Wet in situ combustion: alternative for enhanced oil recovery in colombia

Abstract

During the application of the enhanced oil recovery technique called in situ combustion, a great amount of the heat generated during combustion is stored in the burned sand behind the combustion front and is not used for oil displacement. The air heat capacity is low and the injected air can’t transfer heat from the sand matrix as rapidly as is generated. Water, on the other hand, can absorb and transport heat much more efficiently than air. If air is injected with water, the heat stored sand can be recovered and transported forward.

For the present research it was developed the numerical simulation model of the wet combustion tube test made to Colombian crude by the STARS simulator of the CMG company. For the development of the model, it was proposed a kinetic model that describes the oxidative behavior of the studied crude.Subsequently, it was made the history matching of the simulation model and were compared the numerical results with the results of the physical model. Finalized the simulation model, it was evaluated the effect of water on the performance parameters of the tube test model of wet combustion, for which it was made a sensitivity analysis to the water injection rate and it was analyzed its impact on each performance parameter.

Keywords: enhanced oil recovery, in situ combustion, numerical simulation model, combustion tube test,
performance parameters.