Development of a predictive model for the VAPEX process.

Abstract

Heavy oil in-situ recovery in Canada is largely achieved through energy intensive and en- vironmentally detrimental steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD). By exchanging steam for a vapour solvent, it has been shown experimentally that heavy oil recovery can be achieved with a significant reduction in both energy requirements and environmental im- pact. This project presents a model for predicting production rates for the vapour ex- traction (VAPEX) process developed using first principles. The governing equations are solved using the pseudo-spectral Chebyshev collocation method. Simulations replicating experimental results,a detailed derivation of the model, a discussion of model parameters, and numerical analysis of the solution are presented in this thesis.