Numerical And Experimental Modelling of the Steam-assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) Process

Sasaki, Kyuro; Akibayashi, Satoshi; Yazawa, Nintoku; Doan, Q.; Ali, S.M. Farouq

doi:10.2118/99-21

Cited by 13 publications

(36 citation statements)

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“…The laboratory scale was used for the simulations. Sasaki et al (2001) report that linear relative permeability curves gave higher cumulative oil recovery and a better match to the observed production profile. We used this ( Figure 3) as our base case (without emulsification).…”

Section: Simulation Modelmentioning

confidence: 82%

“…The 3-D grid was chosen to simulate convective heat loss from the acrylic resin model more accurately (Sasaki et al, 2001). The reservoir itself was contained in the gridblock range (3 to 17, 5, 3 to 17) which is colored blue (thermal rock type 1) in Figure 2 and the rest being acrylic resin (red and thermal rock type 2).…”

Section: Simulation Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The reservoir range was also refined (2 X 2 X 2) to better simulate the reaction, heat and mass transfer going on at the steam chamber interface. This simulates transient conduction heat losses through the acrylic resin model better, but differs significantly from the simulation model presented in Sasaki et al (2001). The injector well is placed 10 grid (refined) blocks above the producer while the producer was placed 3 grid blocks above the bottom of the reservoir to simulate Sasaki et al's model (2002).…”

Section: Simulation Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Mechanistic Modeling of Emulsion Formation and Heat Transfer During the Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) Process

Azom

Srinivasan

2009

All Days

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Even in the absence of flow barriers and other reservoir heterogeneities, current SAGD models underestimate heavy oil recovery, and are generally seen to be inaccurate in predicting important production characteristics like steam oil ratio (SOR) and water oil ratio (WOR), when compared against experimental or field data. It has been hypothesized by some researchers that water-in-oil emulsions are formed at the steam-oil interface. It is our premise that transport of these emulsion droplets into the bitumen phase facilitates convective heat transfer resulting in improved recovery. Incorporating these effects is key to accurately modeling the SAGD process.Unfortunately, the physics of emulsion formation and transport in porous media is not well understood, and current simulators do not have the capability to directly model such effects. A new approach that models the emulsion droplets as chemical species and accounts for the dispersion and adsorption phenomena is implemented in this paper. This model utilizes the features available in most commercial simulators in order to model emulsion generation, propagation and coalescence in porous media. The results from such a mechanistic simulation are compared against published SAGD experimental data. Our results show significant improvement from previous SAGD models and bolster the argument that emulsions are responsible for a key heat transport mechanism during SAGD. The simulation is also being used currently to design laboratory experiments to verify the formation of emulsions and their net effect on heat transfer.

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Section: Simulation Modelmentioning

confidence: 82%

Section: Simulation Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Simulation Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Mechanistic Modeling of Emulsion Formation and Heat Transfer During the Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) Process

Azom

Srinivasan

2009

All Days

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“…As evident through some previous experimental studies on this phenomenon [3,6,[8][9][10][11], it has been suggested that W/O emulsions are mostly produced during the SAGD process. Especially, Sasaki et al [8,9] conducted experimental studies of SAGD process by using two-dimensional scaled reservoir model to investigate fluids flow characteristics in the steam chamber. Furthermore, they also carried out visualization of micro-phenomena at inclined interface on the side of steam chamber by means of a high-resolution optical-fiber scope [3].…”

Section: Introduction mentioning

confidence: 84%

Measurement of Viscosity Alteration for Emulsion and Numerical Simulation on Bitumen Production by SAGD Considering In-situ Emulsification

Kumasaka¹,

Sasaki

Sugai

et al. 2016

JEASE

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Abstract:A thermal steam stimulation process, such as steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD), induces water-in-oil emulsion of heavy oil or bitumen throughout the production. The present study investigated the effects of in-situ emulsification in the oil sands reservoir for SAGD process. The viscosities of water-in-oil emulsions produced were measured with respect to water-oil ratio (W/O), shear rates, pressures and temperatures. The results therefore were employed to develop the numerical model of viscosity alteration. Numerical simulations of the SAGD bitumen production considering viscosity alteration were also carried out to investigate distribution characteristics of emulsion, water, and bitumen at steam chamber boundary and effects of in-situ emulsification on bitumen production behavior. With a model named SAGD-Emulsion Model, it was found that the net recovery factor of bitumen for this model is 5 to 10% higher than that of conventional SAGD simulation. Ultimately, it was found that the recovery factor of bitumen increased with W/O of emulsion generated in the reservoir since higher water content would invariably allow bitumen to flow at higher relative permeability, while the increase in viscosity merely delayed bitumen production.

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“…Sasaki et al [14] reported that the initial stage of production (or vertical rise of the steam chamber) was observed to be sensitive to the location of the steam injector. The oil production rate increased when the vertical well spacing became larger, but the breakthrough time increased with increasing well spacing.…”

Section: Literature Surveymentioning

confidence: 99%

Performance Analysis of SAGD Wind-Down Process with CO2 Injection

Bagci¹,

Sotuminu²,

Mackay³

2008

All Days

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Thermal recovery methods involving steam injection have long been considered as an effective means of extracting heavy oil resources. In addition, the high recovery performance of SAGD makes it a popular option for these non-conventional oil resources. Steam processes are energy intensive and result in generation of emissions which are detrimental to humankind and the environment. The use of non-thermal processes involving CO 2 as a miscible or immiscible gas phase in combination with steam for heavy oil recovery is considered as a viable alternative to limit the drawbacks of steam generation. These processes have the capability to enhance oil recovery through CO 2 utilization during production and also provide an avenue to dispose CO 2 after production. Numerical simulation studies have been carried out utilizing STARS (a three phase, multicomponents reservoir simulator) to optimize a baseline SAGD process and wind-down process with CO 2 Injection. The baseline process was operated until maturity then CO 2 injection was used to initiate wind-down after 4, 6 and 8 years of a 12 year production operation. Following each of the wind-down processes, CO 2 disposal was undertaken for 25 years and the storage potential evaluated. The baseline SAGD process had a recovery factor of 76%. The SAGD wind-down processes with CO 2 injection after 4, 6 and 8 years had recovery factors of 54%, 77% and 79% respectively. This and other parameters proved the feasibility of SAGD wind-down process with CO 2 injection and its potential to enhance oil recovery.

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Numerical And Experimental Modelling of the Steam-assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) Process

Cited by 13 publications

References 0 publications

Mechanistic Modeling of Emulsion Formation and Heat Transfer During the Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) Process

Mechanistic Modeling of Emulsion Formation and Heat Transfer During the Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) Process

Measurement of Viscosity Alteration for Emulsion and Numerical Simulation on Bitumen Production by SAGD Considering In-situ Emulsification

Performance Analysis of SAGD Wind-Down Process with CO2 Injection

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