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In situ combustion is an enhanced method to recover heavy oil. The formation and oxidation of coke are crucial to promote the combustion front. Heavy oil from China and montmorillonite, a major type of clay, were used as samples in this study. The thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) was applied to temperature-programmed oxidation/pyrolysis experiments to study the effect of montmorillonite on the thermal conversion characteristics of heavy oil. A fixed-bed reactor was then used to obtain coke and study the effect of montmorillonite on coke properties. The characteristic temperatures of thermal conversion decreased with montmorillonite in the oxidizing atmosphere but remained unaffected in the pyrolysis atmosphere. The fuel deposition increased in both atmospheres because of montmorillonite's strong adsorption. In the oxidizing atmosphere, the presence of montmorillonite obviously promoted the progress of coke formation and increased coke yield. The content of O was increased, and the contents of C and H were decreased in coke. The oxidation activity of coke was improved, while trailing occurred due to the blocking in the pore structures of the montmorillonite skeleton. In the pyrolysis atmosphere, the presence of montmorillonite did not influence the coke formation temperature but increased the coke yield. The content of C was increased and the contents of H and O were decreased in coke. Coke oxidation activity was reduced with the more serious trailing phenomenon. Montmorillonite significantly affected coke formation through its strong adsorption to polar components in heavy oil in both atmospheres and obvious catalysis on dehydrogenation as an acid catalyst in the pyrolysis atmosphere, while it enhanced the oxygenation due to its large surface area and catalyzed polycondensation in the oxidizing atmosphere.

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In-situ combustion simulation from laboratory to field scale has always been challenging, due to difficulties in deciding the reaction model and Arrhenius kinetics parameters, together with erroneous results observed in simulations when using large-sized grid blocks. We present a workflow of successful simulation of heavy oil in-situ combustion process from laboratory to field scale. We choose the ongoing PetroChina Liaohe D block in-situ combustion project as a case of study. First, we conduct kinetic cell (ramped temperature oxidation) experiments, establish a suitable kinetic reaction model, and perform corresponding history match to obtain Arrhenius kinetics parameters. Second, combustion tube experiments are conducted and history matched to further determine other simulation parameters and to determine the fuel amount per unit reservoir volume. Third, we upscale the Arrhenius kinetics to the upscaled reaction model for field-scale simulations. The upscaled reaction model shows consistent results with different grid sizes. Finally, field-scale simulation forecast is conducted for the D block in-situ combustion process using computationally affordable grid sizes. In conclusion, this work demonstrates the practical workflow for predictive simulation of in-situ combustion from laboratory to field scale for a major project in China.