Técnicas para el mejoramiento de la inyección continua de vapor

Abstract

One of the main challenges in developing a process of continuous steam injection is to control the injection profile. Said profile is strongly affected by steam channeling to “thief zones” and the gravitational effect of override, both are characterized by preventing contact of the steam with reservoir zones containing considerable amounts of hydrocarbons thus decreasing the vertical sweep efficiency. These phenomena are favored by some features of the formation such as large thickness and reservoir heterogeneities and may affect the technical and economic feasibility of the project if they are not controlled and / or monitored properly.Several methodologies have been designed to address this problem. Among them are injecting surfactants for the formation of in situ foam, which seeks to reduce the mobility of steam; using thermal gels, for plugging high permeability channels; injection of solvents, used to enhance oil mobility; and water-alternating-steam injection (WASP) for scavenging of both upper and lower zone of the formation. This article collects relevant aspects of the mentioned methods, and a comparison is made in base of the number of applications, incremental production and implementation cost.Keywords: Steamflooding, In Situ Foams, Solvents, High Temperature Gels, Water Alternating Steam.