Capillary number, understood as the ratio of viscous force to capillary force, is one of the most important parameters in enhanced oil recovery (EOR). It continues to attract the interest of scientists and engineers, because the nature and quantification of macroscopic capillary forces remain controversial. At least 41 different capillary numbers have been collected here from the literature. The ratio of viscous and capillary force enters crucially into capillary desaturation experiments. Although the ratio is length scale dependent, not all definitions of capillary number depend on length scale, indicating potential inconsistencies between various applications and publications. Recently, new numbers have appeared and the subject continues to be actively discussed. Therefore, a short review seems appropriate and pertinent.

Although the alkali/surfactant/polymer (ASP) flooding technique used for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) was put forward many years ago, it was not until 2014 that it was first put into practice in industrial applications with hundreds of injectors and producers in the Daqing Oil Field in China. In this study, 30 ASP-flooding field tests in China were reviewed to promote the better use of this promising technology. Up to the present, ASP flooding in the Daqing Oil Field deserves the most attention. Alkali type does affect the ASP-flooding effect. Strong alkali [using sodium hydroxide (NaOH)] ASP flooding (SASP) was given more emphasis than weak alkali [using sodium carbonate (Na₂CO₃)] ASP flooding (WASP) for a long time in the Daqing Oil Field because of the lower interfacial tension (IFT) of the surfactant and the higher recovery associated with NaOH than with Na₂CO₃. Other ASP-flooding field tests completed in China all used Na₂CO₃. With progress in surfactant production, a recent large-scale WASP field test in the Daqing Oil Field produced an incremental oil recovery nearly 30% higher than most previous SASP recoveries and close to the value of the most-successful SASP test. However, the most-successful SASP test was partly attributed to the weak alkali factor. Recent studies have shown that the WASP incremental oil recovery factor could be as good as that of SASP but with much-better economic benefits. Screening of surfactant by IFT test is very important in the ASP-flooding practice in China. Whether dynamic or equilibrium IFT should be selected as criteria in surfactant screening is still in dispute. Many believe the equilibrium IFT is more important than the dynamic IFT in terms of the displacement efficiency; thus, it is better to choose a lower dynamic IFT when the equilibrium IFT meets the 10^–3 order-of-magnitude requirement. However, it is impossible for many surfactants to form ultralow equilibrium IFT. Because of the low acid value of the Daqing crude oil, the asphaltene and resin components play a very important role in reducing the oil/water IFT and asphaltene is believed to be more influential, although more work is required to resolve this controversial issue. Whether polymer viscoelasticity can reduce the residual oil saturation is still a matter of debate. Advances in surfactant production and in the overcoming of scaling and produced-fluid-handling challenges form the foundation of the industrial application of ASP flooding. Further work is advised on the emulsification effect of ASP flooding. According to one field test, the EOR routine should be selected depending on consideration of the residual oil type to decide whether to increase the sweep volume and/or displacement efficiency. The micellar flooding failure in one ASP field test in China has led all subsequent field tests in China to choose the “low concentration, large slug” technical route instead of the “high concentration, small slug” one. ASP flooding can increase oil recovery by 30% at a cost of less than USD 30/bbl; thus, this technique can be used in response to low-oil-price challenges.

Compared with other enhanced oil recovery (EOR) techniques like gas flooding, chemical flooding, and thermal production, the prominent advantages of microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) include environment-friendliness and lowest cost. Recent progress of MEOR in laboratory studies and microbial flooding recovery (MFR) field tests in China are reviewed. High biotechnology is being used to investigate MFR mechanisms on the molecular level. Emulsification and wettability alternation due to microbial effects are the main interests at present. Application of a high-resolution mass spectrum (HRMS) on MEOR mechanism has revealed the change of polar compound structures before and after oil degradation by the microbial on the molecular level. MEOR could be divided into indigenous microorganism and exogenous microorganism flooding. The key of exogenous microorganism flooding was to develop effective production strains, and difficulty lies in the compatibility of the microorganism, performance degradation, and high cost. Indigenous microorganism flooding has good adaptation but no follow-up process on production strain development; thus, it represents the main development direction of MEOR in China. More than 4600 wells have been conducted for MEOR field tests in China, and about 500 wells are involved in MFR. 47 MFR field tests have been carried out in China, and 12 field tests are conducted in Daqing Oilfield. MFR field test’s incremental oil recovery is as high as 4.95% OOIP, with a typical slug size less than 0.1 PV. The input-output ratio can be 1 : 6. All field tests have shown positive results in oil production increase and water cut reduction. MEOR screening criteria for reservoirs in China need to be improved. Reservoir fluid, temperature, and salinity were the most important three parameters. Microbial flooding technology is mature in reservoirs with temperature lower than 80°C, salinity less than 100,000 ppm, and permeability above 5 mD. MFR in China is very close to commercial application, while MFR as quaternary recovery like those in post-polymer flooding reservoirs needs further study.

Polymer flooding is drawing lots of attention because of the technical maturity in some reservoirs. The first commercial polymer flooding in China was performed in the Daqing oilfield and is one of the largest applications in the world. Some laboratory tests from Daqing researchers in China showed that the viscoelasticity of high molecular weight polymers plays a significant role in increasing displacement efficiency. Hence, encouraged by the conventional field applications and new findings on the viscoelasticity effect of polymers on residual oil saturation (ROS), some high-concentration high-molecular-weight (HCHMW) polymer-flooding field tests have been conducted. Although some field tests were well-documented, subsequent progress was seldom reported. It was recently reported that HCHMW has a limited application in Daqing, which does not agree with observations from laboratory core flooding and early field tests. However, the cause of this discrepancy is unclear. Thus, a systematic summary of polymer-flooding mechanisms and field tests in China is necessary. This paper explained why HCHMW is not widely used when considering new understandings of polymer-flooding mechanisms. Different opinions on the viscoelasticity effect of polymers on ROS reduction were critically reviewed. Other mechanisms of polymer flooding, such as wettability change and gravity stability effect, were discussed with regard to widely reported laboratory tests, which were explained in terms of the viscoelasticity effects of polymers on ROS. Recent findings from Chinese field tests were also summarized. Salt-resistance polymers (SRPs) with good economic performance using produced water to prepare polymer solutions were very economically and environmentally promising. Notable progress in SRP flooding and new amphiphilic polymer field tests in China were summarized, and lessons learned were given. Formation blockage, represented by high injection pressure and produced productivity ability, was reported in several oil fields due to misunderstanding of polymers’ injectivity. Although the influence of viscoelastic polymers on reservoir conditions is unknown, the injection of very viscous polymers to displace medium-to-high viscosity oils is not recommended. This is especially important for old wells that could cause damage. This paper clarified misleading notions on polymer-flooding implementations based on theory and practices in China.

Capillary number theory is very important for chemical flooding enhanced oil recovery. The difference between microscopic capillary number and the microscopic one is easy to confuse. After decades of development, great progress has been made in capillary number theory and it has important but sometimes incorrect application in EOR. The capillary number theory was based on capillary tube bundles and Darcy’s law hypothesis, and this should always be kept in mind when used in chemical flooding EOR. The flow in low permeability porous media often shows obvious non-Darcy effects, which is beyond Darcy’s law. Experiments data from ASP flooding and SP flooding showed that remaining oil saturation was not always decreasing as capillary number kept on increasing. Relative permeability was proved function of capillary number; its rate dependence was affected by capillary end effects. The mobility control should be given priority rather than lowering IFT. The displacement efficiency was not increased as displacement velocity increased as expected in heavy oil chemical flooding. Largest capillary number does not always make highest recovery in chemical flooding in heterogeneous reservoir. Misuse of CDC in EOR included the ignorance of mobility ratio, Darcy linear flow hypothesis, difference between microscopic capillary number and the microscopic one, and heterogeneity caused flow regime alteration. Displacement of continuous oil or remobilization of discontinuous oil was quite different.

In low oil price era, it seems that ASP flooding has little market. However, ASP progress in China shows that ASP flooding is good technology to help oil companies thrive and make profit. Since 2014, ASP flooding has entered industrial application in Daqing oilfield. ASP flooding production in 2015 is 3.5 million ton, 9% of the oilfield’s total production of Daqing oilfield. There are 22 ASP flooding blocks in Daqing, containing 7231 wells and 3 are new blocks in 2016. Obviously, more and more ASP flooding is being carried out. Another large ASP flooding field test in high temperature (80°C) in Henan oilfield has got staged incremental oil recovery of 7.7%. Latest theory and application in ASP flooding in China are reviewed to help ASP flooding go from success to more application. Weak alkali is better than strong alkali ASP flooding. Relation between viscosity and IFT is discussed. This paper also explains why weak alkali ASP flooding is promoted in Daqing after 12 field tests on strong alkali one. ASP flooding can be a great help to survive low oil price.