A review of technologies for transporting heavy crude oil and bitumen via pipelines

Hart, Abarasi

doi:10.1007/s13202-013-0086-6

Cited by 255 publications

(175 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…After extraction, the oil is transported from a production site to an upgrading facility. Since pipeline transportation is a cost-effective technology, the non-conventional oil industry is keen to use this technology for transporting both bitumen and heavy oil (Nunez et al 1998;Saniere et al 2004;Hart 2014). Water-lubricated pipeline transportation of non-conventional oils, known as lubricated pipe flow (LPF), is one option for transporting these viscous fluids.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A parametric study of the hydrodynamic roughness produced by a wall coating layer of heavy oil

Rushd

Sanders

2017

Pet. Sci.

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In water-lubricated pipeline transportation of heavy oil and bitumen, a thin oil film typically coats the pipe wall. A detailed study of the hydrodynamic effects of this fouling layer is critical to the design and operation of oil-water pipelines, as it can increase the pipeline pressure loss (and pumping power requirements) by 15 times or more. In this study, a parametric investigation of the hydrodynamic effects caused by the wall coating of viscous oil was conducted. A custom-built rectangular flow cell was used. A validated CFD-based procedure was used to determine the hydrodynamic roughness from the measured pressure losses. A similar procedure was followed for a set of pipe loop tests. The effects of the thickness of the oil coating layer, the oil viscosity, and water flow rate on the hydrodynamic roughness were evaluated. Oil viscosities from 3 to 21300 Pa s were tested. The results show that the equivalent hydrodynamic roughness produced by a wall coating layer of viscous oil is dependent on the coating thickness but essentially independent of oil viscosity. A new correlation was developed using these data to predict the hydrodynamic roughness for flow conditions in which a viscous oil coating is produced on the pipe wall.Keywords Pipeline transportation Á Heavy oil Á Wall fouling Á Lubricated pipe flow Á CFD simulation List of symbols

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A parametric study of the hydrodynamic roughness produced by a wall coating layer of heavy oil

Rushd

Sanders

2017

Pet. Sci.

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“…It is well known that pipelines as a mean of transporting crude oil from the producing field to the treatment station or the refinery are the least expensive, the most effective and environmentally convenient and have been widely used in the gathering process at the oilfield and for downstream fuel supply [2,3]. The pressure drop loss in the pipeline must be lowered to decrease the pump power to push the oil economically for a long distance [4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Use of Biobased Surfactant Obtained by Enzymatic Syntheses for Wax Deposition Inhibition and Drag Reduction in Crude Oil Pipelines

Wang

et al. 2016

Catalysts

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Abstract:Crude oil plays an important role in providing the energy supply of the world, and pipelines have long been recognized as the safest and most efficient means of transporting oil and its products. However, the transportation process also faces the challenges of asphaltene-paraffin structural interactions, pipeline pressure losses and energy consumption. In order to determine the role of drag-reducing surfactant additives in the transportation of crude oils, experiments of wax deposition inhibition and drag reduction of different oil in pipelines with a biobased surfactant obtained by enzymatic syntheses were carried out. The results indicated that heavy oil transportation in the pipeline is remarkably enhanced by creating stable oil-in-water (O/W) emulsion with the surfactant additive. The wax appearance temperature (WAT) and pour point were modified, and the formation of a space-filling network of interlocking wax crystals was prevented at low temperature by adding a small concentration of the surfactant additive. A maximum viscosity reduction of 70% and a drag reduction of 40% for light crude oil flows in pipelines were obtained with the surfactant additive at a concentration of 100 mg/L. Furthermore, a successful field application of the drag-reducing surfactant in a light crude oil pipeline in Daqing Oilfield was demonstrated. Hence, the use of biobased surfactant obtained by enzymatic syntheses in oil transportation is a potential method to address the current challenges, which could result in a significant energy savings and a considerable reduction of the operating cost.

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“…Due to the various differences of interfacial properties and shearing action, the various models and results experienced in Newtonian fluids are not suitable to be applied to oilfield emulsion analysis directly. As a result, more efforts have been put on the research of emulsion stability and demulsification in recent years [34][35][36][37]. Most of the studies were mainly focused on the experimental work of emulsion properties and the development of correlation model, and whether their results were suitable for unsteady shearing fields was seldom mentioned.…”

Section: Mechanistic Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Shearing Energy and Interfacial Gibbs Free Energy in the Emulsification Mechanism of Waxy Crude Oil

Wang

Lin

Rui³

et al. 2017

Energies

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Abstract:Crude oil is generally produced with water, and the water cut produced by oil wells is increasingly common over their lifetime, so it is inevitable to create emulsions during oil production. However, the formation of emulsions presents a costly problem in surface process particularly, both in terms of transportation energy consumption and separation efficiency. To deal with the production and operational problems which are related to crude oil emulsions, especially to ensure the separation and transportation of crude oil-water systems, it is necessary to better understand the emulsification mechanism of crude oil under different conditions from the aspects of bulk and interfacial properties. The concept of shearing energy was introduced in this study to reveal the driving force for emulsification. The relationship between shearing stress in the flow field and interfacial tension (IFT) was established, and the correlation between shearing energy and interfacial Gibbs free energy was developed. The potential of the developed correlation model was validated using the experimental and field data on emulsification behavior. It was also shown how droplet deformation could be predicted from a random deformation degree and orientation angle. The results indicated that shearing energy as the energy produced by shearing stress working in the flow field is the driving force activating the emulsification behavior. The deformation degree and orientation angle of dispersed phase droplet are associated with the interfacial properties, rheological properties and the experienced turbulence degree. The correlation between shearing stress and IFT can be quantified if droplet deformation degree vs. droplet orientation angle data is available. When the water cut is close to the inversion point of waxy crude oil emulsion, the interfacial Gibbs free energy change decreased and the shearing energy increased. This feature is also presented in the special regions where the suddenly changed flow field can be formed. Hence, the shearing energy is an effective form that can show the contribution of kinetic energy for the oil-water mixtures to interfacial Gibbs free energy in emulsification process, and the emulsification mechanism of waxy crude oil-water emulsions was further explained from the theoretical level.

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A review of technologies for transporting heavy crude oil and bitumen via pipelines

Cited by 255 publications

References 31 publications

A parametric study of the hydrodynamic roughness produced by a wall coating layer of heavy oil

A parametric study of the hydrodynamic roughness produced by a wall coating layer of heavy oil

The Use of Biobased Surfactant Obtained by Enzymatic Syntheses for Wax Deposition Inhibition and Drag Reduction in Crude Oil Pipelines

The Role of Shearing Energy and Interfacial Gibbs Free Energy in the Emulsification Mechanism of Waxy Crude Oil

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