TX 75083-3836, U.S.A., fax 01-972-952-9435. AbstractTraditionally, the addition of a non-condensable gas to steam is known to have a beneficial effect on heavy-oil production when conventional vertical wells are used. Little information and experimental evidence exists regarding the effect of the addition of such gases in the steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) process. The limited literature suggests that the addition of small amounts of such gases (e.g.

The flipped learning is a widely-used teaching method that increases the interaction between the instructor and the students by changing the in-class instructional time and the out-of-class practices. In this method, if students come to the class without studying the pre-course materials, this might lead to failures in its application. Besides, the gamified flipped learning environment was obtained by integrating the gamification elements in the pre-class phase of the flipped learning. The effects of teaching in this environment on students’ online behaviors and achievements were investigated. The participants were fourth-year undergraduate petroleum and natural gas engineering students enrolled in a natural gas engineering course. A true-experimental design was used in the study. Data were collected from a natural gas concept test, weekly quizzes, and data logs from Moodle. The research results indicated that teaching in the gamified flipped learning method showed a significant increase in the students’ participation in the pre-class activities of the flipped learning compared to the control group. Moreover, there was a significant increase in the achievement levels of the experimental group as compared to the control group. Based on these findings, the use of gamification elements in the pre-class phase of the flipped learning method can have a positive effect on the pre-course online behavior engagements of students. Furthermore, it was determined that it has a positive effect on the achievements of students who completed the method.

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In the steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) process, the addition of small amounts of non-condensable gases to steam may improve oil recovery. The gas accumulates at the top of the reservoir where it provides an insulation effect and forces the steam chamber to spread laterally. The result is a more efficient use of steam and the potential for greater recovery of oil.Six experiments were conducted in two different geometries to study the effect of non-condensable gas on the performance of SAGD. These experiments consisted of steam-only, steamcarbon dioxide and steam-n-butane injection. Three SAGD experiments were carried out in a scaled 3-D model packed with crushed limestone premixed with a 12.4° API heavy crude. In these experiments, the steam-only case had the highest recovery, as expected. However, using carbon dioxide or nbutane with steam reduced the steam consumption. In both those cases, recovery was lower than the steam-only case.The other SAGD experiments were carried out using limestone core plugs saturated with the same heavy oil. Similar trends were observed for core plug experiments; however, the recovery was better when n-butane was added to steam. The presence of n-butane had a positive effect on the oil recovery and required less steam consumption than the other two cases.Differences between the experiments were identified by means of analytical modeling. All the experiments were modeled with respect to Butler's SAGD theory and Reis' linear model. The results of the 3-D experiments were matched by all models, whereas the results of the core scaled experiments were better represented with Reis' linear model because of the heterogeneity present in the core plugs.The addition of non-condensable gas to steam in a SAGD operation was evaluated using physical models of different geometries. The experimental results indicated that for both geometries, steam consumption was reduced by using either carbon dioxide or n-butane. More experimental studies are needed to asses the effect of non-condensable gas addition on increasing oil recovery.