(42-fo)-petsoc-93!09!07-significance of foamy-oil behaviour in primary production of heavy...

8/12/2019 (42-FO)-PETSOC-93!09!07-Significance of Foamy-oil Behaviour in Primary Production of Heavy Oil(Maini, Sarma an

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SIGNIFICANCE OF FOAMY-OIL BEHAVIOUR IN PRIMARY

PRODUCTION OF HEAVY OILS

B.B. MAINI H.K. SARMA A.E. GEORGE

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-i C-P T673 - 0,F- 0 7 Significance of Foamy-oil Behaviour in Primary Production of Heavy Oils B.B. MAINI, H.K. SARMA* Petroleum Recovery Institute A.E. GEORGE Canada Centre for Mineral and Energy Technology now with Japan National Oil Corporation Abstract This paper examines the effect of in situ formation of a non- aqu,eous foam on flow of oil-gas mixtures in porous media. A laboratory technique to investigate the role of foamy-oil behaviour in solution gas dfive is described and experimental verification of the in situ fo ation of non-aqueous foams under solu- tiongas dnve conditions i sented. T'he experimental result show that the in situ formation of non-aqueous foam reta ds the formation of a continuous gas phase and dramatically increases the apparent trapped gas satu- ration. Th't s provides a natural pressure maintenance mechanism and leads to recovery of a much higher fraction of the original oil in place under solution gas drive. Introduction Sevei-;il he@ivy oit i-esei-voii.@ iii AlheilLi @iii(I Saskatc[ic@A,,Ili, show "I-oaiiiv-oil licti@iviolir iii wol[li@i(i sitiiiples pi-o(luccd iiiidei ,;oltitioti ,as -

drivc. 'Fhe oil is pi-o(iticell iii the l'oriii ot' @iti oil coil tillt]OLI@ toaiii which lias the ot chocolate mousse @ill(i contains ii [iigli vo]Ullle f'[-@ictioll @)t' , @is, 'l his to @iiii c @iii b c quit e stahle @iti(I iii;iy persist foi- seveiiil iii ol)eii vessels. 'i-lic t'ield liroC[L[L:IiOtl li-oiii itiese resei-v()ii-" [li@it the prodtictioii fliecli@iiiisilis li-e Colilf)]CX @IIILI iiitv he (iiiiic (Iil'l'eretit t'rotii tlit)se ciico[iiitercd in coiivclltioll@il ,,oltitioii (Iiic i-esei-voit-s. high pi-oductioiiSever@il ot'these reserv(iii-s slioA, @tii Both ilic rate (it pi -odL[Ctioii aii(i ilic lol;il jecovei-v Lindei soltiti ,,@is Lirixc zti-c 111LICh Iii,,Iiei- ili@iii @Nli;tt ,)kilti be expected fi-oiii I tilc@isui-eci i-esci-),;oii- p@tr@iiiielet-s. Iii@lol-ill:ttcllill Llie priiiiai-v f)]-o dL[Clii)ll li)t- these Wel[S k)t'tell I-CLILlit-C" @11IT-c@ilistic ,idjL]@tIllCilt 01' II]C@ISL[i-ed ptitiiietei-,,, SLICII IS tIlC @th,,,OILI(C perilic@ihiiilv @iii order ol' ili@igiiitude. In @l I,Ct@cilt I)titiiic@itioii, L,ougheaLl itiLI ti@ liavc describe(i

tll(' LI]IIISLI@ll pt-iiiii -v prol L (@tioll bCll@IN iOL11- 4,11' Celtic t-'ield rel)oitillu tll@ll IIIL' i'@tic ot pioductioii ill ,;oiii(, i@ iiloi,c th@iii ten tiiiik-,, ti)(, pseltdo-ste@l(lv st@itc k)il t'](iw r@ite under r@idi,,il tlt)coiiclitl()Ils. [,o obtitiii @i @itis- t@ictoi-N, history iilLil(:Ii ot' the piiiii@iiy I)t@)(Iklk'tiOll bell@iViOLII-. IIIL'V li@1(i @ISSLIII]E @'erv uiiiisti@il ics(,i 'These iiicltideti hot onlv @iii it-lit'ici@ill@ fii-li ;Il@Solill(' bL]t @IISO @l IILII)I)C(,l@ @I S S i) IL II -@ tt iO ll o f, ; il ic l @ ii i I ll ii @t l@ ll t )i l i -e l: it iv e l ie it ll @ @ il li li lN , c ki i. "c , p ro du ct iv it y I 'i -o in ui ic t) ii so li dt ic (i i ii i( i @ i v ol ui ii c o l i @ I )I od tl (- e( I @ Ni th t li e ( )i l. _ ( ;e ii ei -@ tl lv , : ii iv I tt ei ii pt t o S to p s @i ll (I i -

cslilts iti cir,.i.,,tic;il II.C(ltlcc,(i I)T-ii(Iiicti-)ii. Aiiotht-i P:iit ll [Ill//Ie i,; tti,,It w@ti 5() ol' tho@ w,2]ls, which @ire prolific in primary pro(luctioll. silow Vtl['Y 1)(lor r,.-,Spollse to stcain stimulation. St-%;k-r@)i I)ossible @iliscs of this anomalous pi-odl]ction behav- iOL11 becti sLIg.@ICSt (I ,ind are being ijivcstigated. 'These incILi(](- foriii@i tioti ol' ),oriii hales around the well which increase the WC]i riciiiis(@). S@iiid dil@ition d(le to removal

ol' sub- li@illti@ll V(@[Litlles ol' s,,ind with the ()il, reSLIlting in increased @ibsoltite p,-,t-ineability. appears to be anothei- possible mecha- iiisiii I @ I ti(- eiihancenient of oil mobility bv nucle@ition ot' @t large ,ikiiiil,(@r ol' iriicrohl[bbles has heen sug,esteci @is zitiothei [)ossillilitv( Another possible cause of the anomalous hehtviotil- is th(@ ii) ;uti foriii@itioii (it'an oil-continuous loaiii. It is likeiv

ttiat s everal ot' these niechanis[iis nii-ht be involve(I mi, @] I e,, , Tees iii different rescrvoirs. Iii this paper, we ex@iiii- ille ili@@ cl-ll,.Ct ot, iii ;itti formation ol' -,tn oil-contintiOLIS loaiii ori I'l@)W )@ lic;tvv oi]S Lliidcr SOIL[tion g,,is drive. Although such non- lo illis @irc eiicoLIntered in several chemical inanLIf@icturino, @LICH @i@ [)i'o(]Liction of c llular plastics tnd distillation t)t llJl-oc@ii-bons, tlik,v hii,,e received little attention iti reservoil- literallire. ()tilv i-ecentlv, the iiiobilitv control poteii li@tl i,l extct-n@tl]N, ititi-o(luced non-aqueou s to@iiii@ has been reco,- iiize(Il' 1)) aid ttie possibility of theii- in situ lorili@itioii li@is been iilecl( @. lii a recent publication, Hanssen et al.,, describe the Li@ (-i @i lo,,v density iioii-itqueous foaming @tgeiit solution lor con- tiolliTIL coiiitig. 'Fl)cy showed that fluorinated well-Stil]IL]Iation dis@olv ed iii alcohols can produce tlie s@title type of -as bloL'killl4 efl'ecl is oht@iiiied with @iqLleOUS I,,as blocking foams. li@iiii 1, disclose(i the LISC ot'slirl'actants andcosolvents dissolved iii di-ive t'Itiids, such as supercritical CO,, lor contro]- till(,' II)t, lll(,bilitv ot'the di-ive t']Llid. His method relies on the inter- @ictiilll Of . tile SLII-I'act,@ifil with ("()senate water to pro(Iticc a loani oi- i(@iti, likk, (lispei-sioii, Non-aqueous Foams in Primary Production of Heavy Oils A, iiienlioned e@it-liei, heavy oil produced by SO]LltiOn (,as drive olicii (lisp] ivs iiiarkc(i t'oainiiiess iii wellhead samples. 'Thi s is not ce the two kev factors needed ior iion-@iqUeOLIS foam st@ibilil y ;11--, pl,csent ili the'he@ivy

oil svsteiyi: the viscosity ot' the liLiLliki (lieanv oil) is high enough to retard drainage ol'liquid l'illil, I)v cipillitrv l'orce@: ancl piistic surface l'ilins. inost likely ,Iztllil /C(i hv lii',,h lill)[eCLII',Il- @veight poi-phvrins, havc becti ol)'.,Cl@eLl ill ;LIC[i cilicic oil s@'stetiis. Ttie choCOI',Ite mousse-like I'll@till is @iefici-@ite(i by tlie liber,'ItiOll Ot'(IiSSL)Ived ,as, dL]C ik) I'L-@ltice(i Pr@@til-e. wiiicli t'Lii]s to coalesce @iii(i esc@ipe ttie liquid. Salt, ol the i-e(itictioii OCCLII-S within the reservoirThe Journal of Canadian Petroleum Technolog y


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i ~ ~i';) - - - - - - - - ~ - - C - ~ ~ / ~ 9 3 ~ - - D ~ 7 - - - o ~ 7 ~Significance of Foamy-oil Behaviour in

Primary Production of Heavy OilsB.B. MAINI, H.K. SARMA'Petroleum Recovery Institute

A.E. GEORGECanada Centre for Mineral and Energy Technology now with Japan National Oil Corporation

AbstractThis paper examine . the etfec[ of in situ formation of a non:tqueous foam on flow of oil-gas mixtures In porous media. Alaboratory technique to investigate the role of foamy-oil behaviour in ' 'oluLion gas dri\'e is described and experimental verification of [he in situ formation of non-aqueous foams under solu

tion gas. drive condition . is presented.The expcriOlental results show that the In silti fannation ofnon-aqueous foam retards the formation of a continuous gasphase and dramatically increases the apparent lTapped gas saUlration. This rfovides II naturnl pressure mainlenance mechanism

and leads [ recovery of a much higher fraction of the Originaloil in phlce under olution g a ~ drive,

IntroductionSC\'L'f.d l1ea\'Y-IlIl r l ' ~ e r v u i l ~ in Albclla . l I l t ] Sa .. k.lldlL'\\an,

l1u',\ "I'laIllY-llil"' bdla\ iour ill wellhead ilI11rlc'- PIOLIUlI:ll Ulldcl~ 0 1 1 1 1 1 \ 1 1 l ga" tlli\'c, Till' oil i pwtiUl'l 'J in thc flmll nf an oil-Lon-1I1ll1(11I" Ill:Ull whidl h.h Ibl.' appl:arancc 01 chncul.Hl' IIl(lll ~ O : : :ImlClllliallh ,I I l I ~ h \'uluillc Ilaclinll lll- - a ~ , Thi .. roanl call he LJLlILl'"Iahil' and m : L ~ p t l " i ~ 1 fill :-l'vcl'al hOlll ill npe ) v c ~ d ~ , Till.' lielJPilltlllcli l)n dal.1 1IIIIlI Lhl''-e I ~ " t r v l l i l ~ " l I g : g C : - I ~ Ihalthc PiotiucLillll

I I I C c \ I ; \ I l 1 ~ l I h ille C\llTlp\e\ ,111.Ihlll ) Clil \ I.

' I h ~ ' ~ , , : high pl(ldtll:lI\IIY wl'll produce fllllll t1I1ClllI'-lIlitiaiedalllh, :tnti a large \lllulllc 01 ~ a l l d i" (l1(HluL't'd \\illl Ihe (IIi.

( ; I ' I I L ' l a l l ~ , 1 I l ~ ,1IL":llIpl III IUP \,uld pn,dUl'lion rcqill\ ill dr,lqic,dI) It.:dll'.:cd prmhh.:linll Alll'II1t::1 pan of l h i ~ rllull ' I" lhilL ,,,'\clal50

\11 Iht':-.c welt.... ""llIell all" pltllillc III primi ), Pll1dlll''''HI. ~ I , , \ \VI'I)' pllllf Ic ..p(lll e III ~ ( c a l l l ~ l l l l l l l l , l l l l l l L

S,,:\..:rai pn ..... ibk caLl:-l''' 01 LllI" .lllul1lalou . PIOlhlcllon hl'h:I\'iour hil\ 'I : : be..:n 'ougg.t:'-ll'd and .Irt:' Iwing i l l , . t ' o . , [ i ~ a l l ' l l . 'IIII'''l'inclm\l' forlllalilln (\f \\'tllill hiliI.''' ;\1 IlU IILI Lilt:' \\'dl which IIlL'll, .... ltht cl/ecti\'e \\'l'II l i 1 t . 1 i u : - ' ~ ' , Sand di ali(ln dllL' III IClllo\'al .,,,\1.

'antiai \'Olllll1l''o Ilr ... and wilh IIIL , I. 1 1 ' ~ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ~ III I n L l l ' i I ~ L ' dab -ollluLC p(,llIIt:'abiliIY appt:'ar" 10 be alllllhcI pII,,,ihk' IIll'L'ltil'ni:-m\ll. Tile cnhallcl lllcnL III 011 I h ( l h " l 1 ~ by IIllciealil\ll Iii ;1 1,1I enUIIlQCI Ilf lIIil.:rllr.uhhlc:-. ha .. hL'l'1I " ' l I ~ ~ I ' ' ' I . . : d a,- allolhL'1pn ..... ibilily'; Anutht'l po.,siblo.:: . . : a l l ~ l . " 01 Ihl' ' l I l o l l l a l l l l l ~ bl'lIa\ 111111

lhe l I l ilu fl"'lltnallOIl \lraIlUil-L'llllliIllIIHI'" fllilm.II j\ likely Ihm ~ l . " v t : l a i l l f I h c , ~ l ' IIll'chanhlll'" TlIIg.hl he lIl\'lIhL'dIf I v"rying: degree., III t1il'klt:'IIL rC"'l."[\Olh, lIlhi:-. pil\ll'I . \ ~ l ' l'\;111I

inc Ihc efkcI 01 in ~ i l l l fonnalilltl ul :111 oil-Cllillillllllll' f(l,1111 1111llpw 01 h ~ a \ y 'Iii .. lInUl'l \Olllllllll ~ ; h dl \ 'c , \hhllll h "'''L'Il 111111aqllt:lIl1'" Itlanb ale CIICOlllHCIl'J ill ~ 1 . ' \ l ' l a l c h L ' l I I i L ' , l l l l h l l l l l l a L l \ I l l I l

p r o l " C ~ " ' l " , \lIcll a .. PllldliLlilli1 III cellular pl".,lic" and tii ... LIII,I II)lltlf h ~ d l ' l c - : \ r l 1 l l l l " " Ihey II


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D

FIGURE 1: Schematic diagram or the equipment.(i.e. before the oil-gas mixture enters the well). it is likely [hatsimilar foam 1S generated widlin the fomliltioll. IL LS well knownthut the flow beha .. jour of an aqueous foam is markedly differentfrom that of a non-foaming water-gas mixture: the formation of afoam significantly reduces the mobility of the gas phase withoutappreciably changing the water m o b i l i t y ( ~ By analogy, itbecomes apparent that rhe flow in porous media of a foam rOmling oil-gas nllxlure is likely to be very different compared to theflow of a non-foaming oil-gas mixture. It i -. likely thaL the mobility of the gilS phase would be significantly reduced by foam formation while Lhe Oil mobility would nm be affected.

The m;:lln objecti,'e of this study was (0 experimentally delermine whether or not [he formation of a foam was involved in primary production of heavy oils by solution gas drive. A simpleapparatus was designed to conduct primary depletion experimentsIn the labora[Qry. The p r e ~ e n c e of foam within the porous matrixwas inferred from the observed production and pre ..sme uropbehaviour of the ~ y 5 t e m .

Experimental Apparatus and MaterialsApparatus

A schematic diagram of the experimental apparatus is shown inFigure l. A two metre long sand-pack holder with five intermediate pressure taps , ..:15 used. These pressure taps (spaced 33 cmapart from one another) were used for d)'namic monitoring. of thepressure distnbution dunng the flow. The d i m e n ~ j o m of the sandpack and the propertles of the porous medium are li.'iled inTable I.Recombined oil (also referred to as '"live" oil) was p r ~ p a r e d bysaturating the oil with methane gas in recombination equipmentconnected to the inlet end of the core holder. Produced tluids werecollected into a graduated cylinder placed on an electronic balancefor measuring the oil production rate. An automated data acquisition system was employed for recording of the oil production rateand the differential pressures in each segment during the f1ov,,'experimentHeavy Oils

Flow experiments were conducted using two heav)' oilo,;;Lioydminster heavy oil supplied by fvlobil Oil Canad:t andLindbergh heavy 011 supplied by PanCanadian Pelroleum LimiLed.Relevant properties of these oils are p r e s e n t ~ d in Table. 2.

Of the t",,'o crude oils used, [he Lindbergh oil was the. more viscous ([0.500 mPa.s). The asphaltene contents of the crude oilswere measured by precipitation with pentane. The Lindberghheavy oil contained abol [ one and a half times more asplmllenethan the Lloydminster heavy oil.Preparation of Recombined (Live) Oil

Prior to the starr of tlow experiment';. each oil >.ample wascleaned of its 'iuspended materials. The oil \'>'a


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(42-fo)-petsoc-93!09!07-significance of foamy-oil behaviour in primary production of heavy...

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