Abstract

The injection of different solvents, such as propane and CO₂, into bitumen, has proven to be an effective method in the production of heavy oil reservoirs. However, in some cases, the prediction of large solvent requirements can make it uneconomical. The formation of a second liquid phase has been observed when the solvent is propane or CO₂, with the second liquid phase mainly composed of the solvent itself.

The objective of this research is to understand the importance of this second liquid phase and its effect on production. Also, a simulator that can allocate an individual phase to this liquid phase would allow for prediction of the amount of solvent that can be produced and recycled. This makes the cost evaluation of solvent injection processes to be more realistic. Depending on the reservoirs fluid distribution, a three- or four-phase flow can occur in the absence or presence of water. A compositional simulator based on an equation of states is designed to simulate these multiphase situations.