Abstract: Air injection low temperature oxidation (LTO) process is a inovel technique for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) in light oil reservoirs. In order to study the mechanism of air injection LTO, the kinetic model of LTO process under reservoir conditions is presented on the basis of crude oxidation experiments. Using thermal recovery numerical simulation technique, the variation of oil saturation, temperature, gas migration and oil viscosity after air injection in high water cut reservoir is studied, and the effects of flue gas composition and injected air on recovery ratio are compared. The result shows that oil saturation after air injection decreases obviously, the maximum temperature of oxidation front is up to 190℃, and oxygen consumption per cubic meter of crude oil is 589m³ at nornal condition. All the oxygen is consumed before it reaches the production well, so air injection is safe and guaranteed. The smaller N₂/CO₂ volume ratio in the flue gas is, the higher recovery ratio will be. .

Key words: light crude oil, air injection, low temperature, oxidation, mechanism, flue gas, numerical simulation