An Analytical Model for Simulating Heavy-Oil Recovery by Cyclic Steam Injection Using Horizontal Wells, SUPRI TR-118

Diwan, Utpal; Kovscek, Anthony R.

doi:10.2172/9330

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…1 and 2 and calculating models introduced in the literature (Chen et al 2007;Diwan and Kovscek 1999;Liu et al 2008;Zhang et al 2004). The steam crossflow is mainly affected by packer length; the permeability of porous media outside of the slotted liner near the packer; and reservoir heterogeneities such as permeability, temperature, and fluid saturation (the latter factor could be described by a flow coefficient defined as the ratio of phase permeability to viscosity of steam).…”

Section: Principles Of Separated-zones Steam Stimulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improved Heavy-Oil Recovery by Separated-Zones Horizontal-Well Steam Stimulation

Zhong

Zhang

et al. 2012

Journal of Canadian Petroleum Technology

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Summary Horizontal wells are widely drilled to produce heavy oil because of their large reservoir contact. For example, there are more than 500 horizontal wells operated in cyclic-steam-stimulation (CSS) or steam-assisted gravity-drainage (SAGD) processes in Liaohe oil field. The length of these horizontal wells usually ranges from 100 to 500 m. But it is challenging to recover oil along a horizontal well proportionally by conventional steam-injection processes because of poor steam conformance along the horizontal well, which is derived from reservoir heterogeneity, large horizontal-well length, and steam properties. Field investigation shows that only half of the reservoir along the horizontal well is well steamed and recovered, and that the average ratio of oil production to steam injection (OSR) is less than 0.28. In this paper, a separated-zones steam-injection process is introduced to improve steam conformance along the horizontal well; in this process, in which packers, outlets, pressure-sensitive valves, and ball sealers are involved, steam could be injected to the selected zone, separated dual zones in sequence or at one time, or separated multizones simultaneously. In order to investigate steam conformance along the horizontal well and feasibility of separated-zones steam injection, primary laboratory experiments with a sand-packaged model, numerical simulation, and field testing are carried out. These show that steam injected to separated zones could be regulated with sealed packer(s) based on the principles of steam crossflow and superimposing the effect near the packer; therefore, steam conformance along the horizontal well could be considerably improved by separated-zones steam injection. Field testing of 76 wells stimulated by separated-zones steam injection shows that up to 70% of the reservoir along the horizontal well is well steamed on average, and steam conformance is significantly improved.

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Section: Principles Of Separated-zones Steam Stimulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improved Heavy-Oil Recovery by Separated-Zones Horizontal-Well Steam Stimulation

Zhong

Zhang

et al. 2012

Journal of Canadian Petroleum Technology

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“…Diwan and Kovseck developed an analytical model assuming that the steam zone has an inverted triangular shape in cross‐section plane and steam is injected near the bottom of the formation through a horizontal well. The heat of steam is transferred to the colder heavy oil in vicinity of the interface of oil and steam.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analytical modelling of cyclic steam stimulation (CSS) process with a horizontal well configuration

Saripalli

Salari²,

Saeedi

2017

Can J Chem Eng

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In this study, a new semi-analytical model has been developed to model heavy oil production using cyclic steam stimulation (CSS) and horizontal wells. In order to predict oil production, the governing equations of heat and fluid flow in cylindrical coordinate were solved. Average temperature in the formation during the soak period was calculated by solving the transient heat transfer equations. The heat transfer model was then coupled to a fluid inflow model to predict the fluid rates. The developed model is validated with the fine grid numerical simulation of the problem using a commercial numerical simulator. The robustness of the model was tested by comparing the model results with the results from the numerical simulator by changing various parameters such as: steam injection rates, reservoir permeability, relative permeability, oil viscosity, and reservoir thermal diffusivity. With some reasonable assumptions, it was seen that the results from the developed model are very close to the results obtained using the numerical simulator. This paper presents the model development in detail and outlines the steps involved in predicting the performance of a CSS process for a horizontal well configuration.

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“…These methods are called secondary recovery methods. The mechanism of oil production by steam injection involves diffusion of condensed water, evaporation of light components, and diffusion of steam [39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48]. After secondary recovery period more sophisticated methods should be used to produce the remaining oil [1][2][3][4][5][6][7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Steam-Injection Experiments for Recovery of Heavy Crude Oil of an Iranian Field

Tabatabaei¹,

Shafiei²,

Rajabzadeh³

et al. 2005

Proceedings of SPE/PS-CIM/CHOA International Thermal Operations and Heavy Oil Symposium

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fax 01-972-952-9435. AbstractThermal methods for enhanced oil recovery account for the large share of the world's production. Steam flooding is one of the oldest commercial methods to enhance the heavy oil recovery. In due respects, experiments of steam injection into a sand pack were performed to study the recovery of heavy oil (API<20) and a lighter oil (API>20) of Iranian field. Two different porosity of sand pack were used and the experiments were conducted with four different types of heavy oil, with different API, to study their effect on recovery.An experimental setup was designed and used to inject the steam into the sand pack. Using different pressures at each experimental run, results show that there is an optimum pressure, which is the characteristic of each reservoir and must be determined by field experiments. The rate of injected steam has an important effect on recovery and an optimum rate exists for ultimate recovery. Steam injection is more effective for heavy oil reservoirs, as for light oil reservoirs; there is the risk of fingering which results in production of steam without sufficient oil production. Even though, in literature, some authors have indicated that the steam injection could be used for the lighter oil reservoirs (API~ 24 or more) but based on the conducted experiments it is proposed to take more care.

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An Analytical Model for Simulating Heavy-Oil Recovery by Cyclic Steam Injection Using Horizontal Wells, SUPRI TR-118

Cited by 7 publications

References 5 publications

Improved Heavy-Oil Recovery by Separated-Zones Horizontal-Well Steam Stimulation

Improved Heavy-Oil Recovery by Separated-Zones Horizontal-Well Steam Stimulation

Analytical modelling of cyclic steam stimulation (CSS) process with a horizontal well configuration

Steam-Injection Experiments for Recovery of Heavy Crude Oil of an Iranian Field

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