Optimizing Intermittent Water Injection Cycles to Mitigate Asphaltene Formation A Reservoir Simulation Approach

During reservoir development, asphaltene precipitation deposition triggers the blockage of seepage channels, significantly reducing the reservoir permeability and seriously affecting the effectiveness of water injection development and the operation efficiency of surface facilities. To alleviate this problem, this study proposes to use intermittent waterflooding (IWF) as an alternative strategy to improve reservoir dynamics by alternating periodic waterflooding and well shut-in operations. A synthetic reservoir model was developed based on the component simulator Eclipse 300, and the influence mechanisms of key parameters such as well shut-in time, injection rate, and injection start-up time were systematically investigated and compared and analyzed with the conventional water injection scheme. Numerical simulation results show that IWF can effectively suppress the amount of asphaltene deposition in the near-well zone. Early injection and higher injection rates can help maintain stable reservoir pressure and oil phase composition, thus limiting asphaltene precipitation. The study shows that optimizing the design of the intermittent water injection cycle helps improve the recovery rate and effectively reduces the risk of asphaltene formation damage, providing a practical water injection management strategy for high-risk reservoirs.