Evaluation of Propane-Butane Mixtures as Solvent in ES-SAGD

Ul Abidin, Zain

Evaluation of Propane-Butane Mixtures as Solvent in ES-SAGD

dc.contributor.advisor	Maini, Brij
dc.contributor.author	Ul Abidin, Zain
dc.contributor.committeemember	Kumar Sarma, Hemanta
dc.contributor.committeemember	Z Sumon, Kazi
dc.date	2022-06
dc.date.accessioned	2022-04-05T17:03:27Z
dc.date.available	2022-04-05T17:03:27Z
dc.date.issued	2022-03
dc.description.abstract	SAGD (Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage) is a thermal recovery process for production of nearly immobile bitumen from the deeper oil-sand formation. In this method, two parallel horizontal wells are drilled near the reservoir bottom, one about 5 m higher than the other. Steam injected through the upper well provides heat to the heavy oil to reduce its viscosity. The heated oil flows down into the production well and the space vacated by the oil gets filled with steam, forming a steam saturated zone called a steam chamber. With continued steam injection and oil production, the steam chamber expands vertically and laterally. The SAGD process involves high capital and operating costs, and it suffers from environmental issues. One option being evaluated for improving the energy efficiency of SAGD is the co-injection of a hydrocarbon solvent with steam. In Solvent Added SAGD (SA-SAGD), a small volume fraction of steam is replaced with a hydrocarbon solvent. The latent heat of steam heats the oil while the solvent dissolves in the oil to make it more mobile. The combined impact of mass transfer and heat transfer makes the production rate higher than what can be achieved with only heating. Currently, the least expensive available solvent is propane, but it is not as effective as heavier solvents. So, mixtures of propane and butane are evaluated in the study to see if we can find a solvent mixture for SA-SAGD that can nearly match the performance of pure butane, but at a lower cost. SA-SAGD experiments using different mixtures of propane and butane were conducted in a linear sand-pack to determine the extent of improvement over the base case of steam only (SAGD). The results are used to determine the most effective composition of the propane-butane mixture for SA-SAGD application.	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Ul Abidin, Z. (2022). Evaluation of propane-butane mixtures as solvent in ES-SAGD (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.	en_US
dc.identifier.doi	http://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/39674
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/1880/114532
dc.language.iso	eng	en_US
dc.publisher.faculty	Schulich School of Engineering	en_US
dc.publisher.institution	University of Calgary	en
dc.rights	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.	en_US
dc.subject	Expanding Solvent- Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage	en_US
dc.subject	Petroleum Engineering	en_US
dc.subject	Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Engineering	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Engineering--Petroleum	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Psychology--Developmental	en_US
dc.title	Evaluation of Propane-Butane Mixtures as Solvent in ES-SAGD	en_US
dc.type	master thesis	en_US
thesis.degree.discipline	Engineering – Chemical & Petroleum	en_US
thesis.degree.grantor	University of Calgary	en_US
thesis.degree.name	Master of Science (MSc)	en_US
ucalgary.item.requestcopy	true	en_US