The researchers at HWU are focused on the following areas in heavy oil:

1- Improved heavy oil recovery (cold production) methods (under Dr. Mehran Sohrabi).

- Cold production of heavy oil, in comparison with thermal methods, can offer advantages on capital cost, energy consumption, environmental pollution, safety and in-situ upgrading. We have used our Micromodel and coreflood facilities to study pressure depletion, water flooding and gas injection (both continuous and WAG) in heavy oils. A new heavy oil recovery JIP (Joint Industry Project) involving a novel method of combined CO2 and water injection has recently been launched.

2- Pore Network Modelling of Depressurisation in Heavy Oils (under Dr. Steven McDougall)

- pore-scale network modelling techniques have been used to investigate depressurisation phenomena in a variety of different oil/brine/rock systems. A 3-phase simulator has been developed to account for the fundamental steps of such a depressurisation process. The model has been utilised to examine the impact of a variety of different physico-chemical properties and different depletion strategies upon critical gas saturation and 3-phase relative permeability. Results pertaining to heavy oils have also been compared to those from light oil depressurisation simulations and a number of important differences have been highlighted.

3- 4D seismic (under Prof. Colin MacBeth)

- 4D seismic has shown to be successful in monitoring and optimising steam flooding in heavy oil reservoirs in North America, the Middle and Far East. HWU has research projects in both quantitative 4D seismic interpretation and seismic history matching.

4. Thermal Heavy Oil Recovery (under Dr. A. Suat Bagci)

• Recovery Mechanisms of Steam-Assisted-Gas-Oil-Gravity Drainage (SA-GOGD) Process in Fractured Carbonate Reservoirs
• Top-Down Combustion in Fractured Heavy Oil Reservoirs Having Strong Bottom Water Aquifer
• Numerical Simulation Studies of SAGD Process in Fractured Reservoirs
• Steam-Based and Geological Heavy Oil Recovery (SAGHOR)
• Evaluation of Steam Based Thermal Recovery Processes for Heavy Oil Recovery in Geologically-Realistic Physical Models