Air Injection
Air injection for improving oil recovery is termed In-Situ Combustion when applied to viscous heavy oil reservoirs, and High Pressure Air Injection when used in deep, light oil reservoirs.
Factors that make air injection attractive include:
- the universal availability of air
- the wide range of applicable reservoirs
- high sweep efficiency expected by the thermal front
- favourable economic and environmental factors
A state-of-the-art, high-pressure air injection laboratory at the University of Calgary, Alberta is now receiving considerable attention for its work in advancing air injection in the oil recovery process. The process involves the injection of compressed air into an oil reservoir. The oxygen in the injected air reacts with a small fraction of the reservoir oil at an elevated temperature to produce carbon dioxide. With lighter oils, the resulting products of combustion provide a mobilizing force to oil downstream of the reaction region, sweeping the oil to production wells.
