Abstract: In order to more properly understand the mechanism of cold heavy oil production (CHOP), the one dimensional CHOP model is applied to the radial flow conditions. Re-introducing dimensionless variables is made to simplify and solve the model, developing the radial flow model. The case calculation indicates that the radial flow model can reflect the behavior of cold production and sand inflow, be consistent with real situations quantitatively, and prove its reliable property. The study also shows that continuous sand inflow is indeed one of the most key mechanisms by CHOP for IOR, such as forming highly flowing channels, removing skin effect and improving fluid flowing performance in heavy oil reservoir. Finally, a brief discussion is conducted on the defects and the development in the future.

Key words: heavy oil, sand inflow, cold production, one-dimensional model, radial flow model