A Post–Cold Production Solvent Vapor Extraction (SVX) Process Performance Evaluation by Numerical Simulation

Abstract

Solvent vapor extraction (SVX) process has been proposed as an approach to improve heavy oil production after cold production. The wormholes formed during cold production can be utilized as conduits available to produce diluted oil in SVX process. Through numerical simulation, the authors studied the effects of wormhole characteristics (length, permeability and water saturation, direction, and wormhole branch number) and fluid and formation uncertainties (dispersion coefficients, relative permeability curves, and reservoir heterogeneity) on the production performance of SVX process. The conclusions drawn can be used as guidance for designing post-cold SVX processes.

Keywords:

• cold production
• heavy oil
• numerical simulation
• solvent vapor extraction
• wormhole