In this research an ionic liquid base Nickel was used in a combustion tube with heavy oil from Gulf of Mexico. The underlying objective is to increase the mobility and quality of the oil inside the reservoir by effect of the ionic solution catalyst during the combustion.The catalyst, used in the experiments was previously mixed with heavy crude oil of 12.5 °API. The catalyst in liquid phase is based Nickel. This ionic catalyst is highly soluble and ultradispersed in heavy oil, and it was mixture with heavy crude oil with a concentration of 500 ppm wt.The porous media used in the combustion tube was a triturated dolomite carbonated rock with a 35.23% of porosity, and a particle size of 0.42 mm. This rock was used for two experiments at the same saturation conditions: heavy crude oil (23.79%), and water (25.26%).The results obtained shown the advantages of use of this catalyst in relationship of a conventional combustion as follows: (1) important viscosity reduction, (2) increment of oil production, 85% vs. 77.67%, (3) faster combustion front, (4) higher efficiency in the combustion, 75.86 vs. 197.28 ft3 air/ft3 hydrocarbons, (5) higher temperatures through the combustion process, around 600 o C, and (6) reduction of the contain of sulphur, resins and asphaltenes in the oil produced.Using this kind of Nickel ionic solution catalyst at low concentration would permit to increase the recovery factor, and upgrade the oil properties in-situ.

In this paper the effects of some ionic liquids elaborated with iron and molybdenum used to upgrade the properties of a heavy crude oil are discussed. The underlying objective is to increase the mobility of the oil in the reservoir reducing viscosity and improving the oil quality (e.g. diminishing the asphaltene and sulfur contents and increasing its °API gravity), using ionic liquids based on iron (10 wt%) and molybdenum (2 wt%) compounds, in a liquid phase homogeneously mixed with heavy crude oil in a batch reactor of 500 ml, at 673 K during 4 hours. The API gravity of a offshore heavy crude oil from the Gulf of Mexico increased from 12.5 until 20, kinematics viscosity decreased from 15,416 to 136.63 cSt at 288.75 K, asphaltene content was reduced from 28.65 to 10.82 wt%, while the sulfur was removed from 5.14 to 2.16%; and the distillation obtained by Simulated Distillation was increased from 48 to 71.2 vol%. Content of aromatics and saturated compounds were increased through the conversion of asphaltenes and resins, which contents decreased from 16.81 to 13.8 wt% and from 28.85 to 10.82 wt% respectively. Finally, the content of total nitrogen was reduced from 780 to 633 ppm in weight which represents a reduction approximately of 20 wt%. In this work upgrading of a heavy crude oil was obtained through the application of the thermal and catalytic hydrocracking with an ionic liquid. This ionic liquid could be applied into the reservoir combined with in-situ combustion process using unconventional wells in order to improve the recovery of heavy crude oil, producing an oil improved in-situ with lower viscosity, being easier their exploitation, increasing the productivity index in wells, and saving costs of transportation and refining at surface. Introduction Improving some oil properties as oil viscosity reduction and increasing API gravity are key properties to increase the wells productivity index of heavy crude oil. The thermal methods occupy an important place among enhance oil recovery techniques, especially in the production of high-viscosity oils and natural bitumen [1]. Different versions of thermal methods are used to upgrade heavy crude oil, among the more important methods are Steam Drive [2–4], Cycle Steam Injection [5], Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) [6, 7], Conventional Fire Flood [8, 9], Toe-to-Heel Air Injection Process (THAI) [10–12], Aquathermolysis [13, 14], and Down-Hole Catalytic Processes [15–17]. The last process mentioned is an interesting alternative to reduce of viscosity of the heavy crude oil improving the oil quality inside the reservoir. In order to be carried out the last process is necessary to combine the in-situ combustion process with a liquid consists only of ions [18–20] of metallic salts. The iron-base ionic liquid [21] would be distributed throughout the reservoir as a diluted salt solution. The polar molecules of the heavy crude oil probably would be diffused in ionic liquid favoring the contact between both phases. On the other hand, the iron-based ionic liquid may be modified during the preparation with anionic sulfates (SO42-) and promoters in a small percentage of transition metal such as molybdenum or tungsten. The metals compounds in the ionic liquid have been recognized because their catalytic properties in hydrocarbon oxidation, cracking, and hydrocracking reactions. In contrast, the metal also accelerated oxidation indirectly by destroying the antioxidants [22] that are naturally present in the most crude oil. In the present work the upgrading of the heavy crude oil from the Gulf of Mexico was carried out in a batch reactor as well as a continuous-stirred tank reactor (CSTR). The API gravity was increased from 13.5 until 20o, the kinematics viscosity was reduce from 15,416 to 136.63 cSt at 289 K, the hydrodesulfuration was reduced between 40–60 wt%, and the distillable fraction was increased from 48 to 71.2 vol.% which was carried out by True Boiling Point (TBP). Experimental Section The catalyst was prepared using ferric sulfate hydrate, water, phosphoric acid and phosphotungstic acid compounds.

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In this research a catalyst was evaluated in a combustion tube using heavy oil from Gulf of Mexico. The underlying objective is to increase the mobility of the oil inside the reservoir by effect of the catalyst during the combustion. The catalyst, used in the experiments was previously mixed with heavy crude oil of 12.5 °API. The catalyst, in liquid phase, is based in Molybdenum, Cobalt, Nickel and Iron. This organometallic catalyst is highly soluble and ultradispersed, and it was mixture with heavy crude oil with a concentration of 750 ppm wt. The porous media used in the combustion tube was a triturated dolomite carbonated rock with a 41.9% of porosity, and a particle size of 0.42 mm. This rock was used for two experiments at the same saturation conditions: heavy crude oil (23.79%), and water (25.26%). The results obtained shown the advantages of use of catalyst in relationship of a conventional combustion as follows:oil production increases,faster combustion front,higher efficiency in the combustion, andhigher temperatures at the beginning of the combustion. The use of this kind of organometallic catalyst at low concentrations is a potential application in order to upgrade the oil properties in-situ, saving the cost of facilities on surface required for the same purpose. Introduction Exploitation of reservoirs in the world is steadely moving inexorably towards large reserves of heavy crude oil. Producing, transporting and marketing this heavy oil represents a lot of problems, including almost inability of most refineries to accept heavy crude oils. Heavy crude oils could be more accceptable if they can be upgraded prior to send it to refineries. One of the techniques in which heat is purposely introduced into an oil-bearing formation primarily to reduce oil viscosity is the process called in-situ combustion. However, there is the idea of combination of this process with the use of catalysts as alternative to upgrade the heavy oil prior to production and prior to reaching the surface stock tank, either in an oil-bearing reservoir, near a producing well, or in the producing wellbore: in-situ catalytic upgrading process. Several experimental investigations have been considered studies of combustion front behavior in porous media with catalytic agents following different routes: Downhole physical separations such as steam distillation 1, and deasphalting 2–4, thermal conversion as v.gr. visbraking 5,6, underground hydrogen 7–12, hydrogen precursor injection 13 and, in-situ combustion 14,15. It was reported previously that metallic additives increased fuel deposition, although the mechanism is not well understood 16–19. Examples of comprehensive studies about enhancing the combustion process by addition of metallic salts have shown that for some crude oils there is a modification of the reaction kinetics in a favorable way: salts such as tin chloride or ferric nitrate, promote combustion of light oils, being that combustion more uniform and occurs at higher temperature. However, in another study was not possible to obtain a sustained combustion of light oil without the addition of metallic salts 20. There are more works reported on mechanistic studies about upgrading extra heavy crude oil, and even with heavy oil residues using hydrogen sources and the addition of metallic catalyst without consider any air injection in the process 21–23.

fax 01-972-952-9435. AbstractIn this paper are discussed the effects of some metallic oxides used to upgrade the heavy crude oil properties. The underlying objective is to increase the mobility of the oil in the reservoir by reducing viscosity and improving the oil quality using alumina supported transition metals and liquid phase transition metals catalysts (derived from either acetylacetonate or alkylhexanoate compounds), both homogeneously mixed with heavy crude oil. This heavy crude oil upgrading is based on the decrement of the asphaltenes, resins, and sulfur contents, and the increment of its API gravity, and strong reduction of viscosity.In the present work the heavy crude oil from the Golf of Mexico was studied. The API gravity was increased from 12.5 to 21-26, the kinematics viscosity was decreased from 18,130 to 100-8 cSt (at 298 K), the asphaltene content was reduced from 26 to 7 wt%, the sulfur was removed in the range of 30 to 60 wt%, and the distillable fraction was increased between 20 to 30 wt%, and determinated by Simulated Distillation and True Boiling Point (TBP).