Laboratory Investigation of the Oxygen Combustion Process for Heavy Oil Recovery

Abstract

Abstract The laboratory investigations were conducted using core material and produced oil from a typical Alberta heavy oil reservoir. The experiments produced oil from a typical Alberta heavy oil reservoir. The experiments established combustion characteristics using air and the CTD process for thermal oil recovery. Both the combustion and CTD tests indicated the oil's favorable response to thermal recovery. The results of laboratory studies using oxygen and oxygen with water injection have indicated that the enriched air process, as Ramey suggested almost thirty years ago, is not only viable as an oil recovery method, but the process is also highly desirable. Introduction The in-situ combustion process has been thoroughly described in the literature over the last three decades. Early investigators used various methods for control of the combustion process. Sinclair's early field experiments in Kansas and Oklahoma advocated use of the heat wave process to control combustion variables. Volumes of air, gas and recycled gas were used to propagate a flame front through the reservoir. Worthington and the Forrest Oil Company used gas, air and steam in their 1953 field test in Illinois. Air was injected in the forward combustion process developed by Magnolia and General Petroleum in early field tests in Oklahoma and California. From these diverse, yet similar, pilot projects, Ramey suggested several alternate operational schemes for in-situ combustion. One of these proposals was to inject air enriched with oxygen. Distinct improvement in combustion techniques came in the early 1960's when Tejas Engineers pilot tested the Combination Thermal Drive (CTD) process using air-water injection and AMOCO developed the COFCAW process. process using air-water injection and AMOCO developed the COFCAW process. To further enhance combustion drive, Dome Petroleum Limited initiated reservoir and laboratory studies to determine the process variables using oxygen as the injected gas. Several laboratory combustion tube experiments have been made using air, air and water, oxygen and oxygen-water injection.