Miscible displacements with concentration-dependent diffusion and velocity-induced dispersion in porous media

Yuan, Qingwang; Yao, Shanshan; Zhou, Xiang; Zeng, Fanhua; Knorr, Kelvin D.; Imran, Muhammad

doi:10.1016/j.petrol.2017.09.030

Cited by 13 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…Consequently, a lower oil recovery factor is obtained when solution gas exists in the heavy oil, as shown in Figure 6. The negative effects of the existence of the initial solution gas were briefly reported in the previous literature [56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69]. In this study, more details are investigated.…”

Section: Effect Of the Initial Gas Oil Ratiomentioning

confidence: 93%

Numerical Simulation Study on Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage Performance in a Heavy Oil Reservoir with a Bottom Water Zone

Zhou

Yuan

et al. 2017

Energies

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Abstract:In the Pikes Peak oil field near Lloydminster, Canada, a significant amount of heavy oil reserves is located in reservoirs with a bottom water zone. The properties of the bottom water zone and the operation parameters significantly affect oil production performance via the steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) process. Thus, in order to develop this type of heavy oil resource, a full understanding of the effects of these properties is necessary. In this study, the numerical simulation approach was applied to study the effects of properties in the bottom water zone in the SAGD process, such as the initial gas oil ratio, the thickness of the reservoir, and oil saturation of the bottom water zone. In addition, some operation parameters were studied including the injection pressure, the SAGD well pair location, and five different well patterns: (1) two corner wells, (2) triple wells, (3) downhole water sink well, (4) vertical injectors with a horizontal producer, and (5) fishbone well. The numerical simulation results suggest that the properties of the bottom water zone affect production performance extremely. First, both positive and negative effects were observed when solution gas exists in the heavy oil. Second, a logarithmical relationship was investigated between the bottom water production ratio and the thickness of the bottom water zone. Third, a non-linear relation was obtained between the oil recovery factor and oil saturation in the bottom water zone, and a peak oil recovery was achieved at the oil saturation rate of 30% in the bottom water zone. Furthermore, the operation parameters affected the heavy oil production performance. Comparison of the well patterns showed that the two corner wells and the triple wells patterns obtained the highest oil recovery factors of 74.71% and 77.19%, respectively, which are almost twice the oil recovery factors gained in the conventional SAGD process (47.84%). This indicates that the optimized SAGD process with the two corner wells and the triple wells pattern is able to improve SAGD production performance in a heavy oil reservoir with a bottom water zone.

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Section: Effect Of the Initial Gas Oil Ratiomentioning

confidence: 93%

Numerical Simulation Study on Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage Performance in a Heavy Oil Reservoir with a Bottom Water Zone

Zhou

Yuan

et al. 2017

Energies

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“…The governing equations for this physical problem mainly include continuity equation, Darcy's equation and convection–dispersion equation. The equations based on the assumption of constant diffusion coefficient are given 9, while those with a CDC are discussed before for the case of constant injection rate . In this study, we are more interested in the time‐dependent rates on miscible displacements.…”

Section: Problem Formulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this study, we are more interested in the time‐dependent rates on miscible displacements. Therefore, the governing equations in the dimensionless form are given as follows, which are expressed in the moving reference frame, while the details of implementation can be found in previous studies

\nabla \cdot boldu = 0

\nabla P = - μ ([], boldu + U ((), t))

\frac{\partial c}{\partial t} + boldu \cdot ((), \nabla c) = \nabla \cdot ((), boldD \cdot \nabla c)

where, u is the 2‐D velocity tensor; u = ( u , v ).…”

Section: Problem Formulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…I is a 2‐D unit matrix indicating the isotropic diffusion in x and y directions. f ( c ) = e − R (1− c ) is derived from the Strokes–Einstein equation and exponential concentration–viscosity relation . R is log mobility ratio of two fluids R = ln( μ 2 / μ 1 ).…”

Section: Problem Formulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The VID, given by the second term on the right side of Eq. , which strongly depends on the external injection and extraction U [ t ] in the cyclic variations of displacement rate as well as the local velocity field u because of the VF …”

Section: Problem Formulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Control of viscous fingering and mixing in miscible displacements with time‐dependent rates

et al. 2018

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In miscible displacements encountered in enhanced oil recovery processes, the unfavorable viscosity contrast between injected solvent and oil usually leads to viscous fingering (VF), a hydrodynamic instability which may result in a lower sweep efficiency and oil recovery. This phenomenon can be observed in a wide range of flows in subsurface porous media. This study examined a simple cyclic time‐dependent displacement rate and its effects on the onset and longer development of VF. It is found that such varying displacement rate can either stabilize or destabilize VF, depending on the cycle period, amplitude, and displacement scenarios. The most important mechanism is that such time‐dependent rate can effectively change the competition between convection (destabilizing effect) and dispersion (stabilizing effect). This is different from the widely used constant injection rate where the flow instability is actually determined by the Peclet number and mobility contrast for a given scenario. This study therefore provided a new aspect to control VF, either enhance or reduce, with low additional costs. It is therefore both scientifically and practically important for a wide range of flows in subsurface porous media. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 65: 360–371, 2019

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Fluid retention on miscible viscous fingering of finite slices in porous media with dead-end pores

Yuan

2022

Chemical Engineering Science

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Miscible displacements with concentration-dependent diffusion and velocity-induced dispersion in porous media

Cited by 13 publications

References 52 publications

Numerical Simulation Study on Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage Performance in a Heavy Oil Reservoir with a Bottom Water Zone

Numerical Simulation Study on Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage Performance in a Heavy Oil Reservoir with a Bottom Water Zone

Control of viscous fingering and mixing in miscible displacements with time‐dependent rates

Fluid retention on miscible viscous fingering of finite slices in porous media with dead-end pores

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