Numerical simulation of heavy-oil/bitumen recovery by solvent injection at elevated temperatures

Leyva-Gomez, Hector; Babadagli, Tayfun

doi:10.1016/j.petrol.2013.08.015

Cited by 13 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Previous studies established that the diffusion of solvent into bitumen is the mechanism for solvent-bitumen mixing beyond the steam chamber (Gates, 2007;Leyva-Gomez and Babadagli, 2013). However, solvent diffusion into bitumen, which is a very slow process, cannot deliver much solvent into the oil sands under the fast growing steam chamber (Mohammadzadeh et al, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Dong

Chen

2015

Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Dong

Chen

2015

Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering

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“…Of these, four experiments were performed on a water-wet matrix (Figures – ) and the remaining were performed on a oil-wet matrix (Figures – ). The main purpose of these experiments was to obtain the optimal temperature, since temperature critically controls the efficiency of the process. ,,, Therefore, a wide range of temperatures were selected (45, 70, 100, and 130 °C).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In all cases, solvent injection continued until one pore volume (PV) was reached. The main purpose of this was to obtain the optimal temperature for this process, since temperature critically controls the efficiency of the process. ,,, Therefore, a wide range of temperatures was selected between 45 °C and 130 °C. As in the previous cases, pressure and temperature were recorded during solvent and heated water injection.…”

Section: Experimental Setup and Proceduresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hot Solvent Injection for Heavy Oil/Bitumen Recovery from Fractured Reservoirs: An Experimental Approach To Determine Optimal Application Conditions

Leyva-Gomez

Babadagli

2016

Energy Fuels

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We conducted a series of dynamic experiments in which liquid solvent (heptane) was injected into heavy-oilsaturated artificially fractured Berea sandstone samples with and without prethermal injection. To account for the effect of wettability on the process, experiments were repeated on the samples exposed to a wettability alteration (more oil-wet) process. Cores were saturated with heavy crude oil and placed inside a rubber sleeve. Next, the system was placed into an oven and maintained under constant temperature conditions. Then, either hot solvent (superheated to be in the vapor phase) or cold solvent was introduced into the system through the fracture at a constant rate. Pressure and temperature was continuously monitored at the inlet and center of the core. Properties of the oil and liquid condensate from the gas produced were measured and analyzed. This scheme was repeated for a wide range of temperature conditions. The retrieval of the solvent during the solvent injection phase and post-thermal method (steam or hot-water) injection performed for a wide range of temperature was monitored. Our results and observations indicate that the first requirement for a successful application is an effective solvent diffusion into matrix before it breaks through and improves the gravity drainage of oil by dilution. The second requirement is solvent retrieval. We also observed that a critical temperature and injection rate exists that yields a maximized oil recovery and solvent retrieval.

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“…Chemical solvents have been introduced as injected additives to enhance oil recovery [6][7][8][9]. The expansive solvent-SAGD (ES-SAGD) process makes full use of the mass transfer effect of the light hydrocarbon components [10,11].…”

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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Numerical simulation of heavy-oil/bitumen recovery by solvent injection at elevated temperatures

Cited by 13 publications

References 22 publications

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

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

Hot Solvent Injection for Heavy Oil/Bitumen Recovery from Fractured Reservoirs: An Experimental Approach To Determine Optimal Application Conditions

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

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