "Liposomal Targeting Through Peptide-Amphiphile Functionalization," American Pharmaceutical Review, 7 (2), 36-41 (2004).

19. Gautam, P. S. & Mohanty, K. K., "Novel Aqueous Foams for Suppressing VOC Emission," Environ. Sci. Technol., 38 (4), 2721-2728 (2004).

20. Gautam, P. S. & Mohanty, K. K., "Mass Transfer of Volatile Organic Carbons Through Aqueous Foams," J. of Coll. Interf. Sci, 273, 611-625 (2004).

21. Adibhatla, B., Mohanty, K. K., Berger, P. & Lee, C. "Effect of Surfactants on Wettability of Near-Wellbore Regions of Gas Reservoirs," Proceedings of 8th International Symposium on Reservoir Wettability, Houston, May 16-18, 2004.

22. Singh, M. & Mohanty, K. K.: "Dynamic Modeling of Drainage through Three-dimensional Porous Materials," Chem. Eng. Sci. 58, 1-18 (2003).

23. Mohanty, K. K.: "The Near-Term Energy Challenge," AIChE Journal, 49 (10), 2454-2460 (2003).

24. Li, F., Vipulanandan, C & Mohanty, K. K.: "Microemulsion and Solution Approaches to Nanoparticle Production for Degradation of Trichloroethylene," Colloids & Surfaces A, 223, 103-112 (2003).

25. Singh, M., Hidajat, I. & Mohanty, K. K.: "NMR Response of a Porous Media: Parallel Implementation," Chem. Eng. Comm. 190, 1661-1680 (2003).

26. Mohanty, K. K.: "Energy Challenges of the 21st Century," in Role of Chemical Engineering in Processing of Minerals and Materials, pp 158-166, Edited by Mohanty, J. N. et al., Allied Publishers, New Delhi, 2003.

27. Li, D., Kumar, K., & Mohanty, K. K., "Compositional Simulation of WAG Processes for a Viscous Oil," SPE 84074, Proceedings of SPE ATCE, Denver, Oct. 5-8, 2003.

28. Hidajat, I., Rastogi, A., Singh, M. and Mohanty, K. K.: "Transport Properties of Porous Media from Thin-Sections," SPE J., 7, 40-48 (2002).

29. Chu, C. P., Ju, S. P., Lee, D. J., and Mohanty, K. K.: "Batch Gravitational Sedimentation of Slurries," J. Coll. Interf. Sci., 245, 178-186 (2002).

30. App, J. F. and Mohanty, K. K.: "The Benefit of Local Saturation Measurements in Relative Permeability Estimation from Centrifuge Experiments," SPE J., 7, 288-298 (September 2002).

31. Hidajat, I., Singh, M., Cooper, J. & Mohanty, K. K.: "Permeability of Porous Media from Simulated NMR Response," Transport in Porous Media, 48, 225-247 (2002).

32. App, J. F. and Mohanty, K. K.: "Gas & Condensate Relative Permeability at Near-Critical Conditions," JPSE, 36, 111-126 (2002).