Steam Dryness Riser for Heavy Oil Recovery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current steam injection boilers for heavy oil recovery suffer from low steam dryness due to thermal loss, resulting in inefficient thermal recovery and decreased oil recovery rates, with existing solutions being complex, costly, and unable to address stratum energy deficits.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus utilizing a dryness raiser with a combined spray head, steam heating chamber, combustion chamber, and mixing chamber to improve steam dryness by heating wet saturated steam with high-temperature gas generated from fuel combustion, increasing steam enthalpy and injecting the improved steam and gas mixture into the oil layer.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a superheated steam injection boiler with spherical steam-water separator and spray-type desuperheater is used, then steam dryness is improved, but equipment complexity and production cost increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The dryness raiser is divided into distinct functional modules: combustion chamber for heat generation, steam heating chamber for steam treatment, and mixing chamber for final mixing. This segmentation allows each module to perform its specific function efficiently while keeping the overall structure manageable and avoiding the complexity of integrated superheated steam systems.
Solution Approach 2:
High-temperature gas generated from fuel combustion serves as an intermediary heating medium. Instead of directly superheating steam through complex thermal exchanges, the combustion gas acts as a mediator that transfers heat to wet saturated steam in the steam heating chamber, simplifying the thermal processing system while achieving the desired steam dryness improvement.
2Ease of manufacture
If existing steam injection boilers are used, then equipment investment is low, but steam dryness and thermal recovery efficiency are insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The dryness raiser performs preliminary heating and drying of steam before injection into the oil layer. By pre-treating the wet saturated steam to improve its dryness and temperature, the system ensures that the steam entering the oil reservoir has sufficient thermal energy, thereby enhancing thermal recovery efficiency without requiring complete replacement of existing boilers.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the physical parameters of steam by controlling combustion conditions, adjusting fuel supply, and regulating the mixing ratio between high-temperature gas and steam. These parameter adjustments allow optimization of steam dryness and temperature to achieve better oil recovery while maintaining cost-effectiveness.
3Productivity
If steam flooding time is extended, then oil recovery increases, but stratum energy becomes severely deficient
Solution Approach 1:
The dryness raiser continuously generates high-temperature gas through combustion to heat and dry steam, providing sustained thermal energy supplementation. This continuous energy input compensates for stratum energy depletion during extended steam flooding operations, maintaining effective oil recovery without exhausting reservoir energy.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses fuel combustion to generate its own heating source, making the steam drying process self-sufficient. The dryness raiser independently produces the necessary thermal energy to improve steam quality, reducing dependence on external energy sources and enabling prolonged operation without depleting stratum energy.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Effectively increases steam dryness from 70%-75% to 95%-100%, reduces thermal energy loss, enhances oil layer heating, and improves heavy oil recovery rates while reducing environmental pollution and production costs.
Implementation Method 1
fuel oil and air are supplied into the combustion chamber by a high-pressure fuel oil pump and an air compressor under the control of an automatic control system of the dryness raiser, and are combusted in the combustion chamber
Implementation Method 2
the wet saturated steam at the outlet of the boiler enters into the steam heating chamber of the dryness raiser, and is heated up in the steam heating chamber by the high temperature created by the combustion in the combustion chamber
Implementation Method 3
the high-temperature and high-pressure gas generated in the combustion chamber enters into the mixing chamber, and is fully mixed in the mixing chamber with the wet saturated steam with increased dryness from the steam heating chamber
Data Source
AI summary
The method and an apparatus for improving the steam dryness of a steam injection boiler includes injecting wet saturated steam and gas into an oil layer together in a sealed way, after the dryness of the wet saturated steam at an outlet of the steam injection boiler is improved by a dryness raiser. The dryness raiser includes a combined spray head, a steam heating chamber, a combustion chamber, and a mixing chamber. The gas generated by the combustion chamber enters into the mixing chamber and is fully mixed with the steam from the steam injection boiler. The dryness of the wet saturated steam at the outlet of the steam injection boiler can be improved to 95%-100%, and the effects of improving steam enthalpy, replenishing stratum energy and enlarging the steam wave and size are realized, so as to heat up the oil layer more effectively, and improve heavy oil development.