Hydrothermal stability of the clay minerals from the Clearwater reservoirs at Cold Lake, Alberta
- Alberta Research Council, Edmonton (Canada)
The Clearwater oil sands reservoir at Cold Lake, Alberta, contains 69 billion BOIP. These oil sands are rich in Fe-clays whose composition ranges from berthierine to chlorite/smectite mixed layer clays. The Fe-clays form a heavy coating on the quartz and feldspar sand grains. Formation damage can result if these clays are broken down and replaced by more damaging clay minerals such as smectite during thermal recovery. Systematic autoclave experiments indicate that berthierine decomposition is relatively slow in neutral solutions. It is unstable in mildly basic solutions and is very reactive in highly alkaline solutions. The hydrothermal decomposition of berthierine may affect reservoir quality in two ways. First, there is more than a 50% volume increase for the berthierine-to-analcime/smectite reaction. This volume increase will decrease porosity and permeability of the hydrocarbon reservoirs. The degree of the damage will depend on the clay concentration and initial porosity of the hydrocarbon reservoirs. The more berthierine in the reservoir and the smaller the initial porosity, the greater the damage. Secondly, the potential of fines migration will likely increase as the surface coating berthierine is replaced by loosely distributed analcime and smectite. This work investigates the hydrothermal stability of berthierine under in-situ thermal recovery conditions, and seeks to predict the effect of hydrothermal reactions on reservoir quality.
- OSTI ID:
- 229572
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9502114-Vol.2; TRN: 96:000932-0004
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 6. UNITAR international conference on heavy crude and tar sands on fueling for a clean and safe environment, Houston, TX (United States), 12-17 Feb 1995; Other Information: PBD: [1995]; Related Information: Is Part Of Heavy crude and tar sands -- Fueling for a clean and safe environment. Proceedings: Volume 2; Meyer, R.F. [ed.]; PB: 733 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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