Reliable characterization of bitumen based on perturbation from n-alkanes for steam-solvent coinjection simulation

A proper number of pseudo components for bitumen characterization cannot be determined without considering the effect of phase behavior on the oleic-phase viscosity at chamber-edge conditions in steam-solvent coinjection simulation. Results show that the analytical method developed in this research can detect the sensitivity of recovery simulation to bitumen characterization without performing multiple flow simulations using different sets of fluid models. The PnA-based method developed for bitumen characterization gives reliable predictions of phase behavior for bitumen/solvent mixtures with a small amount of experimental data.