A novel analytical transient heat-conduction time function for heat transfer in steam injection wells considering the wellbore heat capacity

Steam injection technique is one of the most important methods for enhancing the heavy oil production. Evaluating the reliability of steam injection projects requires the investigation of the heat transfer in the wellbore and the surrounding formation. In this study, a new formation heat-transfer model taking into account the wellbore heat capacity was developed and a novel analytical transient heat-conduction time function was presented. Comparison of the formerly used transient heat-conduction time functions with the novel analytical transient heat-conduction time function was made. The result indicated that the wellbore heat capacity has a significant influence on the transient heat-conduction time function, especially for cases of short time injection. To investigate the effect of wellbore heat capacity on the heat transfer in steam injection wells, a comprehensive wellbore/formation model incorporating the novel analytical transient heat-conduction time function was also established. Based on this model, the wellbore/formation interface temperature and the wellbore heat losses were computed by using various transient heat-conduction time functions. The comparisons showed that the formerly used transient heat-conduction time functions would lead to inadequate estimation of the wellbore/formation interface temperature and the wellbore heat losses. High accuracy and excellent applicability of the wellbore/formation model were demonstrated when performances of the proposed model were compared with the measured field data from the steam injection well. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.