SAGD Simulation Modelling

using STARS
CMG Reservoir Simulation Seminar

September 20-21, 2011 Suzhou, China

CMG UnionST

Presentation Agenda

ƒ What is SAGD
ƒ Thermal Recovery Process Overview
ƒ Process Mechanisms
ƒ Description of Reservoir
ƒ Description of Fluid Components
ƒ Description of Thermal Properties
ƒ Description of Rock-Fluid Properties
ƒ Description of Wells ( Flex well presentation)

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What is SAGD?

ƒ SAGD is Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage

ƒ Gravity driven process, NOT a vertical steam flood

ƒ Implications:

ƒ Injector producer block pressure difference can be zero

ƒ Oil rate depends on viscosity reduction, formation permeability,

and drainage slope

What is SAGD?

ˆ A horizontal well pair is drilled near the bottom of the reservoir

Š The upper well is used to inject steam continually to form a
growing steam chamber

ˆ At the steam-oil interface, steam releases its heat energy to the

adjacent oil zone
Š As a result, steam is condensed to water and oil is mobilized

ˆ The mixture of oil and water condensate is drained and removed by

gravity at the lower horizontal well

ˆ As the oil is removed, the steam chamber grows upward and laterally

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What is SAGD?

ˆ High recovery factor (60 to 80%) and favorable energy

efficiency can be achieved

ˆ Both injection and production wells are usually operated at

a constant pressure

ˆ The process has been modified into many configurations,

such as single well SAGD & a combination of vertical
injectors and horizontal producers

ˆ The process may be operated (with care) in reservoirs that

contain gas cap and bottom water

What is SAGD?

Steam Chamber growth in SAGD

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Process Mechanisms

ƒ Unique characteristics of water and steam

ƒ Water and steam are chemically stable

ƒ They are excellent heat transporting agents

ƒ h = hw + X Lv

ƒ h = specific enthalpy of the wet saturated steam

ƒ hw = specific enthalpy of water

ƒ X = steam quality fraction

ƒ Lv = latent heat of vaporization

ƒ hw increases with steam pressure while Lv

decreases with steam pressure

Process Mechanisms

ƒ Phase changes of hydrocarbon

ƒ Phase behavior of hydrocarbons in thermal processes
is much more complex than that of water

ƒ For many heavy oil processes, 2 pseudo-hydrocarbon

components are sufficient: dead oil & solution gas.

ƒ Dead oil exists only in liquid phase and solution gas

can exist in both liquid and gas phases

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Process Mechanisms

ƒ The effect of thermal expansion and compressibility

of liquid
ƒ Density of liquid changes with temperature and
pressure in the reservoir

ƒ A temperature increase would increase the liquid

volume, while a pressure increase would decrease the
liquid volume

ƒ The overall effect of temperature and pressure change

on density is relatively small because these two
factors negate the effect of each other to a certain
extent

Process Mechanisms

ƒ The effect of rock compressibility

ƒ change due to solid expansion

ƒ compression is insignificant because solids are

characterized by their low coefficient of thermal
expansion and coefficient of compressibility values

ƒ porosity and permeability properties of

unconsolidated sands can be altered substantially by
the change in temperature and/or pressure

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Process Mechanisms

ƒ Formation dilation & fracturing

ƒ In some steam operations; injection pressures can exceed
ƒ the formation dilation onset pressure or
ƒ fracturing pressure in order to establish steam injectivity
ƒ Steam enters the formation via dilated zones or
narrow high permeability zones(oriented vertically or
horizontally) depending on the stress condition of the
reservoir
ƒ Shallow formations will tend to have horizontal fractures
ƒ Deep formations tend to have vertical fractures
ƒ ‘Unconsolidated’ sands are more affected by dilation

ƒ Several constitutive & empirical geomechanical

models have been designed to simulate this
fracturing process

Dilation-Compaction

Formation dilation & fracturing

The analytical dilation-recompaction model in STARS

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Process Mechanisms

ƒ Heat and mass transfer in porous medium

ƒ Both solid and fluid phases contribute to the heat
transfer process when the fluids flow through a non-
isothermal porous medium

ƒ When fluid rate is slow, the conduction process has a

strong effect on the heat transfer

ƒ When fluid rate is high, convection dominates the

heating process and the thermal conductivity can
become less important

ƒ Heat capacity is always important

Process Mechanisms: Thermal

Conductivity
ˆ Averaging Methods (THCONMIX): Thermal conductivity
determines the flow term K∆T due to diffusion of energy from a region of high
temperature to low temperature.
ƒ Simple: Simple volume
weighting of phase thermal
conductivities.
ƒ Complex: More complex
mixing of phase thermal
conductivities.
ƒ Porosity = 0, the rock value is
use.
ƒ 0 < PHI <0.01 When porosity is
between zero and 0.01, the
calculation assumes 0.01.

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Process Mechanisms: Thermal
Conductivity

Process Mechanisms: Thermal

Conductivity
ƒ Simulation Field example differences when using Complex vs.
Simple average thermal conductivity methods.
ƒ SAGD Single well simulation

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Process Mechanisms: Thermal
Conductivity

3D View of the Shale Bodies

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Reservoir Description

Reservoir Description

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Reservoir Description

ˆ Shale bodies cause a reduction in vertical communication, thus causing a

reduction in the steam injection rate, and oil production rate
ˆ Long shale bodies are worse than short shale bodies
SAGD Performance
400

Short Shale Bodies Occupying 10% Volume

Short Shale Bodies Occupying 30% Volume
Long Shale Bodies Occupying 30% Volume
300
Oil Rate SC (m3/day)

200

100

0
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Tim e (Date)

800

Short Shale Bodies Occupying 10% Volume

Short Shale Bodies Occupying 30% Volume
Long Shale Bodies Occupying 30% Volume
Steam Injection Rate SC (m3/day)

600

400

200

0
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Tim e (Date)

STARS Fluid Model Description

ƒ Components
ƒ Defined by specifying molecular weight, density, compressibility,
thermal expansion, and viscosity as well as critical properties

ƒ Liquid properties
ƒ Calculated by applying mixing rules to pure component density
and viscosity data

ƒ Vapor density
ƒ Calculated using a simple cubic EOS

ƒ Vapor viscosity
ƒ Calculated using a separate compositional viscosity model

ƒ Component distributions
ƒ Determined from component K-values

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STARS Fluid Systems Modeled with WinProp

ƒ Black oil system

ƒ Oil and solution gas
ƒ Thermal black oil system
ƒ Oil and solution gas; water/steam
ƒ VAPEX system
ƒ Oil and solution gas; light hydrocarbon solvent
ƒ Steam-additive system (enhanced drive or ES-
SAGD)
ƒ Oil and solution gas; CO2; light or intermediate
hydrocarbons (e.g. Naphtha); water/steam

STARS PVT Data to Be Generated

ƒ Component critical properties, molar densities,

compressibilities, thermal expansivities, and
liquid viscosities

ƒ Component K-value tables

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Description of Fluid Components

¾ One of the first design decisions is the number of components,

type and the phases in which each component can be found
Black-Oil System or Thermal Black-Oil System
Components Phase
Aqueous Oleic Gaseous
Water X
Dead Oil X
Solution Gas X X

Steam-Additive System
Components Phase
Aqueous Oleic Gaseous
Water X X
Heavy Oil X
Light Oil X X
Naptha X X
Carbon Dioxide X X X

Description of Fluid Components

ƒ Component design concepts

Water components

ƒ Water is a standard component

ƒ Internal defaults are available for vapor-liquid K values,

density, viscosity and heat capacity

ƒ Stone’s model for oil relative permeability curves assumes

the aqueous phase is the wetting phase

ƒ CMG STARS allows for other components besides water in

the aqueous phase

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Description of Fluid Components

ƒ Component design concepts

Oil Components - pure and pseudo-components
ƒ A pure component consists of a single molecular species
ƒ A pseudo-component is a group of molecular species,
lumped together with a fixed distribution

A native oil may be split into pseudo-components

using the different techniques

Description of Fluid Components

ƒ Component design concepts

Gas components - condensable and non-
condensable
ƒ A condensable gas is a gas component which is soluble in a
liquid phase. Properties in both the liquid and gas phases
must be supplied, along with K values

ƒ A non-condensable gas is a gas component for which the

solubility in liquid is small enough to be ignored. In this case,
K values and liquid property data are not required

ƒ Typical examples for non-condensable gas are oxygen,

nitrogen and carbon monoxide in combustion process.

ƒ Carbon dioxide and methane may be condensable or non-

condensable, depending on which processes are of interest

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STARS Component-Phase Chart

Components Phase
Aqueous Oleic Gaseous Adsorbed Solid
Water-like Condensable X X X X
Oil-like Condensable X X X X
Non-condensable Gas X X
Solid X

What STARS needs

ƒ Fluid Phase Equilibrium

ƒ STARS requires phase equilibrium ratios (K-values)

ƒ from thermodynamic model (e.g. PR EOS) or

ƒ input directly as functions of pressure, temperature

and composition
go yi xi
gw y K = K ow =
K = i i xi i wi
i wi

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Description of K Values

ƒ Three ways to input gas-liquid K values in STARS

1. Enter 5 coefficients for the correlation

ai di
Ki = ( + b i p + c i ) exp ( )
p T − ei
ƒ Table 2 in the STARS User Guide contains values for these coefficients
for many components typically used in thermal simulation.

2. Enter a table of Ki versus p and T. This is useful when K values

come from a series of equation-of-state calculations.
Interpolation between pressure points is the ‘a/p’, while
interpolation between temperature points is the ‘exp(d/T)’

3. Enter a table of Ki versus p, T and the composition of one key

component

Description of Densities

¾ Water and oil phase

Liquid densities are obtained by ideal mixing of pure component

densities with phase composition

nc nc
1 wi 1 xi
ρw
= ∑ ρ wi ρo
= ∑ ρ oi
1 1
• Densities ρw and ρo are inverses of phase molar volume

¾ Gas phase
The mole density of the gas phase is calculated
internally from

ρg = p / RTZ

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Description of Water Viscosity

ƒ Water phase - water phase viscosity tends to vary

between 1 cp at low temperature to 0.1 cp at 300
°C
ƒ There are 3 ways to input water phase viscosity in
STARS
1. Use internal table with a possible dependence on salt
concentration which can be significant

2. Use the correlation μw = a • exp (b/T), where ‘T’ is in absolute

degrees

3. Enter directly a table of μw versus T

Description of Gas Viscosity

ƒ Gas phase - There are three ways to input gas phase viscosity in
STARS
1. Use the correlation μg = 0.0136 + 3.8 • 10-5 • T, where ‘T’ is in degrees C

2. Use the correlation μgi = ai Tbi (T in absolute degrees) for each component.
The phase viscosity is nc

∑ ω i μ gi
μg = i =1
nc
,
∑i =1
ωi

ω i = yi × M i
3. The third method is the same as in option 2, but with an additional correction
to μg for high pressure.

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Description of Liquid Viscosity

ƒ The liquid viscosity may be specified using one of

the following two options:

1. Correlation μoi = ai • exp(bi/T) where T is in absolute

degrees

2. Enter directly a table of μoi versus T

Rock Heat Capacity

ƒ Rock heat capacity is one of the most important

thermal properties for describing the thermal
behavior of a reservoir
ƒ The heat capacity of the rock is treated on a
volumetric basis because rock is handled by volume
and not by moles
ƒ Rock heat content is described by:
Ur = [a + bT] [T – Tr]
ƒ where a = constant volume heat capacity and b =
temperature coefficient
ƒ A value of a = 35 Btu/ft3-F is used commonly

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Thermal Conductivity

ƒ Thermal conductivity determines the flow term KΔT due to

diffusion of energy from a region of high temperature to low
temperature

ƒ The only other way for energy to flow in situ is by convection

ƒ In field scale problems, convection usually dominates conduction,

at least in the direction of flow

ƒ Conduction can play a significant role in both steam and

combustion process at the laboratory scale, since the length scale
is much smaller than in the field

Overburden Heat Loss

ƒ A semi-analytical model is used for heat transfer to or from an

adjacent formation of infinite extent. It assumes a temperature
profile in the base or cap rock as a function of time and distance
from the reservoir interface
( )
T (t, z ) = θ + pz + qz 2 e − z / d
where
d = diffusion length = √λt/2
θ = gridblock temperature
z = distance
λ = thermal diffusivity
ƒ This profile satisfies both T(t,0) = θ and T(t,∞) = 0

ƒ The only values required for input are heat capacity and thermal
conductivity of the over/under burden rock

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Description of Wells

ƒ The effect of well bore pressure drop and heat transfer between
tubing and annulus fluids can have a strong impact on the
horizontal well thermal processes such as SAGD
ƒ It is desirable to have uniform injection and production along the
horizontal well bores to maximize the reservoir conformance
ƒ The following well models will be discussed in this course:
ƒ Overview of Flex Wellbore
ƒ Source/sink well with G/F/HLOSS option
ƒ Uniform grid with LAYERXYZ
ƒ Non-uniform grid with LAYERXYZ

Work Flow in SAGD Modelling

Flxwellbore

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Heater Set-up

ƒ The best approach is the 4-component heater

ƒ HEATR
ƒ Constant value can be used on its own or with TMPSET and
UHTR
ƒ UHTR
ƒ Variable value which diminishes to zero as TMPSET is
approached Energy = UHTR*(TMPSET-T)
ƒ Usually set to 1/10 the value of HEATR to allow it to start 10 C
below the set point temperature
ƒ TMPSET
ƒ Temperature target
ƒ AUTOHEATER
ƒ ON – Minimum of HEATR and UHTR used initially then UHTR
takes over until TMPSET is reached
ƒ OFF – results in HEATR and UHTR being added together

The Geomechanics Option

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1000 mD vs. 100 mD Kv at the Same Time

Normal vs. Top Water

22

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10 MPa – No Gas vs. High Rs

Gas Cap – Low Rs (1.175 m3/m3)

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 Grid Size Aspect Ratio

ƒ Aspect ratios different from 1 also cause distortion

of the steam chamber growth and different oil
production profiles
ƒ Temperature profiles indicate not too much
difference between the cases with different aspect
ratiosp ( ) y p ( ) y
0 100 0 100

1x1 Meter Case 5x1 Meter Case

0 100 0 100

Grid Size Aspect Ratio

ƒ Production profiles show very different behavior

ƒ Corrections can be used if an aspect ratio different from 1.0 must be used
ƒ With a 2x1 case, the following corrections are required to match the 1x1 case:
ƒ TRANSI = 2, TRANLI =2, and directional thermal conductivities (I-direction * 2)

LATERAL GRID CELL ANISOTROPY

1 x 10 x 1 m VS. 2 x 10 x 1 m VS. 5 x 10 x 1 m CELLS

PRODUCER 28% & 55% ERROR

800

600

2x10x1 m CELLS WITH TRANS*2

1x10x1 m CELLS
2x10x1 m CELLS
Cumulative Oil SC (m3)

5x10x1 m CELLS

400

200

0
2007-4 2007-7 2007-10 2008-1 2008-4 2008-7 2008-10 2009-1
Time (Date)

24

13-
 Spacing

STARS TEST SAGD STARS TEST SAGD

2M OIL 5M OIL 10M OIL 15M OIL 50M OIL 100M OIL 150M OIL 200M OIL
2M SOR 5M SOR 10 M SOR 15M SOR 50M SOR 100M SOR 150M SOR 200M SOR

800 5.0 1,000 4.0

4.0 800
600 3.0

Steam Oil Ratio Cum SCTR (m3/m3)

Steam Oil Ratio Cum SCTR (m3/m3)

Cumulative Oil(OIL) SC (m3)

Cumulative Oil(OIL) SC (m3)

3.0 600

400 2.0

2.0 400

200 1.0
1.0 200

0 0.0 0 0.0
1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002
Time (Date) Time (Date)

Vertical Horizontal
Spacing Spacing

Temperature and Compositinal

Dependence of
Relative Permeability

‰ KRTEMTAB

‰ Diagnostic plots

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Temperature Dependent End Points

ƒ Trends are the same for different oils and studies,

but actual values are different
ƒ Recommend using something like the following:
KRTEMTAB SWR SORW SORG
**$ TEMP (Deg C) SWR SORW SORG Table
12.0 0.13 0.39 0.45 values at
260.0 0.25 0.20 0.05 reservoir
temperatur
e

Steam Residual oil Residual oil

temperature to hot to steam
waterflood flood

SAGD Overview

Horizontal injector and horizontal producer

Steam Chamber
Steam rises, gives up heat

Cold Oil Sand

Horizontal Injector

Hot Bitumen Drops Down

(mobilized bitumen and condensed steam)

Horizontal Producer

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SAGD Overview

Single well SAGD

Cold Oil Sand

Horizontal Injector / Producer

SAGD Overview

Combination of vertical injectors and horizontal producer

Vertical Injector Vertical Injector

Cold Oil Sand Horizontal Producer

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SAGD Overview

Combination of vertical injectors and horizontal producer

Vertical Injector Vertical Injector

Cold Oil Sand Horizontal Producer

SAGD Overview

Fast SAGD (adding offset horizontal producers CSS)

Steam Chamber
Steam rises, gives up heat

Horizontal Injector

Horizontal Producer Horizontal Producer

CSS CSS
Horizontal Producer

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SAGD Overview

Fast SAGD (adding offset horizontal producers CSS)

Steam Chamber
Steam rises, gives up heat

Horizontal Injector

Horizontal Producer Horizontal Producer

CSS CSS
Horizontal Producer

Thank You
for your attention

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