Journal of Canadian Petroleum Technology
Volume 49,
Number 10,
October 2010,
pp. 53-64
Summary
Steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) is a thermal oil recovery technique
which has been used mostly for Alberta's unconventional oil sands reservoirs.
Roger Butler, known as the father of SAGD, was the first one to establish a
theory and an analytical model for SAGD. His model is a rigorous solution and
is widely referred to as a SAGD fast flow simulator. However, geomechanics,
which has been shown to be a relevant part of SAGD's physics, has not been
included in the model. When rock properties are influenced by geomechanical
behaviour, the Butler theory is not able to capture the complete physics of the
SAGD process. In such cases, the model must adopt unrealistic or high values
for rock properties.
In this study, a classical theory in the field of geotechnical engineering
(limit equilibrium) is employed to act as the geomechanical module for SAGD's
mathematical coupled simulation. The Butler/Reis model has also been improved
using a model of slices for flow simulation. Methodology of combining these two
models in a single coupled mathematical simulator is presented in this paper.
The solver is a fast and realistic proxy and can be used as a low-order tool
for history matching. The results of coupled simulations show that the model is
able to predict permeability and porosity of the reservoir closer to real
values than uncoupled (flow only) modelling.
© 2010. Society of Petroleum Engineers
View full textPDF
(
2,501 KB
)
History
- Original manuscript received:
2 April 2009
- Meeting paper published:
17 June 2009
- Revised manuscript received:
16 June 2010
- Manuscript approved:
7 August 2010
- Published online:
1 October 2010
- Version of record:
1 October 2010
View Cart
