Electrical Heating of Oil Reservoirs: Numerical Simulation and Field Test Results

Pizarro, Jorge O. S.; Trevisan, Osvair Vidal

doi:10.2118/19685-pa

Cited by 57 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 4 publications

(6 reference statements)

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“…The finite difference time domain (FDTD) solutions of variations of Equation (1) for electro-thermal heating of oil sands are well documented elsewhere (9,(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24) . However, since the electrothermal energy density distribution has been shown to vary dramatically away from the source electrodes, our preferred approach is to determine the electric field and power density distribution using the Finite Element Method (FEM) and couple these heat source terms into a FDTD thermal model such as based on MEGAERA (14) .…”

Section: Numerical Simulationmentioning

confidence: 97%

The Mechanisms of Electrical Heating For the Recovery of Bitumen From Oil Sands

McGee¹,

Vermeulen

2007

Journal of Canadian Petroleum Technology

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IntroductionOil sands are a mixture of sand, bitumen and water. The bitumen is defined as oil that is less than 10 API and will not flow to a well in its naturally occurring state. The Alberta Energy & Utilities Board (AEUB) estimates that given current technology, over 300 billion barrels are expected to be recovered from the Alberta oil sands. There are presently two techniques used to produce bitumen; open pit mining and in situ thermal recovery, which involves drilling wells and injecting steam to heat the bitumen allowing it to flow and be produced from a well. Of the in situ methods now used, steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) is the most promising, having the advantages of lower energy requirements and higher recovery factors over other steam injection methods.In situ thermal recovery methods as applied in oil sand deposits have the common objective of accelerating the hydrocarbon recovery process. Raising the temperature of the host formation reduces the bitumen viscosity allowing the near solid material at original temperature to flow as a liquid. These effects assist in AbstractElectrical heating of the Alberta oil sands for the recovery of bitumen has been studied since the early 1970's (1)(2)(3)(4)(5) . The technology has evolved as an additional technology to SAGD and surface mining. This paper describes the heat and mass transfer mechanisms associated with a specific application of electrical heating, the Electro-Thermal Dynamic Stripping Process (ET-DSP™), for the production of bitumen from the oil sands.Given that heat is created in the oil sand as a current flows through the connate water and that initially all the fluids are immobile, the end result is a pressure and temperature distribution that is characteristic of an electrical heating process. To effectively recover the heated bitumen from the oil sand requires an understanding of the heat and mass transfer mechanisms associated with the pressure and temperature distribution, as well as gravity forces. The electrical heating process changes as the oil sand increases in temperature and the bitumen is produced. This results in a dynamic process whereby the heat, mass and electromagnetic fields are strongly coupled and in a transient state throughout the entire recovery process.The dominant mechanisms of the electrical heating recovery process are presented in terms of fundamental equations and solved numerically. A 3D quasi-harmonic finite element electromagnetic model is coupled to the mass and energy equations and solved in time. A recovery strategy based on an understanding of the recovery mechanisms is presented in terms of electrode spacing, duration of heating, energy supply and favourable operating requirements.sweeping much of the bitumen from the formation when driving agents are externally injected or when autogenous processes, such as gravity drainage, come into play.Transferring electromagnetic energy to the deposit is proving to be an effective means of supplying the necessary heat. In the electro-thermal process, electromagne...

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Section: Numerical Simulationmentioning

confidence: 97%

The Mechanisms of Electrical Heating For the Recovery of Bitumen From Oil Sands

McGee¹,

Vermeulen

2007

Journal of Canadian Petroleum Technology

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“…Electrical heating of heavy oil and bitumen reservoirs has been studied since 1969 [3] . There are mainly three types of electrical heating methods, based on the frequency of the electromagnetic device used: resistive or ohmic heating, microwave heating and induction heating.…”

Section: Comparative Investigation Of Thermal Processes For Marginal mentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative Investigation of Thermal Processes for Marginal Bitumen Resources

Wang¹,

Bryan²,

Kantzas³

2008

International Petroleum Technology Conference

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TX 75083-3836, U.S.A., fax +1-972-952-9435. AbstractWith the depletion of conventional oil resources, heavy oil and bitumen play an increasingly important role as the main resources for crude oil. This is particularly true in Alberta since it has in excess of 400 x 10 9 m 3 of heavy oil and bitumen. In Canada, most of heavy oil and bitumen resources are developed with thermal methods. Thermal methods for heavy oil and bitumen recovery include the injection of steam in the form of SAGD (steam assisted gravity drainage), CSS (cyclic steam stimulation), and steam flooding, whereby thermal energy is given to the oil, reduces its viscosity and allows it to flow towards a production spot. These methods have not been yet investigated for the large fraction (in excess of 50%) of oil sands that are thinner, less permeable, heterogeneous, or contacted by water. Electrothermal methods have attracted more and more attention as an alternative to conventional thermal methods for the difficult reservoirs where conventional thermal methods are not expected to work well.In this study, a series of comparative studies are carried out using a simulation tool developed by CMG (Computer Modeling Group). In a series of marginal reservoirs such as thin reservoirs, low permeability reservoirs, and reservoirs with bottom water, both the SAGD process and the electrothermal process are applied. The resulting recoveries are compared and economics are evaluated for both methods for each case. The typical SAGD problem of the McMurray oil sands is used as the base case benchmark.Our results to date indicate that under favorable conditions, electrothermal methods have the potential to recover thin bitumen reservoirs that cannot economically be produced by the SAGD process. Furthermore, electrothermal methods can achieve recovery factors superior to SAGD in terms of the production of thin bitumen reservoirs with bottom water and low permeability bitumen reservoirs. Controlled heating seems to be beneficial in electrothermal processes. Innovative well placement also appears to have favorable effects.

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“…They validated their simulator by use of the laboratory experiments of El-Feky (1977) and with analytical models. Pizarro and Trevisan (1990) performed an interesting analysis of a pilot test in a real field. In this study, the field data were matched by numerical simulations performed with a simulator implemented by the authors.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development and Application of Electrical-Joule-Heating Simulator for Heavy-Oil Reservoirs

et al. 2016

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In the electrical-Joule-heating process, the reservoirs are heated in situ by dissipation of electrical energy to reduce the viscosity of oil. In principle, electrical current passes through the reservoir fluids mostly because of the electrical conductivity of saturated fluids such as saline water. The flow of electrical current through the reservoir raises the heat in the reservoir and thereby dramatically reduces the oil viscosity.In this process, electrical current can flow between electricalpotential sources (electrodes) in wells, and then electrical energy is dissipated to generate the heat. Therefore, the regions around the electrodes in (or around) the wells are extremely heated. Because the wells act as line sources for the electrical potential, greater heating takes place near the wellbore, causing possible vaporization of water in that region. Because steam has very-low electrical conductivity, it can reduce the efficiency of this process significantly. In this process electrical conductivity plays a very important role. To increase efficiency of this type of heating process, the presence of optimum saline-water saturation is an essential factor.To model the electrical Joule heating in the presence of multiphase-fluid flow, we use three Maxwell classical electromagnetism equations. These equations are simplified and assumed for low frequency to obtain the conservation of the electrical-current equation and Ohm's law. The conservation of electrical current and Ohm's law are implemented by use of a finite-difference method in a four-phase chemical-flooding reservoir simulator (UTCHEM 2011.7). The Joule-heating rate caused by dissipation of electrical energy is calculated and added to the energy equation as a source term.The formulation and implementation of electrical heating are validated against a reference analytical solution and verified with a reservoir simulator. A typical-reservoir model is built, and constant electrical potential with alternating current is applied to the model to study the efficiency of the electrical-heating process properly. The efficiency of this process is evaluated in the presence of water-saturated fractures and evaporation effect. Results illustrate that water saturation in the presence of fractures and electrical conductivity of saturated rock have an important effect on the Joule-heating process. The importance of the fractures saturated by saline water and operation of such processes below the boiling point are key findings in this paper to obtain high recovery in comparison with other conventional-thermal-recovery methods.

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Electrical Heating of Oil Reservoirs: Numerical Simulation and Field Test Results

Cited by 57 publications

References 4 publications

The Mechanisms of Electrical Heating For the Recovery of Bitumen From Oil Sands

The Mechanisms of Electrical Heating For the Recovery of Bitumen From Oil Sands

Comparative Investigation of Thermal Processes for Marginal Bitumen Resources

Development and Application of Electrical-Joule-Heating Simulator for Heavy-Oil Reservoirs

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