Laboratory experiments of in situ combustion in core samples with simulated fractures

Murat Cinar*, Melek Deniz-Paker

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

9 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In situ combustion is one of the oldest enhanced oil recovery methods usually applied to heavy oil fields to improve recovery. In this process, air or oxygen-enriched gas is injected into a reservoir, burning some of the oil in place and generating heat and combustion gases. A considerable fraction of heavy oil resources resides in naturally fractured systems. There is no reported successful application of in situ combustion in a field with fractured systems in the literature to date. There is a limited number of studies regarding the subject in the literature. Thus, fundamental understanding of the process in fractured systems is limited. In this study, laboratory experiments of in situ combustion in core samples with the presence of fractures were conducted. A total of 12 combustion tube experiments were conducted with 12° API heavy oil from the Bati Raman field in Turkey. These experiments differ in their configuration of fractures and oxygen concentration in the injected gas. Based on our experimental observations three distinct behaviors were observed regarding front propagation through fractured systems. The first type is strictly diffusion-limited, the second type is characterized by a thick combustion front and the last is homogenous behavior. These observations could provide a fundamental basis for possible field applications of in situ combustion in fractured systems.

Original languageEnglish
Article number111153
JournalJournal of Petroleum Science and Engineering
Volume220
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jan 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Elsevier B.V.

Keywords

  • EOR
  • Fractured systems
  • Heavy oil
  • In situ combustion
  • Thermal oil recovery

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