Steam-injection monitoring in South Oman—from single-pattern to field-scale surveillance

2013 ◽  
Vol 32 (10) ◽  
pp. 1246-1256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denis Kiyashchenko ◽  
Jorge Lopez ◽  
Wilfred Berlang ◽  
Bill Birch ◽  
Marcel Zwaan ◽  
...  
SPE Journal ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (04) ◽  
pp. 701-716 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guohua Gao ◽  
Jeroen C. Vink ◽  
Faruk O. Alpak ◽  
W.. Mo

Summary In-situ upgrading process (IUP) is an attractive technology for developing unconventional extraheavy-oil reserves. Decisions are generally made on field-scale economics evaluated with dedicated commercial tools. However, it is difficult to conduct an automated IUP optimization process because of unavailable interface between the economic evaluator and commercial simulator/optimizer, and because IUP is such a highly complex process that full-field simulations are generally not feasible. In this paper, we developed an efficient optimization work flow by addressing three technical challenges for field-scale IUP developments. The first challenge was deriving an upscaling factor modeled after analytical superposition formulation; proposing an effective method of scaling up simulation results and economic terms generated from a single-pattern IUP reservoir-simulation model to field scale; and validating this approach numerically. The second challenge was proposing a response-surface model (RSM) of field economics to analytically compute key field economical indicators, such as net present value (NPV), by use of only a few single-pattern economic terms together with the upscaling factor, and validating this approach with a commercial tool. The proposed RSM approach is more efficient, accurate, and convenient because it requires only 15–20 simulation cases as training data, compared with thousands of simulation runs required by conventional methods. The third challenge is developing a new optimization method with many attractive features: well-parallelized, highly efficient and robust, and with a much-wider spectrum of applications than gradient-based or derivative-free methods, applicable to problems without any derivative, with derivatives available for some variables, or with derivatives available for all variables. This work flow allows us to perform automated field IUP optimizations by maximizing a full-field economics target while honoring all field-level facility constraints effectively. We have applied the work flow to optimize the IUP development of a carbonate heavy-oil asset. Our results show that the approach is robust and efficient, and leads to development options with a significantly improved field-scale NPV. This work flow can also be applied to other kinds of pattern-based field developments of shale gas and oil, and thermal processes such as steamdrive or steam-assisted gravity drainage.


2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (01) ◽  
pp. 118-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guohua Gao ◽  
Jeroen C. Vink ◽  
Faruk O. Alpak

Summary The in-situ upgrading process (IUP) is a thermal-recovery technique that relies on a pattern-based development process, a complicated physical process that involves thermal and mass transfer in porous media, which renders full field-scale reservoir simulations impractical. Although it is feasible to quantify the impact of subsurface uncertainties on recovery for small-scale sector models with experimental design (ED), it is still a very challenging problem to quantify their impact on field-scale quantities. Straightforward upscaling to field scale does not work because such conventional superposition-based methods do not capture the effects of spatial variability in rock and fluid properties and the time delay in sequential pattern development. In this paper, we show that, under certain mild assumptions, an analytical superposition formulation can be developed that propagates the uncertainties of production forecasts and economic evaluations generated from a sector model to full field-scale quantities. One can simplify this formulation further so that the variance of a field-scale quantity is analytically expressed as the variance of the same single-pattern quantity multiplied by a (computable) scaleup factor. This makes it possible to implement a practical uncertainty quantification work flow in which single-pattern results are upscaled to accurate full field results with reliable uncertainty ranges, without the need for full field-scale simulations. We apply the proposed novel superposition and uncertainty-propagation method to a multipattern IUP development, and demonstrate that this work flow produces reliable results for field-scale production and economics as well as realistic uncertainty ranges. Moreover, these results indicate that the scaleup factor for single-pattern results can accurately capture the impact of spatial correlations of subsurface uncertainties, the size of the field-scale model, the time-delay in pattern development, and the discount rate. Uncertainty quantification of field-scale production and economics is a key factor for the successful development of unconventional resources such as extraheavy oil and oil shale with significant rewards in terms of risk management and project profitability. With minor modifications, the proposed method can also be applied to other pattern-driven processes such as the in-situ conversion process (ICP) and steam-assisted gravity drainage.


2004 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Patrick R. Luers

Abstract The AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment (AMA Guides), Fifth Edition, defines a motion segment as “two adjacent vertebrae, the intervertebral disk, the apophyseal or facet joints, and ligamentous structures between the vertebrae.” The range of motion from segment to segment varies, and loss of motion segment integrity is defined as “an anteroposterior motion of one vertebra over another that is greater than 3.5 mm in the cervical spine, greater than 2.5 mm in the thoracic spine, and greater than 4.5 mm in the lumbar spine.” Multiple etiologies are associated with increased motion in the cervical spine; some are physiologic or compensatory and others are pathologic. The standard radiographic evaluation of instability and ligamentous injury in the cervical spine consists of lateral flexion and extension x-ray views, but no single pattern of injury is identified in whiplash injuries. Fluoroscopy or cineradiographic techniques may be more sensitive than other methods for evaluating subtle abnormal motion in the cervical spine. The increased motion thus detected then must be evaluated to determine whether it represents normal physiologic motion, normal compensatory motion, motion related to underlying degenerative disk and/or facet disease, or increased motion related to ligamentous injury. Imaging studies should be performed and interpreted as instructed in the AMA Guides.


1991 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
pp. 85-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qingliang Zhao ◽  
Zijie Zhang

By means of simulated tests of a laboratory–scale oxidation pond model, the relationship between BOD5 and temperature fluctuation was researched. Mathematical modelling for the pond's performance and K1determination were systematically described. The calculation of T–K1–CeCe/Ci) was complex but the problem was solved by utilizing computer technique in the paper, and the mathematical model which could best simulate experiment data was developed. On the basis of experiment results,the concept of plug–ratio–coefficient is also presented. Finally the optimum model recommended here was verified with the field–scale pond data.


2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 118-130
Author(s):  
Tarek Abichou ◽  
Haykel Melaouhia ◽  
Bentley Higgs ◽  
Jeff Chanton ◽  
Roger Green

2007 ◽  
Vol 7 (1 & 2) ◽  
pp. 120
Author(s):  
M. Djoni Bustan

Energy is an expensive basic need for human life, especially energy from fossils, such as crude oil, gas, and coal. In an oil refinery factory or electrical generator unit, where heat is most dominantly utilized, the boiler is used to generate steam. The main problem in a boiler is its uncompleted combustion process because of the incomplete ratio of air–fuel. This problem is caused by the addition of deposits or sealing inside and outside of the tube fire heater which will reduce the performance of fired heater. The objective of this research is to study the effect of steam flow variation on burner and tubing for increasing heat and temperature as well as the quality of steam. This research used a package boiler B&W series 1986 model which can be seen at an oil refinery factory or steam power electrical generator unit in Indonesia. This package boiler has 50kg/hours steam production capacity, qualified superheated steam, maximum pressure and temperature at 7kgs/cms2 and 700oC. Quantitatively, the achievable heat efficiency which corresponded to the temperature increase caused by the steam injection is 41.25% and the specific enthalpy is 12.07%.


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