Thermal Recovery of Heavy Oil Using Pressure Pulses of Injected Syngas
Abstract
Cold production techniques typically have a low recovery factor of 5% to 10%. The aim of
the research documented in this thesis is to increase oil recovery beyond cold production
with injection of a water, steam or gas mixture into a reservoir in the Lloydminster area.
The feasibility of Pulse Resonance Thermal Injected Syngas Process (PRTISP) outlined in a recent patent is verified by using a reservoir model. The hydrogen in the syngas upgrades hydrocarbons in the reservoir through thermal cracking, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide increase API gravity of liquid hydrocarbons and steam acts as a transfer medium for heat. A cyclic change in pressure over regular time intervals causes dilation and recompaction of the formation. Since the economics of oil recovery is primarily driven by amount of energy injected per unit volume of oil recovered, enthalpy calculations are compared for different injection strategies.
Description
Keywords
Energy, Engineering--Chemical, Engineering--Industrial, Engineering--Petroleum, Engineering--Operations Research
Citation
Karajgikar, A. (2016). Thermal Recovery of Heavy Oil Using Pressure Pulses of Injected Syngas (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/28307