Development of natural bitumen (bituminous sands) deposits based on the technology of hydraulic mining by boreholes

Abstract

The modern state and trends in the development of technologies for mining the heavy oil and native bitumen deposits have been analyzed. It has been set that presently known technologies for heavy oil and natural bitumen extraction do not cover the entire depths range of their occurrence. The main possibility of the development of heavy oil and natural bitumen deposits on the basis of technology by hydraulic mining by boreholes has been substantiated. The peculiarities of this technology are analyzed. The ways of its main elements adaptation for mining the natural bitumen from bituminous sands deposits are offered. The principal scheme has been substantiated for a method of mining the natural bitumen on the basis of hydraulic mining by boreholes. The thermodynamic processes occurring in the productive formation during its drilling with the simultaneous circulation of the heat-transfer medium have been analyzed. A mathematical model has been developed of the thermal penetration process into the productive formation for the time interval from the beginning the borehole drilling to the beginning the rock disintegration. Also, it has been solved the task of stationary mode in the borehole at the stage of its drilling.