The Marx and Langenheim Model

Thermal Recovery Processes
Cyclic Steam Stimulation
The Marx and Langenheim Model
Reference;
Enhanced Oil Recovery
Don W. Green
G. Paul Willhite
Estimating the Radius of the Heated Zone—The Marx and Langenheim
Model
Energy Requirements for Heating Porous Rock.
The amount of energy required to increase the temperature of a porous rock is easily
calculated from thermodynamic tables and from heat capacity data at constant pressure.
Eq. below gives the energy (in Btu) required to increase the temperature of 1 ft 3 of reservoir
rock from an initial value, Tr, to a higher value, T (in °F).
M is the average volumetric heat capacity of the fluid-saturated rock over the temperature
range Tr to T. If T is the temperature of injected steam, Ts, then,
where Cr, Co, Cw, and Cs are mean heat capacities at constant pressure (Btu/lbm-°F) for the
rock, oil, water and steam if present. The mean heat capacities of each component are
based on the temperature difference, Ts – Tr.
Example: Calculation of Volumetric Heat Capacity
A sandstone with a porosity of 25% contains an oil saturation of 0.2 and a water saturation
of 0.8. Determine the energy that must be added to the rock to increase its temperature
from 80 to 470.9°F (boiling point of saturated steam at 500 psig). The rock is confined, and
no vapor phase forms within the pore space as a result of reservoir heating.
Solution; The mean heat capacities must be determined for each fluid and the porous rock
for the temperature interval from 80 to 470.9°F. For this example, properties of the rock and
oil are Cr = 0.21 Btu/lbm-°F, Co = 0.50 Btu/lbm-°F, ρr = 167.0 lbm/ft3 , and ρo = 50.0 lbm/ft3 .
The mean heat capacity for saturated water is defined by;
where HwT = enthalpy of saturated water at Ts, Btu/lbm, and Hwr = enthalpy of water at Tr,
Btu/lbm. Values of the enthalpy can be interpolated from the steam tables.
At 80°F, Hwr = 48 Btu/lbm. At 470.9°F, HwT = 452.9 Btu/lbm (Table E-1). Thus,
Approximately 70% of the energy is used to heat the rock matrix.

If the rock contained 40% water saturation, 40% saturated water vapor, and an oil
saturation of 20% when heated to 470.9°F, the following changes would be made. From
the steam tables at 500 psig, Hv = 1204.3 Btu/lbm. Thus, Lv = 751.4 Btu/lbm and
Table E-2
Table E-1
In this case, approximately 80% of the energy is stored in the rock matrix.
Marx and Langenheim Model for Reservoir Heating
When reservoirs are heated by hot-fluid injection, a

significant fraction of the injected energy is lost to
the surrounding formations. The reservoir-heating
model developed by Marx and Langenheim (1959)
retains many of the essential mechanisms of the
reservoir-heating process. The reservoir is
considered to have uniform thickness and fluid and
rock properties. Steam is uniformly distributed in
the vertical cross section throughout the heated
region so that the temperature is uniform through
the vertical cross section. Steam and condensate do
not segregate under the influence of gravity.
The steam zone forms as soon as sufficient steam is injected to increase the reservoir
temperature from Tr to Ts by condensation of the steam. Heat is lost to the over- and underlying
formations by conduction. The model assumes that heat flow in the over- and underburden
occurs only in the direction perpendicular to the direction of fluid flow. This displacement
model is piston-like. The heated zone consists of the rock matrix filled with oil (S ors), water (Sw),
and saturated water vapor (Sg).
where Hs = energy content of the injected steam relative to the reservoir temperature, Btu/lbm;
ms = steam-injection rate, lbm/hr; MR = volumetric heat capacity of heated region, Btu/(ft 3 -°F);
Ah = heated area, ft2 ; h = thickness of heated zone, ft; t = total time since start of injection,
hours; and λ = time of arrival of heated zone at a specific location (i.e., out to a specific area),
hours.
The dimensionless time for heat transfer is defined by;
where Ms = volumetric heat capacity of the over- and underburden, k h = thermal conductivity
of the overburden, Btu/hr-ft-°F; α = thermal diffusivity of the overburden= K h/(ρobCob) ft2 /hr;
and erfc(x) is the complementary error function.
The rate of growth of the heated zone is given by;
Table 8.8 contains values of G(tD) and G1(tD) at selected values of tD, page 530-532.
Example—Radius of Steam Zone at Constant Injection Rate
Steam is to be injected into a reservoir at a rate of 500 BWPD CWE. The steam has 80% quality, fsd,
at a pressure of 500 psig at the sand face. Properties of the reservoir rock and fluids are identical to
those used in previous Example, assuming that 40% of the pore volume (PV) in the heated region is
steam. Reservoir thickness is 20 ft. The thermal conductivity of the overburden, k h, is taken to be
1.5 Btu/hr-ft-°F, and the thermal diffusivity of the overburden, α, is 0.0482 ft 2 /hr. Find the radius of
the heated area after 14 days of continuous injection, assuming the area is cylindrical in shape.
Solution. The heated area is found from
The energy content of the injected steam is determined from the steam tables in Appendix E. H s is
given by
The saturation temperature of steam at 500 psig (514.7 psia) is 470.9°F., the enthalpies of the
saturated liquid and vapor were determined to be as follows: H wr = 48 Btu/lbm at 80°F, HwT = 452.9
Btu/lbm at 470.9°F, Hs = 1,204.3 Btu/lbm at 470.9°F, Lvdh = 751.4 Btu/lbm, and
Hs = HwT + fsd Lvdh – Hwr = 452.9 + 0.8 (751.4) − 48 = 1,006 Btu/lbm.

The cold-water mass rate is computed assuming 350 lbm/bbl water.

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Thermal Recovery Processes

Cyclic Steam Stimulation

The Marx and Langenheim Model

Approximately 70% of the energy is used to heat the rock matrix.

When reservoirs are heated by hot-fluid injection, a

Hs = HwT + fsd Lvdh – Hwr = 452.9 + 0.8 (751.4) − 48 = 1,006 Btu/lbm.

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