Chemical-Assisted Steam Co-injection Process

Dear Colleagues,

The main method to recover heavy oils and bitumen is an in situ steam-based method, e.g., steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD). However, some challenges, such as low sweep efficiency, high costs, and environmental issues, still hinder the further application of this technology. There exists a need for an improved method for recovering residual oils after performing steam injection.  Chemicals, i.e., surfactant (including non-symmetrical molecules and others), polymer, nanofluid, and foaming agents, have promising potential to improve the performance of heavy oil recovery methods. This Special Issue focuses on the challenges associated with each of the abovementioned chemicals and steam-based recovery methods to provide the scientific evidence needed to determine whether the chemical assisted steam co-injection process is an immediate part of the solution, or whether further research is needed to improve this technology. Topics of interest include but are not limited to the following: phase behavior of surfactant/nanofluid (including symmetry analysis)/polymer and heavy oil, the stability and mixing of different phases, mathematical modeling, molecular dynamics simulation, the numerical simulation of such processes, new chemical-steam co-injection development, the application of data analytics, environmental evaluation, economical assessment, and pilot/field test studies.

Mohammadali Ahmadi, Vanier Scholar
Guest Editor

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