Browsing by Author "Hu, Yunfeng"

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    Heavy oil recovery by electromagnetic heating and gas injection
    (1993) Hu, Yunfeng; Chakma, Amit
    Experiments were carried out to determine the effectiveness of electromagnetic heating on heavy oil recovery from thin pay zones (< 10 m) typically found in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Higher electromagnetic frequencies were found to provide faster heating rate and can overcome problems associated with discontinuity of the media through which electromagnetic waves must propagate in the reservoir. Heat loss can also be minimized with the use of higher frequencies. For moderate heavy oil reservoirs (less than 1,000 mPa.s), it is not necessary to heat the entire pay zone. Heating of the wellbore vicinity is sufficient. Recovery can be improved further by gas injection. Oil recovery as high as 45% of OOIP (Original Oil in Place) was achieved using electromagnetic heating and gas injection compared to estimated primary recovery rates of less than 5%. The results obtained in this work clearly show that electromagnetic heating provides an effective mean of recovering heavy oil from reservoir with thin pay zones.