Phase Behavior and Physical Properties of Athabasca Bitumen and Solvent Mixtures

Haddadnia, Ali

Phase Behavior and Physical Properties of Athabasca Bitumen and Solvent Mixtures

dc.contributor.advisor	Hassanzadeh, Hassan
dc.contributor.advisor	Abedi, Jalal
dc.contributor.author	Haddadnia, Ali
dc.contributor.committeemember	Hejazi, Hossein
dc.contributor.committeemember	Sumon, Kazi
dc.contributor.committeemember	Huang, Haiping
dc.contributor.committeemember	Henni, Amr
dc.date	2023-11
dc.date.accessioned	2023-09-15T16:50:55Z
dc.date.available	2023-09-15T16:50:55Z
dc.date.issued	2023-08-30
dc.description.abstract	Solvent-aided thermal recovery techniques are gaining prominence for extracting bitumen and heavy oils. These methods involve co-injecting saturated steam and solvent into bitumen reservoirs. The phase behaviour of solvent and bitumen is crucial in designing and optimizing any solvent-assisted in-situ bitumen recovery. This study investigates vapor-liquid equilibrium (VLE) between various solvents (including dimethyl ether DME, C1, C2, C3, C4, n- C5, C1/n-C5, C1/n-C6, C1/n-C7, and C1/ C3+n-C4+n-C5) and Athabasca bitumen. Parameters such as equilibrium compositions (K-values), liquid-phase density, and viscosity were measured at temperatures up to 260 °C and pressures up to 6 MPa. Methane's solubility in bitumen showed minor temperature dependence (200, 230, and 260 ºC), while ethane, propane, and n-butane exhibited more significant temperature effects. The study also compared co-injection of DME/steam to traditional steam and steam/butane injections in a 2D sand-pack saturated with Athabasca bitumen. Results indicated DME's efficacy in enhancing bitumen recovery, making DME and steam co-injection promising. Another focus was the impact of solution gas (methane) on K-values in solvent/live bitumen and solvent dead bitumen systems. In the first stage of experiments, K-values, density and viscosity for methane/bitumen, propane/bitumen, and n-pentane/bitumen were measured. In the next step, methane, pentane, and bitumen were mixed at two concentrations (one with high and the other with low GOR live bitumen). Then K-value, density and viscosity of methane/n-hexane/bitumen and methane/n-heptane/bitumen system were measured. In the final stage of experimental data collection, K-values, density and viscosity of methane/propane, n-butane, and n-pentane/bitumen system were measured. The collected experimental PVT data of solvent and bitumen were modeled using PR-EoS, and experimental and calculated k-values of methane, propane, n-butane, n-pentane, n-hexane, and n-heptane data were compared for solvent/live bitumen and solvent dead bitumen system. Also, K-values of methane for methane /solvent(s) /bitumen and methane/bitumen systems were compared to study the effect of methane on the K-values of other hydrocarbon solvents. The results show the variation of methane and n-pentane K-values between various systems are within the experimental error, which means for the modeling and reservoir simulation purposes, we can use the K-values for any of these systems.
dc.identifier.citation	Haddadnia, A. (2023). Phase behavior and physical properties of Athabasca bitumen and solvent mixtures (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/1880/116960
dc.identifier.uri	https://doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/41804
dc.language.iso	en
dc.publisher.faculty	Graduate Studies
dc.publisher.institution	University of Calgary
dc.rights	University 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.
dc.subject	Bitumen
dc.subject	Solvent-aided thermal recovery
dc.subject	Dimethyl ether
dc.subject	Phase behaviour
dc.subject	Thermal recovery
dc.subject	Oil sands
dc.subject	Methane
dc.subject.classification	Engineering--Chemical
dc.subject.classification	Engineering--Petroleum
dc.title	Phase Behavior and Physical Properties of Athabasca Bitumen and Solvent Mixtures
dc.type	doctoral thesis
thesis.degree.discipline	Engineering – Chemical & Petroleum
thesis.degree.grantor	University of Calgary
thesis.degree.name	Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
ucalgary.thesis.accesssetbystudent	I do not require a thesis withhold – my thesis will have open access and can be viewed and downloaded publicly as soon as possible.