Abstract
This paper presents an effective numerical simulation method for production prediction of in situ recovery of oil shale reservoirs with steam injection. In this method, finite volume-based discretization schemes of heat and mass transfer equations of the thermal compositional model are derived and used. The embedded discrete fracture model is used to accurately handle the fractured vertical well. A smooth non-linear solver is proposed to solve the global equations, then cell pressure, temperature, saturation, component mole fractions, and well production rates can be obtained. Compared with the existing commercial software, this new method can have a smoother non-linear solution and handle the complex fracture geometry theoretically. A numerical example is used to test this presented method and can realize accurate calculation results compared with CMG. Another numerical case with a hydraulic fracture and an open thermal boundary condition is implemented to validate the presented method and can effectively handle the actual situation of steam injection-assisted in situ recovery of oil shale, which was difficult to handle using previous methods.
Highlights
The world is rich in oil shale resources, and against the background of the increasing shortage of traditional oil resources, the efficient exploitation of oil shale becomes increasingly important
Based on the thermal compositional model, the finite volume method, embedded discrete fracture model, and a smooth non-linear solver of the thermal compositional model without judging phase change, this paper intends to form an effective numerical simulation method of steam injection assisted in situ recovery of oil shale, to provide an efficient and accurate production prediction
This paper presents an effective numerical simulation method for oil-shale in situ production
Summary
The world is rich in oil shale resources, and against the background of the increasing shortage of traditional oil resources, the efficient exploitation of oil shale becomes increasingly important. Shen et al [7] used the stars module of CMG, considered the wellbore reflux heat loss and skin effect, simulated the field process of shell oil shale electric heating, and achieved higher calculation accuracy of production data. There is no relevant research on the numerical model of steam injection via a fractured vertical well for oil shale production based on a thermal compositional model, so the numerical simulation of oil shale in situ production is still undergoing further research. Based on the thermal compositional model, the finite volume method, embedded discrete fracture model, and a smooth non-linear solver of the thermal compositional model without judging phase change, this paper intends to form an effective numerical simulation method of steam injection assisted in situ recovery of oil shale, to provide an efficient and accurate production prediction
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