New models for heater wells in subsurface simulations, with application to the in situ upgrading of oil shale |
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| Authors: | Gilles Aouizerate Louis J Durlofsky Pierre Samier |
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| Institution: | (1) Institute for Scientific Computation, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843-3404, USA E-mail:;(2) Department of Mathematics, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843-3368, USA E-mail:;(3) Mobil Technology Company, Upstream Strategic Research Center, 13777 Midway Road, Dallas, TX, 75244-4390, USA E-mail: |
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| Abstract: | Downhole electrical heating can be used to achieve the high temperatures required for in situ upgrading of oil shale or oil
sands. Heater-well models are needed if this process is to be simulated accurately. The traditional Peaceman approach used
for fluid injection and production wells may not be applicable because it does not capture transient effects, which can be
important in downhole heater models. Standard models also neglect the effects of heterogeneity and temperature dependence
in the rock properties. Here, we develop two new models for representing heater wells in reservoir simulators. The first model
is applicable for homogeneous systems with properties that are not temperature dependent. For such cases, we develop a semi-analytical
procedure based on Green’s functions to construct time-dependent heater-well indexes and heater-block thermal transmissibilities.
For the general case, which can include both fine-scale heterogeneity and nonlinearity due to the temperature dependence of
rock properties, we present a numerical procedure for constructing the heater-well model. This technique is essentially a
near-well upscaling method and requires a local fine-scale solution in the near-well region. The boundary conditions are determined
using a local-global treatment. The accuracy of the new heater-well models is demonstrated through comparison to reference
solutions for example problems. The approach is then applied for the coarse-scale modeling of the in situ upgrading of oil
shale, which entails a thermal-compositional simulation with chemical reactions. The model is shown to provide an accurate
and efficient solution for this challenging problem. |
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