Investigation on the limiting oxygen concentration of combustible gas at high pressures and temperatures during oil recovery process

Abstract High pressure air injection is an important method for oil recovery. In this process, due to exist of combustible gas and oxygen, the wellbore explosion accident may happen. To solve the problem, the optimal method is to control the oxygen concentration in the wellbore. Thus, it needs to investigate the limiting oxygen concentration (LOC) of combustible gas at high pressures and temperatures. In this study, experiments were carried out to investigate the LOC of combustible gas at pressures from 1 MPa to 15 MPa and temperatures from 40 °C to 120 °C. The influence of pressure and temperature on LOC was analyzed. The results showed that the LOC of combustible gas declines a lot as the initial pressure and temperature increases. At 15 MPa and 120 °C, the LOC drops up to 8.21%. It was also found that the LOC is exponentially and linearly dependent on initial pressure and temperature, respectively. Besides, the empirical formulas were proposed to calculate the LOC at different conditions. Based on the present results, the standard for controlling the oxygen concentration in the wellbore was confirmed. As a result, the allowable oxygen concentration in the wellbore at different conditions can be determined. Therefore, the results of this study can help to avoid the wellbore explosion and ensure safety during air injection process.