Enhanced Recovery of Heavy Oil Using A Catalytic Process

Abstract

Oil is a major source of energy around the world. With the decline of light conventional oil, more attention is being paid to heavy oil and bitumen, as a good alternative to light oil for energy supplies. Heavy crude oils have a tendency to have a higher concentration of metals and several other elements such as sulfur and nitrogen, and extraction of these heavy oils requires more effort and cost. Toe-to-Heel Air Injection (THAI) is a novel process of enhanced heavy oil and bitumen recovery and upgrading. In this technique, horizontal well concepts are integrated with the reactions of high temperature oxidation to achieve a potentially high recovery ratio. Since the process works through a short distance displacement technique, the produced oil flows easily toward the horizontal producer well. This direct mobilized oil production and short distance are the major features of this method which lead to robust operational stability and high oil recovery. This technique gives the possibility of a higher recovery percentage and lowers environmental effects compared to other technologies like steam based techniques. A novel well design consisting of two horizontal injectors and two horizontal producers was used in different well configurations, to investigate the potential for improved efficiency of the THAI process on the heavy oil recovery. A 3D dimensional model, employing the CMG-STARS simulator, was applied for this process. Two horizontal injectors and producers were utilised in this project, instead of the conventional horizontal injector and producer used in the Greaves model (the base case model), to investigate the effect of the extra injector and producer on the performance of the THAI process. It was found that the locations of the well injections and the well productions significantly affected the oil production. It was found that the amount of the produced oil rose up to about double of the amount of the oil produced by the original model. For the study of the effectiveness of the catalysts in the oil upgrading process, the CAPRI technique has been simulated to investigate the effect of several parameters, such as catalyst packing porosity, the thickness of the catalyst layer and hydrogen to air ratio, on the performance of the CAPRI process. The TC3 model used by Rabiu Ado [1], which was the same model utilised in the experimental study of Greaves et al. [2], was also employed in this study. The silica-alumina catalyst characterised by Hasan [3] was placed around the horizontal producer in this simulation.

Detailed investigations of the influence of catalyst packing porosity on the performance of THAI-CAPRI process for in situ catalytic upgrading of heavy oil and bitumen

“…8 where the hydrogen sulphide formed due to carbon-sulphur bond breakage and carbon-hydrogen and sulphur-hydrogen bonds formations is generally larger in model P56 than in model P45. This new key finding was not shown by the previous study by Hasan and Rigby (2019).…”

“…The first simulation study of the THAI-CAPRI process was conducted by Rabiu Ado ( 2017 ) where a catalyst packing porosity of 45%, which lies in between the 44% and 45.1% reported from experimental studies performed by Abu et al ( 2015 ), was used. Then, using the Rabiu Ado’s ( 2017 ) THAI-CAPRI numerical model, Hasan and Rigby ( 2019 ) conducted a numerical simulation studies where they reported the effect of the catalyst packing porosity on the cumulative oil production and the peak temperature. However, their study has three limitations: (1) They only investigated packing porosities of 44%, 44.55%, and 45.1%, and that means the differences in the packing porosities are so small that no pronounced effect was observed both with the cumulative oil production and the peak temperature, (2) they only considered two parameters (i.e.…”

“…Many laboratory and a simulation studies were and are being performed towards understanding the downhole or in situ catalytic upgrading of heavy oils, bitumen and tar sands (Abu et al, 2015;Abuhesa and Hughes, 2009;Ado et al, 2021;Cavallaro et al, 2008;Galukhin et al, 2017;Greaves et al, 2004;Hasan and Rigby, 2019;Karimian et al, 2018;Mehrabi-Kalajahi et al, 2021;Moore et al, 1999;Rabiu Ado, 2017;Shah et al, 2011;Weissman, 1997;Weissman et al, 1996;Xia and Greaves, 2001;Xia et al, 2002b;Yuan et al, 2021). Xia and Greaves (2001) studied downhole catalytic upgrading of Wolf Lake heavy oil.…”

Numerical Modeling of Toe-to-Heel Air Injection and Its Catalytic Variant (CAPRI) under Varying Steam Conditions

“…Details of the catalyst component details can be found in Hasan and Rigby, 23 where a 44% packing porosity is employed. To represent the catalytic upgrading of the HO, a new hydrogenation reaction was introduced into the model (Reaction 8; Table 5 ).…”

“…THAI–CAPRI did not undergo numerical modeling until Hasan and Rigby 23 used CMG STARS, a thermal processes reservoir simulation software, to model laboratory-scale THAI–CAPRI utilizing the co-injection of air/oxygen and hydrogen. The injected hydrogen was used to represent the potential hydrogen produced through reactions such as water gas shift and coke gasification.…”