Browsing by Subject "Upgrading"
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Item Experimental investigation of in situ upgrading of heavy oil by using a hydrogen donor and catalyst during steam injection(Texas A&M University, 2008-10-10) Mohammad, Ahmad A AExperiments were conducted to investigate the feasibility of in situ upgrading of heavy oil by the use of an orgametallic catalyst and a hydrogen donor (tetralin). The experiments used a vertical injection cell into which a mixture of sand, water, and Jobo oil was thoroughly mixed and packed. Two types of runs were conducted: a run where the tetralin and catalyst were mixed within the mixture before packing into the cell, and the other was conducted by injecting a slug of the tetralin-catalyst solution before commencing with the steam injection. The Jobo oil used had an oil gravity of 12.4? API and a viscosity of 7800 cp at 30?C. The injection cell was placed in a vacuum jacket and set to a reservoir temperature of 50?C. Superheated steam at 273?C was then injected into the injection cell at a rate of 5.5 cc/min (cold water equivalent). The cell outlet pressure was maintained at 500 psig. Produced liquid samples were collected periodically through a series of separators. The produced oil was divided into two halves and several measurements and analyses were carried out on them. These included viscosity, density, elemental analysis and liquid composition. Experimental results indicated that tetralin alone was a worthy additive and increased recovery by 15% compared to that of pure steam. The premixed tetralincatalyst run showed improved recovery to that of pure steam by 20%. Experiments also showed that, when the tetralin-catalyst solution was injected rather than mixed, the results were equivalent to tetralin injection runs. Oil production acceleration was displayed by all the runs with tetralin and tetralin-catalyst but was more pronounced with the availability of catalyst.Item Heavy Oil Upgrading from Electron Beam (E-Beam) Irradiation(2011-02-22) Yang, DaegilSociety's growing demands for energy results in rapid increase in oil consumption and motivates us to make unconventional resources conventional resources. There are enormous amounts of heavy oil reserves in the world but the lack of cost effective technologies either for extraction, transportation, or refinery upgrading hinders the development of heavy oil reserves. One of the critical problems with heavy oil and bitumen is that they require large amounts of thermal energy and expensive catalysts to upgrade. This thesis demonstrates that electron beam (E-Beam) heavy oil upgrading, which uses unique features of E-Beam irradiation, may be used to improve conventional heavy oil upgrading. E-Beam processing lowers the thermal energy requirements and could sharply reduce the investment in catalysts. The design of the facilities can be simpler and will contribute to lowering the costs of transporting and processing heavy oil and bitumen. E-Beam technology uses the high kinetic energy of fast electrons, which not only transfer their energy but also interact with hydrocarbons to break the heavy molecules with lower thermal energy. In this work, we conducted three major stages to evaluate the applicability of E-Beam for heavy oil upgrading. First, we conducted laboratory experiments to investigate the effects of E-Beam on hydrocarbons. To do so, we used a Van de Graff accelerator, which generates the high kinetic energy of electrons, and a laboratory scale apparatus to investigate extensively how radiation effects hydrocarbons. Second, we studied the energy transfer mechanism of E-Beam upgrading to optimize the process. Third, we conducted a preliminary economic analysis based on energy consumption and compared the economics of E-Beam upgrading with conventional upgrading. The results of our study are very encouraging. From the experiments we found that E-Beam effect on hydrocarbon is significant. We used less thermal energy for distillation of n-hexadecane (n-C16) and naphtha with E-Beam. The results of experiments with asphaltene indicate that E-Beam enhances the decomposition of heavy hydrocarbon molecules and improves the quality of upgraded hydrocarbon. From the study of energy transfer mechanism, we estimated heat loss, fluid movement, and radiation energy distribution during the reaction. The results of our economic evaluation show that E-Beam upgrading appears to be economically feasible in petroleum industry applications. These results indicate significant potential for the application of E-Beam technology throughout the petroleum industry, particularly near production facilities, transportation pipelines, and refining industry.Item Post Production Heavy Oil Operations: A Case for Partial Upgrading(2012-12-05) Lokhandwala, TaherThe 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 consequence of reduced diluent usage. Even the most conservative modeling scenario under consideration exhibits significant cost savings in the form of reduced diluent usage; these savings not only offset operational costs but provide short payback periods on capital expenditures. Additionally, the lower gravity blend resulting from visbreaking can also bring about energy and cost savings in pipeline transportation and positively impact the heavy oil value chain from the producer to a refinery or regional upgrading facility. From this basic analysis of the potential of visbreaking, we can recommend investing resources to study its viability in the field. Using this analysis as a tipping off point and with a detailed look at the chemistry of the oil in question it is possible to make a very viable case for visbreaking. In a similar vein, this analysis can serve as a guide in making a case for other partial upgrading methods as well.