A. A. R. Diniz

Economical evaluation of heavy oil production from the Brazilian Northeast

ABSTRACT The technology involved for the recovery of heavy oils demands an insightful study of their technical and economic viability to make possible its implementation. Hence, this research proposes a study of the effects of managing the steam injection rate (Qinj), from the time the steam arrives to the producer well (steam breakthrough), in the oil recovery factor (RF), and net present value (NPV). For reaching these goals, numerical simulations were performed by using a heavy oil reservoir model representative of the Brazilian Northeast. By varying operational parameters, the behavior of the oil recovery factor and NPV was evaluated, for 15 years. Results showed that the injection of low steam injection rates, from the breakthrough time, resulted in improving the RF. Hence, this condition also promotes an improvement in the NPV, especially when there was injected 5 t/day after the breakthrough time.

Analysis of oil production by applying in situ combustion

ABSTRACT The THAI (toe-to-heel air injection) process is a process of enhanced oil recovery, which consists of integrating the in situ combustion process with technological advances of horizontal wells drilling, and has not yet been applied in Brazil. Motivated by this context, the authors aimed to studying the application of the THAI process in a semisynthetic reservoir, with characteristics similar to those ones found in the Brazilian Northeast. It was analyzed the air injection rate, indicating that there is a limit to reach a good efficiency.

Support and rehabilitation of patients with pulmonary expansion deficit by using game therapy

Patients suffering from hypoventilation and pulmonary expansion deficit are at increased risk of developing pulmonary complications such as atelectasis, pneumonia or pleural effusion. These complications can increase the length of stay and spending on health, and generate long-term functional impairment. This study aims to produce a therapeutic alternative to the traditional method of lung re-expansion through incentive spirometry (IS) using the game therapy to build an innovative system. This system makes use of infrared and Bluetooth communication technology to associate the game therapy to EI. At the end of the system implementation, we expect to obtain good adhesion of the patient and the physiotherapists.

Study of thermal efficiency in heavy oil reservoirs submitted to steam injection by using numerical simulation

Abstract In the steam injection applied to heavy oil recovery, just a fraction of the supplied heat can effectively heat the reservoir. To account this effect, it is possible calculating the fraction of the remaining heat, known as the reservoir’s thermal efficiency. This paper presents a comparative study of the thermal efficiency calculation, obtained from a numerical simulator and analytic models proposed by Marx and Langenheim (1959), by using reservoir parameters and operational parameters of steam injection. Among the obtained results, it was verified similarity between the analytic and numeric models, before the steam breakthrough. However, after the breakthrough, the thermal efficiency presented lower values for the numerical model, because the analytic model does not consider heat losses for producer wells, while that other model considers it.

Oil Recovery By Electromagnetic Heating Method In Fractured Oil Wells

The success achieved by recovery thermal methods in heavy oil reservoirs motivated emerging studies on using electromagnetic heating process for improved oil recovery. There are three different types of electromagnetic heating according to the frequency range used. They are: the resistive, the inductive and the dielectric heating. The choice of the heating type depends, among others, on factors such as reservoir depth, geological heterogeneities, electrical characteristics of reservoir constituents, type of electromagnetic heating and operating frequency. In order to increase the heat distribution in the reservoir, it can be fractured using electromagnetically sensitive particles. This study was based on computer simulations in oil reservoirs with characteristics similar to those found in the sedimentary basins of the Brazilian Northeast. Regardless to electromagnetic heating type to be used, this will generate a temperature distribution according to the geometry of the fracture developed filled with electrically sensitive particles. The purpose of this work is the use of electromagnetic heating as a recovery method of heavy oil, to analyze the influence of these fractures geometries in the reservoir model proposed. All cases studied were carried out using the commercial simulator STARS from CMG (Computer Modelling Group, version 2012.10).