Abstract:
Tight/shale oil is an important strategic resource for sustaining long-term stable oil and gas production in China and safeguarding national energy security. However, its development commonly faces low oil recovery and difficulty in mobilizing remaining oil, highlighting the urgent need for economical and efficient enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technologies. To address this issue, molecular dynamics simulations were employed to systematically investigate the miscibility behavior and transport characteristics of three binary gas mixtures, namely CO
2-CH
4, CO
2-C
2H
6, and CO
2-C
3H
8, with tight/shale oil in both bulk systems and quartz nanopores. The governing mechanisms by which gas-mixture type, gas composition, and oil composition regulate miscibility and displacement efficiency were clarified. The results show that the dissolution capacity and molecular diffusivity of gas mixtures govern their miscibility with crude oil and displacement efficiency, respectively. The miscibility capability follows the order of CO
2-C
3H
8>CO
2-C
2H
6>CO
2-CH
4, whereas the displacement efficiency shows the opposite trend. Injection of CO
2-C
2H
6 and CO
2-C
3H
8 mixtures provides the dual advantages of improving oil displacement efficiency and expanding the mobilized volume. Specifically, CO
2-C
2H
6 is more suitable for lighter oils, whereas CO
2-C
3H
8 is preferred for heavier oils, and both can significantly improve reservoir development performance. Based on these findings, the injection-gas composition can be dynamically adjusted in field development according to the EOR benefits and environmental benefits of CO
2 injection, thereby synergistically enhancing miscibility and displacement efficiency and improving development performance. This study helps improve resource utilization efficiency and extend the productive life of oilfields, providing a scientific basis for enhancing the overall benefits of the full CCUS chain.