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A Theoretical and Experimental Study of Combustion Tubes

O. Cazarez-Candiaa; J. Cruz-Hernndeza; R. Islas-Jureza; E. Mrquez-Ramreza
a
Instituto Mexicano del Petrleo, Mxico D.F., Mexico
Online publication date: 23 June 2010

To cite this Article Cazarez-Candia, O. , Cruz-Hernndez, J. , Islas-Jurez, R. and Mrquez-Ramrez, E.(2010) 'A

Theoretical and Experimental Study of Combustion Tubes', Petroleum Science and Technology, 28: 12, 1186 1196
To link to this Article: DOI: 10.1080/10916460802611192
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10916460802611192

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Petroleum Science and Technology, 28:11861196, 2010

Copyright Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN: 1091-6466 print/1532-2459 online
DOI: 10.1080/10916460802611192

A Theoretical and Experimental Study

of Combustion Tubes
O. CAZAREZ-CANDIA,1 J. CRUZ-HERNNDEZ,1
R. ISLAS-JUREZ,1 AND E. MRQUEZ-RAMREZ1

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Instituto Mexicano del Petrleo, Mxico D.F., Mexico

Abstract When the air injection technique is used in a reservoir, the usual way to
determine the fuel that would be burned and the temperature profiles, among other
parameters, is by experimentation in a combustion tube. In this work, using medium
oil (27 API) from the Gulf of Mexico, combustion tube experiments were carried out. A
mathematical model, which takes into account the heat transfer ahead and behind from
the combustion front, the combustion zone thickness, and the heat generated and loss
in the combustion front, was solved numerically and used to predict the experimental
temperature profiles. After validation of the mathematical model, further investigations
of the effect of heat losses (along, at the top, and at the bottom of the combustion
tube) on temperature profiles were done. The calculated combustion zone temperature
and temperature profiles are in good agreement with our experimental data. It was
found that not considering an isolated boundary in the mathematical model allows
obtaining better predictions for the temperature profiles behind and ahead from the
combustion front. On the other hand, the combustion front temperature increases as
the heat losses decrease and the combustion front temperature attains its maximum
value when there is no heat loss.
Keywords combustion tube, heat losses, in situ combustion, temperature profiles

1. Introduction
In situ combustion is a thermal process for recovering crude oil from reservoirs as
a consequence of thermal energy released during the combustion of an amount of
the oil in place, which aids in the displacement of the remaining oil. The amount of
the fuel available for in situ combustion varies with the crude oil and porous media
characteristics, oil saturation, air flux, and timetemperature relationships. For this reason
it is necessary to carry out combustion tube experiments when one is studying the possible
field application of in situ combustion processes to exploit a reservoir.
Combustion tubes used by various researchers vary in size, length, and mode of
operation. Then, it is very important to understand combustion tube experiments and
results, which will be used for to plan a pilot test or a field application. For example, one
must know the amount of energy that is dissipated by the tube during a test and its effect
on the temperature profiles along the tube among other parameters, like combustion front
temperature, combustion front velocity, amount of air required for combustion, etc.
Address correspondence to O. Cazarez-Candia, Instituto Mexicano del Petrleo, Eje central
Lzaro Crdenas No. 152, Col. San Bartolo Atepehuacan, C.P. 07730, Mxico D.F., Mexico. E-mail:
ocazarez@imp.mx

1186

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Study of Combustion Tubes

1187

On the other hand, in the literature there are works that are focused on the simulation of in situ combustion in laboratory tubes. For example, Verma et al. (1978)
presented a mathematical model to simulate the forward combustion that incorporates
the principal kinetic, thermodynamic, and hydrodynamic aspects of the process. Soliman
et al. (1981) developed and applied a model to simulate a laboratory combustion tube,
considering mass and heat balance equations, and flow of different fluid phases. Gottfried
(1965) proposed a mathematical model in which conductionconvection heat transfer,
the chemical reaction between oxygen and oil, and aqueous phase change are included,
making the model applicable to a variety of thermal recovery processes. They used the
model for detailed simulation of combustion tube laboratory experiments. Penberthy and
Ramey (1965) developed an analytical model of movement of a burning front axially
along a combustion tube with heat loss through an annular insulation. The model allows
identification of steady-state temperature distributions both ahead and behind the burning
front with and without heat loss but considering isolated boundary conditions. In the
specialized literature there are more mathematical models that are similar to the model
mentioned above; however, in any model the authors take into account the heat losses at
the beginning and at the end of the tube.
In this work combustion tube experiments for medium oil (27 API) from the Gulf
of Mexico were done. With the idea of studying the effect of non-isolated boundaries on
the temperature profiles the beginning and the final of the tube were not isolated.
Also, considering non-isolated boundary conditions, Penberthy and Rameys (1965)
mathematical model was solved numerically. The mathematical model was used to predict
the temperature profile behind, ahead, and at the combustion front during the combustion
processes in a combustion tube and to evaluate the amount of heat loss across the
beginning and final of the tube.

2. Experimental Work
Two experiments (E-1 and E-2) were carried out in a combustion tube (Figure 1) of
stainless steel with an external diameter of 0.079375 m, a width of 0.015875 m, and
a length of 0.9906 m. The tube contains about 0.94996 m of a uniform mixture of
sand, water, and oil; the values for saturation, porosity, and other parameters are shown
on Table 1. An insulating band was placed along the tube. However, with the idea of
studying the effect of non-isolated boundaries on the temperature profiles the top and
the bottom of the tube were not isolated. The oil used has an activation energy of
1.56  107 J/kg-mol and 27 API. The space between the sample and the top of the
tube was filled with clean sand. An electric igniter was placed at the sample beginning.
Electric current was gradually introduced into the igniter until the temperature in the
combustion tube at the igniter location reached about 241C and air injection was
initiated at 3.166  10 5 m3 /s. The production pressure was maintained at 4.13 

Table 1
Saturations and porosity used in the experiments
Experiment

Oil saturation

Water saturation

Porosity

E-1
E-2

0.325
0.383

0.23
0.275

0.41
0.41

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O. Cazarez-Candia et al.

Figure 1. Combustion tube system.

105 Pa. The temperatures when the ignition occurred inside the combustion tube were
427 C and 462C for E-1 and E-2, respectively. After ignition, the combustion front
moved from the igniter to the bottom of the combustion tube. The combustion gases
and the production liquids went out from the bottom of the tube. The experiment
was finished when the sand pack was burned to the bottom flange of the combustion
tube.
In Figure 2 the temperature profiles from E-1 are shown. Temperature ignition was
about 241C and the combustion front temperature when the ignition was reached was
about 427 C. However, after 2 hr the combustion front temperature remained almost
constant at a value of 324C with an averaged combustion front velocity of 2.65 
10 5 m/s. As can be shown, the first temperature profile has a combustion front with a
large width (0.05 m), which is due to the electric igniter being turned off 30 min after
ignition occurred. The oil and water production was made every 15 min, and then heat
went out from the combustion tube, so temperature was affected at the bottom of the
combustion tube even when an isolated boundary was put.
The temperature profiles from E-2 (Figure 3) have similar behaviors to the profiles
from E-1. However, the combustion front temperature when ignition was reached was
462 C. In this case, after 2.55 hr the combustion front temperature remained almost
constant at a value of 355C with an average combustion front velocity of 3.41 
10 5 m/s. Contrary to E-1, in E-2 once ignition occurred the electric igniter was turned
off, and all the combustion fronts had a thin width.
In Figure 4 the accumulated oil recovery from E-1 and E-2 are shown. The total
oil recovery from E-1 was 84%, whereas the total oil recovery from E-2 was 73%.
Apparently, this was due to a lower oil and water saturation used in E-1.

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Study of Combustion Tubes

1189

Figure 2. Experimental temperature profiles from E-1.

3. Mathematical Models
In this work the simulation of the in situ combustion phenomenon in a combustion tube
consists of mathematical models for (1) the combustion zone thickness, (2) the heat
generated and lost in the combustion front, and (3) the heat transfer through porous
media. In the first one a stoichiometric equation for combustion is solved to determine
the combustion zone thickness. In the second one a heat balance is done to determine the

Figure 3. Experimental temperature profiles from E-2.

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O. Cazarez-Candia et al.

Figure 4. Cumulative oil recovery for E-1 and E-2.

combustion front temperature. In the third one the heat conduction equation is solved in
order to obtain the temperature profiles behind and ahead of the combustion front. The
information about the models for the combustion zone thickness and the heat generated
and lost in the combustion front can be found in the work of Rodriguez (2004). The
model for the heat transfer through the porous media is presented below.
3.1.

Heat Transfer Model

The heat transfer model solved in this work is similar to the model presented by Penberthy
and Ramey (1965) except that in this work the model was solved numerically and
Neumann boundary conditions were imposed at the top and bottom of the tube. The
model includes many of the important characteristics of combustion tube experiments.
The equation for the heat transfer through the porous media to determine the temperature
profiles behind and ahead of the burning front is given by (Penberthy and Ramey, 1965):

@2 T
@T
C
@x 2
@x

.T

Ta / D

@T
@t

(1)

The original initial and boundary conditions are

T .x; 0/ D 0
At the combustion front, T .0; t/ D Tc
At the top and bottom of the combustion tube, lim

x!1

@T
.x; t/ D 0
@x

(2)
(3)
(4)

Study of Combustion Tubes

1191

In this work, Eq. (1) was solved using the initial and boundary conditions given by
Eqs. (2)(4) and also using the next boundary conditions:

@T .x; t/
At the top of the combustion tube, k
D q0
(5)
@x xD0

@T .x; t/
At the bottom of the combustion tube, k
D qL
(6)
@x xDL
In Eq. (1), is given by
D

k
;
m Cm

(7)

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the convection wave velocity is

D f

g Cg a
;
m Cm

(8)

and the heat loss constant is given by

D

2U
m Cm rt

(9)

In Eqs. (1)(9) T is temperature, Ta is ambient temperature, Tc is combustion front

temperature, x is distance from the burning front, t is time, k is thermal conductivity of
the matrix, m is density of the matrix, Cm is specific heat of the matrix, f is combustion
front velocity, g is density of the injected air, Cg is specific heat of the injected air, a
is injected air flux, U is overall heat transfer coefficient with respect to the radius of the
combustion tube, and rt is radius of the combustion tube.
The aim of this work is to evaluate whether the mathematical model presented in this
section has the capability of predicting the temperature profiles presented in Section 2.
The effect of using Eqs. (5)(6) instead Eq. (4) on temperature profiles along the tube is
also evaluated.
3.1.1. Numerical Solution. The numerical technique applied to solve Eq. (1) was the
finite difference. An implicit forward scheme was used for both time and spatial derivatives.
Once Eq. (1) is discretized, it can be written as
b1 TDtCt
Cc1 TDtCt
1
1

D d1

a2 TDtCt
Cb2 TDtCt
Cc2 TDtCt
1
2
3

a1 Tc

D d2

a3 TDtCt
Cb3 TDtCt
Cc1TDtCt
2
3
4
a4 TDtCt
Cb4 TDtCt
3
4

D d3
Cc5 TDtCt
5

D d4

::
:

::
:

::
:

::
:

::
:

::
:

aM TDtCt
C.bM C cM /TDtCt
D dM C
M 1
M

cM qj x
k

(10)

1192

O. Cazarez-Candia et al.

where the subscript j can be 0 or L for the top or bottom of the combustion tube, and
ai D I

i D 1; : : : M

(11)

bi D .2 C xD / C 1

(12)

ci D .1 C xD /

(13)

di D .c

1/TDt 1

(14)

In Eqs. (10)(14) the subscript i represents actual node, the superscripts t and t C t
represent previous and current times, and  is given by:

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D

t
x 2

(15)

where t is time size step and x is spatial size step.

Before solving Eq. (10) it is necessary to solve a stoichiometric equation for the
combustion process and then to know the combustion front velocity and the combustion
zone thickness. The combustion front velocity allows us to know where the combustion
front is in the tube and the combustion zone thickness lets us know the locations
from which the temperature profiles behind and ahead of the combustion front will be
solved. Rodriguez (2004) worked with heavy oil and suggested values for the combustion
zone thickness from 0.0127 to 0.02286 m; however, in this work the experiments were
made with medium oil (27 API) and values of 0.004318 and 0.00762 m were used. A
heat balance on the combustion zone must be done to determine the combustion front
temperature. The stoichiometric equation, the equations to calculate the velocity and the
combustion zone thickness, and the heat balance are given in the work of Rodriguez
(2004).
The solution of Eq. (10) also requires knowing the overall heat transfer coefficient
(U ). For this, Penberthy and Ramey (1965) proposed a second heat loss constant, C,
given by

(16)
C D 2

Then, U and can be calculated from Eqs. (9) and (16), respectively. For the calculation
of , C one takes values until the experimental and predicted temperatures of the
combustion front are equal. That is, C takes values from 0 to 1, where 0 means that the
combustion tube has a perfect insulation and 1 means that the combustion tube has no
insulation.
3.1.2. Results and Analysis. The results from the mathematical model were compared
against the experimental data presented in Section 2. The mathematical model was
established supposing that the combustion front temperature and velocity are constant
(Penberthy and Ramey, 1965). Figure 5 shows the comparison between experimental
data from E-1 and the results from the mathematical model with the boundary condition
given by Eq. (4). The combustion front temperature used was 324C, which was obtained
using C D 0.1163 and a combustion front thickness of 0.0127 m. The suppositions
mentioned cause that both the position and value of the combustion front temperature
match with only some experimental temperature profiles. It is noted that the temperature
profiles behind the combustion front obtained with the model are in agreement with the

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Study of Combustion Tubes

1193

Figure 5. Experimental data (thick line) and predictions (thin line) for temperature profiles. E-1,
insulated boundaries.

experimental data only near the combustion front; however, near the top of the tube
(length D 0 m in Figure 5) the predicted temperatures profiles move away from the
experimental ones, and the maximum error was of 68%. The temperature profiles ahead
of the combustion front, predicted by the model, are far from the experimental temperature
profiles principally near the bottom of the tube (length D 0.9 m in Figure 5), and the
maximum error was of 81%.
If the boundaries given by Eqs. (5) and (6) are used instead Eq. (4), the predictions
obtained for temperature profiles present better fitting. This is shown in Figure 6. In this
case, for the temperature profiles behind and ahead of the combustion front maximum
errors of 33 and 20% were found, respectively.
In Figure 7 the predicted temperature profiles are compared with the temperature
profile obtained from Experiment 2. In this case the combustion front temperature used
was 355C, which was obtained using C D 0.096 and a combustion front thickness of
0.0127 m. The idea was to maintain a constant value for the front thickness (the same
value as that for E-1) and give values for C until the combustion front temperature attains
a value similar to the experimental one. In this case the maximum errors between the
predicted and experimental temperature profiles were 67% behind and 82% ahead of
the combustion front. If the boundaries given by Eqs. (5) and (6) are used instead Eq.
(4), the predictions obtained for temperature profiles present better fitting. This is shown
in Figure 8. In this case the maximum errors between the predicted and experimental
temperature profiles were 23% behind and 20% ahead of the combustion front.
The values for the heat flux (q) used to obtain Figures 6 and 8 are shown in Figure 9,
where it can be seen that after 4 hr, q takes higher values ahead of than behind the
combustion front. This is because every 15 min fluids are yielded from the tube. The
heat loss at the top of the tube for E-1 is larger that for E-2; however, after 3 hr the heat

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O. Cazarez-Candia et al.

Figure 6. Experimental data (thick line) and predictions (thin line) for temperature profiles. E-1,
Neumann boundary conditions.

Figure 7. Experimental data (thick line) and predictions (thin line) for temperature profiles. E-2,
insulated boundaries.

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Study of Combustion Tubes

1195

Figure 8. Experimental data (thick line) and predictions (thin line) for temperature profiles. E-2,
Neumann boundary conditions.

Figure 9. Heat losses at the top and bottom of the combustion tube.

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O. Cazarez-Candia et al.

loss is similar for both experiments, because for E-1 the electrical igniter was turned off
30 min after the ignition occurred.

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4. Conclusions
Experiments for in situ combustion for medium (27 API) oil were carried out without
thermally insulating the top and bottom of the combustion tube.
It is well known that heat losses occur along the combustion tube and we think
that heat losses at the top and bottom of the tube are small and unimportant. Sometimes
mathematical models are formulated supposing insulated boundaries; however, in this
work it was shown that better predictions for temperature profiles are obtained using
Neumann boundaries. This, even when the bottom of the tube was perfectly insulated,
because heat losses occur due in part for the fluids that go out from the tube.
A predictive model for in situ combustion processes was used to determine the
behavior of the temperature profiles. Through this model it was found mainly that (a) the
boundary conditions play a very important role when in situ combustion is mathematically
modeled and (b) temperature ahead and behind the combustion front is well predicted
when Neumann boundary conditions are used in the mathematical model.

References
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No. SPE 1117, SPE Production Research Symposium, Tulsa, OK, May 34, pp. 196210.
Penberthy, W. L., and Ramey, H. J. (1965). Design and operation of laboratory combustion tubes.
Paper No. SPE 1290, SPE Annual Fall Meeting, Denver, CO, October 36, pp. 183198.
Rodriguez, J. R. (2004). Experimental and analytical study to model temperature profiles and
stoichiometry in oxygen-enriched in-situ combustion. Ph.D. Dissertation, College Station:
Texas A&M University.
Soliman, M. Y., Brigham, W. E., and Raghavan, R. (1981). Numerical simulation of thermal
recovery processes. Paper No. SPE 9942, SPE California Regional Meeting, Bakersfield, CA,
March 2526, pp. 625640.
Verma, V. B., Reynolds, A. C., and Thomas, G. W. (1978). A theoretical investigation of forward
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