A New Method of Thermal Extraction of Hard Oil Is Proposed
Water can be converted into steam at the bottom of an oil well for long–range delivery.
Anatoly Zamri, General Director of the Intersectoral Expert and Analytical Center at the Union of Oil and Gas Industrialists of Russia, proposed a way to increase the efficiency of thermal methods in the extraction of extra-viscous oil (SVN or natural bitumen). He spoke at the meeting Scientific and Technical Council of JSC Tatneftekhiminvest–holding in Kazan.
Today, thermal methods of increasing oil recovery are widely used to extract hard-to–recover reserves. Steam-thermal methods are the injection of steam into formations with extra-viscous oil.
The injection can be cyclic, areal, or performed using steam gravity drainage (SAGD) technology. Kazan Federal University (KFU) is actively engaged in the development of steam-thermal methods, the speaker noted. Tatneft, in turn, produces natural bitumen in Tatarstan using SAGD.
In addition, low-viscosity oil from deep-lying reservoirs can be displaced by hot water. There is also the technology of intraplastic burning. In this case, an oxidizer is pumped through the injection well, which reacts with heavy hydrocarbons.
Among the disadvantages of steam–thermal effects are high energy costs and high cost of equipment. Steam as a heat carrier is more efficient than water. But the latter is more convenient to deliver over long distances, the Devon News Agency quotes Zamria as saying. When pumping to great depths, it is better to use water. Calculations show the efficiency of hot water at a pressure of 180 Pa and a temperature of 350 C.
Many oil and gas companies use expensive steam generators. However, they are expensive to operate. “There are several installations, including the mobile company LUKOIL Engineering,“ the Devon news agency quotes the words of the general director of the MEAC CNGPR. “But even the technology of steam injection has not yet been fully solved.“
In this regard, the speaker suggested pumping water at high temperature and under high pressure instead of transporting steam. With the help of a generator, it could be converted into steam already at the bottom of the well. This would help to reduce costs, Anatoly Zamriy believes.
To do this, the pipe must be equipped with a gearbox so that the equipment can be lowered to the bottom of the wells. You can heat the water with gas.
“The development is still at the modeling stage, but there is a working heat exchanger,“ he said. – We are in active contact with Krasny Kotelshchik. They have a steam pumping machine. We need a partner. Tatarstan has a well-developed machine building industry, can these plants be loaded somehow?“ Rafinat Yarullin, CEO of Tatneftekhiminvest Holding, noted that this decision may be interesting for Tatarstan oil companies.
“The savings seem to be big,“ he added.
