Fundamentals of Radio Frequency Heating and the ESEIEH Process Presenter:
Fundamentals of Radio Frequency Heating and the ESEIEH Process Presenter: Zach Linkewich VP Engineering and Operations Phase Thermal Recovery Inc. UPT...
Fundamentals of Radio Frequency Heating and the ESEIEH Process Presenter: Zach Linkewich VP Engineering and Operations Phase Thermal Recovery Inc. UPTECH Banff 2014
Outline – – – – – – – – –
In situ RF heating considerations Antenna configuration Description of the Coupled Electromagnetic Reservoir Simulator (CEMRS) Overview of the Effective Solvent Extraction Incorporating Electromagnetic Heating (ESEIEH™) process Mine Face test site and hardware Test results Key innovations necessary for an architectural solution Architectural elements Conclusions
Frequency and temperature dependent Permittivity (dielectric constant) εr Conductivity σ Harris developed techniques & tooling to measure reservoir samples Free space wavelength :
pay zone εr = 12 σ = 0.011 S/m
c f
In situ wavelength :
Approximate desiccation region
c f r
desiccated region εr = 4 σ = 0 S/m
11 meter Dipole
Processes and tools developed allow RF systems to be tailored to specific reservoirs
Antenna Configuration • • • •
Type: dipole RF feed: coaxial transmission line Isolators: structural, non-conductive material Current suppression: magnetic choke assembly Transmission Line Center Conductor
Coax Transmission Line
Feed Isolator Dipole Center Conductor Arm
Choke Assembly
Choke Isolator
Dipole Antenna
Dipole Outer Conductor Arm Example of in situ heating pattern Not to scale
Reservoir + EM Modeling EM Recovery Process Optimization
EM Heat Map
Reservoir Model
CEMRS Iterative Coupling
EM Model
Temperature
Temperature Validation
Time
Distance from Antenna Test: 1d
CEMRS
Test: 5d
Coupled EM/reservoir models predict performance
CEMRS
Test: 14d
CEMRS
ESEIEH™ (“easy”) Project Background Effective Solvent Extraction Incorporating Electromagnetic Heating • $33M+ project developing key technologies for a reliable in-situ RF heating system • Key CAPEX savings: no steam plant • Key OPEX savings: reduced energy requirements
Solvent + RF Advantage Low Temperature Reduces GHG
Reduces Fuel Costs
Reduced CO2 Emission Penalties
Reduced OPEX
No Steam No Water Treatment Reduced CAPEX/ OPEX
No Steam Plant Reduced CAPEX
Project NPV Increases ESEIEH™ Status Phase 1: January 2012 – successful completion of 12.5m heating experiment at in situ site Phase 2: Q4 2014 – begin testing 100m horizontal RF heater and solvent injector
Harris’ Test Facility
North Steepbank Mine Site Layout Generators Mine face
VSAT
Mine Site Antenna Design Antenna heel section
Centralizer
Center isolator
Antenna tip section
• • • • • • •
12.2 m long Linear Dipole Toe & heel arms 6.78 MHz Cased design N2 purge Co-axial transmission line • Dielectric casing
High Temperature Structural Isolator Leveraged 40+ years space & structural composite tools & processes to achieve component performance requirements – Design to be as strong as conventional liner – Validate interfaces
– Measure mechanical & electrical margin – Performance within 1% of analytical prediction
Isolator Concept
Prototype Design
Prototype Test Article
Field Handling for Key Elements Design to be rugged and reusable: – Rugged rig interface points – High power transmission line installed on rig – Horizontal in situ installation and test at in Alberta
Conclusions • • • • •
Developed tightly integrated RF heating and monitoring system Successfully deployed and tested in native (heterogeneous) oil sands at Suncor North Steepbank Mine Demonstrated RF heating at projected field power densities Collected extensive data set of RF heating in oil sands Achieved good correlation between CEMRS model and test data with minimal changes to initial settings
• RF heating architecture capable of reservoir heating, solvent injection, and oil production has been developed and presented – Interfaces with industry equipment; no special installation equipment – Proprietary composite designs retain liner structural and thermal integrity tested and performed within 1% of prediction – Facilitates well intervention and subsequent EOR processes – Key safety elements tested developed and proven effective
• Phase II ESEIEH™ pilot is presently under construction at Dover
Thank you
Fundamentals of Radio Frequency Heating and the ESEIEH Process