Monitoring of steam chamber in steam-assisted gravity drainage based on the temperature sensitivity of oil sand

Summary Steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) has become the preferred process to recover bitumen from Athabasca deposits in Alberta. The method consists of a lower horizontal production well, typically located approximately 2 m above the base of the oil zone, and an upper horizontal injection well located roughly 5 to 10 m above the production well. Steam flows from the injection well into a steam chamber that surrounds the wells and releases its latent heat to the cool oil sands at the edge of the chamber. This research re-examines heat transfer at the edge of the steam chamber. Specifically, a new theory is derived to account for convection of warm condensate into the oil sand at the edge of the chamber. The results show that, if the injection pressure is higher than the initial reservoir pressure, convective heat transfer can be larger than conductive heat transfer into the oil sand at the edge of the chamber. However, enhancement of the heat-transfer rate by convection may not necessarily imply higher oil rates; this can be explained by relative permeability effects at the chamber edge. As the condensate invades the oil sand, the oil saturation drops and, consequently, the oil relative permeability falls. This, in turn, results in the reduction of the oil mobility, despite the lowered oil viscosity because of higher temperature arising from convective heat transfer.

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Predicting Geomechanical Dynamics of Steam-Assisted Gravity-Drainage Process. Part II: Modified Cam-Clay Model

SPE Journal ◽

10.2118/201186-pa ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 25 (06) ◽

pp. 3366-3385

Author(s):

Mazda Irani

Keyword(s):

Monitoring Program ◽

Test Facility ◽

Elastic Behavior ◽

Gravity Drainage ◽

Oil Sand ◽

Steam Chamber ◽

Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage ◽

Heated Zone ◽

Modified Cam Clay ◽

Cam Clay

Summary In Part I of this study (Irani 2018), the geomechanical effects in the reservoir associated with steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) steam chamber growth was evaluated on the basis of two core assumptions: reservoir yield behavior follows that of the Mohr-Coulomb (MC) dilative behavior, and the reservoir stress response follows that of a drained sand. In Part I, it was shown that although the dilative model nicely described the shearing and the sheared zone thickness at the front of the SAGD steam chamber, it could not predict the displacements associated with cold dilation in SAGD reservoirs, in which cold dilation refers to vertical displacement created in the zone ahead of the heated zone caused by isotropic unloading generated by the pore pressure increase and the increase in far-field horizontal stress. In cold dilation, the stresses do not reach the critical state line (CSL), which defines the yield surface and should, therefore, be analyzed considering elastic behavior. A modified Cam-Clay (MCC) model, however, can be used to describe the behavior of the oil sand in the cold dilation zone before reaching the CSL. In this study and as an extension to the results presented in Part I, strains developed in the reservoir during SAGD operation are calculated using an MCC model, and the associated oil rate enhancement and displacements are evaluated. The vertical strains and displacements are compared with measured values from the extensive monitoring program conducted at the Underground Test Facility (UTF) in the late 1980s. Two aspects of geomechanical effects are compared between the cap models (Part II) and dilative models (Part I): first, prediction of the sheared zone thickness and its effect on SAGD production enhancement, and second, prediction of vertical and horizontal displacements. It is shown that consideration of the material model effects on production rates are negligible for both models and that the MCC model can predict displacements in both the heated and cold zones of the reservoir reasonably accurately. Although dilative constitutive models can be used to predict horizontal and vertical displacements in the heated zone quite accurately, they lack the ability to predict the response in the “cold dilation zone.” Another main advantage of using an MCC model is that the MCC model provides a better description of a stress path and how the reservoir mobility can affect reservoir dilation, especially in the cold dilation zone.

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On the Stability of the Edge of a Steam-Assisted-Gravity-Drainage Steam Chamber

SPE Journal ◽

10.2118/167260-pa ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 19 (02) ◽

pp. 280-288 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Mazda Irani ◽

Ian Gates

Keyword(s):

Heat Transfer ◽

Diffusion Equation ◽

Thermal Recovery ◽

Gravity Drainage ◽

Oil Sand ◽

Steam Chamber ◽

Steam Condensate ◽

Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage ◽

Pressure Diffusion ◽

The Stability

Summary Steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) is a successful thermal-recovery technique applied in oil-sand reservoirs in which the viscosity of the oil (bitumen) is typically in the hundreds of thousands to millions of centipoise. For the in-situ production from bitumen reservoirs, bitumen viscosity must be reduced to achieve the mobility required to flow toward the production well. Many factors influence the efficiency and rate at which bitumen is mobilized. The controlling feature of steam-based recovery processes is heat transfer from the steam chamber to the formation—the greater the heat flux, the larger the oil volume heated, and the higher the oil-drainage rate. Previous studies have demonstrated that instability at the steam-chamber edge can enhance heat transfer there by creating limited-amplitude steam fingers that enlarge the heat-transfer area, thus leading to greater thermal efficiency of the recovery process. This, in turn, increases oil production. At this point, stability studies have focused on the instability between steam and oil at the edge of the chamber—none has examined the case between steam condensate and oil. In the research documented here, the stability between steam condensate and bitumen at the edge of the chamber is explored. Here, a steam-pressure diffusion equation at the moving chamber interface is derived. The perturbations of the pressure and condensate velocity are substituted into the pressure diffusion equation and Darcy's law to realize a linear-stability equation governing the growth of disturbances at the interface. The results show that the stability is controlled by moving-interface velocity and reservoir water-phase hydraulic diffusivity.

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Understanding the Convection Heat-Transfer Mechanism in the Steam-Assisted-Gravity-Drainage Process

SPE Journal ◽

10.2118/167258-pa ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 18 (06) ◽

pp. 1202-1216 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Mazda Irani ◽

Ian Gates

Keyword(s):

Heat Transfer ◽

Heat Flux ◽

Convective Heat ◽

Gravity Drainage ◽

Heat Transfer Mechanism ◽

Oil Sand ◽

Convective Flux ◽

Convective Heat Flux ◽

Steam Chamber ◽

Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage

Summary Steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) is the preferred method to extract bitumen from Athabasca oil-sand reservoirs in western Canada. In SAGD, steam, injected outward from a horizontal injection well, loses its latent heat when it contacts the cold bitumen at the edge of a steam chamber. Consequently, the viscosity of the bitumen falls several orders of magnitude, enabling it to flow under gravity toward a horizontal production well directly below to the injection well. It is commonly believed that conduction is the dominant heat-transfer mechanism at the edge of the chamber. Heat transfer by convection is not considered in classic SAGD mathematical models such as the one derived by Butler. Researchers such as Butler and Stephens (1981), Reis (1992), Akin (2005), Liang (2005), Nukhaev et al. (2006), and Azad and Chalaturnyk (2010) considered the conduction from steam to cold reservoir to be the only heat-transfer component. Farouq-Ali (1997), Edmunds (1999a, b), Ito and Suzuki (1996, 1999), Ito et al. (1998), Sharma and Gates (2011), and Irani and Ghannadi (2013) questioned the assumption that thermal conduction dominates heat transfer at the edge of a SAGD chamber. Sharma and Gates (2011) and Irani and Ghannadi (2013) studied convective flux from condensate flow at the edge of an SAGD steam chamber. Irani and Ghannadi (2013) derived a new formulation that solves the energy balance and pressure-driven condensate flow normal to the steam-chamber interface into the cold bitumen reservoir and concluded that the assumption of conduction-dominated heat transfer is valid; however, all previous analyses do not include convective heat transfer arising from draining bitumen and condensate. Although a few researchers have studied convective flux from condensate flow at the edge of an SAGD steam chamber (e.g., Sharma and Gates 2011; Irani and Ghannadi 2013), there is a lack of understanding of bitumen and condensate drainage parallel to the edge of the chamber and of its effect on transverse heat transfer into the oil sand beyond the chamber. In this study, the relative roles of convective heat flux both parallel and normal to the edge of a steam chamber are examined. The results suggest that the convective heat flux associated with flow parallel to the chamber edge is minor compared with that normal to the edge.

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Experimental Study on Well Placement Optimization for Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage to Enhance Recovery of Thin Layer Oil Sand Reservoirs

Geofluids ◽

10.1155/2021/9954127 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2021 ◽

pp. 1-18

Author(s):

Lei Tao ◽

Xiao Yuan ◽

Hao Cheng ◽

Bingchao Li ◽

Sen Huang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Thin Layer ◽

Horizontal Well ◽

Injection Well ◽

Gravity Drainage ◽

Horizontal Distance ◽

Oil Sand ◽

Well Placement ◽

Steam Chamber ◽

Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage ◽

Well Spacing

SAGD (steam-assisted gravity drainage) technique is one of the most efficient thermal recovery technologies for exploiting Mackay River thin layer oil sand reservoirs. However, when making use of the traditional SAGD technique (the production and injection well are located on the same axis with the horizontal well spacing of 0 m), the steam chamber development is usually insufficient because of the high longitudinal sweep rate of steam, which seriously influences the SAGD performance for developing thin layer oil sand reservoirs especially. It is extremely important to find an economical and practicable method to promote the steam chamber development in thin oil sand reservoirs in the process of SAGD production; optimizing well placement is a reliable method. In this paper, an improved well placement method is proposed to enhance production performance of traditional SAGD, which is changing the horizontal well spacing to place the production well below of the side of the injection well (two wells are not located on the same axis). Three groups of 2D visualization experiments with different horizontal distances between two wells (0 cm, 10 cm, and 20 cm) were carried out, respectively, to observe the development and change of the steam chamber development, and to explore the EOR mechanisms. On the 2D experiment basis, optimal horizontal distance was selected to perform 3D physical simulation experiment to study and verity the production mechanism systematically. The results of 2D visualization experiment showed that the final oil recoveries of experimental groups with 10 cm and 20 cm horizontal distances were 7.6% and 2.3% higher than those of traditional SGAD (horizontal distance was 0 cm), respectively. Combined with 3D experimental results, the change in the horizontal relative position of two wells makes the steam first spread laterally between injecting and producing wells; thus, the lateral development of the steam chamber was promoted, and changes of temperature field also display that the lateral sweep area of steam was increased obviously and the form of steam chamber is changed. Meanwhile, the generation of appropriate horizontal well spacing can combine the effect of steam displacement and gravity drainage better and improve the sweep efficiency of steam. Nevertheless, the overlarge horizontal well spacing will also hinder the steam chamber development because the strength of steam overlap is weakened. Furthermore, the findings of this study help for better understanding that changing the horizontal well spacing can promote the lateral development of steam chamber, which can be used to enhance the oil recovery of thin layer oil sand reservoirs especially.

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Identifying Reservoir Features via iSOR Response Behaviour

Energies ◽

10.3390/en14020427 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (2) ◽

pp. 427

Author(s):

Jingyi Wang ◽

Ian Gates

Keyword(s):

Oil Sands ◽

Gravity Drainage ◽

Athabasca Oil Sands ◽

Steam Chamber ◽

Heterogeneous Reservoirs ◽

Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage ◽

Response Behaviour

To extract viscous bitumen from oil sands reservoirs, steam is injected into the formation to lower the bitumen’s viscosity enabling sufficient mobility for its production to the surface. Steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) is the preferred process for Athabasca oil sands reservoirs but its performance suffers in heterogeneous reservoirs leading to an elevated steam-to-oil ratio (SOR) above that which would be observed in a clean oil sands reservoir. This implies that the SOR could be used as a signature to understand the nature of heterogeneities or other features in reservoirs. In the research reported here, the use of the SOR as a signal to provide information on the heterogeneity of the reservoir is explored. The analysis conducted on prototypical reservoirs reveals that the instantaneous SOR (iSOR) can be used to identify reservoir features. The results show that the iSOR profile exhibits specific signatures that can be used to identify when the steam chamber reaches the top of the formation, a lean zone, a top gas zone, and shale layers.

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Overview of Performance and Analytical Modeling Techniques for Electromagnetic Heating and Applications to Steam-Assisted-Gravity-Drainage Process Startup

SPE Journal ◽

10.2118/178427-pa ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 21 (02) ◽

pp. 311-333 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Sahar Ghannadi ◽

Mazda Irani ◽

Rick Chalaturnyk

Keyword(s):

High Viscosity ◽

Gravity Drainage ◽

Induction Medium ◽

Oil Sand ◽

Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage ◽

Production Wells ◽

Reservoir Conditions ◽

Startup Time ◽

Industry Practice ◽

High Level

Summary Steam-assisted gravity drainage is the method of choice to extract bitumen from Athabasca oil-sand reservoirs in Western Canada. Under reservoir conditions, bitumen is immobile because of high viscosity, and its typically high level of saturation limits the injectivity of steam. In current industry practice, steam is circulated within injection and production wells. Operators keep the steam circulating until mobile bitumen breaks through the producer and communication is established between the injector and the producer. The “startup” phase is a time-consuming process taking three or more months with no oil production. A variety of processes could be used to minimize the length of the startup phase, such as electromagnetic (EM) heating in either the induction (medium frequency) or radio-frequency ranges. Knowledge of the size of the hot zone formed by steam circulation and of the benefits of simultaneous EM-heating techniques increases understanding of the startup process and helps to minimize startup duration. The aim of the present work is to introduce an analytical model to predict startup duration for steam circulation with and without EM heating. Results reveal that resistive (electrothermal) heating with/without brine injection cannot be a preferable method for mobilizing the bitumen in startup phase. Induction slightly decreases startup time at frequencies smaller than 10 kHz, and at 100 kHz it can reduce startup time to less than two months.

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Analytical modelling of steam chamber rise stage of Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) process

Fuel ◽

10.1016/j.fuel.2018.06.106 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 233 ◽

pp. 732-742 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Zeinab Zargar ◽

S.M. Farouq Ali

Keyword(s):

Analytical Modelling ◽

Gravity Drainage ◽

Steam Chamber ◽

Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage

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A steam rising model of steam-assisted gravity drainage production for heavy oil reservoirs

Energy Exploration & Exploitation ◽

10.1177/0144598719897178 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 38 (4) ◽

pp. 801-818

Author(s):

Ren-Shi Nie ◽

Yi-Min Wang ◽

Yi-Li Kang ◽

Yong-Lu Jia

Keyword(s):

Production Rate ◽

Horizontal Well ◽

Oil Production ◽

Steam Injection ◽

Injection Rate ◽

Gravity Drainage ◽

Model Parameters ◽

Steam Quality ◽

Steam Chamber ◽

Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage

The steam chamber rising process is an essential feature of steam-assisted gravity drainage. The development of a steam chamber and its production capabilities have been the focus of various studies. In this paper, a new analytical model is proposed that mimics the steam chamber development and predicts the oil production rate during the steam chamber rising stage. The steam chamber was assumed to have a circular geometry relative to a plane. The model includes determining the relation between the steam chamber development and the production capability. The daily oil production, steam oil ratio, and rising height of the steam chamber curves influenced by different model parameters were drawn. In addition, the curve sensitivities to different model parameters were thoroughly considered. The findings are as follows: The daily oil production increases with the steam injection rate, the steam quality, and the degree of utilization of a horizontal well. In addition, the steam oil ratio decreases with the steam quality and the degree of utilization of a horizontal well. Finally, the rising height of the steam chamber increases with the steam injection rate and steam quality, but decreases with the horizontal well length. The steam chamber rising rate, the location of the steam chamber interface, the rising time, and the daily oil production at a certain steam injection rate were also predicted. An example application showed that the proposed model is able to predict the oil production rate and describe the steam chamber development during the steam chamber rising stage.

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Approximate Physics-Discrete Simulation of the Steam-Chamber Evolution in Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage

SPE Journal ◽

10.2118/194016-pa ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 24 (02) ◽

pp. 477-491 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Enrique Gallardo ◽

Clayton V. Deutsch

Keyword(s):

Oil Sands ◽

Recovery Process ◽

Thermal Recovery ◽

Porous Media Flow ◽

Gravity Drainage ◽

Discrete Simulation ◽

Flow Equations ◽

Integrity Assessment ◽

Steam Chamber ◽

Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage

Summary Steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) is a thermal-recovery process to produce bitumen from oil sands. In this technology, steam injected in the reservoir creates a constantly evolving steam chamber while heated bitumen drains to a production well. Understanding the geometry and the rate of growth of the steam chamber is necessary to manage an economically successful SAGD project. This work introduces an approximate physics-discrete simulator (APDS) to model the steam-chamber evolution. The algorithm is formulated and implemented using graph theory, simplified porous-media flow equations, heat-transfer concepts, and ideas from discrete simulation. The APDS predicts the steam-chamber evolution in heterogeneous reservoirs and is computationally efficient enough to be applied over multiple geostatistical realizations to support decisions in the presence of geological uncertainty. The APDS is expected to be useful for selecting well-pair locations and operational strategies, 4D-seismic integration in SAGD-reservoir characterization, and caprock-integrity assessment.

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