화학공학소재연구정보센터
In Situ, Vol.21, No.1, 65-100, 1997
A succession-of-states front-tracking model for the in-situ combustion recovery process
A two-dimensional succession-of-states front-tracking model was developed for the in-situ combustion (ISC) oil recovery process. The model approximates the flow domain in the reservoir as a series of regions separated by sharp fronts and places the primary computational effort on tracking the movement of these fronts. Flow is approximated as a succession of steady states based on incompressible fluid flow. Several validation runs and application examples were performed comparing the results of the model with analytical solutions for particular problems, available data in the literature, and results from a commercial simulator. The model appears to provide accurate, dispersion-free numerical solutions with relatively small computational time. The usefulness of the model for simulating effects of viscous and gravitational forces, chemical reactions, and fluid condensation is demonstrated. This model has the potential to inexpensively simulate 2D field-scale in-situ combustion or steam drive processes in heterogeneous reservoirs. The methodology can also be extended to three-dimensional applications.