snase018 ‘Steam injection (ol ndustry)- Wikiped'a
WIKIPEDIA
Steam injection (oil industry)
Steam injection is an increasingly common method of extracting heavy
crude oil, It is considered an enhanced oil recovery (EOR) method and is the
main type of thermal stimulation of oil reservoirs. There are several different
forms of the technology, with the two main ones being Cyclic Steam
Stimulation and Steam Flooding. Both are most commonly applied to oil
reservoirs, which are relatively shallow and which contain crude oils which are
very viscous at the temperature of the native underground formation. Steam
injection is widely used in the San Joaquin Valley of California (USA), the Lake
Maracaibo area of Venezuela, and the oil sands of northern Alberta (Canada).
Another contributing factor that enhances oil production during steam
injection is related to near-wellbore cleanup. In this case, steam reduces the
viscosity that ties paraffins and asphaltenes to the rock surfaces while steam
distillation of crude oil light ends creates a small solvent bank that can miscibly
remove trapped oil"!
‘Steam is injected into many oll fields
where the oll is thicker and heavier
Contents than normal crude ol. This sketch
illustrates steam flooding,
Cyclic Steam Stimulation (CSS)
Steam Flooding
References
Further reading
Cyclic Steam Stimulation (CSS)
‘This method, also known as the Huff and Puff method, consists of 3 stages: ceve emer
injection, soaking, and production. Steam is first injected into a well for a
certain amount of time to heat the oil in the surrounding reservoir to a recover
approximately 20% of the Original Oil in Place (OOIP), compared to steam
assisted gravity drainage, which has been reported to recover over 50% of
OOIP. It is quite common for wells to be produced in the cyclic steam manner
for a few eycles before being put on a steam flooding regime with other wells.
The mechanism proceeds through cycles of steam injection, soak, and oil
production. First, steam is injected into a well at a temperature of 300 to 340”
A graphical explanation of the Cyclic
Steam Stimulation method
Celsius for a period of weeks to months. Next, the well is allowed to sit for days
to weeks to allow heat to soak into the formation, Finally, the hot oil is pumped
out of the well for a period of weeks or months. Once the production rate falls off, the well is put through another eycle of,
injection, soak and production. This process is repeated until the cost of injecting steam becomes higher than the money
‘made from producing oil.2] The CSS method has the advantage that recovery factors are around 20 to 25% and the
disadvantage that the cost to inject steam is high.
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Canadian Natural Resources use “employs cyclic steam or "huff and puff" technology to develop bitumen resources. This
technology requires one well bore and the production consists of the injection and production phases. First steam is
“injected for several weeks, mobilizing cold bitumen". Then the flow "on the injection well is reversed producing oil
through the same injection well bore. The injection and production phases together comprise one cycle. "Steam is re-
injected to begin a new cycle when oil production rates fall below a critical threshold due to the cooling of the reservoir.”
(CNRL 2013)
Steam Flooding
Ina steam flood, sometimes known as a steam drive, some wells are used as steam injection wells and other wells are used
for oil production. Two mechanisms are at work to improve the amount of oil recovered. The first is to heat the oil to
higher temperatures and to thereby decrease its viscosity so that it more easily flows through the formation toward the
producing wells. A second mechanism is the physical displacement employing in a manner similar to water flooding, in
which oil is meant to be pushed to the production wells. While more steam is needed for this method than for the eyelie
‘method, itis typically more effective at recovering a larger portion ofthe oil.
A form of steam flooding that has become popular in the Alberta oil sands is steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD), in
which two horizontal wells are drilled, one a few meters above the other, and steam is injected into the upper one. The
intent is to reduce the viscosity of the bitumen to the point where gravity will pull it down into the producing wel.
In 2011 Laricina Energy combined solvent injection with steam injection in a process called solvent cyclic steam-assisted
gravity drainage (SC-SAGD).(Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers CAPP 2009)! Laricina claims that combining
solvents with steam reduces the overall steam oil ratio for recovery by 30%.
‘The alternative to surface generated steam is downhole steam generation that reduces heat loss and generates high-quality
steam in the reservoir that allows for more heavy oil and oil sands production at a faster rate. Downhole steam generators
were first proposed by the major oil companies in the early 1960s. Over the last 50 years multiple downhole steam
technologies have been developed such as the DOE and SANDIA downhole combustion system known as Project Deep
Steam that was field tested in Long Beach, CA in 1982, but was a failure. The only downhole steam generator that has
proved successful is branded as eSteam and is more fully described on its technology website at www.esteamoil.com.
References
4, steamfiood (hitp:/iwmw.glossary oilfield sib. com/Display.cim?Term=steamflood). Oilfield Glossary, Schlumb
Limited.
2. Butler, Roger (1 Hall, p. 104,
3. "Cyclic Steam Stimulation” (https:/iweb.archive.org/web/20151016105950/htto://www.cnrl.com/operationsinorth-ameri
calnorth-american-crude-oil-and-ngls/thermal-insitu-ollsands/. Thermal in situ oil sands. CNRL. 2013. Archived from
the original (http://www.cnrl.com/operationsinorth-america/north-american-crude-oil-and-nglsithermat-insitu-ollsands/)
on 2015-10-16.
4, Solvents in situ: the Hybrid Car of the Oil Sands (https:/web.archive.orghweb/20120429163438/http:/iwmw.capp.calen
ergySupply/innovationStories/Air/Pages/Solvents-in-situ.aspxi#CLqWU|phF8kx) (Report). Canadian Association of
Petroleum Producers (CAPP). 2009. Archived from the original (http://www.capp.ca/ENERGYSUPPLY/INNOVATION
STORIES/AIR/Pages/Solvents-in-situ.aspx#CLqWUIphF&kx) on 2012-04-29. "Oil sands operators are exploring the
use solvents with steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) to help loosen and extract bitumen. Laricina Energy CEO
Glen Schmit likens the technology to a hybrid car’
). Thermal Recovery of Oil and Bitumen. Englewood Cliffs: Pr
Further reading
hipster wikipedia orgik/Stoam |
fecton_{ol_industry) 23snase018 ‘Steam injection (ol ndustry)- Wikiped'a
= Butler, Roger M. (1997). Thermal Recovery of Oil and Bitumen. ISBN 0-9682563-0-9.
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