Systems and methods for regulating an in situ pyrolysis process

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9512699-B2
Application number	US-201414447484-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 30, 2014
Priority date	Oct 22, 2013
Publication date	Dec 6, 2016
Grant date	Dec 6, 2016

Abstract

Systems and methods for regulating an in situ pyrolysis process. The methods may include producing a product fluid stream from an active pyrolysis region of a subterranean formation. The methods further may include detecting a concentration of a first component in the product fluid stream and/or detecting a concentration of a second component in the product fluid stream. The concentration of the first component may be indicative of an intensive property of the pyrolyzed fluid production system. The concentration of the second component may be indicative of an extensive property of the pyrolyzed fluid production system. The methods further may include regulating at least one characteristic of the pyrolyzed fluid production system based upon the concentration of the first component and/or based upon the concentration of the second component. The systems may include systems that are configured to perform the methods.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method of regulating a pyrolyzed fluid production system, the method comprising:
producing a product fluid stream from an active pyrolysis region, which is contained within a subterranean formation that includes organic matter, via a production well that extends between a surface region and the subterranean formation;
detecting a concentration of a first component in the product fluid stream, wherein the concentration of the first component is indicative of an intensive property of the pyrolyzed fluid production system;
detecting a concentration of a second component in the product fluid stream, wherein the concentration of the second component is indicative of an extensive property of the pyrolyzed fluid production system; and
regulating at least one characteristic of the pyrolyzed fluid production system based, at least in part, on the concentration of the first component and on the concentration of the second component.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the intensive property is a representative temperature of the active pyrolysis region.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein a half-life of the first component within the product fluid stream is at least 1 year.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first component is at least one of:
(i) a sulfur-containing hydrocarbon;
(ii) a sulfur-containing hydrocarbon ring;
(iii) a thiophene;
(iv) a benzothiophene; and
(v) a dibenzothiophene.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the detecting the concentration of the first component includes at least one of:
(i) detecting the concentration of the first component within a wellbore that extends between the surface region and the subterranean formation;
(ii) detecting the concentration of the first component within the subterranean formation;
(iii) detecting the concentration of the first component within the surface region; and
(iv) detecting a change in the concentration of the first component with time.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the extensive property is one of:
(i) a representative residence time of the product fluid stream within the subterranean formation;
(ii) a representative flow rate of the product fluid stream within the subterranean formation;
(iii) a representative speed of the product fluid stream within the subterranean formation; and
(iv) a representative distance between the active pyrolysis region and a detector that is utilized to detect the concentration of the second component.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second component is reactive within the product fluid stream.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein a half-life of the second component within the product fluid stream is at least one of:
(i) less than 3 months; and
(ii) less than a representative residence time of the product fluid stream within the subterranean formation.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second component is at least one of:
(i) a nitrogen-containing hydrocarbon;
(ii) a nitrogen-containing hydrocarbon ring;
(iii) a pyridine;
(iv) a quinoline;
(v) a pyrrole;
(vi) an indole; and
(vii) a carbazole.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the detecting the concentration of the second component includes at least one of:
(i) detecting the concentration of the second component within a wellbore that extends between the surface region and the subterranean formation;
(ii) detecting the concentration of the second component within the subterranean formation;
(iii) detecting the concentration of the second component within the surface region; and
(iv) detecting a change in the concentration of the second component with time.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the producing, the detecting the concentration of the first component, and the detecting the concentration of the second component are performed by the pyrolyzed fluid production system.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the regulating includes determining a representative temperature of the active pyrolysis region.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the regulating includes determining a location of the active pyrolysis region within the subterranean formation.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the pyrolyzed fluid production system is a second pyrolyzed fluid production system, wherein the regulating includes regulating the at least one characteristic of the second pyrolyzed fluid production system, and further wherein the producing, the detecting the concentration of the first component, and the detecting the concentration of the second component are performed within a first pyrolyzed fluid production system that is different from the second pyrolyzed fluid production system.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the regulating includes regulating at least one of:
(i) a trajectory of a production well that is associated with the second pyrolyzed fluid production system; and
(ii) a location of a heating assembly that is associated with the second pyrolyzed fluid production system.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method further includes detecting an isotopic composition of an element that is present within the product fluid stream.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the method includes repeating the detecting the isotopic composition to determine a plurality of isotopic compositions, and further wherein the method includes determining that the active pyrolysis region has transitioned from a first strata of the subterranean formation to a second strata of the subterranean formation based, at least in part, on a change in the isotopic composition.

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein the regulating includes regulating based, at least in part, on the isotopic composition.

19. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method further includes detecting a concentration of a trace metal in the product fluid stream, wherein, the method further includes determining a trace metal distribution within the subterranean formation, and further wherein the method includes determining a location of the active pyrolysis region within the subterranean formation based, at least in part, on the concentration of the trace metal.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the regulating includes regulating based, at least in part, on the concentration of the trace metal.

21. The method of claim 1 , wherein, prior to the producing, the method further comprises:
collecting a plurality of organic matter samples of the organic matter, wherein each of the plurality of organic matter samples corresponds to a respective sampling location within the subterranean formation;
pyrolyzing the plurality of organic matter samples to generate a plurality of product fluid samples;
detecting a concentration of the first component in each of the product fluid samples;
detecting a concentration of the second component in each of the product fluid samples; and
generating a model that describes the concentration of the first component and the concentration of the second component within the subterranean formation, wherein the model is based, at least in part, on the concentration of the first component in each of the product fluid samples, the concentration of the second component in each of the product fluid samples, and the respective sampling location for a corresponding sample of the plurality of organic matter samples.

22. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method further includes supplying thermal energy to the subterranean formation to heat the active pyrolysis region and to generate the

Assignees

• Wenger Jr Lloyd M
• Meurer William P
• Braun Ana L
• Carmo Ana Maria Dos Santos
• Lin Michael W
• Wei Zhibin
• Exxonmobil Upstream Res Co

Inventors

• Wenger Jr Lloyd M
• Meurer William P
• Braun Ana L
• Carmo Ana Maria Dos Santos
• Lin Michael W
• Wei Zhibin

Classifications

• E21B43/00 Primary

  Methods or apparatus for obtaining oil, gas, water, soluble or meltable materials or a slurry of minerals from wells (applicable only to water E03B) · CPC title

• E21B47/00

  Survey of boreholes or wells (monitoring pressure or flow of drilling fluid E21B21/08) · CPC title

• E21B43/24 Primary

  using heat, e.g. steam injection · CPC title