TY - JOUR
T1 - Experiments on Water Gravity Drainage Driven by Steam Injection into Elliptical Steam Chambers
AU - Martínez-Gómez, Jonathan Enrique
AU - Medina, Abraham
AU - Higuera, Francisco J.
AU - Vargas, Carlos A.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2022/6
Y1 - 2022/6
N2 - Based on a recently published theoretical model, in this work we experimentally studied the problem of gravity water drainage due to continuous steam injection into an elliptical porous chamber made of glass beads and embedded in a metallic, quasi-2D, massive cold slab. This configuration mimics the process of steam condensation for a given time period during the growth stage of the steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) process, a method used in the recovery of heavy and extra-heavy oil from homogeneous reservoirs. Our experiments validate the prediction of the theoretical model regarding the existence of an optimal injected steam mass flow rate per unit length, φopt, to achieve the maximum recovery of a condensate (water). We found that the recovery factor is close to 85% when measured as the percentage of the mass of water recovered with respect to the injected mass. Our results can be extended to actual oil-saturated reservoirs because the model involves the formation of a film of condensates close to the chamber edge that allows for gravity drainage of a water/oil emulsion into the recovery well.
AB - Based on a recently published theoretical model, in this work we experimentally studied the problem of gravity water drainage due to continuous steam injection into an elliptical porous chamber made of glass beads and embedded in a metallic, quasi-2D, massive cold slab. This configuration mimics the process of steam condensation for a given time period during the growth stage of the steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) process, a method used in the recovery of heavy and extra-heavy oil from homogeneous reservoirs. Our experiments validate the prediction of the theoretical model regarding the existence of an optimal injected steam mass flow rate per unit length, φopt, to achieve the maximum recovery of a condensate (water). We found that the recovery factor is close to 85% when measured as the percentage of the mass of water recovered with respect to the injected mass. Our results can be extended to actual oil-saturated reservoirs because the model involves the formation of a film of condensates close to the chamber edge that allows for gravity drainage of a water/oil emulsion into the recovery well.
KW - SAGD
KW - experiments in porous media
KW - extra-heavy oil recovery
KW - heat and mass transfer in porous media
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85132716093&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/fluids7060206
DO - 10.3390/fluids7060206
M3 - Artículo
AN - SCOPUS:85132716093
SN - 2311-5521
VL - 7
JO - Fluids
JF - Fluids
IS - 6
M1 - 206
ER -