Partially scaled SAGD-type experiments of heavy oil reservoirs in a low-pressure physical model

In this study, a visual model and a subatmospheric scaled physical model were used to perform the various experiments of the Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) process. The visual model experiments were conducted to visualize the growth of the steam chamber and the oil drainage process. Using the scaled physical model, SAGD experiments were conducted to test the performance of three different well configurations. Also, experiments in which hot water was injected were performed to determine the influence of intermittent steam injection on oil recovery.; Theoretical analyses including heat balance calculations, and steam zone volumes were performed on one of the base case experiments.; The well configuration in which the injector is in the upper position and the producer is in the lower position gave the highest oil recovery and highest cumulative oil-steam ratio.; The breakthrough time was a function of the volume of the reservoir lying above the horizontal producer; the larger the volume, the later the breakthrough time.; The vertical position of the horizontal injector has an effect on the recovery performance when implementing a hot waterflood either before or after the SAGD process.; The heat balance calculations revealed that the heat lost to the overburden and the underburden was much less than had been thought, and represents only 20% of the total heat injected.