Addressing a Key Concern with the VAPEX Process
The vapour extraction (VAPEX) process has drawn increasing attention of the heavy oil/bitumen industry since it was developed by Butler and Mokrys in 1991. The fact that the process has the potential to upgrade the heavy oil as a result of asphaltene deposition makes it a very promising development. At the same time, there is concern that the asphaltene deposition could plug the pore throats. This concern has slowed the industry application of the VAPEX process. Until now, investigations on scaled physical experiments with significant permeability had suggested that no significant plugging occurred. However, the performance of reservoirs with a range of reservoir permeabilities is still of concern. This study is a preliminary investigation of the effect of asphaltene deposition on the VAPEX process by implementing physical experiments under reservoir permeability. This paper will present the design and the implementation of physical experiments based on the reservoir conditions of mobile heavy oil of Lloydminster, Canada. The operating conditions of the experiments were optimized using a validated numerical model to represent the main features of the VAPEX process. The preliminary results of this study show no significant evidence of a blockage of fluid flow through the porous medium due to asphaltene deposition. Although the VAPEX process is energy efficient and environmentally friendly, it has not been proven in a field situation. Further experiments would be required to confirm the finding that asphaltene deposition, which has the potential to upgrade the oil in the reservoir, will not be a concern in a field situation.
X. WU M. POLIKAR L.B. CUNHA
University of Alberta
国际会议
首届世界重油大会(The Technical Sessions of the First World Heavy Oil Conference)
北京
英文
769-775
2006-11-12（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）