Visualizing and quantifying solvent-transport and bitumen-recovery mechanisms under core-plug conditions

蒸汽辅助重力泄油是目前最常用的油砂资源开发技术。然而，这种技术涉及大量的水和能量消耗，因此，会导致各种精神问题。注入添加剂，如溶剂已实施，以减少水和热的消耗，最终优化回收过程，减少温室气体排放，本研究旨在实验研究的机制，负责溶剂运输到油砂芯样品和沥青生产在循环溶剂过程中，并模拟实验室数据为现场规模的预测。实验中使用的油砂和沥青样品来自冷湖的清水组。第一阶段包括在油藏条件下使用定制设计的可视化单元进行的循环溶剂工艺实验。该单元使我们能够可视化多孔介质条件下的溶剂沥青相互作用。对压力衰减、沥青回收率和可视化数据的分析将有助于理解在溶剂注入沥青回收过程中在储层中发生的相行为和传输机制。第二阶段是对实验数据进行建模，预测溶剂-沥青体系的相态行为，量化溶剂传输机制和沥青回收率，帮助油砂生产商通过控制溶剂的类型和量以及操作参数（如注入压力、浸泡时间和消耗策略）来优化循环溶剂工艺。这一创新的研究项目有望为加拿大带来显著的环境和经济效益。

Steam assisted gravity drainage is the most commonly used technique for the development of oil-sandresources. However, this technique involves heavy consumption of water and energy, and thus, causes variousenvironmental issues. Injection of additives such as solvents has been implemented to reduce water and heatconsumption, ultimately optimizing the recovery process and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.This research aims to experimentally investigate the mechanisms responsible for solvent transport into andbitumen production from oil-sand core samples during cyclic solvent processes and to model laboratory data forfield-scale predictions. Oil-sand and bitumen samples used in the experiments are from the ClearwaterFormation at Cold Lake. The first phase consists of cyclic-solvent-process experiments using acustom-designed visualization cell under reservoir conditions. The cell allows us to visualize solvent-bitumeninteractions under porous media conditions. Analysis of the pressure-decay, bitumen recovery, andvisualization data will help to understand phase behavior and transport mechanisms that occur in the reservoirduring solvent injection for bitumen recovery. The second phase involves modeling of the measuredexperimental data to predict phase behavior of solvent-bitumen systems and to quantify solvent transportmechanisms and bitumen recovery.The outcomes of this study help oil-sand producers to optimize cyclic solvent processes by controlling the typeand amount of solvent, and the operational parameters such as injection pressure, soaking time, and depletionstrategy. This innovative research program is expected to bring significant environmental and economicbenefits to Canada.