Experimental Study of Heavy Oil Recovery Mechanisms during Cyclic Solvent Injection Processes

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dc.contributor.advisorKantzas, Apostolos K.
dc.contributor.advisorBryan, Jonathan Luke
dc.contributor.authorPlata Sanchez, Maria Alejandra
dc.contributor.committeememberMaini, B. B.
dc.contributor.committeememberAguilera, Roberto F.
dc.date2019-06
dc.date.accessioned2019-03-26T14:22:49Z
dc.date.available2019-03-26T14:22:49Z
dc.date.issued2019-03-22
dc.description.abstractIn recent years, the Cyclic Solvent Injection (CSI) process has shown to be a promising method for enhanced heavy oil recovery in Canada. CSI laboratory studies work for only 2 to 3 cycles due to low incremental oil in subsequent cycles whereas field pilots continue for years over multiple cycles This experimental study is intended to capture the production mechanisms responsible for heavy oil production in CSI. Primary production and CSI tests were conducted using physical sandpack models saturated with live heavy oil of 9,530 mPa.s viscosity. The experiments were conducted in horizontal and vertical mode injection at high- and low-pressure depletion rates using two solvent mixtures of CH4 and C3H8. The sandpack was Computed Tomography scanned after every cycle to analyze the evolution of gas and oil saturations. Three cores were used to study the effect of gravity forces, depletion rate, solvent composition, and initial oil saturation (dead/live oil systems) on the performance of CSI processes. CSI after primary in horizontal systems produced negligible incremental oil for both slow and fast drawdown rates due to the large void space and high free gas saturation inhibiting the pressure build up to push the solvent-diluted oil. These CSI experiments were only successful in dead oil systems, where the initial oil saturation was high and pressure gradient was generated through fast depletion rates until conditions of high void space and gas channels were reached. When the sandpack was flipped vertically, CSI cycles exhibited higher incremental oil recovery per cycle. Slow depletion cycles were more efficient in terms of pressure and incremental recovery per cycle, however, faster depletion cycles performed better as a function of time. The higher C3H8 content solvent mixture exhibited better performance in comparison to the lower C3H8 content as higher volume of diluted oil was drained out of the core. These results demonstrate the importance of gravity drainage in the CSI process and its significance on successful oil recovery rates. This study illustrates the limitations of previous horizontal laboratory tests and shows an improved test configuration for modelling and prediction of the improved response observed in CSI pilotsen_US
dc.identifier.citationPlata Sanchez, M. A. (2019). Experimental Study of Heavy Oil Recovery Mechanisms during Cyclic Solvent Injection Processes (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.en_US
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/36313
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1880/110100
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisher.facultySchulich School of Engineeringen_US
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Calgaryen
dc.rightsUniversity 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.subjectCyclic Solvent Injectionen_US
dc.subjectSolvent mixtureen_US
dc.subjectDepletion rateen_US
dc.subjectHeavy oil recoveryen_US
dc.subjectInitial oil saturationen_US
dc.subjectGravity drainageen_US
dc.subject.classificationEngineeringen_US
dc.subject.classificationEngineering--Petroleumen_US
dc.titleExperimental Study of Heavy Oil Recovery Mechanisms during Cyclic Solvent Injection Processesen_US
dc.typemaster thesisen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineEngineering – Chemical & Petroleumen_US
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Calgaryen_US
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Science (MSc)en_US
ucalgary.item.requestcopytrue
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