U.S. patent application number 13/230098 was filed with the patent office on 2013-03-14 for system and method of liquefying a heavy oil formation for enhanced hydrocarbon production.
The applicant listed for this patent is Grant Hocking. Invention is credited to Grant Hocking.
Application Number | 20130062070 13/230098 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 47828793 |
Filed Date | 2013-03-14 |
United States Patent
Application |
20130062070 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Hocking; Grant |
March 14, 2013 |
System and Method of Liquefying a Heavy Oil Formation for Enhanced
Hydrocarbon Production
Abstract
A system and method of liquefying a heavy oil formation to
enhance oil production in a well, by inducing shear stress reversal
within the formation by a plurality of expanding/contracting
bladders in contact with the formation. The induced liquefaction
enables formation materials and fluids to flow into the well and
thus initiate and propagate the CHOPS (Cold Heavy Oil Production
System) process, and thereby enhancing the hydrocarbon production
of the well.
Inventors: |
Hocking; Grant; (Alpharetta,
GA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Hocking; Grant |
Alpharetta |
GA |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
47828793 |
Appl. No.: |
13/230098 |
Filed: |
September 12, 2011 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
166/370 ;
166/105 |
Current CPC
Class: |
E21B 33/127 20130101;
E21B 43/24 20130101; E21B 28/00 20130101; E21B 43/003 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
166/370 ;
166/105 |
International
Class: |
E21B 43/18 20060101
E21B043/18 |
Claims
1. A system for producing hydrocarbons from a formation at a depth
horizon comprising: a. a cyclic shear stress reversal device in
contact with the formation for applying cyclical shear stress
reversal to the formation to induce liquefaction of the formation;
b. an inlet connecting the formation to the cyclic shear stress
reversal device; and c. an extraction device for drawing formation
materials and fluids from the formation into the inlet.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the cyclic shear stress reversal
device comprises a plurality of cyclically expanding/contracting
bladders to load the formation under a near zero volume change
condition to induce liquefaction of the formation.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein the cyclic shear stress reversal
device is self-boring down to the required formation depth
horizon.
4. The system of claim 1, wherein the cyclic shear stress reversal
device is driven down to the required formation depth horizon.
5. The system of claim 1, wherein the cyclic shear stress reversal
device is inserted into a pre-drilled borehole down to the required
formation depth horizon.
6. The system of claim 1, wherein the cyclic shear stress reversal
device is inserted into an existing well, in which the existing
casing has been removed across the formation depth horizon.
7. The system of claim 2, wherein the cyclic shear stress reversal
device comprises a piston in a fluid cylinder connected to the
plurality of bladders, and movement of the piston extracts fluid
from contracting bladders and injects fluid into expanding bladders
to ensure the formation is cyclically loaded under near zero volume
change condition.
8. The system of claim 2, wherein a pore water pressure sensor
obtains data measurements for formation pore pressure response to
cyclic loading, and other sensors measure the rate of change of
expansion/contraction of the bladders, and the fluid pressures
inside of the bladders.
9. The system of claim 2, wherein the cyclic shear stress reversal
device consists of two expansion/contraction bladders.
10. The system of claim 1, wherein the extraction device extracts
formation material and formation fluids from the formation during
or immediately after cyclic loading of the formation by the cyclic
shear stress reversal device.
11. A system of claim 10, wherein the extraction device is a piston
sampling device.
12. A system of claim 10, wherein the extraction device is a
progressive cavity pump.
13. A system of claim 10, wherein the extraction device further
includes a pump that injects a foaming fluid into the
formation.
14. The system of claim 1, wherein the cyclic shear stress reversal
device is removed from the well, and a perforated liner is placed
across the formation horizon.
15. The system of claim 14, wherein a pump is inserted in the well
and formation materials and fluids are extracted from the well via
production tubing.
16. The system of claim 15, wherein the pump is of the progressive
cavity type.
17. A method for producing hydrocarbons from a formation at a depth
horizon comprising: a. Cyclically applying shear stress reversal
loading to the formation under a near zero volume change condition
to induce liquefaction of the formation; and b. extracting
formation materials and fluids from the formation.
18. The method of claim 17, wherein the method includes placing a
cyclic shear stress reversal device within the formation for
cyclically applying shear stress reversal loading to the
formation.
19. The method of claim 18, wherein the cyclic shear stress
reversal device comprises a plurality of cyclically
expanding/contracting bladders to load the formation under a near
zero volume change condition to induce liquefaction of the
formation.
20. The method of claim 18, wherein placing the cyclic shear stress
reversal device includes the cyclic shear stress reversal device
being self-boring and boring down to the required formation depth
horizon.
21. The method of claim 18, wherein placing the cyclic shear stress
reversal device includes driving the cyclical shear stress reversal
device down to the required formation depth horizon.
22. The method of claim 18, wherein placing the cyclic shear stress
reversal device includes inserting the cyclical shear stress
reversal device into a pre-drilled borehole down to the required
formation depth horizon.
23. The method of claim 18, wherein placing the cyclic shear stress
reversal device includes inserting the cyclical shear stress
reversal device into an existing well, in which the existing casing
has been removed across the formation depth horizon.
24. The method of claim 19, wherein loading the formation includes
alternatively extracting fluid from contracting bladders and
injecting fluid into expanding bladders to ensure the formation is
cyclically loaded under near zero volume change condition.
25. The method of claim 19, wherein the method further includes
measuring a pore water pressure of the formation in response to
cyclic loading, measuring the rate of change of
expansion/contraction of the bladders, and measuring the fluid
pressures inside of the bladders.
26. The method of claim 19, wherein the device consists of two
expansion/contraction bladders.
27. The method of claim 17, wherein formation material and
formation fluids are extracted from the formation during or
immediately after cyclic loading of the formation.
28. A method of claim 27, wherein the method of extracting
formation material and fluids is by a piston sampling device.
29. A method of claim 27, wherein the method of extracting
formation material and fluids is by a pump, being of the
progressive cavity type.
30. A method of claim 27, wherein the method of extracting
formation material and fluids is by a foaming fluid injected into
the well, with formation material, fluids and foam extracted from
the well.
31. The method of claim 19, wherein the bladders are removed from
the formation and a perforated liner is placed across the formation
horizon.
32. The method of claim 31, wherein a pump is inserted in the well
and formation materials and fluids are extracted from the well via
production tubing.
33. The method of claim 32, wherein the pump is of the progressive
cavity type.
34. The method of claim 17, wherein steam is injected into the
formation upon the onset of induced liquefaction of the formation
and prior to extraction of formation materials and fluids.
35. The method of claim 17, wherein a vaporized hydrocarbon solvent
is injected into the formation upon the onset of induced
liquefaction of the formation and prior to extraction of formation
materials and fluids.
36. The method of claim 35, wherein the vaporized hydrocarbon
solvent is one of a group of ethane, propane, butane or a mixture
thereof.
37. The method of claim 35, wherein the injected vaporized
hydrocarbon solvent is maintained saturated at or near its dew
point.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] This invention relates to an in situ method and system for
enhancing hydrocarbon production from a well. The heavy oil
formation is subjected to induced liquefaction to initiate and
propagate the cold heavy oil production system (CHOPS) process and
thus enhance the well's productivity and recovery.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Heavy oil and bitumen oil sands are abundant in reservoirs
in many parts of the world such as those in Alberta and
Saskatchewan in Canada, Utah and California in the United States,
the Orinoco Belt of Venezuela, Indonesia, China and Russia. The
hydrocarbon reserves of the oil sand deposit is extremely large in
the trillions of barrels, with recoverable reserves estimated by
current technology in the 300 billion barrels for Alberta, Canada
and a similar recoverable reserve for Venezuela. These vast heavy
oil (defined as the liquid petroleum resource of less than
20.degree. API gravity) deposits are found largely in
unconsolidated sandstones, being high porosity permeable
cohensionless sands with minimal grain to grain cementation. The
hydrocarbons are extracted from the oils sands either by mining or
in situ methods.
[0003] The heavy oil and bitumen in the oil sand deposits have high
viscosity at reservoir temperatures and pressures. The oil sands
herein will be defined as those deposits that contain a high
viscosity bitumen; whereas heavy oil formations while of similar
formation type contain hydrocarbons such as heavy oil at much lower
viscosity. Such heavy oil formations are located in the
Lloydminster area of Alberta and Saskatchewan in Canada. These
formations are collectively known as the Lloydminster Group of
heavy oil deposits.
[0004] In situ methods of hydrocarbon extraction from the oil sands
consist of (1) cold production, in which the less viscous petroleum
fluids are extracted from vertical and horizontal wells with sand
exclusion screens, (2) CHOPS (cold heavy oil production system)
cold production with sand extraction from vertical and inclined
wells with large diameter perforations thus encouraging sand to
flow into the well bore, (3) CSS (cyclic steam stimulation) a huff
and puff cyclic steam injection system with gravity drainage of
heated petroleum fluids using vertical and horizontal wells, (4)
streamflood using injector wells for steam injection and producer
wells on 5 and 9 point layout for vertical wells and combinations
of vertical and horizontal wells, (5) SAGD (steam assisted gravity
drainage) steam injection and gravity production of heated
hydrocarbons using two horizontal wells, (6) VAPEX (vapor assisted
petroleum extraction) solvent vapor injection and gravity
production of diluted hydrocarbons using horizontal wells, and (7)
combinations of these methods.
[0005] CHOPS is a primary production method involving the
intentional production of formation sand and fines to enhance heavy
oil production rates. The behavior of CHOPS wells is well known
(CHOPS.SPE Petroleum Engineers Handbook, Volume VI-Emerging and
Peripheral Technologies (EMPT), Chapter 5, 40 pages, Dusseault, M.
B., 2007). The CHOPS process is a process of foamy oil drive with
the intentional production of formation materials and fluids. CHOPS
depends on solution gas, with the Canadian heavy oil deposits
having gas in solution; the bubble point being usually at or near
the initial reservoir pressure. Wells are subject to aggressive
drawdown and gas exsolves as bubbles that expand in response to the
pressure decline during flow to the well. The bubbles act as an
additional drive mechanism, driving the mixture of formation sand
and heavy oil towards the well. Unfortunately, many wells installed
for CHOPS production are poor producers, either due to a lack of
initial sand production or to the premature stopping of sand and
heavy oil production. Borehole logs of the formation typically can
not distinguish between those areas of the reservoir that will
produce by CHOPS from those that will not. Generally it is a small
increase in the fine fraction of the formation material that can
result in poor or minimal CHOPS production.
[0006] Thermal recovery methods, CSS and SAGD, utilize steam to
heat the heavy oil and bitumen thus reducing its viscosity, so it
can flow much easier to the well. Solvents applied to heavy oil and
bitumen soften the heavy oil and bitumen and reduce its viscosity
and provide a non-thermal mechanism to improve mobility.
Hydrocarbon solvents consist of vaporized light hydrocarbons such
as ethane, propane or butane or liquid solvents such as pipeline
diluents, natural condensate streams or fractions of synthetic
crudes.
[0007] Therefore, there is a need for a method of enhancing the
CHOPS well completion system to ensure the well initiates and
continuously produces hydrocarbons.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] The present invention is a system and method of inducing
liquefaction in the formation around the well, the formation
liquefied zone will ensure that the CHOPS process initiates, a
disturbed zone is created, and the well produces hydrocarbons at
economical rates.
[0009] Formation liquefaction results from an increase in formation
pore pressure induced by transient or repeated ground motions or
shocks. Pore pressure increases may be induced by earthquakes,
explosions, impacts, and ocean waves. Soil liquefaction occurs in
water saturated, cohesionless soils and causes a loss of soil
strength that may result in the settlement and/or failure of
buildings, dams, earthworks, embankments, slopes and pipelines.
Liquefaction of sands and silts has been reported in almost all of
the major earthquakes around the world. The imposed ground stress
waves from earthquakes or other transient or repeated loading
induces shaking or vibratory shearing of saturated loose fine sand
or silts, causing a phenomenon known as liquefaction. When loose
sands and silts are subjected to repeated shear strain reversals,
the volume of the soil contracts and results in an immediate rise
in the pore pressure within the soil. If the pore pressure rises
sufficiently high, then the soil grain to grain contact pressure
drops to zero, and the soil mass will lose all shear strength and
temporarily act like a fluid, i.e. liquefaction occurs. Such
temporary loss of shear strength can have a catastrophic effect on
earthworks or structures founded on these deposits. Major
landslides, settling or tilting of buildings and bridges and
instability of dams or tailings ponds and failure of pipelines have
all been observed in recent years and efforts have been directed to
prevent or reduce such damage.
[0010] The factors that affect the occurrence of liquefaction are
formation type, grain size distribution, consolidation of the
formation, formation permeability, effective stress state, pore
pressure gradient, magnitude and number of the shear strain
reversals. Fine cohesionless soils, fine sand or fine cohesionless
soils containing moderate amounts of silt are most susceptible to
liquefaction. Uniformly graded soils are more susceptible to
liquefaction than well graded soils, and fine sands tend to liquefy
more easily than coarse sands or gravelly soils. Moderate amounts
of silt appear to increase the liquefaction susceptibility of fine
sands; however, fine sands with large amounts of silt are less
susceptible, although liquefaction is still possible. Recent
evidence indicates that sands containing moderate amounts of clay
may also be liquefiable.
[0011] The induced liquefaction of the formation around the well is
generated by placing a portion of the formation around the well
under cyclic shear stress reversals, under zero volume change and
undrained pore fluid conditions. The cyclic shear stress reversal
is imposed on the formation by a cyclic shear stress reversal
device, such as a bladder assembly comprising a plurality of
expanding and contracting bladders imposing a cyclic stress
reversal on a body of the formation in situ. The simultaneous
expansion/contraction of the bladders under a zero volume change
condition is achieved by cyclic upward/downward vertical movement
of a piston inside of a fluid pressure cylinder connected to the
plurality of bladders. The fluid system ensures the bladders are
simultaneously expanded/contracted under zero volume change. The
formation stress state varies from a horizontal maximum principal
stress during the expansion phase of the bladder, and changes to a
vertical maximum principal stress state during the contraction
phase of the bladder. Thus the formation immediately in the zone of
influence of the bladders undergoes shear stress reversals, much
like that imposed in a cyclic triaxial laboratory test, except that
the process is conducted in situ. Upon liquefaction onset,
formation materials and fluids are extracted from the formation to
initiate and maintain propagation of the CHOPS process. Once the
CHOPS process has been established, the bladders are removed from
the well, and the well is completed with a perforated liner, pump
and production tubing. If after time, the well needs to be further
stimulated by induced liquefaction then the bladders can be lowered
into the well and further enhance its production potential.
[0012] Formation sand withdrawal through liquefaction and transport
to the well creates increased porosity and permeability within the
formation, as a channeled and remolded zone. The zone increases the
permeability around the well, with the well behaving as if it has
an increasing radius of influence with time. Thus the highest
pressure gradient is removed from the well, further enhancing
destabilizing of the formation and outward growth of the disturbed
zone. Wormholes develop by liquefaction in the formation and can
extend considerable distances from the well. Thus operating the
well below the bubble point in a CHOPS well actually dramatically
increases production rate and recovery. Also the CHOPS process
removes wellbore skin by continuously shearing the sand grains,
thus preventing pore throat plugging. Due to the growth of the
disturbed zone around the well, the wellbore skin becomes
increasingly negative with time.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0013] FIG. 1A is a cross sectional view of a well showing a
bladder assembly in accordance with the present invention for in
situ inducing a cyclic shear stress reversal on the formation, and
thus inducing liquefaction of the formation in the vicinity of the
well.
[0014] FIG. 1B is an enlarged cross sectional view of the bladder
assembly in the well of FIG. 1A.
[0015] FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C are cross sectional views of the
bladder assembly in accordance with the present invention showing
the bladder assembly in the equilibrium state (FIG. 2A) and the two
extreme expansion/contraction phases (FIGS. 2B and 2C).
[0016] FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of the bladder assembly in
accordance with the present invention showing the equilibrium state
with a mechanism for the cyclic loading of the bladders through the
expansion/contraction phases.
[0017] FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of the formation liquefied
around the well and the bladder assembly and showing the initiation
and formation of the CHOPS process due to extraction of formation
materials and fluids from the depth horizon.
[0018] FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view of the formation liquefied
around the well showing the final completion of the well with a
perforated liner and a down hole progressive cavity pump.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0019] The present invention is a method of liquefying in situ a
heavy oil formation by placing a portion of the formation under
cyclic shear stress reversals, under zero volume change and
undrained pore pressure conditions, to initiate the flow of
formation fluids and fines into a cyclic shear stress reversal
device, such as a bladder assembly. One form of the invention is
illustrated in cross section in FIGS. 1A and 1B, with a well 1
drilled from the surface 2 to the top 3 of a heavy oil formation 4
and completed with a steel liner 5 grouted in place by cement 6.
The well 1 is then further drilled to total depth 7 to the
formation depth horizon, beneath the bottom 8 of the heavy oil
formation 4. A cyclic shear stress reversal device, such as a
bladder assembly 9 is lowered into the well 1, and locates onto a
latch 10 to position bladders 11 and 12 within the heavy oil
formation 4. The bladder assembly 9 may be self-boring down to the
required formation depth horizon. Alternatively, the bladder
assembly 9 may be driven down to the required formation depth
horizon. In addition, the bladder assembly 9 may be inserted into
an existing well, in which the existing casing has been removed
across the formation depth horizon.
[0020] The bladder assembly 9 consists of expanding/contracting
bladders 11 and 12 that are cyclically alternated from expansion to
contraction to place the formation under cyclic stress reversal
thus inducing formation liquefaction under a zero volume change
condition. The bladders 11 and 12 are constructed similar to
conventional fixed or sliding end packers, being mounted on a
central anvil and containing an expanding/contracting reinforced
rubber element. The middle section 13 of the bladder assembly 9
between the two bladders 11 and 12 comprises an inlet having
perforations 14 of sufficient size to allow easy passage of
formation materials and fluids to enter the bladder assembly 9. An
extraction device, such as a piston sampler 15 (FIG. 1B) is
connected to the perforations 14 and extracts formation materials
and fluid from the formation 4 during and/or after the formation is
subjected to liquefying shear stress reversals in the vicinity of
the bladder assembly 9. Alternatively, the extraction device may
also comprise a progressive cavity pump. Further, the extraction
device may additionally include a pump that injects a foaming fluid
into the formation.
[0021] In order to facilitate extraction of formation materials and
fluid from the formation 4, steam may be injected into the
formation upon the onset of induced liquefaction of the formation
and prior to extraction of formation materials and fluids.
Alternatively, vaporized hydrocarbon solvent may be injected into
the formation upon the onset of induced liquefaction of the
formation and prior to extraction of formation materials and
fluids. The vaporized hydrocarbon solvent is maintained saturated
at or near its dew point. The vaporized hydrocarbon solvent may be
selected from the group of ethane, propane, butane or a mixture
thereof.
[0022] The extraction of formation materials and fluids promotes
the development of wormholes and thus enhances hydrocarbon
production from the formation. The piston sampler 15 can be time or
pressure activated, or activated by controls from the surface. The
initial pressure in the piston sampler 15 is much lower than the
formation pressure, so upon activation of the piston sampling,
formation materials and fluids are sucked from the formation into
the perforations 14 and then into the piston sampler 15. The pore
pressure within the formation undergoing the cyclic loading is
measured by a pore pressure gage 16 contained within the bladder
assembly 9. A data acquisition system simultaneously records the
expansion/contraction of the bladders and the induced pore pressure
response. Beneath the lowermost bladder 12 is attached a perforated
liner 17, with perforations 18 of sufficient size to allow the
passage of formation material and fluids to enter. The perforated
liner 17 detaches from the bladder assembly 9 and latches into the
depth latch 10 upon removal of the bladder assembly 9 from the well
1. The well 1 is then placed on production by lowering a
progressive cavity pump 32 and production string 33 into the well 1
(FIG. 5).
[0023] The cyclic loading of the formation by the bladder assembly
9 is shown further in FIG. 2, illustrating three phases, the
neutral or equilibrium state 19 of bladders of 11 and 12 (FIG. 2A),
the full contraction/expansion state 20 of bladders 11 and 12 (FIG.
2B), and the full expansion/contraction state 21 of bladders 11 and
12 (FIG. 2C). Once the bladder assembly 9 is located at depth, the
bladders 11 and 12 are expanded to contact the formation in the
neutral or equilibrium position 19, with the bladders 11 and 12 in
pressure equilibrium. The bladders 11 and 12 are of the same size
and volume. During the cyclic expansion/contraction of the
bladders, initially both bladders are in the neutral or equilibrium
position 19 (FIG. 2A), then the lowermost bladder 12 is contracted
by a volume change equal to the expansion of the uppermost bladder
11, to achieve the full contraction/expansion state 20 (FIG. 2B).
Following the full contraction/expansion state 20 of the bladders,
the lowermost bladder 12 is then expanded through the equilibrium
position 19 to its full expanded state 21 (FIG. 2C) and
simultaneously the uppermost bladder 11 is contracted through the
equilibrium state 19 and then further contracted to its full
contracted state 21 (FIG. 2C). The formation maximum principal
stress state is vertical immediately adjacent to the fully
contracted bladder 12, and is horizontal immediately adjacent to
the fully expanded bladder 11 in the contraction/expansion state
20. Similarly, the formation maximum principal stress state is
horizontal immediately adjacent to the fully expanded bladder 12,
and is vertical immediately adjacent to the fully contracted
bladder 11 in the expansion/contraction state 21. Thus the
formation 4 undergoes shear stress reversals in the zones
immediately adjacent to the bladders 11 and 12. The
expansion/contraction of the bladders 11 and 12 is cyclically
pulsed to the desired number of loading reversals to induce
liquefaction of the formation in the vicinity of the bladder
assembly 9. The induced pore pressure response is monitored by the
pressure gage 16 throughout the cyclic loading of the
formation.
[0024] One form of the invention to achieve the simultaneous
expansion/contraction of the bladders is shown in FIG. 3 in the
neutral or equilibrium state 19. The expansion/contraction of the
bladders 11 and 12 are driven by fluid contained in a pressure
cylinder 22, connected by tubing 23 to the uppermost bladder 11 and
also via tubing 24 to the lowermost bladder 12. The fluid in the
pressure cylinder 22 is alternatively extracted and injected into
the bladders 11 and 12 by the vertical movement of a piston 25
connected to a driving rod 26. The pressure in each bladder is
monitored by pressure gages 27 and 28 and recorded on the data
acquisition system. The rate of change of vertical movement of the
piston 25, and therefore the rate of change of the
expansion/contraction of the bladders, is monitored by a linear
variable differential transformer 29 or similar device, and the
piston rod position is recorded on the data acquisition system.
[0025] The three phases of the cyclic expansion/contraction of the
bladders 11 and 12 is shown on FIG. 2, the neutral or equilibrium
state 19, the contraction/expansion state 20 and the
expansion/contraction state 21. The piston 25 is in the neutral or
equilibrium state 19 within the fluid cylinder 22. Upward movement
of the rod 26 moves the piston 25 in the fluid cylinder 22 to its
uppermost position. In doing so, fluid is extracted from bladder 12
and injected into bladder 11 in a simultaneously controlled manner
imposing no volume change on the formation 4. Downward movement of
the rod 26 drives the piston 25 from the contraction/expansion
state 20 through the neutral or equilibrium state 19 to the
expansion/contraction state 21. At the expansion/contraction state
21 the piston 25 is at its lowermost position in the fluid cylinder
22. By movement of the piston 25 from the contraction/expansion
state 20 to the expansion/contraction state 21, fluid is extracted
from bladder 11 and injected into bladder 12. The fluid
displacement by the piston 25 from the neutral or equilibrium state
19 to the contraction/expansion state 20 is controlled by movement
of the rod 26 to be exactly the same as that displaced by the
piston 25 from the neutral or equilibrium state 19 to the
expansion/contraction state 21.
[0026] The cyclic movement of the rod 26 can be driven at the
surface by a conventional hydraulic servo-controlled system or
alternatively by electro-mechanical means using a solenoid or
purely mechanical means. In another form of the invention the
cyclic movement of the rod 26 could be activated and controlled
down hole by either a hydraulic or electro-mechanical device
contained within the bladder assembly 9 and controlled by
instrumentation and power source from the surface. In either form
of the invention the stroke of the piston 25 is controlled to
achieve the desired expansion/contraction of the bladders 11 and 12
and thus loading on the formation 4, and the frequency of the
stroking of the piston 25 is controlled to achieve the desired
loading rate on the formation 4.
[0027] Thus the loading state, the frequency of loading, and the
pore water pressure response are all simultaneously recorded by the
computerized data acquisition system, and from analysis of these
data the development of induced liquefaction of the formation can
be quantified.
[0028] The induced liquefaction and CHOPS initiation and
development in the formation 4 is shown on FIG. 4, with the bladder
assembly 9 in the well 1, shown in the expansion/contraction state.
Due to the cyclic loading of the bladders 11 and 12, the formation
4 undergoes induced liquefaction in the formation 4 creating a zone
30 of higher permeability in the vicinity of the bladder assembly
9. The extraction of formation materials and fluids through
activation of the piston sampler 15 initiates and propagates
wormholes 31 within the liquefied formation 4, initiating and thus
propagating the CHOPS process and extending the CHOPS disturbed
zone within the formation. The CHOPS development enhances the
production of the heavy oil, along with formation materials and
other fluids. Beneath the lowermost bladder 12 is attached the
perforated liner 17, with perforations 18 of sufficient size to
allow the passage of formation materials and fluids to enter. The
perforated liner 17 detaches from the bladder assembly 9 and
latches into the depth latch 10 upon removal of the bladder
assembly 9 from the well 1.
[0029] The final well completion is shown in FIG. 5, with the
perforated liner 17 latched in place across the producing horizon
of the formation 4. The well 1 is placed in production by inserting
a progressive cavity pump 32 in the well 1 connected to production
tubing 33. Production may also be accomplished by injecting foaming
fluids into the well and extracting the formation material, fluids,
and foam from the well. The liquefied CHOPS disturbed zone 30 and
wormholes 31 propagate further thus enhancing the production of
heavy oil from the formation.
[0030] The present invention, therefore, is well adapted to carry
out the objects and attain the ends and advantages mentioned as
well as others inherent herein. While presently preferred
embodiments of the invention are given for the purpose of
disclosure, numerous changes in the details of construction,
arrangement of parts, and the steps of the process will readily
suggest themselves to those skilled in the art and which are
encompassed within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the
appended claims.
* * * * *