Improved exploitation of unconventional oil and gas reservoirs

这项研究的目的是提高从边际质量的矿床生产石油和天然气的经济可行性。我们正在研究将现有开采工艺的适用性扩展到困难油藏的方法，我们正在探索新的开采概念，从而实现对此类油藏的环境可持续开发。Vtex是一种非热沥青和重油回收工艺，包括通过水平井注入蒸发的轻烃，并通过放置在油藏底部附近的另一口平行水平井排出稀释的沥青。我们的工作重点是通过优化溶剂组成和发展改进的数学建模能力来提高该工艺的效率在枯竭的VAPEX模式中对二氧化碳的封存也是令人感兴趣的。我们还计划评估VAPEX在枯竭的冷稠油开采油藏中的适用性。蒸汽辅助重力排水目前是现场沥青回收的支柱，并用于商业运营。然而，由于石油产量小得多，资本和运营成本高得多，在边际油藏中并不经济。我们正在研究通过优化井型和向注入的蒸汽中添加碳氢化合物溶剂来改善这一过程的可能性。存在于加拿大永冻土地区和沿海水域的甲烷水合物沉积物中的天然气预计将在几十年内成为重要的能源来源。我们正在研究天然气水合物在多孔介质中的形成和分解行为。这项工作的目的是开发从此类水合物沉积物中回收天然气的技术。

This research is aimed at improving the economic viability of producing oil and gas from deposits of marginal quality.  We are investigating ways of extending the applicability of existing recovery processes to difficult reservoirs and we are exploring new recovery concepts that will allow environmentally sustainable exploitation of such reservoirs.  Vapex is a non-thermal bitumen and heavy oil recovery process involving injection of vaporized light hydrocarbons via a horizontal well and draining the diluted bitumen via another parallel horizontal well placed near the base of the reservoir.  Our work is focused on improving the efficiency of this process with optimization of solvent composition and developing improved mathematical modeling capabilities.  Sequestration of CO2 in the depleted Vapex patterns is also of interest.  We also plan to evaluate the applicability of Vapex in depleted cold heavy oil production reservoirs.Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage is currently the mainstay of in situ bitumen recovery and is used in commercial operations.  However, it is not economical in marginal reservoirs due to high capital and operating costs for much smaller volumes of oil production.  We are investigating possible improvements in this process with optimization of well configurations and addition of hydrocarbon solvents to injected steam.Gas from methane hydrate deposits that exist in the permafrost regions and coastal waters of Canada is expected to become an important source of energy in couple of decades.  We are studying the formation and decomposition behaviour of gas hydrates in porous media.  This work is aimed at developing techniques for recovering natural gas from such hydrate deposits.