Experimental Evaluation of Surfactant Assisted SAGD Process
Date
2019-11
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Abstract
Using a surfactant as a steam additive for improving SAGD performance has been an intriguing idea for several decades. Some positive laboratory and field results on the Surfactant SAGD (S-SAGD) have been mentioned, yet very limited information has been revealed in the public domain literature. The primary mechanism responsible for improving the performance in S-SAGD also remains unclear. In this study, experiments under SAGD operating conditions were used to evaluate the adaptability of selected surfactants for S-SAGD. Oil recovery improvement was investigated using a one-dimensional sand-pack apparatus at SAGD conditions. Experimental results show that the majority of tested surfactants can achieve a higher initial recovery rate, but only three out of seven tested surfactants increased the final oil recovery factor. The surfactants reduce the interfacial tension (IFT) between the aqueous and oil phase at the steam temperature of 200°C. However, the impact of reduced IFT on recovery is limited, since ultralow IFT (0.001 mN/m) was not achieved. The improvement in oil recovery appears to be related to changes in wettability and relative permeability. The successful surfactants appear to increase the oil relative permeability and reduce the residual oil saturation. In view of considerably higher initial oil production rate and a 10.8% increase in the final recovery factor, the thermally stable Novel 6-2 is recommended for further evaluations as an additive for S-SAGD.
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Chemical Engineering, Petroleum Engineering, SAGD, Oil Sand
Citation
Xie, Y. (2019). Experimental Evaluation of Surfactant Assisted SAGD Process (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.