Reactor Design for Partial Upgrading of Bitumen via Aquaprocessing

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dc.contributor.advisorPereira-Almao, Pedro R.
dc.contributor.authorGill, Sukhdeep Singh
dc.contributor.committeememberMahinpey, Nader
dc.contributor.committeememberKantzas, Apostolos
dc.date2019-06
dc.date.accessioned2019-01-25T18:24:19Z
dc.date.available2019-01-25T18:24:19Z
dc.date.issued2018-12-27
dc.description.abstractAlberta oil industry is facing a major challenge because of the widening price differentials between West Texas Intermediate and Western Canadian Select. The Western Canadian Select is trading at low of US$ 16.71 /bbl. because of its high viscosity, density, total acid number, and sulfur content and lack of access to market outside North America. Under these circumstances, partial upgrading processes such as Aquaprocessing are envisioned as a potential solution. The synthetic crude oil produced from Aquaprocessing of bitumen requires 50 vol.% less diluents than the Athabasca bitumen to meet the pipeline specifications. This thesis is focused on evaluating the reactor design parameters required for scale-up of this technology. The kinetic parameters for hydrocracking reaction were calculated using first-order rate law expression for the packed bed reactor. Diffusivity of steam in bitumen, dimensionless numbers and hydrodynamic properties of the fluid inside the reactor were calculated using experimental and simulated data. The experimental results indicate that the effect of catalyst particle size depends on the catalyst preparation techniques. The steam diffusivity in bitumen was found to increase linearly with increase in reaction temperature. 0.05 psi/m pressure drop and 39 vol.% liquid holdups are predicted for the two-phase flow regime.en_US
dc.identifier.citationGill, S. S. (2018). Reactor Design for Partial Upgrading of Bitumen via Aquaprocessing (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.en_US
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/36104
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1880/109845
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisher.facultySchulich School of Engineeringen_US
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Calgaryen
dc.rightsUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.en_US
dc.subjectReactor Designen_US
dc.subjectFixed Bed Reactoren_US
dc.subjectAquaprocessingen_US
dc.subjectReaction Kineticsen_US
dc.subjectHeavy Oil Upgradingen_US
dc.subjectCatalytic Upgrading of Bitumenen_US
dc.subjectMass Transfer in Porous Catalysten_US
dc.subject.classificationEducation--Technologyen_US
dc.subject.classificationEnergyen_US
dc.subject.classificationEngineeringen_US
dc.subject.classificationEngineering--Chemicalen_US
dc.titleReactor Design for Partial Upgrading of Bitumen via Aquaprocessingen_US
dc.typemaster thesisen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineEngineering – Chemical & Petroleumen_US
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Calgaryen_US
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Science (MSc)en_US
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