Enhanced Recovery of Heavy Oil Using A Catalytic Process

Abstract

Oil is a major source of energy around the world. With the decline of light conventional oil, more attention is being paid to heavy oil and bitumen, as a good alternative to light oil for energy supplies. Heavy crude oils have a tendency to have a higher concentration of metals and several other elements such as sulfur and nitrogen, and extraction of these heavy oils requires more effort and cost. Toe-to-Heel Air Injection (THAI) is a novel process of enhanced heavy oil and bitumen recovery and upgrading. In this technique, horizontal well concepts are integrated with the reactions of high temperature oxidation to achieve a potentially high recovery ratio. Since the process works through a short distance displacement technique, the produced oil flows easily toward the horizontal producer well. This direct mobilized oil production and short distance are the major features of this method which lead to robust operational stability and high oil recovery. This technique gives the possibility of a higher recovery percentage and lowers environmental effects compared to other technologies like steam based techniques. A novel well design consisting of two horizontal injectors and two horizontal producers was used in different well configurations, to investigate the potential for improved efficiency of the THAI process on the heavy oil recovery. A 3D dimensional model, employing the CMG-STARS simulator, was applied for this process. Two horizontal injectors and producers were utilised in this project, instead of the conventional horizontal injector and producer used in the Greaves model (the base case model), to investigate the effect of the extra injector and producer on the performance of the THAI process. It was found that the locations of the well injections and the well productions significantly affected the oil production. It was found that the amount of the produced oil rose up to about double of the amount of the oil produced by the original model. For the study of the effectiveness of the catalysts in the oil upgrading process, the CAPRI technique has been simulated to investigate the effect of several parameters, such as catalyst packing porosity, the thickness of the catalyst layer and hydrogen to air ratio, on the performance of the CAPRI process. The TC3 model used by Rabiu Ado [1], which was the same model utilised in the experimental study of Greaves et al. [2], was also employed in this study. The silica-alumina catalyst characterised by Hasan [3] was placed around the horizontal producer in this simulation.