A novel strategy to improve steam heat utilization and reduce carbon emissions during heavy oil development

In recent years, the green transformation of the traditional energy industry and the reduction of carbon emissions have attracted widespread societal attention. In the thermal recovery process of heavy oil, the low heat utilization rate has always been the bottleneck restricting its production. In addition, the associated flue gas emissions also pose a considerable challenge to environmental protection. In this paper, flue gas and SiO2 aerogel were jointly applied to reduce steam heat loss while achieving exhaust gas sequestration. Condensation heat transfer experiments were carried out to explore the mechanism of the two affecting the heat dissipation process of steam liquefaction. A series of displacement experiments with different injection methods in a one-dimensional sandpack were performed to select combinations of developing heavy oil with high efficiency and low carbon. By detecting the temperature changes of the model and calculating the final storage volume, the effects of promoting steam chamber expansion and flue gas sequestration were evaluated. The results showed that the aerogel adsorption layer could change the wettability of the condensing surface, thereby showing the characteristics of film condensation. Flue gas molecules could be captured by aerogel nanofluids, further exerting a synergistic thermal insulation effect, and the temperature of the deep reservoir increased by 7.7 °C. Simultaneously, the crude oil recovery increased by 8.8% compared with pure steam flooding. Moreover, the numerous nanoparticle-stabilized foams generated via this method were noted as an essential way to sequester carbon in a high water-cut formation, and the final sequestration rate reached 77.4%.