Modelling Viscosity And Mass Fraction Of Bitumen - Diluent Mixtures

Oyedun

Biofuels Bioprod Bioref

2017

This study explores the hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of wood chips to biocrude followed by upgrading to diluents, which are used to transport bitumen through pipelines. In this study, we considered a 2000 dry t day−1 plant capacity with two scenarios. The first scenario uses hydrogen for upgrading from the on‐site hydrogen production plant (i.e., the hydrogen production scenario) and the other relies on procuring hydrogen from an external source (i.e., the hydrogen purchase scenario). We developed a data‐intensive process model for HTL and used it to estimate plant capital costs. Project investment costs for the hydrogen production and hydrogen purchase scenarios are 559.67 and 429.13 M $, respectively. The product values (PV) of the diluent from the two scenarios are 0.98 ± 0.03 and 0.79 ± 0.03 $ L−1, respectively, at a 95% confidence interval. The sensitivity analysis shows that diluent yield and internal rate of return (IRR) have the highest impact on the PV of the diluent, followed by capital cost and biomass cost. The optimum plant size at which the cost of production is lowest is 4000 dry t day−1 for PVs of 0.82 $ L−1 and 0.68 $ L−1 for the hydrogen production and purchase scenarios, respectively. This study offers insights into the techno‐economic feasibility of producing diluents from HTL. The results of the study could help in the production of diluents for bitumen transportation for the oil sands industry and help reduce the overall greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint of the oil and gas sector. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Section: Stabilized Biocrude As a Diluentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydrothermal liquefaction of biomass for the production of diluents for bitumen transport

Oyedun

Biofuels Bioprod Bioref

2017

IPTC 2014: International Petroleum Technology Conference

“…Once we have compositional volumes of each fraction, the next step is to embark on the all-important mission of determining the viscosity of the visbroken product. Several viscosity correlations exist that determine viscosity as a function of specific gravity for heavy oils (Egbogah & Ng 1990, Bennison 1998& Miadonye et al 2001). However, upon testing these models all provided wildly differing results, as shown in Table 9.…”

Section: Fig 9-details Of the Pre-visbreaking And Post-visbreaking Characterizations Of The Oil Into Individual Componentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Post-Production Heavy Oil Operations: A Case for Partial Upgrading

Lokhandwala¹,

Barrufet²

2014

The transportation of heavy oil is a pressing problem. Various methods have been devised to mitigate the reluctance to flow of these highly dense and viscous oils. This study is focused on evaluating a case for post-production partial upgrading of heavy oil. Specifically, we analyze the impact of visbreaking, a mild thermal cracking method, on the economic and energy demands of the post-production process.Using conservative modeling techniques and principles we find significant cost and energy savings can potentially result out of visbreaking. Cost savings result as a DEDICATIONTo my dearest fellow cast members:

“…After mining from a shallow deposit, bitumen can be recovered from the oil sands through hot-water or solvent-assisted ex situ extraction processes. , On the other hand, several in situ thermal recovery methods including steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD), cyclic steam stimulation (CSS), in situ combustion (ISC), − and others such as ex situ microwave-assisted oil sands separation, as well as in situ recovery by electromagnetic heating thermochemical heat stimulation have either been employed commercially or proposed to recover bitumen from deeper reservoirs. However, the water-based extraction processes (with or without solvent) are not sustainable due several challenges such as water requirement and treatment, poor quality of oil after extraction, health risks associated with the use of solvents which are highly volatile, high energy requirement for steam production, and environmental pollution emanating from combustion of fossil fuel for steam generation. − Therefore, the quest for sustainability has driven efforts to develop alternative means to mitigate the current problems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review on Applications of Ionic Liquids (ILs) for Bitumen Recovery: Mechanisms, Challenges, and Perspectives

et al. 2023

Water- and solvent-based ex situ extraction processes have been employed to extract bitumen from mineable oil sands. On the other hand, bitumen is recovered in situ from deeper deposits most efficiently by injecting steam to reduce viscosity and increasing production flow to the surface. However, the water-based process with or without solvent (including steam injection) is not sustainable due to various challenges including water requirement and treatment, high energy consumption, and related environmental pollution problems emanating from high volatility of solvents. Ionic liquids (ILs) have become desirable in several industrial applications due to many unique properties including low volatility compared with traditional organic solvents. The potential for application of ILs for bitumen extraction is reviewed in this work, with a focus on the mechanistic aspect. Depending on the properties and/or functionality, the ILs can be used in bitumen extraction (with or without organic solvents) with minimal clay fines contamination and lower water and energy requirements. In the solvent-assisted IL recovery system, the IL–clay interaction is responsible for reducing the adhesive force between bitumen and the sand, which subsequently facilitates separation. Conversely, considering the types of ILs explored in the absence of solvent, the IL–bitumen interaction plays an additional role. Hitherto, applications of ILs in bitumen recovery are at a very preliminary stage. Apart from understanding the mechanisms, the major impediment lies in the high cost and environmental impact due to toxicity. Therefore, to make ILs more attractive for bitumen recovery, concerted efforts should be intensified to reduce the cost of producing ILs, ameliorate environmental impacts, and facilitate field scale applications through technoeconomic analysis of the process.