Pereira-Alamo, PedroRodriguez, Victor Manuel2017-10-022017-10-0220172017http://hdl.handle.net/11023/4185Technologies merging enhanced oil recovery with In-situ upgrading can significantly increase the economic and environmentally efficiency of unconventional oil exploitation. The development of Nanocatalytic In-situ Upgrading via Dense Hot Fluid Injection is a promising approach that takes advantage of upgrading lowest value bitumen fractions while promoting additional recovery of oil in place. This research addresses some important aspects related to the development of this novel technology, focusing on the until now unattended relevance of thermal kinetics (absence of catalyst particles), the precise range of particles sizes produced using the nano-catalyst manufacturing unit prototype built by the research group and the interaction rock-nano-particles relevant for the targeted catalyst deposition. The main limitation facing in-situ thermal upgrading (in porous media) of Athabasca bitumen was found to be product stability. Vacuum residue conversions above 32% result in unstable products, and although high viscosity reductions and moderate improvement of other properties are obtained they are not sufficient to produce transportable products. Additionally coke precursors are significantly retained by the porous media that further limiting the process. The kinetic modeling of thermal upgrading in porous media demonstrated the catalytic behavior of the sand pack reflected in an increase of the apparent reaction order for the vacuum residue to a second-order-of reaction. The use of Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis (NTA) for size determination of nano-catalyst dispersed in bitumen or heavy oil fractions was successfully developed. The produced catalyst particle size was found to be 111 nm (mode) with 80% of the particles in the range 57-176 nm. The effect of the main operating variables over the nano-particle retention and deposition was studied. Over 95% of particles retention was obtained, with no observable effect on the sandpack’s oil permeability. Concentration profiles along the porous media are similar for all tested conditions, with around 30% of nanoparticles at the entrance. Correlations for the profile and cumulative concentration are proposed. The morphological study of the resulting deposition showed particles deposited as large agglomerates for low temperature deposition tests, while high temperatures produced individually deposited particles near the entrance of the porous media.engUniversity 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.Engineering--ChemicalUpgradingIn-reservoirPorous MediumCatalyst Retention and DepositionNanoparticle sizingKinetic ModelingBitumenNanoparticle Tracking AnalysisAthabasca Bitumendoctoral thesis10.11575/PRISM/25226