Relative Permeability Estimation in Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) Using a Fractional Flow Model

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Morte ◽  
B. Hascakir
Keyword(s):  
Relative Permeability ◽  
Flow Model ◽  
Gravity Drainage ◽  
Fractional Flow ◽  
Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage ◽  
Permeability Estimation

Prediction of mobile water in a tight gas sandstone reservoir using NMR and fractional flow model

2014 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Maria Anantawati ◽  
Suryakant Bulgauda
Keyword(s):  
Steady State ◽  
Relative Permeability ◽  
Flow Model ◽  
Bound Water ◽  
Free Water ◽  
Development Project ◽  
Asia Pacific ◽  
Fractional Flow ◽  
Reservoir Properties ◽  
Mobile Water

One of the objectives of petrophysical interpretation is the estimation of the respective volumes of formation fluids. With traditional interpretation using conventional openhole logs it is only possible to determine the total amount of water. The challenge is to determine the volumes of bound water (clay-bound and capillary-bound) and free water. At the moment, NMR is the only measurement that can help distinguish the volumes of each water component (clay-bound, capillary-bound and mobile), using cut-offs on T2 (transverse relaxation time). However NMR interpretation also requires information on reservoir properties. Alternatively, steady-state relative permeability and fractional flow of water can be used to determine the potential of mobile water. The study area, located in the Cooper Basin, South Australia, is the target of a planned gas development project in the Patchawarra formation. It comprises multiple stacked fluvial sands which are heterogeneous, tight and of low deliverability. The sands are completed with multi-stage pin-point fracturing as a key enabling technology for the area. A comprehensive set of data, including conventional logs, cores and NMR logs, were acquired. Routine and special core analysis were performed, including NMR, electrical properties, centrifuge capillary pressure, high-pressure mercury injection, and full curve steady state relative permeability. A fractional flow model was built based on core and NMR data to determine potential mobile water and the results compared with production logs. This paper (SPE 165766) was prepared for presentation at the SPE Asia Pacific Oil & Gas Conference and Exhibition, held in Jakarta, Indonesia, from 22–24 October 2013.

Convection at the Edge of a Steam-Assisted-Gravity-Drainage Steam Chamber

SPE Journal ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 16 (03) ◽  
pp. 503-512 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jyotsna Sharma ◽  
Ian D. Gates
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Convective Heat Transfer ◽  
Relative Permeability ◽  
Convective Heat ◽  
Injection Well ◽  
Gravity Drainage ◽  
Oil Sand ◽  
Production Well ◽  
Steam Chamber ◽  
Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage

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.

The Role of Emulsions in Steam-Assisted-Gravity-Drainage (SAGD) Oil-Production Process: A Review

SPE Journal ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (02) ◽  
pp. 969-989 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shadi Ansari ◽  
Reza Sabbagh ◽  
Yishak Yusuf ◽  
David S. Nobes
Keyword(s):  
Relative Permeability ◽  
Single Phase ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Qualitative Description ◽  
Gravity Drainage ◽  
Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage ◽  
Well Completion ◽  
Sand Control ◽  
Reservoir Conditions ◽  
Emulsification Process

Summary Studies that investigate and attempt to model the process of steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) for heavy-oil extraction often adopt the single-phase-flow assumption or relative permeability of the moving phases as a continuous phase in their analyses. Looking at the emulsification process and the likelihood of its prevalence in SAGD, however, indicates that it forms an important part of the entire physics of the process. To explore the validity of this assumption, a review of prior publications that are related to the SAGD process and the modeling approaches used, as well as works that studied the emulsification process at reservoir conditions, is presented. Reservoir conditions are assessed to identify whether the effect of the emulsion is strong enough to encourage using a multiphase instead of a single-phase assumption for the modeling of the process. The effect of operating conditions on the stability of emulsions in the formation is discussed. The review also covers the nature and extent of effects from emulsions on the flow mechanics through pore spaces and other flow passages that result from the well completion and downhole tubing, such as sand/flow-control devices. The primary outcome of this review strengthens the idea that a multiphase-flow scenario needs to be considered when studying all flow-related phenomena in enhanced-oil-recovery processes and, hence, in SAGD. The presence of emulsions significantly affects the bulk properties of the porous media, such as relative permeability, and properties that are related to the flow, such as viscosity, density, and ultimately pressure drop. It is asserted that the flow of emulsions strongly contributed to the transport of fines that might cause plugging of either the pore space or the screen on the sand-control device. The qualitative description of these influences and their extents found from the review of this large area of research is expected to guide activities during the conception stages of research questions and other investigations.

scholarly journals Experimental investigation of the displacement flow mechanism and oil recovery in primary polymer flood operations

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruissein Mahon ◽  
Gbenga Oluyemi ◽  
Babs Oyeneyin ◽  
Yakubu Balogun
Keyword(s):  
Relative Permeability ◽  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Polymer Flooding ◽  
Mobility Control ◽  
List Type ◽  
Motor Oil ◽  
Flow Mechanism ◽  
Fractional Flow ◽  
Recovery Method ◽  
Polymer Flood

Abstract Polymer flooding is a mature chemical enhanced oil recovery method employed in oilfields at pilot testing and field scales. Although results from these applications empirically demonstrate the higher displacement efficiency of polymer flooding over waterflooding operations, the fact remains that not all the oil will be recovered. Thus, continued research attention is needed to further understand the displacement flow mechanism of the immiscible process and the rock–fluid interaction propagated by the multiphase flow during polymer flooding operations. In this study, displacement sequence experiments were conducted to investigate the viscosifying effect of polymer solutions on oil recovery in sandpack systems. The history matching technique was employed to estimate relative permeability, fractional flow and saturation profile through the implementation of a Corey-type function. Experimental results showed that in the case of the motor oil being the displaced fluid, the XG 2500 ppm polymer achieved a 47.0% increase in oil recovery compared with the waterflood case, while the XG 1000 ppm polymer achieved a 38.6% increase in oil recovery compared with the waterflood case. Testing with the motor oil being the displaced fluid, the viscosity ratio was 136 for the waterflood case, 18 for the polymer flood case with XG 1000 ppm polymer and 9 for the polymer flood case with XG 2500 ppm polymer. Findings also revealed that for the waterflood cases, the porous media exhibited oil-wet characteristics, while the polymer flood cases demonstrated water-wet characteristics. This paper provides theoretical support for the application of polymer to improve oil recovery by providing insights into the mechanism behind oil displacement. Graphic abstract Highlights The difference in shape of relative permeability curves are indicative of the effect of mobility control of each polymer concentration. The water-oil systems exhibited oil-wet characteristics, while the polymer-oil systems demonstrated water-wet characteristics. A large contrast in displacing and displaced fluid viscosities led to viscous fingering and early water breakthrough.

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