An Investigation into Current Sand Control Testing Practices for Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage Production Wells

Eng ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 435-453
Author(s):  
Omar Kotb ◽  
Mohammad Haftani ◽  
Alireza Nouri
Keyword(s):  
Fluid Flow ◽  
Testing Procedure ◽  
Gravity Drainage ◽  
Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage ◽  
Mcmurray Formation ◽  
Sand Control ◽  
Production Wells ◽  
Brine Chemistry ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Impact

Sand control screens (SCD) have been widely installed in wells producing bitumen from unconsolidated formations. The screens are typically designed using general rules-of-thumb. The sand retention testing (SRT) technique has gained attention from the industry for the custom design and performance assessment of SCD. However, the success of SRT experimentation highly depends on the accuracy of the experimental design and variables. This work examines the impact of the setup design, sample preparation, near-wellbore stress conditions, fluid flow rates, and brine chemistry on the testing results and, accordingly, screen design. The SRT experiments were carried out using the replicated samples from the McMurray Formation at Long Lake Field. The results were compared with the test results on the original reservoir samples presented in the literature. Subsequently, a parametric study was performed by changing one testing parameter at a test, gradually making the conditions more comparable to the actual wellbore conditions. The results indicate that the fluid flow rate is the most influential parameter on sand production, followed by the packing technique, stress magnitude, and brine salinity level. The paper presents a workflow for the sand control testing procedure for designing the SCD in the steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) operations.

Overview of Performance and Analytical Modeling Techniques for Electromagnetic Heating and Applications to Steam-Assisted-Gravity-Drainage Process Startup

SPE Journal ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (02) ◽  
pp. 311-333 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sahar Ghannadi ◽  
Mazda Irani ◽  
Rick Chalaturnyk
Keyword(s):  
High Viscosity ◽  
Gravity Drainage ◽  
Induction Medium ◽  
Oil Sand ◽  
Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage ◽  
Production Wells ◽  
Reservoir Conditions ◽  
Startup Time ◽  
Industry Practice ◽  
High Level

Summary Steam-assisted gravity drainage is the method of choice to extract bitumen from Athabasca oil-sand reservoirs in Western Canada. Under reservoir conditions, bitumen is immobile because of high viscosity, and its typically high level of saturation limits the injectivity of steam. In current industry practice, steam is circulated within injection and production wells. Operators keep the steam circulating until mobile bitumen breaks through the producer and communication is established between the injector and the producer. The “startup” phase is a time-consuming process taking three or more months with no oil production. A variety of processes could be used to minimize the length of the startup phase, such as electromagnetic (EM) heating in either the induction (medium frequency) or radio-frequency ranges. Knowledge of the size of the hot zone formed by steam circulation and of the benefits of simultaneous EM-heating techniques increases understanding of the startup process and helps to minimize startup duration. The aim of the present work is to introduce an analytical model to predict startup duration for steam circulation with and without EM heating. Results reveal that resistive (electrothermal) heating with/without brine injection cannot be a preferable method for mobilizing the bitumen in startup phase. Induction slightly decreases startup time at frequencies smaller than 10 kHz, and at 100 kHz it can reduce startup time to less than two months.

Feasibility of electromagnetic methods to detect and image steam-assisted gravity drainage steam chambers

Geophysics ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 81 (4) ◽  
pp. E227-E241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah G. R. Devriese ◽  
Douglas W. Oldenburg
Keyword(s):  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Oil Sands ◽  
Vertical Component ◽  
Design Procedure ◽  
Production Costs ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Gravity Drainage ◽  
Steam Chamber ◽  
Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage ◽  
Mcmurray Formation

We have investigated the use of electric and electromagnetic (EM) methods to monitor the growth of steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) steam chambers. SAGD has proven to be a successful method for extracting bitumen from the Athabasca oil sands in Alberta, Canada. However, complexity and heterogeneity within the reservoir could impede steam chamber growth, thereby limiting oil recovery and increase production costs. Using seismic data collected over an existing SAGD project, we have generated a synthetic steam chamber and modeled it as a conductive body within the bitumen-rich McMurray Formation. Simulated data from standard crosswell electrical surveys, when inverted in three dimensions, show existence of the chamber but lack the resolution necessary to determine the shape and size. By expanding to EM surveys, our ability to recover and resolve the steam chamber is significantly enhanced. We use a simplified survey design procedure to design a variety of field surveys that include surface and borehole transmitters operating in the frequency or time domain. Each survey is inverted in three dimensions, and the results are compared. Importantly, despite the shielding effects of the highly conductive cap rock over the McMurray Formation, we have determined that it is possible to electromagnetically excite the steam chamber using a large-loop surface transmitter. This motivates a synthetic example, constructed using the geology and resistivity logging data of a future SAGD site, where we simulate data from single and multiple surface loop transmitters. We have found that even when measurements are restricted to the vertical component of the electric field in standard observation wells, if multiple transmitters are used, the inversion recovers three steam chambers and discerns an area of limited steam growth that results from a blockage in the reservoir. The effectiveness of the survey shows that this EM methodology is worthy of future investigation and field deployment.

Novel insights on the impact of top water on Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage in a point bar reservoir

2017 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 616-632 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maureen E. Austin-Adigio ◽  
Jingyi Wang ◽  
Jose M. Alvarez ◽  
Ian D. Gates
Keyword(s):  
Gravity Drainage ◽  
Point Bar ◽  
Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage ◽  
The Impact

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 An Improved Set of Design Criteria for Slotted Liners in Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage Operation

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (21) ◽  
pp. 5685
Author(s):  
Chenxi Wang ◽  
Mohammad Haftani ◽  
Jesus David Montero Pallares ◽  
Alireza Nouri
Keyword(s):  
Particle Size ◽  
Gravity Drainage ◽  
Design Criteria ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
Sand Production ◽  
Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage ◽  
The Past ◽  
Retention Testing ◽  
Production Wells ◽  
Graphical Design

Slotted liners are widely used in steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) wells to control sand production and sustain wellbore productivity. The slotted liner can provide desirable performance when appropriately designed. A literature review indicates a limited number of studies that offer design criteria specifically for SAGD wells. Moreover, past criteria seem to neglect some key factors, which may lead to inadequate slot design. This paper proposes a set of graphical design criteria for slotted liners in SAGD production wells, using prepacked sand retention testing (SRT) data. The SRT is designed to incorporate several essential factors that are not present in the past design criteria, such as slot density, steam breakthrough, and particle size distribution (PSD). The proposed design criteria are presented graphically for normal and aggressive conditions, where the aggressive condition accounts for the potential occurrence of the steam breakthrough. It is found that the upper bound of the design window is substantially lower for the aggressive condition due to the higher sand production after the steam breakthrough. The design criteria also indicate that the slotted liner is suitable only for the formations with low fines content.

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