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Performance of Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage in Thin Oil Sand Reservoirs: Well Pair Configuration

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Performance of Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage in Thin Oil Sand Reservoirs: Well Pair Configuration University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository Graduate Studies The Vault: Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2016-01-08 Performance of Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage in Thin Oil Sand Reservoirs: Well Pair Configuration Zohrehvand, Shiva Zohrehvand, S. (2016). Performance of Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage in Thin Oil Sand Reservoirs: Well Pair Configuration (Unpublished master's thesis). University of Calgary, Calgary, AB. doi:10.11575/PRISM/27300 http://hdl.handle.net/11023/2737 master thesis University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission. Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY Performance of Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage in Thin Oil Sand Reservoirs: Well Pair Configuration by Shiva Zohrehvand A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATED STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE GRADUATE PROGRAM IN CHEMICAL AND PETROLEUM ENGINEERING CALGARY, ALBERTA January, 2016 © Shiva Zohrehvand 2016 Abstract Success of Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) depends on reservoir properties and operational parameters. Here, both areas are targeted and performance of SAGD in thin oil sand reservoirs with changing the well configuration is studied. Specifically, the influence of the injection and production wellpair configuration as well as the number of injector wells in a homogeneous formation with thicknesses of 5, 7, and 10m were investigated. The wellpairs were relocated to make different patterns where the spacing between injection and production wells was changed. SAGD performance was assessed numerically and the cumulative steam oil ratio, oil production, heat loss, and oil recovery factor were compared. The results suggest that the horizontal and vertical distances between injectors and the producer well, their locations from over or underburden and their alignments affect the performance of SAGD operation. The results also show that addition of an offset injector well can be beneficial. ii Acknowledgements First and for most I am very grateful to my supervisor Dr. Ian Gates. Thank you Ian for being a great mentor and an incredible human being. Thank you Dr. Bahareh Khansari for your remarkable comments and great friendship. Thank you Jacky Wang for the invaluable discussion. I highly appreciate the financial support of “Werner Graupe” scholarship and Computer Modeling Group Ltd. (CMG) for providing the reservoir simulator CMG STARSTM. iii To my family Thank you for your unconditional love and support iv Table of Contents Abstract...............................................................................................................................ii Acknowledgments..............................................................................................................iii Dedication..........................................................................................................................iv Table of Contents................................................................................................................v List of Tables.....................................................................................................................viii List of Figures.....................................................................................................................ix List of Symbols, Abbreviations and Nomenclature............................................................xi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION...............................................................................................1 1.1. Statement of the Problem........................................................................................2 1.2. Objectives of the Thesis............................................................................................3 1.3. Research Methodology.............................................................................................3 1.4. Outlines of the Thesis...............................................................................................4 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW.......................................................................................6 2.1. Oil Sands Recourses..................................................................................................6 2.2. Chemistry of Heavy Oil and Bitumen........................................................................9 2.3. EOR Methodologies................................................................................................11 2.3.1. Cyclic Steam Stimulation (CSS)...................................................................13 2.3.2. Steam Flooding (SF)....................................................................................15 2.3.3. In-Situ Combustion (ISC).............................................................................16 2.4. SAGD Process..........................................................................................................17 2.4.1. SAGD Analytical Model (Butler’s Theory)...................................................20 2.4.2. SAGD Variants.............................................................................................22 2.4.3. SAGD Performance.....................................................................................22 2.5. Thin Oil Sands Reservoirs........................................................................................24 2.6. Well Spacing and Configuration..............................................................................26 2.7. What is Missing in the Literature? .........................................................................31 CHAPTER 3: PERFORMANCE OF STEAM ASSISTED GRAVITY DRAINAGE IN THIN OIL SANDRESERVOIRS: Well-pair Configuration..................................................32 Summary..........................................................................................................................32 3.1. Introduction............................................................................................................32 3.2. Reservoir Simulation Model...................................................................................34 3.3. Reservoir Models....................................................................................................37 3.3.1. Model H10..................................................................................................37 3.3.2. Model H7....................................................................................................40 3.3.3. Model H5....................................................................................................42 3.4. Results and Discussion............................................................................................45 3.4.1. Model H10..................................................................................................45 3.4.1.1. Cumulative Steam-to-Oil Ratio....................................................45 3.4.1.2. Cumulative Produced Oil.............................................................49 v 3.4.1.3. Oil Recovery Factor.....................................................................52 3.4.1.4. Cumulative Heat Loss..................................................................54 3.4.2. Model H7....................................................................................................57 3.4.2.1. Cumulative Steam-to-Oil Ratio....................................................57 3.4.2.2. Cumulative Produced Oil.............................................................60 3.4.2.3. Oil Recovery Factor......................................................................62 3.4.2.4. Cumulative Heat Loss..................................................................64 3.4.3. Model H5....................................................................................................66 3.4.3.1. Cumulative Steam-to-Oil Ratio....................................................66 3.4.3.2. Cumulative Produced Oil.............................................................69 3.4.3.3. Oil Recovery Factor......................................................................71 3.4.3.4. Cumulative Heat Loss..................................................................73 3.4.4. Best Case Scenarios....................................................................................76 3.4.4.1. Cumulative Steam-to-Oil Ratio....................................................76 3.4.4.2. Cumulative Produced Oil.............................................................77 3.4.4.3. Oil Recovery Factor.....................................................................78 3.4.4.4. Cumulative Heat Loss..................................................................79 3.4.4.5. Temperature Distributions and Well Pairs Arrangement............81 3.5. Conclusions.............................................................................................................83 CHAPTER 4: PERFORMANCE OF STEAM ASSISTED GRAVITY DRAINAGE IN THIN OIL SANDRESERVOIRS: Well-pair Configuration in a Single Producer-Double Injector Set up...............................................................................................85
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