OVERVIEW
EOGRRC research group at the University of Alberta led by Dr. Babadagli work on problems related to the efficiency of enhanced oil and gas recovery in fractured and non-fractured reservoirs, and characterization of this kind of reservoirs. Currently, the group consists of a number of graduate students at MSc and PhD levels involved in different projects. The problems we deal with can be outlined as follows:

ENHANCED OIL AND GAS RECOVERY (EOGR):
LEFT: Water displacing air (lighter color) by co-current capillary imbibition at 80 C and RIGHT: Pentane (red color) displacing mineral oil by counter-current diffusion in a matrix, both in upward direction
  • Development of mature oil fields (light-oil) through EOR (Dilute surfactant and nitrogen injection as tertiary oil recovery). Tertiary recovery (miscible, CO2) potential of mature oil/heavy-oil fields.
  • Modeling matrix-fracture interaction during waterflooding, thermal (steam and hot-water), chemical (surfactants and polymers), and miscible (solvent) injection applications in oil/heavy-oil reservoirs.
  • Optimal use of CO2 in enhanced oil recovery and sequestration.
  • Heavy oil-bitumen recovery: Efficiency of SAGD, VAPEX, CSS processes.
  • Modeling fluid flow in 2-D fractal porous media.
  • Understanding the mechanics of spontaneous imbibition (co- and counter-current) of gas-liquid and liquid-liquid systems at elevated temperatures and low interfacial tension.
  • Heat, mass and volume transfers between fracture and matrix in fractured reservoirs.
  • Effect of ultrasonic waves on capillary and viscous displacement in porous media.
  • Flow of loss control and well stimulation chemicals/materials in fractures and porous media.
  • Modeling multiphase flow in a single fracture considering the effect of surface roughness.
Viscous fingering during mineral oil displacement by kerosene with (RIGHT) and without ultrasonic energy (LEFT)

RESERVOIR CHARACTERIZATION (RC):


  • Characterization of fracture surfaces and networks through fractal and percolation theories.
  • Fracture network mapping.
  • Permeability–porosity correlations for carbonates using conventional and NMR logs.
  • Permeability-distribution assessment through well test analysis.
  • Up-scaling of permeability using fractal concept.
  • Fracture patterns of hot dry rocks and their effects on heat transport.