How does a SAGD plant work?
In SAGD operations, pairs of stacked horizontal wells are drilled into the reservoir about 400 metres beneath the surface. The top well injects steam to heat the bitumen, which separates from the sand and collects with the produced water in the lower well, approximately five metres below.
What is SAGD blowdown?
Steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) is an enhanced oil recovery process that uses injected steam to reduce bitumen viscosity and increase oil production. The majority of SAGD operators dispose their blowdown waters in deep wells and withdraw fresh or slightly saline water to make up the loss.
Where is SAGD used?
Steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) and cyclic steam stimulation (CSS) steam injection (oil industry) are two commercially applied primal thermal recovery processes used in the oil sands in Geological formation sub-units, such as Grand Rapids Formation, Clearwater Formation, McMurray Formation, General Petroleum …
Where is Sagd used?
What is SAGD well?
Steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD; “Sag-D”) is an enhanced oil recovery technology for producing heavy crude oil and bitumen. It is an advanced form of steam stimulation in which a pair of horizontal wells is drilled into the oil reservoir, one a few metres above the other.
Is SAGD environmentally friendly?
But a recent round-up of SAGD projects by the Pembina Institute, a Calgary-based environmental non-governmental organization, finds that SAGD has much higher carbon and related emissions than oilsands mines because of the intense energy required to pump large volumes of high-pressure steam underground.
What is steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD)?
Steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) is an enhanced oil recovery process that uses injected steam to reduce bitumen viscosity and increase oil production. This process generates produced water alongside oil production and recycles the water as much as possible before ‘blowdown’ is required.
How are SAGD operators disposing of blowdown water?
The majority of SAGD operators dispose their blowdown waters in deep wells and withdraw fresh or slightly saline water to make up the loss. Increasingly, operators truck their blowdown water to deep wells, resulting in high operating costs and associated environmental impacts.
Which SAGD systems have been successfully trialed with active operators?
Both Once Through Steam Generator (OTSG) and evaporator blowdown were successfully trialed with four active SAGD operators. SaltMaker MultiEffect is a low temperature crystallizer (<90°C) that was designed from the ground up to treat and produce solids from the toughest waters.
How do you treat SAGD blowdown?
Treating SAGD Blowdown with. the SaltMaker Evaporator Crystallizer. Steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) blowdown water from three operating sites was treated using Saltworks’ SaltMaker Evaporator Crystallizer. The energy efficient treatment system reduces the cost of blowdown transport and disposal.