Singlewell sw sagd attempts to create a similar process using only one horizontal well. Meg is actively developing enhanced oil recovery projects that utilize steam assisted gravity drainage sagd extraction methods to improve the economic recovery of oil as well as lower carbon emissions. Temperature profiles of the observation wells located nearby the sagd wells. The first problem addressed is the study of fluids during alkaline steam assisted gravity drainage alkaline sagd. Sagd is a type of in situ technology sand left in place in situ latin for in place. Steam chamber development has been monitored by the collection of data from a number of observation wells drilled within the associated pad. Design of flow control devices in steamassisted gravity. The christina lake steam assisted gravity drainage sagd project has been in operation since 2002. Pdf effects of lean zones on steamassisted gravity. Steam assisted gravity drainage sagd is a commercial insitu recovery technology. It is utilizing a major process automation system designed to improve. High pressure steam is continuously injected into the upper wellbore to heat the oil and reduce its viscosity, causing. The process involves drilling of a pair of wells in the oilsands formation. Sagd is an enhanced oil recovery technology for producing heavy crude oil and bitumen.
The process and the theory differ from those described in the literature for the production of conventional oils by gravity drainage. This data has been incorporated with 4d seismic and evaluated to understand the heterogeneity of the. Steam assisted gravity drainage sagd produced water pw consists of oil, solids, clays, petroleumderived compounds, and other dissolved organic matters doms, which make the sagd pw highly stable and, therefore, very hard to treat. Infill wells are drilled in steam assisted gravity drainage sagd fields between existing well pairs in order to maximize recovery from the reservoir. Two parallel horizontal wells are employed in the sagd process. Applications reservoirs with poorly defined grainsize distribution reservoirs with widely varying particle sizes recompletions where screens have failed thermal and steam assisted gravity drainage wells benefits extends well production time and vertical, deviated, and expedites reserve recovery prolongs rod and esp pump life and. Sagd maximizes gravitational forces during the steam flooding of heavy oils. Drainage facts and stats steam assisted gravity drainage process in alberta, 80 per cent 2 billion barrels of the oil sands are buried too deep below the surface for open pit mining and can only be extracted by in situ in place methods such as steam assisted gravity drainage sagd. Microfluidics for steam assisted gravity drainage and. Several authors have tried to model this process using analytical, semianalytical and fully numerical means. An experimental study of single wellsteam assisted.
Talk about sagd november 20 facts about sagd projects using steam assisted gravity drainage technology are becoming more common. In alberta, 80 per cent 5 billion barrels of the oil sands are buried too deep below the surface. Steam assisted gravity drainage sagd is an insitu method of extracting bitumen and involves the injection of steam into the oil sands reservoir through a horizontal well pair. Abstract commercialization of the steamassisted gravity drainage sagd process has made recovery of heavy oilbitumen possible in a number of reservoirs hindered by hydrocarbon immobility. As the oil drains, the steam chamber advances into the reservoir. Microfluidic analysis of porescale petroleum recovery in. Cyclic steam stimulation css has been a commercial recovery process since the mid 1980s in the cold lake area in northeast alberta. Steam injection is the most important thermal enhanced oil recovery method. Sagd is the acronym of steam assisted gravity drainage. The reservoir oil is heated by the injected steam and drains to the producer under the effect of gravity. This method involves forcing steam into subsurface oil sands deposits to heat the bitumen locked in the sand, allowing it to flow well enough to be extracted.
In the steam assisted gravity drainage sagd process, heated oil drains from around growing steam chambers, driven by gravity, to lower horizontal wells. For a steam assisted gravity drainage sagd system, the steam chamber in a mature field project can extend from a broad area across the top of the sand to a narrow finger down to the producing horizontal well near the bottom of the sand. Pdf on may 1, 2019, ali takbiriborujeni and others published upscaling the steam assisted gravitydrainage model for heterogeneous reservoirs find, read and cite all the research you need on. Steam assisted thermal recovery methods are commonly applied for the production of heavy 1020. In the steamassisted gravity drainage sagd process, heated oil drains from around growing steam chambers, driven by gravity, to lower horizontal wells. Several analytical treatments of the basic process have been reported. Steam assisted gravity drainage sagd sagd is one technology that is changing the oil sands industry, but requires a continuous and growing supply of highquality water for steam production. A comparison study between the newly developed vertical.
The displacement or the oil is systematic and high recoveries can be obtained. The drainage rate equation from the tandrain or lindrain assumptions, equation 2. Guide to sagd steam assisted gravity drainage reservoir. This thesis focuses on applying microfluidics to the study of petrochemical fluid flow at highpressure and hightemperature. Typically, a pair of parallel horizontal wells is used. Steam chamber development, residual oil saturation, and. Common problems in sagd wells include inadequate fluid production control in the completion, which leads to uneven steam conformance, lower sweep and thermal efficiencies along some sections of the lateral, adverse heeltotoe effects, and the risk of live steam entering the pro. Analytical model of steamassisted gravity drainage sagd.
It is an advanced form of steam stimulation in which a pair of horizontal wells is drilled into the oil reservoir, one a few metres above the other. The upper injection well is used to inject steam into the deposit while the lower one production well collects the bitumen which drains. Taking into account the current context of the oil market, it is hard to justify the investment in new deposits, thus, the implementation of swsagd in already depleted heavy oil reservoirs would be enhanced. We have investigated the use of electric and electromagnetic em methods to monitor the growth of steam assisted gravity drainage sagd steam chambers. Improved steam assisted gravity drainage sagd performance with solvent as steam additive.
A comparison study between the newly developed vertical wells. Even though their temperatures are not as high as sagd wells, infill wells are still hot enough to challenge esp systems with conventional temperature ratings. Controlling postcompletion flow in steamassisted gravity. Center of natural resources and environment cerena, instituto superior tecnico, technical university of lisbon, av. Pdf upscaling the steamassistedgravitydrainage model. The resulting oil and condensed steam emulsion is then piped from the producing well to the plant, where it is separated and treated. A thin film of water, which contains trace amounts of clay, iron, vanadium and titanium, surrounds each sand particle.
Design and optimisation of a steam assisted gravity. A steam injection simulator was developed to conduct the numerical assessment. The most commonly used insitu process is steam assisted gravity drainage sagd. The location of the well pair, relative to surface facilities are shown along with an idealized, uniform, steam chamber in red. Commercialization of the steamassisted gravity drainage sagd process has made recovery of heavy oilbitumen possible in a number of reservoirs hindered by hydrocarbon immobility. Sagd process pdf condensable gas ncg and the steam and gas push sagp process. Monitoring steamassisted gravity drainage sagd with eit. Esp system designed for sagd infill wells delivers record. Steam is injected into the reservoir through the upper well. However, the economics of this process are highly sensitive to the efficiency of steam creation, delivery, and use, with a successful and unsuccessful sagd well pair often separated by how effectively thermal.
It is utilizing a major process automation system designed to. In a typical sagd approach, steam is injected into a horizontal well located directly above a horizontal producer helping to displace heated oil. An overview of the origin, pathways and controls of h2s. Steam assisted gravity drainage sagd is an advanced form of steam stimulation, or an enhanced oil recovery technology.
Comments the sagd process has been developed in ontario, then in alberta by imperial oil exxonmobil in the years 1970s. A thorough understanding of the effects of lean zones and the improvement of steam assisted gravity drainage sagd operations with such heterogeneities is critically important for reducing the. A new approach to the modelling of steamassisted gravity. The steam assisted gravity drainage is a process to produce oil from tarsands. Bitumen recovery by steam assisted gravity drainage sagd is done by injecting steam into the formation to reduce bitumen viscosity. Jan 05, 20 steam assisted gravity drainage designphi. A crosssection view of an idealized, evolving, steam chamber. Steam tooil ratio sor is an important parameter affecting the production performance. Gravity forces the oil to drain into the lower well where it is produced. This is due to the significant amount of steam requirement and often limited steam generation capacity. The process leads to a high recovery and high oil rate at economic oilto steam ratios osr. An overview of a typical steam assisted gravity drainage sagd process. Effect of steamassisted gravity drainage produced water.
Technologies for enhancing efficiency of steam assisted gravity drainage production technologies for enhancing efficiency of coal bed methane production to efficiently, reliably and safely operate steam assisted gravity drainage sagd reservoirs in western canada, a solution that integrates both technology and expertise is essential. Aspen is a solventassisted steam assisted gravity drainage project sasagd, current under development. Meg is proud to be part of a vital industry promoting responsibleresources development and. Butler in the 1980s developed conventional steam assisted gravity drainage known as sagd. Steam assisted gravity drainage sagd is a promising approach for recovering heavy and viscous oil resources.
Also, several steam assisted gravity drainage sagd projects are in operation in different types of reservoirs in the cold lake area. Horizontal wells and steam assisted gravity drainage. The method ensures a stable displacement of steam at economical rates by using gravity as the driving force and a pair of. Roger butler, introduced the concept of steam assisted gravity drainage sagd.
Improved modeling of the steamassisted gravity drainage. Also, several steamassisted gravity drainage sagd projects are in operation in different types of reservoirs in the cold lake area. Adapting microfluidics to study petroleum requires the use of materials and methods not commonly used. Mar 23, 2017 steam assisted gravity drainage sagd is an advanced form of steam stimulation, or an enhanced oil recovery technology. The underground test facility utfphase a at fort mcmurray, alberta, canada was constructed in 1985 by the alberta oil sands technology and research authority aostra to test the concept of sagd. Greene, tweed developed chemraz 694, a perfluoroelastomer, for exceptional chemical resistance and bestinclass performance in high temperature steam environments, including steam assisted gravity drainage sagd and other enhanced oil recovery eor applications requiring steam injection. In this case, the esp pump, installed in a hightemperature, shallow and total vertical depth tvd well, ceased.
Talk about sagd november 20 facts about sagd projects using steam assisted gravity drainage. Considerations related to a surface steam release incident, athabasca oil sands area, northeastern alberta, canada chapter pdf available january. The applications of established thermal processes, such as sagd, are commonly required to achieve economic hydrocarbon recovery. Steamassisted gravity drainage sagd is a techniquethat has been developedto ef. Steam assisted gravity drainage sagd is a drilling technique that is used to extract heavy oil that is too deep or otherwise economically inefficient to. Done is ideally suited for sagd applications where the complete temperature profile provided by the system can optimize and improve sagd well management.
Steamassisted gravity drainage sagd is a drilling technique that is used to extract heavy oil that is too. Stimulation css and steam assisted gravity drainage sagd. One typical procedure is steam assisted gravity drainage sagd, which is a promising recovery process to produce heavy oil and bitumen. The sagd process has been developed in ontario, then in alberta by imperial oil exxonmobil in the years 1970s. A numerical analysis of the singlewell steam assisted.
In sagd, two closelyspaced horizontal wells, one above the other, form a steam injector and producer pair. It is widely used in alberta, canada for recovery of heavy oil and tar sand resources. Steam assisted gravity drainage sagd is an in situ recovery process used to extract bitumen from the athabasca oil sands in northern alberta. In a typical model, the focus is on bitumen drainage ahead of an advancing steamoil interface with no recourse to the steam injection rate which is worked. However, to increase the efficiency of sagd operations and to improve economics, it has been proposed to add solvent to the injected steam. However, the economics of this process are highly sensitive to the ef. It uses two horizontal wells drilled at the bottom of the reservoir dembicki, 2001, where steam is injected into the top well and produces a steam chamber that grows upward and outward. The viscous oil called bitumen then surrounds the water skin and sand particle. For instance, steam assisted gravity drainage sagd is used widely for the exploitation of bitumen from relatively shallow reservoirs in alberta, canada. Traditionally, insitu oil sands operators use the simple approach of placing steam assisted gravity drainage sagd well pairs as close to the base of pay as possible, with the expectation that the effects of reservoir heterogeneity will be mitigated by the use of longer well pairs.
Horizontal wells and steamassisted gravity drainage butler. The formation of a steam chamber and heat transfer to the bitumen allows gravity drainage and production. Meg is proud to be part of a vital industry promoting responsibleresources development and fueling our economy. Study of the parameters of steam assisted gravity drainage. Apr 01, 2020 steamassisted gravity drainage or sagd is a widely tested method for producing bitumen from oil sands tar sands. The steam assisted gravity drainage sagd downhole flow control joint industry project jip was initiated in 2008 by cfer technologies in conjunction with several sagd operators. Pumpguard intake screen and valve assembly product sheet. Steam allocation and production optimization in sagd. Delta venturi orifice steam trap animation duration. In both cases, high pressure hp steam is injected into the ground to heat up and reduce the viscosity of bitumen from about 1 million centipoise cp to 10 cp so that the hot bitumen can flow into production wells. The steam chamber rising process is an essential feature of steam assisted gravity drainage.
Mathematical modeling of steam assisted gravity drainage. Steam assisted gravity drainage sagd is an outstanding example of a steam injection process devised for a specific type of heavy oil reservoir utilizing horizontal wells. The difference is that in steam assisted gravity drainage it is only the oil close to the perimeter of the steam chamber which is mobile whereas in the drainage of conventional petroleum under conditions of. Optimization of a steamassisted gravity drainage project. Imperial says both aspen and the ebrt pilot will share infrastructure, with both planned to be constructed and startedup roughly at the same time. Steam assisted gravity drainage sagd is a commercial insitu recovery technology used to reduce oil viscosity by increasing the temperature of the reservoir to enhance the recovery of heavy oil and bitumen. As the steam rises and expands, it heats up the heavy oil, reducing its viscosity. Steam assisted gravity drainage or sagd is a method that is widely used to extract bitumen from underground oil sands deposits. The steam assisted gravity drainage sagd process is effective to improve oil recovery performance, but it also promotes the aquathermolysis reaction of heavy oil under hightemperature reservoir environment. Steam assisted gravity drainage sagd is one of the most popular enhanced oil recovery technologies. Done provides fast and accurate temperature data and with the enhanced visualization software it is easy and simple to get a full picture of the temperature changes and their exact location. Optimization of a steamassisted gravity drainage project in the monarch sands of the south midwaysunset field showing 14 of 107 pages in this report. Steam assisted gravity drainage sagd ide technologies. Timelapse monitoring of steam assisted gravity drainage sagd of heavy oil using multitransient electromagnetics mtem folke engelmark mtem ltd.
Design and optimisation of a steam assisted gravity drainage sagd facility for improved recovery from canadian oil sands doctoral school on engineering sciences 2 figure 2. There is presently a lack of understanding concerning the. Feasibility of electromagnetic methods to detect and image. Alberta is recognized by its vast oil sands reserves. Due to sand production in some of the wellbores, the esp pumps life expectancy is reduced. Unlike conventional oil, the oil sands contain a mixture of bitumen, sand, clay and water. The development of a steam chamber and its production capabilities have been the focus of various studies.
Influence of geomechanical processes on absolute permeability. Significance of aquathermolysis reaction on heavy oil. Timelapse monitoring of steam assisted gravity drainage. Study of the parameters of steam assisted gravity drainage sagd method for enhanced oil recovery in a heavy oil fractured carbonate reservoir. For oil sands mining, use of paraffinic froth treatment to partially upgrade bitumen through. Among the thermal processes, sagd is the most efficient and promising method which was. With time, the steam chamber can expand to cover an entire area of a fivespot pattern steamflood. Steam allocation is an important decision for bitumen thermorecovery using steam assisted gravity drainage sagd technique. The steam assisted gravity drainage sagd process involves the injection of steam through a horizontal well and the production of heavy oil through a lower horizontal well. Monitoring steamassisted gravity drainage sagd with eit herve gagnon1, alistair boyle1, michal okoniewski2, andy adler1 1carleton university, ottawa, canada 2acceleware ltd. Jun 01, 2001 steam assisted gravity drainage sagd is an effective method to produce heavy oil and bitumen which are important energy resources. In the present work, a geological model considering corecatalyzed aquathermolysis was established and used to simulate mining in the sagd process. Developing a correlation between sagd pw properties and dynamics of interfacial tension ift between dispersed and continuous phases is important to.
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