New Approach to Simulate Long-Term In Situ Aquathermolysis Reaction Combining Noncatalytic and Catalytic Kinetic Models

Abstract

The numerical simulation of reservoirs is usually used to develop the best strategy to implement new steam injection technologies, such as cyclic steam simulation enhanced with the use of catalysts. The efficiency of the catalyst is reduced at long periods of time, which is a drawback that the currently reported kinetic models do not consider. In this work, a novel method is proposed to predict the composition of Ashalcha heavy oil during in situ upgrading by considering noncatalytic and catalytic aquathermolysis reactions and an efficiency catalytic decay term. The new approach displayed more accurate yield predictions over longer periods of time. The production of light fractions is obtained during the catalytic and noncatalytic aquathermolysis reactions, reaching higher yields when the former predominates due to the conversion of aromatic fraction into lighter compounds. At short reaction times, the aquathermolysis reactions are mainly catalytic, and as the reaction time increases, the thermal (noncatalytic) reactions are more important. For the simulation of the reaction rate during three cycles, the efficiency of the catalyst is almost depleted in the last cycle.