Controlling operation of a steam-assisted gravity drainage oil well system utilizing continuous and discrete control parameters

• Main Authors: Conn, Andrew R, Horesh, Lior, van Kessel, Theodore G, Kormaksson, Matthias, Saliu, Moshood O
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 25.02.2020
• Subjects: CONTROL OR REGULATING SYSTEMS IN GENERAL; CONTROLLING; EARTH DRILLING; EARTH DRILLING, e.g. DEEP DRILLING; FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS; FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS OF SUCH SYSTEMS; MINING; MONITORING OR TESTING ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUCH SYSTEMS ORELEMENTS; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR ASLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS; PHYSICS; REGULATING

A method for controlling operation of a steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) oil well system to increase efficiency in emulsion production includes obtaining a predictive model of the SAGD oil well system. The predictive model has control parameters including one or more continuous control parameters and one or more discrete control parameters. The method also includes utilizing the predictive model to determine values for the control parameters that meet one or more objectives for the SAGD oil well system subject to one or more constraints based on a sequence of iterations of solving a mixed integer non-linear problem. The method further includes adjusting controls of the SAGD oil well system based on the determined values of the control parameters.