An Investigation of Oil Recovery in Underground Combustion
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- The purpose of this experiment was to obtain laboratory data to investigate oil recovery in underground combustion. Underground, or In Situ combustion, is a secondary oil recovery process which consists of igniting the oil in a porous rock by means of an ignitor, and driving a combustion zone through a reservoir rock by means of air and/or combustion gases. The heat generated serves to increase the mobility of the oil, permitting its displacement to producing wells.There are two types of combustion processes: (1) forward combustion, in which the burning front moves from the injection well toward the production well(s). (2) reverse combustion, in which the burning front moves from the producing well towards the injection well, countercurrent to the injected air.A considerable amount of work has been done on the forward combustion oil recovery process, and numerous investigators have reported the results of laboratory combustion-tube studies, as well as experimental results from field tests. As a result, the engineering parameters of the combustion process are reasonably well known. Engineering data needed to evaluate the process include the amount of air required per barrel of oil recovered, minimum injection rates which will support combustion, total air requirement, produced fluid gas-oil ratios, oil produced, fuel requirements, and saturation distributions. The present laboratory experiment also provides these data.Details concerning the design, construction, and operation of the combustion tubes are rare. The experiments done by Mandel and Gringarten were followed closely in this report. Actually, portions of the same equipment were used.Combustion tubes used by various investigators vary in size, length, and mode of operation. Therefore, one purpose of this experiment is to present considerations important to construction and operation of a combustion tube.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Date created | June 1972 |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Montiel, Eleazar A. |
|---|---|
| Primary advisor | Ramey Jr., Henry J. |
| Degree granting institution | Stanford University, Department of Petroleum Engineering |
Subjects
| Subject | School of Earth Energy & Environmental Sciences |
|---|---|
| Genre | Thesis |
Bibliographic information
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Preferred citation
- Preferred Citation
- Montiel, Eleazar A. (1972). An Investigation of Oil Recovery in Underground Combustion. Stanford Digital Repository. Available at: https://purl.stanford.edu/nw456wz2231
Collection
Master's Theses, Doerr School of Sustainability
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