A Procedure for Scaling Heavy-Oil Combustion Tube Results to a Field Model

Abstract

A Procedure for Scaling Heavy-Oil Combustion Tube Results to a Field Model D.M. Marjerrison; D.M. Marjerrison Amoco Canada Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar M.R. Fassihi M.R. Fassihi Amoco Production Co. Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Paper presented at the SPE/DOE Enhanced Oil Recovery Symposium, Tulsa, Oklahoma, April 1992. Paper Number: SPE-24175-MS https://doi.org/10.2118/24175-MS Published: April 22 1992 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Get Permissions Search Site Citation Marjerrison, D.M., and M.R. Fassihi. "A Procedure for Scaling Heavy-Oil Combustion Tube Results to a Field Model." Paper presented at the SPE/DOE Enhanced Oil Recovery Symposium, Tulsa, Oklahoma, April 1992. doi: https://doi.org/10.2118/24175-MS Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex Search nav search search input Search input auto suggest search filter All ContentAll ProceedingsSociety of Petroleum Engineers (SPE)SPE Improved Oil Recovery Conference Search Advanced Search AbstractCombustion tube experiments are conducted in the laboratory to determine the burning characteristics or a particular oil in a rock matrix. These characteristics include fuel laydown, air-fuel ratio, H/C ratios and the adiabatic combustion temperature. The combustion tube experiment can then be numerically modeled so that a suitable reaction scheme and other data necessary for field simulation can be determined. The data obtained from history matching the tube experiment cannot be used directly for field simulation. Grid blocks used for a tube simulation are on the order of inches thick, while grid blocks for a field simulation will be 100 to 1,000 times larger. Also, the estimated kinetics data from a combustion tube history match are time and temperature dependent and will not produce similar results in large grid blocks. This paper outlines a new method of history matching the results of a semi-adiabatic combustion tube experiment and scaling them to a form that can be used for field simulation. The shortcomings of current thermal simulators and the suggested remedies also are discussed in this paper.IntroductionDue to the complex mechanisms of in situ combustion and the difficulty in properly scaling the necessary parameters, the use of scaled physical models is not practical. To overcome this shortcoming, the results of combustion tube tests are used to get a qualitative feeling for the field performance. However, scaling the performance of a tube to the field conditions via numerical simulation is not an easy task due to the sharp fronts in this process and the large gridblocks in the field models.The published literature offers three techniques for scaling up the tube results. In one, the preferred technique, a moving fine mesh is used for simulating the combustion front. However, the extension of this technique from one dimension to two or three dimensions is not discussed. The second method, uses an artificial parameter called activation temperature, T, in conjunction with Arrhenius terms of e in the heavy and light oil oxidation reactions, whereT* =T* =Thus, as soon as oxygen enters a block, it will be consumed at a rate proportional to e although the block temperature might be still at. around reservoir temperature. Then, by manipulating T, one can arrive at different levels of oxygen utilization. This technique is used in conventional thermal simulators.In the third technique, kinetic parameters are modified by either raising the pre-exponential factor or lowering the activation energy (the so-called pseudoreaction rate). Kumar showed that by simplifying the reaction scheme and completely ignoring the cracking and coke oxidation reactions, the effect of grid block size in simulation results becomes minimal. In fact, a new numerical scheme, in which the front propagation is calculated by a heat release curve, showed significant saving in CPU times over that obtained by a detailed reaction kinetics representations.The last two techniques do not honor the kinetics obtained by history matching a combustion tube run. The proposed procedure in this paper takes the tube match results and converts the kinetics so that they can be used in field-size blocks. The procedure entails the following steps:History match the combustion tube run using a fine grid of thickness x, where x is equal to or less than the thickness of the burnfront.P. 191^ Keywords: reservoir simulation, laydown, field model, grid block, tube result, saturation, thickness, flux, simulation, modeling & simulation Subjects: Improved and Enhanced Recovery, Reservoir Simulation This content is only available via PDF. 1992. Society of Petroleum Engineers You can access this article if you purchase or spend a download.