Analysis of steam–solvent–bitumen phase behavior and solvent mass transfer for improving the performance of the ES-SAGD process

Ji, Dongqi; Dong, Mingzhe; Chen, Zhangxin

doi:10.1016/j.petrol.2015.04.005

Cited by 45 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 56 publications

(69 reference statements)

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“…In SAGD, as shown in Figure 2b, the region near the steam chamber edge is divided into three zones: the steam condensation zone, in which steam condenses upon contacting cold oil sands; the mobile oil zone, located in the vicinity and ahead of the steam chamber edge, containing mobilized oil and water; and the immobile oil zone, far from the chamber edge, which is at initial oil sands conditions. 27 It is assumed that the steam chamber is equilibrated at saturation pressure (P st ) and temperature (T st ), and that the chamber edge (a condensation front) propagates toward the cold oil sands reservoir (downstream, at the right side of this region). Ahead of the steam chamber edge, a varying temperature zone is formed with hot liquids flowing in the lateral (x) direction.…”

Section: Model Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this model, the target region of thickness, h , is surrounded by permeable oil sands, above and below (which enables liquid flow by gravity drainage), initially saturated with oil ( S oi ) and water ( S wi ), and is at initial oil sands temperature ( T ini ) and pressure ( P ini ). In SAGD, as shown in Figure b, the region near the steam chamber edge is divided into three zones: the steam condensation zone, in which steam condenses upon contacting cold oil sands; the mobile oil zone, located in the vicinity and ahead of the steam chamber edge, containing mobilized oil and water; and the immobile oil zone, far from the chamber edge, which is at initial oil sands conditions . It is assumed that the steam chamber is equilibrated at saturation pressure ( P st ) and temperature ( T st ), and that the chamber edge (a condensation front) propagates toward the cold oil sands reservoir (downstream, at the right side of this region).…”

Section: Model Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

A Model to Estimate Heat Efficiency in Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage by Condensate and Initial Water Flow in Oil Sands

Zhong

Dong

et al. 2016

Ind. Eng. Chem. Res.

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Steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) is one of the most popular approaches for oil sands recovery. In this study, an accurate and simple heat efficiency calculation model is presented by modeling transient heat transfer involving the flow of both hot condensate and mobile initial water in oil sands. A 2-D numerical simulation procedure is proposed to calculate temperature distribution ahead of the steam chamber edge in SAGD. A new heat efficiency model is proposed to estimate heat efficiency in SAGD by using the temperature distribution obtained from the 2-D numerical simulation. Results indicate that convection dominates the heat transfer ahead of the steam chamber edge which is induced by condensate and initial water flow in oil sands. On the basis of these studies, abundant analysis shows that the heat efficiency of SAGD can be improved by using moderate steam injection pressures for the reservoir scenarios from 1 to 10 darcy permeability.

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Section: Model Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Model Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Model to Estimate Heat Efficiency in Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage by Condensate and Initial Water Flow in Oil Sands

Zhong

Dong

et al. 2016

Ind. Eng. Chem. Res.

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“…Steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) is commonly used to develop extraheavy oil reservoirs [2,3]. Nevertheless, the low utilization rate and high-energy loss of the SAGD process are major problems, which result in its limited application [4]. The production efficiency of the SAGD is low, and the cost of the production process is high [5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental Investigation and Numerical Simulation of Dynamic Characteristics for Multithermal Fluid-Assisted SAGD in Extraheavy Oil Reservoir

Zhang

Cao³

et al. 2021

Lithosphere

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Loss of the vast majority of heat and steam is an unavoidable problem encountered during conventional steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) in extraheavy oil reservoirs. The noncondensate gas coinjection technique of reducing energy consumption and enhancing oil recovery can effectively solve this problem. Aiming at extraheavy oil with a high initial viscosity, the influence of noncondensate gases in multithermal fluids on the physical parameters of extraheavy oil was experimentally studied; the production characteristics and mechanism of multithermal fluid-assisted SAGD were studied through numerical simulation. A comparative investigation of the conventional SAGD and multithermal fluid-assisted SAGD injection schemes was conducted. The characteristics and mechanism of the steam chamber during the production processes were analyzed. The results show that a steam-gas-oil system forms in the steam chamber in the case of multithermal fluids. The steam chamber can be partitioned into four zones, and the flow of the oil mainly occurs in the steam condensation zone and the oil drainage zone. The injected multithermal fluids increase the horizontal expansion of the steam chamber, while the dissolved carbon dioxide reduces the residual oil saturation. Moreover, the nitrogen injection significantly reduces the heat loss and increases the heat utilization for multithermal fluid-assisted SAGD in developing extraheavy oil reservoirs.

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“…The physical properties of the reservoir are generally not the main constraints in fire flooding development. The main constraint in fire flooding is the viscosity of the heavy oil [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. Unlike most other countries that conduct fire flooding in reservoirs with formation oil viscosities of less than 5000 mPa•s, the viscosity of the heavy oil in some fire flooding test areas in China can reach 20000 mPa•s.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Study of Displacement Characteristics of Fire Flooding in Different Viscosity Heavy Oil Reservoirs

Liu¹,

Liu²,

Zhao

et al. 2021

Geofluids

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A field test in the Xinjiang oilfield in China shows that the viscosity of heavy oil has a certain influence on the combustion dynamics and injection-production performance of fire flooding. The experiment in this study uses a one-dimensional combustion tube to study the temperature, gas composition, and air injection pressure and the production performance of the fire flooding of heavy oil with different viscosities. The results show that the oil viscosities of 1180–22500 mPa·s can achieve stable combustion, and the O2 content of the gas produced during the stable combustion stage is <0.5%. The higher the viscosity of the heavy oil, the higher the temperature in the burned zone and the smaller the range of the temperature increase in the unburned zone. The air injection pressure will increase rapidly until a stable seepage channel is formed, and then, it will drop to a level close to the formation pressure. High-viscosity heavy oil requires a higher air injection pressure and will remain in the high-pressure stage for a longer period of time. Low-viscosity heavy oil has a low water cut in the early stage of fire flooding, a large oil production rate, and a low and stable air–oil ratio. The water cut of high-viscosity heavy oil increases rapidly in the early stage of fire flooding and then decreases gradually, so a good air–oil ratio can only be obtained in the middle and late stages of fire flooding. Thus, fire flooding may be more suitable for application in common heavy oil and some extra heavy oil reservoirs with lower viscosities.

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Analysis of steam–solvent–bitumen phase behavior and solvent mass transfer for improving the performance of the ES-SAGD process

Cited by 45 publications

References 56 publications

A Model to Estimate Heat Efficiency in Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage by Condensate and Initial Water Flow in Oil Sands

A Model to Estimate Heat Efficiency in Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage by Condensate and Initial Water Flow in Oil Sands

Experimental Investigation and Numerical Simulation of Dynamic Characteristics for Multithermal Fluid-Assisted SAGD in Extraheavy Oil Reservoir

Study of Displacement Characteristics of Fire Flooding in Different Viscosity Heavy Oil Reservoirs

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