Modeling of Compositional Grading in Heavy Oil Fields
Abstract Field data for the compositional variation with depth in five petroleum reservoirs have been analyzed including one rich in asphaltenes with a very high compositional gradient. The data follows the well-known pattern with an increasing concentration of heavy components with depth. The observed compositional variation is higher than what could be explained by gravity segregation alone. An enthalpy term was added to take into account that the components have different preferences for residing at a higher or a lower temperature. It was found necessary to modify the enthalpy term to account for the impact of fluid viscosity and concentration of aromatic components on the relative rate at which smaller and larger molecules move in a fluid column. With this modification, a good match was seen of the compositional variation in the five reservoirs initially analyzed. The method was successfully tested on three other reservoirs, not part of the initial analysis, one of which had a fluid column of 970 m.