Experimental Investigation of Temperature and Viscosity Fields of Steam Flooding Development of Horizontal Wells

Displacement experiments were carried out in order to clarify the change of temperature and viscosity fields in the process of steam flooding development of horizontal wells in row pattern of homogeneous and heterogeneous reservoirs.Temperature distribution in this model at different time during displacement process was measured with high-precision temperature sensor put in the plane physical model.And the steam chamber shape,steam chamber growth rule,water-cut ascending rule and the ultimate recovery of horizontal wells during steaming flooding in row pattern were obtained.According to the viscosity-temperature relationship from the model,an interpolation method can be employed to obtain the distribution and change of viscosity field.The effects of high permeability zone on temperature field,water cut ascending and ultimate recovery are compared.The results showed that the ultimate recovery of homogeneous model is 17.14% greater than that of heterogeneous one when high permeability zones exist and the ratio of low-permeability zone to high-permeability zone is 1∶8.The experiment results can provide a guideline in the development of heavy oil reservoirs.