Nano-Catalytic In-Situ Upgrading and Enhanced Recovery of Heavy Oil from Carbonate Reservoirs
Date
2020-05
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Abstract
The current low oil price conditions and the decline in conventional oil reserves as well as the recent concerns on greenhouse gas emissions have motivated researchers and industries to investigate development of novel technologies to produce from heavy oil and bitumen reservoirs. In this thesis, heavy oil recovery from carbonate reservoirs is studied by using an in-situ upgrading technology (ISUT). In this technology, an aboveground vacuum distillation unit is used to separate the vacuum residue from the produced oil, which is a high molecular weight (low quality) cut of oil. Nano-catalysts are then dispersed into the vacuum residue (VR) and are re-injected in the reservoirs, along with hydrogen. By injecting VR, catalyst, and hydrogen, the catalytic nano-particles deposit in the rock around an injection well, where the upgrading reactions occur. Subsequently, the produced light hydrocarbons and gases from the upgrading reactions help to enhance the heavy oil displacement toward production wells. In this thesis, three main steps of the ISUT process are explored. Initially, a computational fluid dynamics study is implemented to model the VR and hydrogen multiphase injection into reservoirs, primarily to ensure that phase segregation does not happen in injection wells. Afterwards, catalytic hydrocracking reactions are analyzed comprehensively. A reaction kinetic model is developed, and upgraded products are characterized carefully. Lastly, with the aid of a novel continuous experimental setup, heavy oil displacement in zones farther from a reaction zone is studied. It is found that by injecting the recovered vacuum residue, instead of steam as a conventional heat carrier, to the reservoirs, the required energy for the catalytic upgrading reactions is provided. In addition to the heat propagation by exothermic hydro-upgrading reactions, the dissolution and diffusion of light upgraded liquid and gaseous products improve the recovery of heavy oil. Finally, by enhancing oil recovery and permanently upgrading heavy oil in one single stage, in- situ upgrading and recovery of heavy oil by the ISUT process can potentially offer a novel solution to the current challenges of the unconventional heavy oil and bitumen production.
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Keywords
In-situ upgrading technology (ISUT), Nano-catalyst, Heavy oil recovery, Hydroprocessing, Kinetic model, Computational fluid dynamics
Citation
Elahi, S. M. (2020). Nano-catalytic in-situ upgrading and enhanced recovery of heavy oil from carbonate reservoirs (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.