Study of the impact of various porous media on pore space utilization and CO2 storage by injection of microbubbles into oil reservoirs

CO2 capture and storage technology have the potential to help reach net zero emissions. CO2-enhanced oil recovery (CO2 EOR) is a favourable method. Limited pilot testing has provided preliminary evidence that the unique physical properties of gas microbubbles (MBs) can be used to improve pore utilization efficiency. In this study, supercritical CO2 injection at 0.05 mL/min into sand samples with different grain sizes under reservoir conditions was investigated by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The spatial distribution of the CO2 and oil and the dynamic pore occupancy mechanism were determined for the first time, and the results from normal bubbles (NBs) and MBs were compared. The results show a more significant left shift of the transverse relaxation time in the case of MB injection, which means that CO2 can easily occupy a wide range of large pore spaces. Dynamic changes in the oil volume in the four types of pores classified by the transverse relaxation time indicate that the oil in large pores is flushed earlier when MB is injected and that the CO2 saturation in minimal pores (T2 relaxation time range from 5 ms to 100 ms) and small pores (T2 relaxation time range from 100 ms to 500 ms) increases. The cumulative oil volume fraction decreases by 9.0% when injecting MBs. From the perspective of carbon storage, the gas storage potential is significantly enhanced within low-permeability sand when injected with MBs. The maximum volume of free CO2 was enhanced by 16.9% in this case. In addition, the storage efficiency is enhanced up to 5.1% for low-permeability sand and 1.6% for medium-permeability sand. However, bubble flow is not as advantageous in high-permeability sand. Considering dissolution trapping, the storage efficiency reaches 26.3%.