SAGD laboratory experimental and numerical simulation studies: A review of current status and future issues

Pore-level Investigation of Heavy Oil Recovery using Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD)

“…Due to specific design of our visualization experiments, it was not possible to look precisely into this particular fluid flow pattern. Overall, it seems that the steam interface advancement is due to a combination of both co-current and counter-current flow patterns [10]. It is noteworthy that the pore-scale mechanisms responsible for the drainage of mobilized oil, based on our visualization experiments, are discussed later in this article.…”

“…Aside from the extensive laboratory, simulation, pilot-scale, and field-scale attempts conducted to study the performance, technical aspects, economical issues, and feasibility of this recovery technique, there are still numerous challenges which have been remained unsolved. A vast series of these challenging topics have been pointed out in an excellent review paper, recently published by Al-Bahlani and Babadagli [10]. According to this article, a main challenging group of these concerns is related to the lack of understanding of the actual physics of the SAGD process.…”

Pore-level Investigation of Heavy Oil Recovery Using Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD)

“…As the drainage performance of a typical SAGD process is a strong function of the steam chamber occurrence and its evolution following the start-up stage, this stage has received a great deal of attention in scientific texts; however, there are still some complexities regarding the development stage of the steam-saturated zone [10]. For example, it was believed that the steam chamber is extended all the way down to the producer [4], and it was a challenge regarding controlling the process to the extent of avoiding steam breakthrough from the producer.…”

“…Flat-front vertical encroachment style of the steam chamber was discredited both by scaled experimental results [4,6] as well as numerical simulation of actual field trials [20][21][22]. It is believed that steam fingering phenomenon during the vertical encroachment of the steam chamber happens as a result of buoyancy advantage of steam to oil [10]. Although steam chamber is stable at its bottom part which is attached to the injector considering continuous nature of steam injection, buoyant steam phase near the top of the steam chamber has an inherently unstable interface with the thick, cold, and stagnant continuum of oil on the top.…”

BioDiesel as Additive in High Pressure and Temperature Steam Recovery of Heavy Oil and Bitumen

“…Use of additives to improve the efficiency of thermal heavy oil and bitumen recovery processes, such as Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) and Cyclic Steam Stimulation (CSS) processes, has been studied extensively over the decades (Al-Bahlani and Babadagli, 2009). Two common types of additives used in thermal applications, mainly steam assisted recovery, are solvents and surfactants, technical and economical feasibility of which are the major factors for their commercial applicability.…”