The disclosed systems and methods are directed to generating acoustic waves, and more particularly a downhole electro-hydraulic seismic source to enhance oil recovery. The systems and methods disclosed herein enhance oil recovery by means of elastic-wave vibratory stimulation, for example, to diminish capillary forces and encourage the rate of migration and coalescence of retained oil within the porous media of an oil reservoir.
After an oil well has been in operation for a time, its productivity often diminishes to a point at which the operation of the well is marginal or economically unfeasible. It is frequently the case, however, that substantial quantities of crude oil remain in the ground in the regions of these unproductive wells but cannot be liberated by conventional techniques. Therefore, it is desirable to provide methods for efficiently increasing the productivity of a well, provided it can be done economically. By way of definition the common meaning of borehole is merely a hole that is drilled into the surface of the earth, however once encased forms a production oil well for the purpose of extracting hydrocarbons. Notably, a borehole can serve as an injection or monitor well and in the case of the present invention allows for the insertion of a down hole seismic pressure wave generator.
A multiplicity of methods have been discovered for improving the oil recovery efficiency, yet large volumes of hydrocarbons remain in the oil rich formation after secondary, or even tertiary recovery methods have been practiced. It is believed that a major factor causing the retention of the hydrocarbons in the formation is the inability to direct sufficient pressure forces on the hydrocarbon droplets residing in the pore spaces of the matrix formation. Conventional oil recovery is accomplished in a two tier process, the primary or initial method is reliant on the natural flow or pumping of the oil within the well bore until depletion, once the free flowing oil has been removed a secondary means is required—where an immiscible fluid, such as water, is forced into an injection borehole to flush the oil contained within the strata into a production well. In the past it has not been cost effective to employ tertiary or enhanced oil recovery (also referred to as EOR) methods, albeit up to seventy percent of the total volume of oil may still remain in an abandoned oil well after standard oil recovery techniques are used.
Another technique that has been employed to increase the recovery of oil employs low frequency vibration energy. Low frequency vibration from surface or downhole sources has been used to influence liquid hydrocarbon recoveries from subterranean reservoirs. This type of vibration, at source-frequencies generally less than 1 KHz, has been referred to in the literature as sonic, acoustic, seismic, p-wave, or elastic-wave well stimulation. For example, stimulation by low frequency vibration has been effectively utilized in some cases in Russia to improve oil production from water flooded reservoirs. Examples from the literature also suggest that low frequency stimulation can accelerate or improve ultimate oil recovery. Explanations for why low frequency stimulation makes a difference vary widely, however, it is understood that the vibration causes the coalescence of oil droplets to re-establish a continuous oil phase due to the dislodging of oil droplets. Additionally it is believed that the sound waves reduce capillary forces by altering surface tensions and interfacial tensions and thereby free the droplets and/or enable them to coalesce. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,184,678 to Pechkov et al. issued Feb. 9, 1993 discloses a method and apparatus for stimulating fluid production in a producing well utilizing an acoustic energy transducer disposed in the well bore within a producing zone. However, Pevhkov only teaches that ultrasonic irradiating removes fines and decreases the well fluid viscosity in the vicinity of the perforations by agitation, thereby increasing fluid production from an active well.
Ultrasonic waves can improve and/or accelerate oil production from porous media. The problem with ultrasonic waves is that in general, the depth of penetration or the distance that ultrasonic waves can move into a reservoir from a source is limited to no more than a few feet, whereas low frequency or acoustic waves can generally travel hundreds to thousands of feet through porous rock. While sonic stimulation methods and apparatus to improve liquid hydrocarbon flow have achieved some success in stimulating or enhancing the production of liquid hydrocarbons from subterranean formations, the acoustic energy transducers used to date have generally lacked sufficient acoustic power to provide a significant pulsed wave. Thus, there remains a continuing need for improved methods and apparatus, which utilize sonic energy to stimulate or enhance the production of liquid hydrocarbons from subterranean formations. Acoustic energy is emitted from the acoustic energy transducer in the form of pressure waves that pass through the liquid hydrocarbons in the formation so that the mobility of the liquid hydrocarbon is improved and flow more freely to the well bore. By way of definition an elastic-wave is a specific type of wave that propagates within elastic or visco-elastic materials. The elasticity of the material provides the propagating force of the wave and when such waves occur within the earth they are generally referred to as seismic waves.
The increasing value of a barrel of oil and the increased demand for oil has created a greater interest in tertiary enhanced oil recovery methods to further oil availability by the revitalization of older wells, including those that have been abandoned due to a high ratio of water compared to the volume of total oil produced, or commonly called the water cut. The primary intent of enhanced oil recovery is to provide a means to encourage the flow of previously entrapped oil by effectively increasing the relative permeability of the oil embedded formation and reducing the viscosity and surface tension of the oil. Numerous enhanced oil recovery technologies are currently practiced in the field including thermodynamics, chemistry and mechanics. Three of these methods have been found to be commercially viable with varying degrees of success and limitations. Heating the oil with steam has proven be an effective means to reduce the viscosity, provided there is ready access to steam energy, and accounts for over half of the oil currently recovered. The use of chemical surfactants and solvents, such as CO2, to reduce the surface tension and viscosity, while effective, are not widely used due to cost, contamination and environmental concerns. However, seismic stimulation lacks any of the aforementioned limitations and is therefore being further explored as a viable enhanced oil recovery technique.
The vibration of reservoir rock formations is thought to facilitate enhanced oil recovery by (i) diminishing capillary forces, (ii) reducing the adhesion between rocks and fluids, and (iii) causing coalescence of the oil droplets to enable them to flow within the water flood. Recent studies at the Los Alamos National Laboratory conducted by Peter Roberts have indicated that this process can increase oil recovery over substantially large areas of a reservoir at a significant lower cost than any other enhanced oil recovery stimulation method. Accordingly, the systems and methods disclosed herein provide a low-cost tertiary solution for the reclamation of oil that had previously been uneconomical to retrieve. It is, therefore, a general object of the present disclosure to characterize downhole vibratory seismic sources capable of generating elastic-wave vibration stimulation within a previously abandoned oil field in order to extract the immobile oil. More specifically, by employing an apparatus for generating acoustic waves, oil recovery is stimulated within an oil deposit in fluid contact with a borehole into which the acoustic wave source can be placed. In one embodiment, the apparatus comprises: an elongated and generally cylindrical housing suitable for passing through a borehole, an accumulator; a pump, an energy transfer section, and a pressure transfer valve, wherein the pump pressure is stored within said accumulator and subsequently transferred, thereby releasing acoustic wave energy into the fluid surrounding the apparatus.
Accordingly, disclosed in embodiments herein is a system for imparting seismic wave energy within an oil reservoir in the form of a P-wave, having a controlled acoustic frequency, so as to alter the capillary forces of the residual oil.
In one embodiment herein there is disclosed a method for the controlled release of highly pressurized ambient fluids through opposed orifices of a rotary valve. As an alternative or additional configuration, seismic energy may be mechanically released by means of a dynamic isotropic transducer having a radial surface consisting of a plurality of adjacent longitudinal surfaces that are concurrently displaced by means of an associated set of radially configured pistons.
It is therefore an objective of the embodiments to provide a system for stimulating wells to increase the pressure and improve the flow of crude oil into the casings. It is a further object to provide an effective technique for removing deposits that clog the perforations of the oil well casing. It is yet another object of the disclosed embodiments to provide an apparatus wherein the resultant vibrational energy from the wave pulse generator is developed within the down hole apparatus by converting electro or mechanical-energy delivered from the surface into hydraulic energy. It is a still further object of the disclosed embodiments to provide such apparatus wherein a plurality of wave pulse generators may be controlled in a synchronized manner so as to provide a broad wave front and to thereby maximize the energy transfer within the oil strata. Other objects and advantages of the disclosed systems and methods will become apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
The various embodiments described herein are not intended to limit the embodiments described. On the contrary, the intent is to cover all alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of the disclosure and appended claims.
In the context of this specification, porous medium 100 may be a natural earth material comprising a solid matrix and an interconnected pore system within the matrix as shown in
In solid matrix 102 P-waves generally travel slightly less than 16.5K ft/s as compared to 5K ft/s in liquid 106 within pores 108. On the other hand S-waves 118 or shear waves displace solid matrix 102 perpendicularly to the direction of propagation. However, unlike P-waves, S-waves can travel only through solids, as fluids do not support shear stresses. Flow takes place in porous medium 100 by generating a pressure gradient in the fluid, in other words by creating spatial differences in the fluid pressures. Porous medium 100, as seen in
The porosity of porous medium 100 can be expressed as the ratio of the volume of flow channels 108 to the total volume of medium 100. Formations of practical interest for enhanced oil recovery techniques typically have porosities that lie in the approximate range of twenty to fifty percent porosity. Porous media 100 is further characterized by a permeability. Permeability is an average measurement of pore properties, such as the geometry of flow channels 108, which depict the flow rate of liquid 106 through medium 100 under the effect of the pressure gradient force caused by the disclosed systems within the solid-fluid medium.
Pressure pulsing is an induced variation of the fluid pressure in porous medium 100 through the introduction of a force into the fluid(s) 104 and/or 106. The pressure source may be periodic or intermittent, as well as episodic, and it may be applied at the point of the extraction (oil well) or at various boreholes within the region of porous medium 100 that is able to be stimulated by the pressure wave.
There are theoretical mechanisms to explain the changes in fluid flow characteristics within porous medium resulting from seismic pressure, pulsing stimulation including changes in wettability, viscosity, surface tension and relative permeability. Additionally, it has been determined that suspended oscillating droplets of oil are induced to coalescence in response to seismic energy, which thereby enables gravitational flow within medium 100.
As more particularly set forth below, the disclosed systems and methods are directed to the transfer of a pressure wave into a subterranean porous media 100 adjacent to oil or other well 124. Referring to
Alternatively, the seismic energy generator 130 may be placed below the end of the casing. For example, if a borehole is drilled, a casing may be inserted into a portion of the bore hole, or maybe all of it, and concrete is pored along a portion of the outside of the casing, but the casing does not necessarily go all the way to the bottom of the borehole. In other words, the disclosed seismic energy generator 130 can be below the level of the casing and does not require contact with the casing and does not need to transmit through the casing and the concrete. Placing the seismic energy generator 130 beneath the level of the casing may significantly improve the performance of the generator and decrease the attenuation of any energy waves or pulses emanating therefrom.
Now referring to
In one exemplary embodiment, the fluid power of the pump, as stored in the accumulator may be on the order of about 200 to about 550 psi above ambient. In operation, the fluid pump 138 preferably operates in an optimal portion of its fluid-power curve (pressure vs. flow). In operation, when the ports of the rotary valve 142 are closed, a pressure of say about 550 psi above ambient may be created, and when the ports are opened, the pressure in the accumulator is released and would drop to a lower level of say about 200 psi above ambient.
More specifically, as shown in
Now turning to
In the case of port geometry, rectangular orifice 180 tends to release pressure as a binary function as represented by waveform 174 and substantial harmonics thereof (not shown). For example, if a 5 Hz pulse pattern is produced, harmonics of 10, 20, 40, . . . Hz are also likely to be produced, and the shape of the opening may be varied to change the harmonic content and the nature of the pulse. The oval port 182 provides a more analog energy/time functional relationship as shown in waveform 175 having minimal harmonics. Furthermore, a combination of 180 and 182, as seen in orifice design 184 and 186 will exhibit a sharp “off” preceded by an increasing integrated energy curve as shown in orifice 184 and graph 176, or in the alternative a sharp “on” followed by decreasing integrated energy as seen in graph 177. This capability to “tune” the apertures by controlling the relative geometric opening created by the rotational alignment of the rotor and stator of the generator provides a distinct advantage over known devices in optimizing the efficiency of transitioning fluid pressure into P-wave energy, in concurrence with the teachings of integrated geometry and harmonic physics.
In the exemplary embodiments depicted, for example
In an alternative embodiment, acoustic generator 148, as shown in
Referring now to
Although the acoustic wave generating embodiments described above depict the use of a single apparatus in a borehole within an oil reservoir, it is contemplated that a plurality of acoustic generators could be used in an oil field 190 to produce seismic wave stimulation to further induce oil mobility as depicted in
It will be appreciated that various of the above-disclosed embodiments and other features and functions, or alternatives thereof, may be desirably combined into many other different systems or applications. Also, various presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives, modifications, variations or improvements therein may be subsequently made by those skilled in the art which are also intended to be encompassed by the following claims.
This application hereby claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application 61/027,573 for a “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY USING AN IN-SITU SEISMIC ENERGY GENERATOR,” by R. DeLaCroix et al., filed Feb. 11, 2008, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
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