Numerical Modelling of Hybrid Steam and Combustion Recovery Process for Oil Sands
| dc.contributor.advisor | Chen, Zhangxin | |
| dc.contributor.advisor | Harding, Thomas Grant | |
| dc.contributor.author | Yang, Min | |
| dc.contributor.committeemember | Dong, Mingzhe | |
| dc.contributor.committeemember | Hassanzadeh, Hassan | |
| dc.contributor.committeemember | Lines, Larry R. | |
| dc.date | 2019-11 | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2019-07-31T20:57:22Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2019-07-31T20:57:22Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2019-07-30 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) is a proven commercial thermal technology to recover high viscosity bitumen from oil sands resources, but SAGD has a few main limitations. In Situ Combustion (ISC) provides an alternative to steam injection with the advantages of lower cost and higher energy efficiency. In recent years, a hybrid process combining both steam and air or oxygen injection has been considered with the expectation to combine the advantages of both the steam and combustion recovery processes. Before application of such a hybrid process in the field, it is advantageous to simulate its performance using a numerical model and thus optimize its overall application. A comprehensive reaction kinetics model based on characterization of the bitumen into Saturates, Aromatics, Resins, and Asphaltene (SARA) fractions has been developed to simulate the ISC process with pre-steamed Athabasca oil sands. Critical observations were first obtained from a set of laboratory Ramped Temperature Oxidation (RTO) tests. Based on observations from the experiments, a modified reaction kinetics model has then been proposed consisting of Low Temperature Oxidation (LTO), thermal cracking, and High Temperature Oxidation (HTO). The reaction kinetics model was further tuned to match Combustion Tube tests results as these tests were associated with co-injection of steam and enriched air on a larger scale than the RTO experiments. The excellent match between the measured and simulated results indicate that the displacement mechanisms and key chemical reactions have been captured. Subsequently, field-scale simulation of the hybrid steam and combustion process, using the reaction kinetics model developed, was performed. In order to improve the computational efficiency of the simulation, a dynamic gridding feature was applied. By comparing the simulation results from a fine grid model and a dynamic gridding model, it was found that a temperature gradient is the best criterion to control dynamic gridding. Operating parameters were investigated, including well configuration, O2 concentration, and steam concentration. For all simulation scenarios considered in this work, the cSOR in the hybrid process was improved and this illustrates the main advantage of the hybrid steam and ISC process over steam-only injection as in SAGD. | en_US |
| dc.identifier.citation | Yang, M. (2019). Numerical Modelling of Hybrid Steam and Combustion Recovery Process for Oil Sands (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. | en_US |
| dc.identifier.doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/36787 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/1880/110691 | |
| 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 | Oil Sands | en_US |
| dc.subject | Thermal Recovery | en_US |
| dc.subject | Numerical Modelling | en_US |
| dc.subject.classification | Engineering--Petroleum | en_US |
| dc.title | Numerical Modelling of Hybrid Steam and Combustion Recovery Process for Oil Sands | en_US |
| dc.type | doctoral thesis | en_US |
| thesis.degree.discipline | Engineering – Chemical & Petroleum | en_US |
| thesis.degree.grantor | University of Calgary | en_US |
| thesis.degree.name | Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) | en_US |
| ucalgary.item.requestcopy | true | en_US |