Thermal Viscous Fingering in Thermal Recovery Processes

Heat and fluid flow at the edge of steam chambers found in thermal recovery processes such as steam-assisted gravity drainage and cyclic steam stimulation remain unresolved. Given the multiple phases present and contrast of thermophysical properties, it remains unclear where instabilities occur within this thin, yet critical, zone of the process. In the research reported here, heat and fluid flow are examined in vertical and horizontal sections of a steam chamber to understand the differences between the two orientations by using detailed and fine-gridded thermal reservoir simulation models. The results show that heat transfer in vertical and horizontal directions are different with greater heat transfer found in the vertical orientation. In the vertical direction, heat transfer occurs with mobilized bitumen draining with subsequent steam moving into the emptied pore space. Conduction beyond the edge of the chamber dominates and heated, low viscosity bitumen fingers into cold, higher viscosity bitumen at the edge of the chamber. Relative permeability effects are observed which can interfere with enhanced oil mobility.