The main objective of this research is to compare the performance of cyclic steam injection using horizontal wells based on the analytical model developed by Gunadi against that based on numerical simulation. For comparison, a common reservoir model was used. The reservoir model measured 330 ft long by 330 ft wide by 120 ft thick, representing half of a 5-acre drainage area, and contained oil based on the properties of the Bachaquero-01 reservoir (Venezuela). Three steam injection cycles were assumed, consisting of a 20-day injection period at 1500 BPDCWE (half-well), followed by a 10-day soak period, and a 180-day production period. Comparisons were made for two cases of the position of the horizontal well located on one side of the reservoir model: at mid-reservoir height and at reservoir base. The analytical model of Gunadi had to be modified before a reasonable agreement with simulation results could be obtained. Main modifications were as follows. First, the cold horizontal well productivity index was modified to that based on the Economides-Joshi model instead of that for a vertical well. Second, in calculating the growth of the steam zone, the end-point relative permeability??s of steam and oil were taken into consideration, instead of assuming them to be the same (as in the original model of Gunadi). Main results of the comparative analysis for both cases of horizontal well positions are as follows. First, the water production rates are in very close agreement with results obtained from simulation. Second, the oil production rates based on the analytical model (averaging 46,000 STB), however, are lower than values obtained from simulation (64,000 STB). This discrepancy is most likely due to the fact that the analytical model assumes residual oil saturation in the steam zone, while there is moveable oil based on the simulation model. Nevertheless, the analytical model may be used to give a first-pass estimate of the performance of cyclic steam injection in horizontal wells, prior to conducting more detailed thermal reservoir simulation.

A global steady increase of energy consumption coupled with the decline of conventional oil resources points to a more aggressive exploitation of heavy oil. Heavy oil is a major source of energy in this century with a worldwide base reserve exceeding 2.5 trillion barrels. Management decisions and production strategies from thermal oil recovery processes are frequently based on reservoir simulation. A proper description of the physical properties, particularly oil viscosity, is essential in performing reliable modeling studies of fluid flow in the reservoir. We simulated cyclic steam injections on the highly viscous Hamaca oil, with a viscosity of over 10,000 cp at ambient temperature, and the production was drastically impacted by up to an order of magnitude when using improper mixing rules to describe the oil viscosity. This thesis demonstrates the importance of these mixing rules and alerts reservoir engineers to the significance of using different options simulators have built in their platforms to describe the viscosity of heavy oils. Log linear and power mixing rules do not provide enough flexibility to describe the viscosity of extra heavy oil with temperature. A recently implemented mixing rule in a commercial simulator has been studied providing satisfactory results. However, the methodology requires substantial interventions, and cannot be automatically updated. We provide guidelines to improve it and suggest more flexible mixing rules that could easily be implemented in commercial simulators. We also provide a methodology to determine the adequate time for each one of the periods in cyclic steam injection: injection, soaking and production. There is a lot of speculation in this matter and one of the objectives of this thesis is to better understand and provide guidelines to optimize oil production using proper lengths in each one of these periods. We have found that the production and injection periods should be similar in time length. Nevertheless, the production period should not be less than the injection period. On the other hand, the soaking period should be as short as possible because it is unproductive time in terms of field oil production for the well and therefore it translates into a negative cash flow for a company.

A global steady increase of energy consumption coupled with the decline of conventional oil resources points to a more aggressive exploitation of heavy oil. Heavy oil is a major source of energy in this century with a worldwide base reserve exceeding 2.5 trillion barrels. Management decisions and production strategies from thermal oil recovery processes are frequently based on reservoir simulation. A proper description of the physical properties, particularly oil viscosity, is essential in performing reliable modeling studies of fluid flow in the reservoir. We simulated cyclic steam injections on the highly viscous Hamaca oil, with a viscosity of over 10,000 cp at ambient temperature, and the production was drastically impacted by up to an order of magnitude when using improper mixing rules to describe the oil viscosity. This thesis demonstrates the importance of these mixing rules and alerts reservoir engineers to the significance of using different options simulators have built in their platforms to describe the viscosity of heavy oils. Log linear and power mixing rules do not provide enough flexibility to describe the viscosity of extra heavy oil with temperature. A recently implemented mixing rule in a commercial simulator has been studied providing satisfactory results. However, the methodology requires substantial interventions, and cannot be automatically updated. We provide guidelines to improve it and suggest more flexible mixing rules that could easily be implemented in commercial simulators. We also provide a methodology to determine the adequate time for each one of the periods in cyclic steam injection: injection, soaking and production. There is a lot of speculation in this matter and one of the objectives of this thesis is to better understand and provide guidelines to optimize oil production using proper lengths in each one of these periods. We have found that the production and injection periods should be similar in time length. Nevertheless, the production period should not be less than the injection period. On the other hand, the soaking period should be as short as possible because it is unproductive time in terms of field oil production for the well and therefore it translates into a negative cash flow for a company.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T15:01:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 GertrudesOQ.pdf: 1545154 bytes, checksum: 8733f5db29d9ddd6780de7e34160f375 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005-12-16 / Thermal methods made heavy oil production possible in fields where primary recovery failed. Throughout the years steam injection became one of the most important alternatives to increase heavy oil recovery. There are many types of steam injection, and one of them is the cyclic steam injection, which has been used with success in several countries, including Brazil. The process involves three phases: firstly, steam is injected, inside of the producing well; secondly, the well is closed (soak period); and finally, the well is put back into production. These steps constitute one cycle. The cycle is repeated several times until economical production limit is reached. Usually, independent of reservoir type, as the number of cycles increases the cyclic injection turns less efficient. This work aims to analyze rock and reservoir property influence in the cyclic steam injection. The objective was to study the ideal number of cycles and, consequently, process optimization. Simulations were realized using the STARS simulator from the CMG group based in a proposed reservoir model. It was observed that the reservoir thickness was the most important parameter in the process performance, whilst soaking time influence was not significant / Os m?todos t?rmicos viabilizaram a produ??o de ?leo pesado em campos considerados n?o comerciais pelos m?todos convencionais de recupera??o. A inje??o de vapor, em particular, veio a se consagrar ao longo dos anos e ? hoje uma das principais alternativas economicamente vi?vel para o aumento da recupera??o dos ?leos pesados. Dentre as ramifica??es da inje??o de vapor existentes a inje??o c?clica tem sido utilizada com sucesso em escalas comerciais em v?rios pa?ses, incluindo o Brasil. O processo envolve tr?s fases: a primeira ? a inje??o de vapor na qual o vapor ? injetado, dentro do po?o produtor, por um per?odo espec?fico de tempo; em seguida, o po?o ? fechado por um curto per?odo de tempo ( soak period ); e finalmente, o po?o ? recolocado em produ??o durante meses a anos. Esse processo constitui um ciclo. O ciclo ? repetido um n?mero de vezes at? que o limite econ?mico na produ??o seja alcan?ado. Independente do tipo de reservat?rio, a inje??o c?clica geralmente se torna menos eficiente ? propor??o que o n?mero de ciclos aumenta. Este trabalho visa analisar a influ?ncia de algumas propriedades de rocha e reservat?rio na inje??o c?clica de vapor a fim de estudar o n?mero ideal de ciclos e, conseq?entemente, otimizar o processo. Foram realizadas simula??es, utilizando o simulador STARS do grupo CMG, a partir de um modelo de reservat?rio proposto. Observou-se que o efeito da espessura do reservat?rio foi o par?metro que mais influenciou no desempenho do processo, enquanto que para o tempo de soaking essa influ?ncia n?o foi significativa

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:07:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 MariaDMP_pre_textuais_ate_cap_3.pdf: 1552357 bytes, checksum: 286c69a88a6d2c4ec8689ee9514da8ec (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-10-28 / Oil wells subjected to cyclic steam injection present important challenges for the development of well cementing systems, mainly due to tensile stresses caused by thermal gradients during its useful life. Cement sheath failures in wells using conventional high compressive strength systems lead to the use of cement systems that are more flexible and/or ductile, with emphasis on Portland cement systems with latex addition. Recent research efforts have presented geopolymeric systems as alternatives. These cementing systems are based on alkaline activation of amorphous aluminosilicates such as metakaolin or fly ash and display advantageous properties such as high compressive strength, fast setting and thermal stability. Basic geopolymeric formulations can be found in the literature, which meet basic oil industry specifications such as rheology, compressive strength and thickening time. In this work, new geopolymeric formulations were developed, based on metakaolin, potassium silicate, potassium hydroxide, silica fume and mineral fiber, using the state of the art in chemical composition, mixture modeling and additivation to optimize the most relevant properties for oil well cementing. Starting from molar ratios considered ideal in the literature (SiO2/Al2O3 = 3.8 e K2O/Al2O3 = 1.0), a study of dry mixtures was performed,based on the compressive packing model, resulting in an optimal volume of 6% for the added solid material. This material (silica fume and mineral fiber) works both as an additional silica source (in the case of silica fume) and as mechanical reinforcement, especially in the case of mineral fiber, which incremented the tensile strength. The first triaxial mechanical study of this class of materials was performed. For comparison, a mechanical study of conventional latex-based cementing systems was also carried out. Regardless of differences in the failure mode (brittle for geopolymers, ductile for latex-based systems), the superior uniaxial compressive strength (37 MPa for the geopolymeric slurry P5 versus 18 MPa for the conventional slurry P2), similar triaxial behavior (friction angle 21? for P5 and P2) and lower stifness (in the elastic region 5.1 GPa for P5 versus 6.8 GPa for P2) of the geopolymeric systems allowed them to withstand a similar amount of mechanical energy (155 kJ/m3 for P5 versus 208 kJ/m3 for P2), noting that geopolymers work in the elastic regime, without the microcracking present in the case of latex-based systems. Therefore, the geopolymers studied on this work must be designed for application in the elastic region to avoid brittle failure. Finally, the tensile strength of geopolymers is originally poor (1.3 MPa for the geopolymeric slurry P3) due to its brittle structure. However, after additivation with mineral fiber, the tensile strength became equivalent to that of latex-based systems (2.3 MPa for P5 and 2.1 MPa for P2). The technical viability of conventional and proposed formulations was evaluated for the whole well life, including stresses due to cyclic steam injection. This analysis was performed using finite element-based simulation software. It was verified that conventional slurries are viable up to 204?F (400?C) and geopolymeric slurries are viable above 500?F (260?C) / Po?os sujeitos ? inje??o c?clica de vapor apresentam importantes desafios para desenvolvimento de pastas de cimenta??o, devido principalmente aos esfor?os de tra??o causados pelos gradientes t?rmicos durante a sua vida ?til. Falhas em cimenta??es que empregaram pastas convencionais de elevada resist?ncia ? compress?o levaram ao emprego de pastas mais flex?veis e/ou d?cteis, com destaque para as pastas de cimento Portland com adi??o de l?tex. Recentes pesquisas t?m apresentado pastas geopolim?ricas como alternativa. Estas pastas cimentantes s?o baseadas na ativa??o alcalina de aluminosilicatos amorfos como o metacaulim ou a cinza volante e possuem propriedades vantajosas como alta resist?ncia ? compress?o, r?pido endurecimento e estabilidade t?rmica. Encontram-se na literatura formula??es geopolim?ricas b?sicas que atendem ?s especifica??es da ind?stria de petr?leo, incluindo reologia, resist?ncia ? compress?o e tempo de espessamento. Neste trabalho, desenvolveu-se novas formula??es geopolim?ricas ? base de metacaulim, silicato de pot?ssio, hidr?xido de pot?ssio, micross?lica e fibra mineral, utilizando o estado da arte em composi??o qu?mica, modelagem de misturas e aditiva??o para otimizar as propriedades relevantes para a cimenta??o de po?os. Partindo de raz?es molares consideradas ideais na literatura (SiO2/Al2O3 = 3,8 e K2O/Al2O3 = 1,0), realizou-se um estudo de misturas secas baseado no modelo do empacotamento compress?vel, obtendo-se um volume ?timo de 6% para o material s?lido adicional. Este material (micross?lica e fibra mineral) serve tanto como fonte de s?lica adicional (no caso da micross?lica) quanto refor?o mec?nico, principalmente no caso da fibra mineral, a qual incrementou a resist?ncia ? tra??o. Realizou-se o primeiro estudo mec?nico triaxial desta classe de pastas. Para efeito de compara??o, tamb?m foi realizado um estudo mec?nico de pastas convencionais ? base de l?tex. Apesar de diferen?as no modo de ruptura (fr?gil no caso dos geopol?meros, d?ctil no caso das pastas com l?tex), a superior resist?ncia compressiva uniaxial (37 MPa para a pasta geopolim?rica P5 versus 18 MPa para a pasta convencional P2), comportamento triaxial similar (?ngulo de atrito 21? para P5 e P2) e menor rigidez (na regi?o el?stica 5,1 GPa para P5 versus 6,8 GPa para P2) das pastas geopolim?ricas permitiu uma capacidade de absor??o de energia (155 kJ/m3 para P5 versus 208 kJ/m3 para P2) compar?vel entre as duas, sendo que os geopol?meros atuam no regime el?stico, sem a microfissura??o presente nas pastas com l?tex. Assim, os geopol?meros estudados neste trabalho devem ser dimensionados para aplica??es no regime el?stico para evitar fraturas fr?geis. Finalmente, a resist?ncia ? tra??o do geopol?mero ? originalmente pobre (1,3 MPa para a pasta geopolim?rica P3) devido ? sua estrutura fr?gil. Entretanto, ap?s a aditiva??o desse sistema com fibra mineral, a resist?ncia ? tra??o do mesmo tornou-se equivalente (2,3 MPa para P5 e 2,1 MPa para P2) ? das pastas com l?tex. A viabilidade t?cnica das formula??es convencionais e geopolim?ricas foi avaliada durante toda a vida ?til do po?o, incluindo os esfor?os devidos ? inje??o c?clica de vapor. Esta an?lise foi feita utilizando um software de simula??o ? base de elementos finitos. Verificou-se que as pastas convencionais s?o vi?veis at? a temperatura de 204?C (400?F) e as geopolim?ricas acima de 260?C (500?F)