COMPUTATIONAL SIMULATION OF CYCLICAL STEAM INJECTION AND PNEUMATIC ARTIFICIAL LIFT SYSTEM WITH WATER SEAL FOR OIL RECOVERY

Abstract

Cyclic steam injection is an enhanced oil recovery (EOR) process which is characterized by oil viscosity reduction after the injection of steam into the well. However, like any thermal method, there is great concern regarding the excess of heat coming into the oil well casing, which is susceptible to thermal stress and may damage the reservoir. In order to solve this problem, the company ENGEPET developed the Cyclical Steam Injection and Pneumatic Artificial Lift with water seal (CSI/PAL/WS) system for temperature control in oil well casings. This work proposes a model for predicting the thermal exchange between the water and steam inside the CSI/PAL/WS system using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). A simplified model was proposed and results show that it has great potential to contribute to the study of the CSI/PAL/WS system, as well as to predict operating conditions that may prevent the temperature of well casings to exceed safety limits.