Modeling the Toe-to-Heel Air Injection Process by Introducing a New Method of Type-Curve Match

Abstract

Toe-to-heel air injection (THAI), a method of in-situ combustion, was studied in this research. The temperature distribution was analytically formulated and compared to the experimental data. The objective of this study was to investigate the application of horizontal wells to thermal recovery via the gravity drainage mechanism, both analytically and experimentally. To do so, first, the differential equations of heat transfer around the moving burning front in a vertical combustion tube were derived. Solutions of those equations were obtained. Then, the recorded temperatures within the combustion tube were compared to the results of the analytical model. Finally, new "type-curves" were generated for approximating the front velocity factor which seemed to be applicable to process optimization.