Journal of Canadian Petroleum Technology, Vol.43, No.4, 23-30, 2004
Network modelling of apparent-relative permeability of gas in heavy oils
Some of the solution-gas drive heavy oil reservoirs known as foamy oil reservoirs, in Canada, Venezuela, and other countries have demonstrated a high primary oil recovery factor (>10%), a low producing gas-oil ratio, a low reservoir pressure decline,, and a high oil production rate. One of the hypotheses to explain these unusual behaviours is that the gas mobility in a foamy oil, flow is much lower than that in conventional oil, leading to improved recovery performance. In this study, the immiscible two-phase micro-displacement in porous media is modelled by using a network of pores of converging-diverging geometry. The effect of viscosity of one phase (oil) on the mobility of another phase (gas) is included in the model. The developed model is used to simulate, the motion of the dispersed bubbles in an initially oil-filled network, and to determine bubble mobility. The obtained results showed that bubble mobility decreased drastically by increasing the oil viscosity. The results also showed that dispersion of gas leads to lower mobility of bubbles. Dispersed gas flow and low bubble mobility are believed to lead to improved recovery in foamy oil reservoirs.