Offshore solvent-based huff 'n' puff injector well improved oil recovery

Strong, Tristan (2017) Offshore solvent-based huff 'n' puff injector well improved oil recovery. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

The solvent-based huff ‘n’ puff process has been used with great success in heavy oils with CO₂ as the solvent. The aim of this work was to explore the use of natural gas as a solvent in the huff ‘n’ puff process and apply this to the Hibernia reservoir by creating a numerical reservoir simulator to complete this study. A one-dimensional compositional reservoir model was created using MATLAB. The simulator was developed to be able to use a Cartesian as well as radial co-ordinate system, allowing for simulation of multiple processes which aided in the validation of the model. The model uses a robust flash calculation which was tested against known experimental values, as were all fluid prediction models. The reservoir flow was compared to known analytical solutions, using both constant-rate and constant-pressure boundaries. This was done to ensure the simulator could adequately handle the required boundary conditions for simulation of the huff ‘n’ puff process. Slim-tube experiments were simulated with Hibernia oil using realistic reservoir properties, in order to determine the minimum miscibility pressure for different gases to be tested in the huff ‘n’ puff process. Simulation of the huff ‘n’ puff was successful for the huff and puff phases, but issues were encountered when simulating the puff phase. It was found that it was not possible to model the three-phase huff ‘n’ puff process in the one-dimensional simulator that was developed. Although the huff ‘n’ puff process was not able to be modelled using the developed simulator, the simulator was validated on many different levels and there are many other useful processes that can be simulated using this model. It is also a great foundation for future work studying the huff ‘n’ puff and many other gas injection processes.

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