Kinetic modeling of catalytic in situ upgrading for Athabasca bitumen, deasphalting pitch and vacuum residue
Date
2014-12-18
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Abstract
Due to their high viscosity, extra-heavy oils and bitumens are more difficult to recover than conventional oils, so they are mainly produced by Thermal Enhanced Oil Recovery (TEOR) methods. In the pursuit of a less energy demand process and relying on new developments in ultradispersed catalysts for hydroprocessing, in situ upgrading, is proposed as an economically feasible, environmentally friendly and novel alternative to produce upgraded oil with transportable specifications.
In this work, kinetic models for ultradispersed catalytic hydroprocessing for Athabasca bitumen, pitch and vacuum residue have been developed. These models can be used for predicting conversion and product yields which are essential for simulation, design and evaluation of this process at both surface and reservoir level. Results showed that residue (550+ °C) conversion fits a first-order reaction, with activation energies within the range of 50-200 kJ/mol depending on the feedstock. Kinetic models showed good agreement reporting average errors lower than 7.5%.
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Keywords
Engineering--Chemical, Engineering--Petroleum
Citation
Da Silva De Andrade, F. J. (2014). Kinetic modeling of catalytic in situ upgrading for Athabasca bitumen, deasphalting pitch and vacuum residue (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/26703