FIREFLOOD OR STEAMFLOOD ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY (EOR) PROCESSES ARE COMMONLY USED IN THE RECOVERY OF HEAVY OILS ORTAR SANDS.

FIREFLOOD OR STEAMFLOOD ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY (EOR) PROCESSES ARE COMMONLY USED IN THE RECOVERY OF HEAVY OILS ORTAR SANDS. TO OPTIMIZE THE USE OF THESE PROCESSES, THE OPERATOR NEEDS TO KNOW THE VELOCITY, LOCATION AND DIRECTION OF MOVEMENT OF THE THERMAL FLOOD FRONT. TO OBTAIN THIS IMFORMATION USING CURRENT TECHNOLOGY, SPARSELY SPACED OBSERVATION WELLS ARE DRILLED. AS THE DEPTH OF PRODUCTION INCREASES, SO DOES THE COST OF DRILLING. THIS TENDS TO DECREASE THE ECONOMICS OF DRILLING AN OPTIMUM NUMBER OF OBSERVATION WELLS. THUS, IT IS DESIREABLE TO DEVELOP A SURFACE MAPPING METHOD TO TRACK THE LOCATION OF THE FLOOD FRONT WITHOUT DRILLING ADDITIONAL WELLS. ONE METHOD THAT HAS SHOWN PROMISE IN THIS AREA IS PASSIVE SEISMIC MONITORING. PREVIOUS OBSERVATIONS AT A FIREFLOOD IN EASTERNALBERTA, CANADA DETECTED, USING DOWN-HOLE SENSORS, BOTH SEISMIC NOISE EMISSIONS AND DISCRETE SEISMIC EVENTS BEING GENERATED FROM THE FLOOD FRONT. IT IS THE OBJECTIVE OF PHASE I TO SHOW THAT THESE SEISMIC EVENTS CAN BE DETECTED BYSURFACE OR NEAR SURFACE SEISMOMETERS AND USED TO MAP THE LOCATION OF THE FLOOD FRONT. PHASE II WILL CONSIST OF A LONGER FIELD MONITORING PERIOD TO SHOW THAT THE VELOCITY AND MIGRATION PATTERN OF THE FLOOD FRONT CAN BE MAPPED. DURING PHASE II IT WOULD ALSO BE DESIREABLE TO BUILD A REAL TIME PROCESSOR FOR ON SITE PROGRAM EXECUTION IN THE FIELD.