System to inject steam and produce oil from the same wellbore through downhole valve switching. Final report
Through direct contacts with many California Operators, the potential market for this technology and hardware was more closely defined. The largest market might be for re-entry into existing but shut-in wells, equipped with 7{double_prime}OD cemented casings, for which a suitable configuration was designed. For field-testing any prototype Downhole equipment, however, Operators and Service Companies prefer to start with a new well, for better control of the well characteristics. In the relatively shallow reservoirs where Steam injection is currently used with success, the additional drilling cost, in soft formations, is sufficiently small that this became the main design case. Substantial savings were obtained by reducing the number of Downhole valves from two to one and by replacing the twin hydraulically-controlled ball or flapper-type valves with a single sliding sleeve valve, operated by wireline. Laboratory tests conducted at UC-Berkeley confirmed the satisfactory operation of this type of valve with wet steam over extended periods. Low reservoir pressures dictated the use of artificial lift methods, with rod pumps considered the most economical. The availability of live steam downhole at all times is, however, a major advantage which led to the selection of a combined method of artificial lift: (1) steam-lift of the produced fluids up to the kick-off point of the medium curvature drainholes, (2) dumping of the produced fluids into a vertical separator/sump below the kick-off points, (3) vertical rod pumping of the liquid phases from the downhole separator/sump to the surface through a dedicated production tubing.
- Research Organization:
- Southern California Research Corp., San Rafael, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- FG01-92CE15553
- OSTI ID:
- 10190616
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/CE/15553-T6; ON: DE95001762; TRN: 94:009701
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: [1994]
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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