Recent Developments in Numerical Simulation Techniques of Thermal Recovery Processes

Tamim, M.; Abou‐Kassem, Jamal H.; Ali, S.M. Farouq

doi:10.2118/54096-ms

Cited by 6 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…This thermal simulator wa later developed into what is known today as STARS (Steam, Thermal, and Advanced Processes Reservoir Simulator) by CMG. From 1990 the use of commercial simulators has been consolidated and the main focus has been on solving existing problems and modifying the reaction models to improve the efficiency of simulators (Tamin et al, 2002)…”

Section: Modeling Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Kinetic Modeling of the In-Situ Combustion Process for Athabasca Oil Sands

Chen

Moore

et al. 2014

Day 3 Thu, June 12, 2014

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In-situ combustion (ISC) is an effective thermal recovery method that provides an important alternative to steam injection, but it has yet to be widely applied due to the complexity of the process. The modeling of ISC requires an understanding of the behavior of different physical phenomena including phase change, heat and mass transfer, and chemical reactions. Properly conducted ramped temperature oxidation (RTO) tests on crude oil provide critical parameters for modeling. In this study, the focus is to model appropriate kinetics and improve reaction models for ISC. Different chemical reactions occur during ISC in different temperature ranges. For heavy oils and oil sands low temperature oxidation (LTO) dominates below 260°C, yielding partially oxygenated compounds and increasing the viscosity of oil, and as a result, limiting the success of the ISC process. The so-called middle temperature oxidation (MTO) region is a combination of the negative temperature gradient region (NTGR) as well as the onset of thermal decomposition and pyrolysis/cracking of the hydrocarbon phase, some or all of which may have been previously oxidized. Above 350°C, high temperature oxidation (HTO) dominates, representing the more commonly known traditional combustion region. Most of the current reaction kinetics models for ISC only focus on specific conditions such as HTO and are not able to represent the wide range of reactions that occur over a larger temperature range. The objective of this study was to develop reaction kinetic models that can be used to describe the reactions of hydrocarbon fractions at various temperature conditions during the ISC of Athabasca bitumen. In this work, a set of improved kinetic models including LTO, MTO, and HTO reactions based on Saturates, Aromatics, Resins, and Asphaltenes (SARA) fractions in the crude oil are established. These kinetic models are used to reproduce the RTO experimental results through numerical simulation. This research will contribute to the development of more reliable numerical models that can predict ISC performance in different temperature scenarios with greater accuracy and reliability.

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Section: Modeling Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Kinetic Modeling of the In-Situ Combustion Process for Athabasca Oil Sands

Chen

Moore

et al. 2014

Day 3 Thu, June 12, 2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…As reported by Tamin et al [11], a great amount of research was dedicated in the last decade in evaluating the available tools for numerical reservoir simulation. In contrast, there were little efforts in developing new technologies and new approaches using conservative numerical schemes.…”

Section: Fundamentalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Petroleum reservoir simulation using EbFVM: the negative transmissibility issue

Maliska¹,

Cordazzo²,

Silva³

2007

WIT Transactions on Engineering Sciences, Vol 56

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Pioneer methods for simulating petroleum reservoirs were developed in the framework of finite difference methods with Cartesian grids. Therefore, the concept of transmissibility was readily applied for calculating the fluxes at the control volume interfaces. With the advent of new methods using curvilinear non-orthogonal and unstructured grids, the concept of transmissibility was maintained, probably for taking advantage of the simplicity in the programming. However, it is well known that for non-orthogonal grids, unstructured or not, the fluxes can not be exactly calculated using only two grid points, what precludes the use of the transmissibility for the flux calculation in such situations. On the other hand, it is common to find in the literature a recommendation that triangles, as used in unstructured grids should not have internal angles greater than 90 o in order to avoid the appearance of a negative transmissibility. It is shown that this is a misinterpretation of the transmissibility concept, since transmissibility is always a positive quantity.

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A Methodology to Design Exploitation Plans through the Application of Thermal Process, Orocual Field, Venezuela

Anaya

Hernández

Luces³

et al. 2008

SPE Symposium on Improved Oil Recovery

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Orocual is the most complex Field in Monagas, eastern Venezuela. Due to its complexity it has been divided vertically into two zones: shallow (heavy oil) and deep (light oil and condensate). The OOIP in shallow reservoirs is reported as 3500 MMSTB. The reservoir pressure is close to original conditions due to low historical production. Therefore, the current oil recovery factor is less than 1%. To date, cyclic steam injection pilot was applied to 5 wells and the initial oil rate showed to be as high as five times the cold production in vertical wells and six times the cold production for horizontal wells. According to the results of the pilot test, the future development of shallow Orocual will be mainly based on the application of thermal processes. This paper shows a methodology to design an exploitation plan through the application of thermal process. The first step involves analyzing the reservoir by sectors in order to determine which thermal process is appropriate to the reservoir; the second step is building sector models to simulate each process and optimize operational parameters. For the first time cyclic steam injection, steamflooding and steam assisted gravity drainage were simultaneously simulated in the same model. According to this study it is possible to maximize the production of these reservoirs, accelerate the exploitation of its reserves and optimize operational parameters in thermal recovery, as well as determine critical factors for each process. This study shows that numerical simulation of complex process can be efficiently carried out in FullField scale.

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Recent Developments in Numerical Simulation Techniques of Thermal Recovery Processes

Abstract: This paper was prepared for presentation at the 1999 SPE International Thermal Operations and Heavy Oil Symposium held in Bakersfield, California, 17–19 March 1999.

Cited by 6 publications

References 25 publications

Kinetic Modeling of the In-Situ Combustion Process for Athabasca Oil Sands

Kinetic Modeling of the In-Situ Combustion Process for Athabasca Oil Sands

Petroleum reservoir simulation using EbFVM: the negative transmissibility issue

A Methodology to Design Exploitation Plans through the Application of Thermal Process, Orocual Field, Venezuela

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