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Introduction
Most of the information available on the heat efficiency of hot fluid injection processes, both water and
steam, has been obtained from calculated temperature
distributions in the pay zone and adjacent formations.
The usual approach has been to write the heat balance
equations in terms of the temperatures, and then to
introduce whatever simplifications are necessary to
help obtain an analytical or a numerical solution.
In either case, the assumption has often been made
that the vertical thermal conductivity in the flooded
interval is infinite, so that the temperatures within
the flooded interval are then independent of vertical
position. Because it was first made by Lauwerier,1
and has been used extensively since, this assumption
will be referred to as the Lauwerier assumption.
Excellent reviews of the literature on the heat efficiency of hot fluid injection processes have been given
by Spillette,z Flock et ai.,3 and Ramey.' Of course,
the most significant contributions take into account
the effect of a finite vertical thermal conductivity on
the vertical temperature profile.
The most general analytic expression for the heat
efficiency of a hot fluid injection process is that of
Antimirov 5 who considers injection of a heated incompressible fluid into a reservoir through an arbitrary number of wells. The rate of heat injection into
the reservoir, as well as the injection temperature, is
an arbitrary function of time. The geometry of the
horizontal flow is arbitrary, although the reservoir is
considered to be of uniform thickness and properties
and to be of infinite areal extent. Heat transfer within
the reservoir is by horizontal convection and conduc-
The Model
Certain assumptions have been made to determine
For any rate of heat injection into a reservoir, the fraction of the heat remaining in it is
independent of the recovery process, be it steam, hot water, or combustion.
MARCH, 1969
323
clear that heat can also be generated within the formation itself without any loss in generality. That is,
the model also applies to underground combustion
processes, be they dry, wet, or partially quenched. 6
In developing the results it has been found useful
to consider two types of regions within the pay zone,
each having uniform and constant volumetric heat
capacities. These two types of regions can be associated, for example, with the burned and nonburned
volumes of the pay zone in an underground combustion operation, or with the steam zone and oil zone
in a steam injection operation. The regions around
the injection wells (called the near regions) need not
have the same shape or size.
A schematic diagram of the reservoir under consideration is shown in Fig. 1. Details of how the heat
efficiency is obtained are discussed in the Appendix.
The results are discussed in the next section.
Results
The heat content of the pay zone as a function of time
(see Appendix) by
t
H(t) =
.f
Q(t') K(e n Vt
t')dl'
o
t
- F
d
Hr(t') dt K(e n Vt
--
t')dt' ,
(1)
where
K(z)
ez2 erfc z,
en =
(2)
2khez
(3)
hV a2(pC)n
F = (pC)! - (pC)n
(pC)!
(4)
'
"A1'' o"
WELL
WELL
WELL
INJECTION
PRODUCTION
INJECTION
CAPAoeK
(REGION 2)
t
h
FAR REGION OF
"EA"
!
",,,I"
PAY ZONE
SUSROCK
SECTION VIEW
injection rate into the reservoir, Q(t), is the difference between the sum of the rates of heat injection
into each injection well in the reservoir minus the
sum of the rates of heat production from each production well in the reservoir. This net heat injection
rate is always referred to the initial reservoir temperature, and does not include heat losses to the formations overlying the pay zone from the injection and
production wells. It is the net rate of heat delivered
to the pay zone. With this as a definition, it is then
324
PRODUCTION
WELL
FAR REGION
PLAN VIEW
and
Hf(t) = (pC)Jf f f T(x, y, z, t)dxdydz
v,
(5)
Subscripts nand f are used to designate the properties of the near and far regions discussed in the previous section and shown schematically in Fig. 1.
Ht(t) is the heat content in the far region of volume
Vf(t)
H(t) =
(6)
01 2/
(8)
+ eO,'t erfC((Jl2 y t )]
(9)
+ cP (So po Co + Sw pw Cw
(10)
calculated from Eq. 10 is smaller than that of a liquidfilled formation calculated from Eq. 7. That is, the
parameter F is generally positive, and of the order of
0.2. Mandl and Volek 8 have shown that the heat content in the pay zone outside the steam region may be
important, especially for large times. Although the
amount of this heat cannot be determined very readily, it is possible to obtain lower and upper bounds for
the heat content in the entire pay zone.
A lower limit for the heat content in the pay zone
is readily obtained after we recognize that the second
integral in Eq. 1 is negative. It is clear then that a
lower limit to Eq. 1 is obtained by setting the contribution due to the last term (which is positive) to zero.
This is essentially what has already been done to
obtain Eqs. 8 and 9. Thus the minimum heat content
in the pay zone and, consequently, the minimum heat
efficiency, are given by Eqs. 6 and 8 when ast is used
instead of al
To obtain the upper bound we resort to the alternative expression for the heat content in the pay zone
developed in the Appendix:
H(t) =
+ ~
J.
t
(11)
t')dt'
o
---------
(12)
.f Q(t')dt'
o
E hmin (a st 2t)
_1_(
2"i0;;2i _ 1
a
st
2t
Y7T
+ eO,,2t erfc
ya st 2t
(13)
2k
USE
G~Gl
h2z
~----
h/a2 (pC)l
FOR STEAM
USE
2k
~
st
2k
FOR COMBUSTI ON
USE
h2z
h!a2 (pC) st
h2z
h!a2(pC\
IF
I
...u2
<t
UPPER TWO CURVES .GIVE THE MAXIMUM HEAT EFFICIENCY FOR STEAM AND COMBUSTION
a:
u..
01
ATVALUES OF
.c
W
01
!;~ -
OR!;
~-
G
st
>-
G
b
Z
W
! = O.B
t;:: 0.4
u..
= 0.9
...<t
W
I
0.2
=I
00L------~2--~---4~--~6~----~B~-----,~-----,~---~14;_--~16~----~IB~--~20
DIMENSIONLESS
TIME,
e2 t
Fig. 2-Heat efficiency as a function of time for a constant net rate of heat injection.
326
and
+-(
2~ye8t2t
est"t
Y7T
.
+ e~2e,t2t erfc ~ye8t2t) ,
~
(14)
where
~ = (pC)st = ~ = 1 - F
(pCh
est
(15)
Discussion
Significance of Results
IJn 2 t
Q(T)
Kye b2t -
dT
(16)
Summary
TO' summarize the results of this repert it is desirable
to' define a few terms in erder to avoid repetitien ef
leng descriptiens.
Heat Efficiency - the fractien ef the injected heat
remaining in the injectien interval.
General Conditions - the injectien temperature,
injectien rates, and injectien profiles are arbitrary
functiens ef time. The vertical heat conductivity in
the pay zene is infinite (the Lauwerier assumptien),
but etherwise the fluid flew distributien and the heat
transfer mechanisms within the injection interval are
quite arbitrary. Specifically, herizontal heat cenductien is censidered in beth the injectien interval and
adjacent fermatiens. An arbitrary well pattern and
flew geemetry is censidered.
Restrictive Assumptions - the injectien profile
and the injectien rate and/er the injectien temperature are constant with time. The fluid flew within the
injectien interval is usually either linear er radial and
independent ef vertical pesitien. The vertical heat
cenductivity in the pay zene is infinite (the Lauwerier
assumptien), and heat transfer in the pay zene is
usually by herizental cenvectien enly.
Unless etherwise restricted, the fellewing comments are valid for the general cenditions. Please
refer to' the text fer additienal explanatiens and
discussien.
1. Het water injectien has the highest thermal efficiency ef all the presently empleyed thermal recevery
processes.
2. There is nO' difference between the heat efficiency
ebtained fer the hot water drive under the general
cenditiens ef this report and that obtainable from
Lauwerier's werk (which is based en more restrictive
assumptiens) .
3. The minimum heat efficiency fer a steam drive
obtained under general cenditiens is exactly that obtainable from Marx and Langenheim, 9 altheugh the
latter developed their results under relatively restrictive assumptions.
4. When the effective volumetric specific heat is
constant threugheut a reserveir, the heat efficiency ef
all thermal recevery processes is ef the same form.
The heat efficiency ef every thermal recovery precess
is identical with that ef every ether if the effective
velumetric specific heat ef the fermatien is independent ef the recovery precess.
5. The upper beund for the heat efficiency ef a
steam drive is dependent enly upen the ratiO' ef the
effective heat capacity ef the steam zene to' that ef
its dewnstream regien, on the variation ef the heat
injectien rate, and en a dimensienless time. Fer a
censtant rate ef heat injectien, the heat efficiency is
independent ef the value ef the rate ef heat injectien,
and, fer practical cases, the difference between upper
and lewer bounds is then net greater than 10 percent
ef their mean.
6. The heat efficiency ef any precess is independent
of the herizental thermal cenductivity in the injectien
MARCH, 1969
Nomenclature
F =
h =
H(t) =
kh =
[(pC)! -
(pC)n]/(pC)f
T =
Uk
x, y, z =
a2 =
=
()' =
~ =
(}l
(pC) =
day-l
time since heat injectien started, days
temperature ef pay zone, OF, abeve initial
reservoir temperature
heat flux, Btu/sq ft day
volume, cu ft
Cartesian ceordinates, ft
kh2Z/ pz C 2, thermal diffusivity of cap reck,
sq ft/D
2k h2Z /[hy a 2 (pCh]
2kh2Z/hya2
(pC)n/(PC)f, fer example (PC)st/(pC)l
or (pC)b/(pC)l
effective volumetric specific heat, Btu/cu
ft OF
APPENDIX
Q(t) is the rate of heat generation within the reservoir reduced by the rate of heat removal by the produced fluids. In the early phases of a thermal recovery project the rate of heat removal via produced
fluids is zero, so that at early times Q(t) is just the
rate of heat input into the reservoir. In developing
Eq. A-I it is tacitly assumed that the lateral heat
losses from the reservoir are negligible compared
with those into cap and base rock. This will generally
be the case. It should be noted that Eq. A-I is completely general in the sense that it is valid for any
manner of heat transfer into and within the injection
interval and for any manner of heat input, injection
fluid, injection rate, and injection temperature. It
should be noted that the distribution of the net rate
of heat input over the various wells in the pay zone
is immaterial insofar as the heat balance given by Eq.
A-I is concerned.
In the overburden, we shall assume that the thermal
properties are uniform and independent of temperature, and that the vertical heat transfer is by conduction only. Horizontal heat transfer is arbitrary, although in most cases it will also be by conduction
only. Accordingly, the heat balance in the overburden
can be written as
_1_ (aUk]'
k h2Z
ax
+2
j"
00
"UhZ
(x, y,
0,
t)dxdy ,
02T" = ~ aT,
OZ2
(A-I)
when the rate of heat losses to cap and base rock are
the same and the reservoir is of uniform thickness
and of large areal extent. This expression is valid for
any number of wells in the reservoir, and drilled anywhere, provided that Q(t) is interpreted as the net
rate of heat input into the reservoir itself rather than
at the wellhead. That is, Eq. A-I does not account
for any heat losses from the wells to the formation;
these would have to be considered separately. Fur-
ff
00
~ (Z, t)
ae
at
~2
00
T2 (x, y, Z, t) dxdy
-00-00
(A-3)
Introducing Eq. A-3 into Eq. A-2 leads to
02
-00-00
330
oy
(A-2)
dH(t)
Q(t)
= -cIt
OUh1l )
00
T;
(Z, t) _
OZ2
1
ae
aT;
(Z, t)
at
(A-4)
=!-.
d T2* 2(Z,S)
dZ
1'0* (
-
a~
Z,
(A-5)
S)
T2* (z, s)
+ 00
~ :2
is
z ) .
(A-6)
Thus, for the case where the volumetric heat capacity of the reservoir may be considered to be constant throughout the reservoir, Eqs. A-9, A-I2 and
A-I3 can be combined to give
Q*(s) = (s
ff
Uh*z (x, y,
0,
s) dxdy =
CJ:)
OT2*
az
ff (x, y,
0,
s) dxdy ,
(A-7)
-00-00
ff
2k h2Z
---'==---
CJ:)
Uh*z (x, y,
0,
s) dxdy =
-00-00
(A-8)
+ h3 O'ys T2*
Q*(s) = sH*(s)
where
We also wish to consider the case where the reservoir is divided into two types of regions, each
having a uniform value of PR C R, which are constant
in time. All we need to say at the moment about
these two types of regions, which can change in shape
and size with time, is that one type is near the injection well (s). Thus the center of volume of the second
type must not be near the injection well (s). The properties of the regions near to and far from the injection
welles) will be designated by the subscripts nand t,
respectively. Later on we may associate the boundaries between these two types of regions as combustion or steam condensation surfaces. In a more general sense, then, the heat stored in the formation can
be written as
T2* (x,y,o,s) =
+ Hf
H(t) = Hn (t)
v.
(A-I7)
Since the sum of the volumes of the near and far
regions is equal to the entire volume of the pay zone,
we can write
o
T* (x,y,z,s) dz.
H(t) = 2(pC)n
-2
-T-
fff
~3
-2"-
CJ:)
+ Hr
CJ:)
H(t) = 2.1
T* (x, y, z, s) dxdydz.
CJ:)
-"2 --
00 -
(A-I8)
j" f
h
-2" -
+ FHf
PR C R T (x, y, z, t) dxdydz.
en
00 -
00
T(x, y, z, t)dxdydz
00
(A-19)
(t)
F = (pC)! - (pC)n
(pC)!
00
(A-13)
MARCH, 1969
oo
CXJ -
where
00
f "f
T(x, y, z, t)dxdydz
(t) .
CJ:)
VI
(A-12)
o
:r;
= 2(pC)n
00 -
fff
h
(A-ll )
(A-16)
(t)
(A-tO)
(A-I4 )
(A-15)
hya2 PR C R
CJ:)
CJ:)
0=
CJ:)
-00-00
. , ..~ k h2Z
H*(s) ,
where
Since the rate of heat losses from pay zone to overburden is by conduction only, it follows that
CJ:)
+ Oys)
'
(A-20)
and
331
(A-2I )
2kh2Z
hya2 (pC)n
=-~~~-
2(pC) n h T2 (o,t)
3
+ FHf
2kh2Z
(A-29)
(t).
(A-22)
Alternatively, one could have written Eq. A-17 as
+ Hn
(A-28)
H(t) =
(A-23)
(t) ,
to obtain
T Hn (t)
- F
Hr (t')
d
dt
K(8 n yt
(A-30)
(A-24)
and
where
= (pC)! - (pC)n
~
(pC)n
(A-2S)
Q*(s) = (s
+ 8n ys) H*(s)
and
.
Q*(s) = (s
8J ys) H*(s)
FT8!ys Hn*(s),
(A-27)
332
H(t)
o
t
+ TFf
d
Hn (t') (jjK()rVt - t')dt' .
- F8 n ys Hf*(s),
(A-26)
where
- t')dt'
A-3I)
JPT
Original manuscript received in Society of Petroleum Engineers
office May 31, 1968. Revised manuscript received Jan. 15, 1969.
Paper (SPE 2211) was presented at SPE 43rd Annual Fall Meeting
held in Houston, Tex., Sept. 29-0ct_ 2, 1968. Copyright 1969
American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers, Inc.
This paper will be printed in Transactions volume 246. which
will cover 1969.