Gasification of Athabasca bitumen: hydrogen generation, kinetics, and in situ process design

Simple item page
dc.contributor.advisorGates, Ian D.
dc.contributor.advisorKallos, Michael S.
dc.contributor.authorKapadia, Punitkumar Ramanlal
dc.date.accessioned2017-12-18T22:38:03Z
dc.date.available2017-12-18T22:38:03Z
dc.date.issued2012
dc.descriptionBibliography: p. 258-268en
dc.descriptionSome pages are in colour.en
dc.description.abstractAlberta, Canada has an immense amount of crude bitumen reserves in Athabasca, Cold Lake and Peace River deposits. Commercially, these reserves are exploited either by surface mining or in situ recovery methods in the form of liquid bitumen. Subsequently, the produced bitumen is upgraded to synthetic crude oil (SCO). SCO constitutes the main feed intake for conventional refineries wherein it is processed further to obtain fuel, petrochemicals, and lubricant products. Even though the current pathway of energy production from crude bitumen reserves is technically successful, commercially proven and economically viable, it requires large energy investments and high emission of pollutants to environment. Hence, there is a need for exploration of alternative energy vectors for production from these reserves. There are sufficient numbers of experimental and pilot scale studies demonstrating the possibility of hydrogen production from bitumen. Hydrogen is a clean fuel, has the highest energy content per unit mass, and is a required feedstock for the chemical and petrochemical industries. Given the extent of Athabasca oil sands reservoirs (over 1.7 trillion barrels); hydrogen generation from these resources would potentially have benefits to Alberta and Canada. The overall objective of the proposed research was to understand and optimize hydrogen generation by in situ gasification from bitumen reservoirs. The methods to enable this research were analysis of experimental pyrolysis, aquathermolysis, combustion data for Athabasca bitumen to obtain a reaction scheme and associated kinetic parameters, matching of combustion tube experiments to evaluate transport parameters, and simulation of field scale gasification recovery processes in Athabasca bitumen reservoir models. The key outcomes of the research were, • Evaluation of hydrogen generating potential from gasification of Athabasca bitumen, • Development of comprehensive reaction scheme to include pyrolysis, aquathermolysis, and combustion mechanisms for gasification of Athabasca bitumen, • Analyse of reaction zones in SAGD operation to provide estimates of acid gas production like hydrogen sulfide, carbon oxides and fuel gases like hydrogen, methane evolved during the SAGD field operation, and • In situ process design for bitumen gasification.
dc.format.extentxxi, 268 leaves : ill. ; 30 cm.en
dc.identifier.citationKapadia, P. R. (2012). Gasification of Athabasca bitumen: hydrogen generation, kinetics, and in situ process design (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/5061en_US
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/5061
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1880/106062
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Calgaryen
dc.publisher.placeCalgaryen
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.
dc.titleGasification of Athabasca bitumen: hydrogen generation, kinetics, and in situ process design
dc.typedoctoral thesis
thesis.degree.disciplineChemical and Petroleum Engineering
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Calgary
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophy (PhD)
ucalgary.item.requestcopytrue
ucalgary.thesis.accessionTheses Collection 58.002:Box 2111 627942981
ucalgary.thesis.notesUARCen
ucalgary.thesis.uarcreleaseyen
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
thesis_Kapadia_2012.pdf
Size:
139.31 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Thesis
Download
Collections
Legacy Theses