Thermal damage factors based on thermally induced wave-velocity variation in oil sands

Abstract

Oil-sand reservoirs saturated with heavy oil are subject to complex physical and chemical changes under high-temperature conditions. These changes can be quantified using the thermal damage factor, which we evaluated based on Young’s modulus and the velocities of P- and S-waves. For the quasi-solid phase of heavy oil-bearing rocks, this method effectively characterizes the degree of rock damage. As temperature increases, heavy oil transitions into a fluid state, reducing rock stiffness. In addition, the thermal expansion of heavy oil weakens the rock matrix and influences the extent of rock damage. We combined an extended Gassmann equation with the Maxwell model for heavy oil to estimate the thermal damage factor. The model was validated using ultrasonic experimental data from rock samples, enabling a quantitative description of the relationship between dry and wet rocks at different temperatures of thermal damage in oil sand. We found that in these rock samples, the temperature-dependent trend of the thermal damage factors can be separated into two stages based on the fluid-viscosity threshold (the liquid point). The porosity of rock samples has no significant influence on this threshold, whereas the viscosities of different fluids affect the threshold value of the thermal damage factor in oil sands. The proposed model provides a theoretical basis for improving the accuracy of reservoir prediction, evaluation, and adjustment, and for optimizing heavy-oil thermal recovery. Furthermore, it offers practical applicability for thermal-recovery monitoring and numerical simulation, enabling more reliable interpretations of temperature-dependent elastic responses.

Keywords

Oil sand / Heavy oil / Temperature / Thermal damage / Gassman equation / Maxwell model

Acknowledgments

None.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no.: 42174161, 42404120, and 42504128), the research fund of North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power (grant no.: 202209020), and the Natural Science Foundation of Henan (grant no.: 242300421461).

Conflict of interest

Jing Ba is an Editorial Board Member of this journal, but was not in any way involved in the editorial and peer-review process conducted for this paper, directly or indirectly. Wenhao Xu is an employee of China National Petroleum Corporation; however, he was not involved in any activities that could constitute a conflict of interest in relation to this study. The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Author contributions

Conceptualization: Hui Qi, Jing Ba

Formal analysis: Wenhao Xu

Investigation: Yuanyuan Huo, Jishun Pan, Qingchun Jiang, Congsheng Bian

Methodology: Hui Qi, Jing Ba

Writing-original draft: Hui Qi, Jing Ba

Writing-review & editing: Hui Qi, Jing Ba, Wenhao Xu

Availability of data

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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