Thermo‐physical properties of n‐pentane/bitumen and n‐hexane/bitumen mixture systems

Abstract

The gravity drainage as a result of viscosity reduction is the main governing mechanism of the solvent-aided thermal bitumen recovery processes. Therefore, the density and viscosity of the diluted or heated bitumen are essential to predict the oil production rate. In this paper, we report thermophysical properties of n-pentane/bitumen and n-hexane/bitumen mixtures. The density and viscosity of Athabasca bitumen diluted with n-pentane and n-hexane were measured at different temperatures (30 to 190 8C), pressures (2 to 8 MPa), and solvent mass fractions (0.05 to 0.5). Various correlations and mixing rules proposed in the literature were examined to calculate the density and viscosity of the diluted bitumen. This study proposes appropriate mixing rules and generalized parameters for predicting the density and viscosity of solvent-bitumen systems. Our findings will find applications in the design and simulation of heavy oil and bitumen solvent-aided thermal recovery processes.

Development of Generalized Correlations for Thermophysical Properties of Light Hydrocarbon Solvents (C1–C5)/Bitumen Systems Using Genetic Programming

“…This research focuses on modeling the experimental measurements of solubility, density, and viscosity of solvent/bitumen systems. Several experimental studies have been conducted on phase behavior of solvent/bitumen mixtures. − The experimental data set used in this study conducted on four bitumen samples, Surmont, JACOS, Mackay River, and Cold Lake, which covers a wide range of the diverse Athabasca bitumen characteristics. The solvents used with each of the bitumen samples are C 1 to C 5 , which represents the most commonly used vapor solvents for typical solvent-aided thermal recovery processes.…”

Bitumen Recovery Performance of SAGD and Butane- and Hexane-Aided SAGD in the Presence of Shale Barriers

“…For ES-SAGD simulations, four components, including water, solution gas, bitumen, and solvent (C 4 or C 6 ), are used. All thermophysical properties are obtained based on the previously reported experimental data. ,, All the 240 shale realization cases are subjected to simulation for three different scenarios: the first scenario is normal SAGD, the second scenario is ES-SAGD with C6 co-injection, and the third one is ES-SAGD with C4 co-injection. Therefore, this study is based on data derived from 720 cases of reservoir simulations.…”

Interfacial Tension ofn-Pentane/Bitumen andn-Heptane/Bitumen Mixtures atT= 298.15–413.15 K andP= 3.45 MPa

“…The density of water was obtained from the NIST databank . The density of n -pentane/bitumen mixtures at the desired concentration, temperature, and pressure was obtained using a correlation, which is proposed by Haddadnia et al based on measured experimental data. This correlation with an AARD (average absolute relative deviation) equal to 0.5% is given by where b 1 = 9.1, b 2 = 1.0453, b 3 = 0.6266, b 4 = −4.22 × 10 –5 , and b 5 = 8 × 10 –4 , ω is the mass fraction, ρ is density, and subscripts S and B denote solvent and bitumen, respectively.…”