CFD simulation of a heavy oil reservoir with AICV completion

Abstract

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) was used to analyze the flow behaviour of oil and water in the porous heavy oil reservoir with an Autonomous Inflow Control Valve (AICV) installed. 2D simulations in ANSYS FLUENT 13.0 for a 50m long heavy oil reservoir section along the well were carried out with four AICVs placed on the main production pipe. Two different cases were modelled by changing the volume fraction discritization scheme and the way of creating the pressure drop across the AICV. Both cases showed a successful imitation of AICV behaviour by automatically closing the valves completely for water and keeping them open for oil. The simulations performed under an implicit volume fraction scheme resulted in later breakthrough times and a diffused oil layer-like approach within the reservoir. The simulations performed under an explicit volume fraction scheme resulted in earlier breakthrough times and distinct flow behaviour of oil, which was identified as fingering phenomena. The oil production rates, breakthrough times, water migration within the reservoir and annulus were observed for both approaches. The accumulated oil production varies from 70 to 111.6m 3 due to different breakthrough times.