Physical and Mathematical Model and Method for Computing Heat and Mass Transfer Processes in the System of a Stratum Featuring Horizontal Well
In order to solve scientific and engineering problems arising during analysis and development of hard-to-recover hydrocarbon reserves in high-viscosity oil deposits, we performed a numerical study of heat and mass transfer processes in a mixture of water and oil. We achieved these goals by developing a hydrodynamic and thermophysical model of non-steady-state quasi-three-dimensional heat and mass transfer in a stratum featuring a system of horizontal wells. We propose an analytical approach to plotting a dynamic computational grid in a natural semi-fixed coordinate system. We compute streamlines and equipotential lines using the analytical solution proposed, which is based on complex analysis. The object of our investigation is natural strata saturatedby a multiphase fluid. We used the physical and mathematical model and the calculation method proposed to develop a software package and conduct a series of numerical and parametric studies concerning the effects caused by thermophysical properties of rocks and fluids combined with various operation modes in a system of horizontal wells. The paper describes how these parameters affect the rate of oil production in a real high-viscosity oil deposit. We verified the results obtained against actual core sample investigation data and technological parameters of oil deposit development, and further compared them to known analytical solutions and commercial hydrodynamic simulators