A Dual-Directional Flow Control Device for Cyclic Steam Stimulation Applications

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Da Zhu

Summary Cyclic steam stimulation (CSS) is one the most effective thermal recovery methods. It is widely used as the primary thermal recovery method to recover heavy oil fields in the Middle East, the Asia-Pacific region, and North and South America. In this paper, a novel dual-directional flow control device (FCD) will be introduced. This FCD technology can allocate accurate steam outflow into the reservoir formation and improve steam quality during the steam injection period and can mitigate steam breakthrough from the neighboring wells during the production period. In the first section, we give a brief introduction on CSS and the main issues encountered in the field operation. A multidirectional flow control nozzle specifically designed for CSS application will be presented. Design philosophy in thermodynamics and hydrodynamics of the nozzle will be discussed in detail. Field performance results, computational fluid dynamics (CFD), and flow loop testing data will be shown to evaluate the performance of the technology. The application of the technology in steam-assisted thermal applications will be introduced. Well-known issues such as erosion and scaling on the FCD tools will be studied in the end.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Da Zhu

Abstract Cyclic steam stimulation (CSS) is one the most effective thermal recovery methods. It is widely used as the primary thermal recovery method to recovery heavy oil fields in Middle East, Asia Pacific, North and South America. In this paper, a novel dual-directional flow control device (FCD) will be introduced. This FCD technology can allocate accurate steam outflow into the reservoir formation and improve steam quality during steam injection period and can mitigate steam breakthrough from the neighboring wells during production period. In the first section, we will give a brief introduction on CSS and the main issues encountered in the field operation. A multi-directional flow control nozzle specifically designed for CSS application will be presented. Design philosophy in thermodynamics and hydrodynamics of the nozzle will be discussed in detail. Field performance results, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and flow loop testing data will be shown to evaluate the performance of the technology. The application of the technology in steam assisted thermal applications will be introduced. Well-known issues such as erosion and scaling on the FCD tools will be studied in the end.


1980 ◽  
Vol 67 (4) ◽  
pp. 1413-1413
Author(s):  
George J. Kay ◽  
Alan Keskimen

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhihua Wang ◽  
Aqib Qureshi ◽  
Tarik A Abdelfattah ◽  
Joshua R Snitkoff

Abstract The re-development of a giant offshore field in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) consists predominantly of four artificial islands requiring in most cases extremely long horizontal laterals to reach the reservoir targets. Earlier SPE technical papers (1,2) have introduced the development, testing, qualification, and deployment of the plugged liner technology using the dissolvable plugged nozzles (DPNs). The use of DPN plugged liner technology has resulted in CAPEX savings and enhanced production performance. The benefits of DPN technology are its simplicity along with its cost effectiveness. However, the dissolvable material has some limitations, such as pressure rating and dissolution time, which are fluid chemistry dependent. To overcome these limits, a new Pressure Actuated Isolation Nozzle Assembly (PAINA) was developed as an alternative to the plugged liner tool for applications where a higher pressure rating is required, as well as on demand opening. Furthermore, the new PAINA also functions as a flow control device during injection and production, enhancing acid jetting effects during bullhead stimulation and reducing brine losses during liner installation. Liners with PAINAs can be run to TD similar to blank pipe: fluids can be circulated through the inside of the liner without the need for a wash pipe. Once on bottom, non-aqueous drilling fluid is displaced to brine without actuating the isolation mechanism. When the well is ready for production or injection, pressure is applied and the isolation mechanism is activated to establish communication between well and reservoir. These tools were successfully run as flow control devices in water-alternating-gas (WAG) pilot wells. The planning and execution of the initial application will be discussed, along with the tool development, qualification testing, and lessons learned. The key advantage of this technology is in extending plugged liner applications to cases where other pressure-operated tools are included as part of the liner lower completion. Pressure can be applied to the well multiple times without activating the isolation mechanism as long as the applied pressure is below the actuation pressure.


Author(s):  
Asad Asghar ◽  
Satpreet Sidhu ◽  
William D. E. Allan ◽  
Grant Ingram ◽  
Tom M. Hickling ◽  
...  

S-Ducts have wide application on air vehicles with embedded engines. The complex geometry is known to lead to separation downstream of curved profiles. This paper reports the influences on that flow of passive flow control geometries. In these experiments, stream-wise tubercles were applied in an effort to improve the internal performance of S-duct diffusers, parameters including pressure recovery, distortion and swirl. The test articles were tested with the high subsonic (Ma = 0.8) flow and were manufactured using 3D printing. Stream-wise static pressure and exit-plane total pressure were measured in a test rig using surface pressure taps and a 5-probe rotating rake, respectively; the baseline and variant S-ducts were simulated through computational fluid dynamics. The experiments showed that some subtle improvements to the S-Duct distortion could be achieved through careful selection of tubercle geometry. Generally, the recovered flow downstream of the inner radius of the second bend of the S-duct deteriorated, but overall pressure recovery improved. The simulations were useful in characterizing swirl, whereas experiments were not so equipped. Adjustments to the numerical approaches resulted in reasonable agreement with the experiments.


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