In-Situ Upgrading of Heavy Oils by Low-Temperature Oxidation in the Presence of Caustic Additives

Wichert, G.C.; Okazawa, N.E.; Moore, R. W.; Belgrave, J.D.M.

doi:10.2523/30299-ms

Cited by 13 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…The latter (i.e., cold processes) are employed for improving the crude oil mobility by dilution or destabilization of large amount of crude oil components in the reservoir by injecting solvents for viscosity reduction [14,15]. On the other hand, the thermal enhanced oil recovery techniques for heavy oil upgrading include aquathermolysis [16][17][18], pyrolysis-also called thermal cracking or thermolysis [19][20][21][22]-combustion processes [23,24] and low-temperature oxidation [25,26]. Nevertheless, most of these techniques do not exceed the 50% of oil recovery [27][28][29].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heavy Oil Upgrading and Enhanced Recovery in a Steam Injection Process Assisted by NiO- and PdO-Functionalized SiO2 Nanoparticulated Catalysts

et al. 2018

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This work aims to investigate the effect of active catalytic nanoparticles on the improvement of the efficiency in recovery of a continuous steam injection process. Catalytic nanoparticles were selected through batch-adsorption experiments and the subsequent evaluation of the temperature for catalytic steam gasification in a thermogravimetric analyzer. A nanoparticulated SiO 2 support was functionalized with 1.0 wt % of NiO and PdO nanocrystals, respectively, to improve the catalytic activity of the nanoparticles. Oil recovery was evaluated using a sand pack in steam injection scenarios in the absence and presence of a 500 mg/L SiNi1Pd1 nanoparticles-based nanofluid. The displacement test was carried out by constructing the base curves with water injection followed by steam injection in the absence and presence of the prepared treatment. The oil recovery increased 56% after steam injection with nanoparticles in comparison with the steam injection in the absence of the catalysts. The API gravity increases from 7.2 • to 12.1 •. Changes in the asphaltenes fraction corroborated the catalytic effect of the nanoparticles by reducing the asphaltenes content and the 620 • C+ residue 40% and 47%, respectively. Also, rheological measurements showed that the viscosity decreased by up to 85% (one order of magnitude) after the nanofluid treatment during the steam injection process.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heavy Oil Upgrading and Enhanced Recovery in a Steam Injection Process Assisted by NiO- and PdO-Functionalized SiO2 Nanoparticulated Catalysts

et al. 2018

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“…Solvents in decreasing viscosity reduction effectiveness for the entire range evaluated are a mixture of toluene-butanone > toluene > n-heptane. Several researchers have demonstrated the application of nanotechnology in several areas in the Oil & Gas industry (Franco et al, 2016(Franco et al, , 2013a(Franco et al, , 2013b(Franco et al, , 2013cNassar et al, 2015b;Pereira-Almao and Larter, 2008;Snow, 2011;Tarboush and Husein, 2012;Wichert et al, 1995). On the other hand, some of the earlier use of nano or micro-particles on fluids, except in HO and EHO, led to a viscosity increase (Einstein, 1906;Guth and Simha, 1936;Kitano et al, 1981;Mooney, 1951;Thomas, 1965).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

RETRACTED: Striking behavior of the rheology in heavy crude oils by adding nanoparticles

Taborda

Franco

Ruiz

et al. 2017

Adsorption Science & Technology

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The main objective of this paper is to provide unexpected experimental evidence of heavy oil and extra-heavy crude oils viscosity reduction resulting from the presence of nanoparticles of different chemical natures (SiO 2 , Fe 3 O 4 , and Al 2 O 3), surface acidity, and concentration at low-volume fractions. The viscosity of the enhanced fluids was measured using a rotational rheometer at shear rates varying between 1 and 75 s À1. Upon addition of nanoparticles viscosity reduction was observed in all cases evaluated. However, the maximum viscosity reduction of roughly 52% was obtained at a concentration of 1000 mg/l with 7 nm SiO 2 nanoparticles at low shear rate, below 10 s À1 , contrary to expectations from Einstein's viscosity theory in particulate systems. A mathematical model based on a modification to Pal and Rhodes Model for viscosity of suspensions is proposed in this work. The said model was validated successfully using experimental data, as evidenced by root-mean-square error values lower than 10%. The importance of our findings lies in the lack of prior experimental and theoretical data in the open literature showing heavy crude oils viscosity reduction in the presence of nanoparticles.

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“…The experimental apparatus was designed and constructed in 1993 for the Wichert's study [6] . It consists of ten high-pressure three phase batch reactors, each with an inner volume of 250 mL that can be operated simultaneously to an upper range of 68.93 MPa and 220 o C. Each cell was equipped with type-K thermocouples to continuously measure the inner vapor and liquid temperatures.…”

Section: Apparatusmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…5%, 10% and 50% were chosen for the oxygen molar percentage in the feed gas, at a pressure of 4,100 kPa. Xu's [5] study was based on oxidation work carried out in a two-stage LTO process using a 250 ml batch reactor that was designed for Wichert [6] . The twostage LTO process included an initial oxidation period at temperatures between 80 o C to 120 o C, then after several days the temperature was elevated to approximately 200-220 o C. Air was used as the injected gas and the vapor space was charged only once, hence the tests were performed under conditions of depleting oxygen.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Compositional Changes for Athabasca Bitumen in the Presence of Oxygen Under Low Temperature Conditions

Jia¹,

Moore²,

Mehta³

et al. 2004

Canadian International Petroleum Conference

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Research described in this paper was conducted in support of a more extensive study that has been ongoing at the University of Calgary to quantify the effect of the presence of low levels of oxygen in the unheated portions of an Athabasca Reservoir undergoing in situ combustion and to evaluate if low temperature oxidation reactions could be used to achieve in situ upgrading. The objective of the overall program was to understand the compositional changes that might occur at temperatures ranging from those of the native reservoir to those experienced in a steam injection oil recovery process. The research program was originally started to quantify what were anticipated as detrimental compositional changes when oil is oxidized at native reservoir temperatures. The program was then extended to quantify the possible enhancement of the rate of cracking which might be achieved by oxidizing the oil at low temperatures, then heating it to temperatures typical of a steam injection operation. This paper will concentrate on the compositional changes of Athabasca bitumen in contact with nitrogen and air. The experiments were performed in an oscillating batch reactor with or without core and synthetic brine. The rate of oscillation was evaluated as a parameter to examine the role of mass transfer rates. Viscosity is reported in addition to the compositional data expressed in terms of the components: maltenes, asphaltenes and coke.The data has direct applicability to recovery processes involving the injection of air or a gas containing oxygen as an impurity. Typical applications of this nature include In-situ combustion, flue gas injection, and replacement of a gas cap with air or injection of CO 2 containing oxygen as an impurity.

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In-Situ Upgrading of Heavy Oils by Low-Temperature Oxidation in the Presence of Caustic Additives

Cited by 13 publications

References 22 publications

Heavy Oil Upgrading and Enhanced Recovery in a Steam Injection Process Assisted by NiO- and PdO-Functionalized SiO2 Nanoparticulated Catalysts

Heavy Oil Upgrading and Enhanced Recovery in a Steam Injection Process Assisted by NiO- and PdO-Functionalized SiO2 Nanoparticulated Catalysts

RETRACTED: Striking behavior of the rheology in heavy crude oils by adding nanoparticles

Compositional Changes for Athabasca Bitumen in the Presence of Oxygen Under Low Temperature Conditions

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