The flow and heat transfer characteristics of superheated steam in offshore wells and analysis of superheated steam performance

• Published in: Computers & chemical engineering 2017-05, Vol.100, p.80-93
• Main Authors: Sun, Fengrui, Yao, Yuedong, Li, Xiangfang, Yu, Pengliang, Ding, Guanyang, Zou, Ming
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Numerical simulation; Offshore heavy oil recovery; Superheated steam; Thermophysical properties; Turbulent flow of seawater; Wellbore modeling
• ISSN: 0098-1354; 1873-4375
• DOI: 10.1016/j.compchemeng.2017.01.045

•Predicting thermophysical properties in wellbores becomes a hotspot in the petroleum industry.•A novel model for predicting thermophysical properties of SHS in OSSIW is proposed.•Model validation and sensitivity analysis were conducted.•It is very meaningful for heavy oil exploitation and development. In this paper, a novel model is presented for predicting thermophysical properties of superheated steam (SHS) in offshore superheated steam injection wells (OSSIW). Firstly, a mathematical model comprised of mass, energy and momentum balance equations is proposed for OSSIW. Secondly, the distribution of temperature, pressure and superheat degree along the wellbores are obtained by finite difference method on space and solved by using the iteration technique. Then, model validation and sensitivity analysis are conducted. The results show that (1). The superheat degree increases at first but then turns to decrease with the increase of injection rate. (3). The superheat degree increases with the increase of injection temperature. (4). The superheat degree at well bottom increases at first but then turns to decrease with the increase of injection pressure. (5). The superheat degree in the wellbore has a drop when seawater starts to flow.