CA1238008A - Heavy oil sample preparation - Google Patents
Heavy oil sample preparationInfo
- Publication number
- CA1238008A CA1238008A CA000457364A CA457364A CA1238008A CA 1238008 A CA1238008 A CA 1238008A CA 000457364 A CA000457364 A CA 000457364A CA 457364 A CA457364 A CA 457364A CA 1238008 A CA1238008 A CA 1238008A
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- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- oil
- volatile
- reservoir
- hydrocarbon
- heavy
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- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
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- Production Of Liquid Hydrocarbon Mixture For Refining Petroleum (AREA)
- Extraction Or Liquid Replacement (AREA)
Abstract
HEAVY OIL SAMPLE PREPARATION
Abstract of the Disclosure A substantially solids-free sample of an oil having sub-stantially the same hydrocarbon distribution as a heavy oil contained in a subterranean reservoir is prepared by vacuum-topping a field sample of the oil or oil-containing material while cold-trapping vola-tiles, diluting the topped oil with a volatile oil solvent, mechanically separating the solution from entrained solids, vacuum-distilling the solvent from the dissolved oil and recombining the oil and the cold-trapped volatiles.
Abstract of the Disclosure A substantially solids-free sample of an oil having sub-stantially the same hydrocarbon distribution as a heavy oil contained in a subterranean reservoir is prepared by vacuum-topping a field sample of the oil or oil-containing material while cold-trapping vola-tiles, diluting the topped oil with a volatile oil solvent, mechanically separating the solution from entrained solids, vacuum-distilling the solvent from the dissolved oil and recombining the oil and the cold-trapped volatiles.
Description
~ 3~ 63293-2426 HEAVY OIL SAMPLE PREPARATION
Background of the Invention This invention relates to extracting a heavy oil from a field sample of -the oil and/or oil-containing portion of a subterranean oil formation and preparing a substan~ially solids-free oil sample having a chemical composition which is substan-tially identical to that of the oil in the reservoir.
As far as applicants have been able to ascertain, the methods of separating such oils from field samples and preparing samples for laboratory utilizations have remained substantially the same for at least about 40 years. For example, the text-book "Petroleum Production Engineering Oil Field Development"
by Lester Charles Uren, McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1946, describes a procedure for extracting oil Erom fielc~ samples. It comprises contacting the sample in a Soxhlet extractor with substantially any volatile solvent which does not alter the mineral structure of the reservoir material and is capable of dissolving the oil or oil residue from the reservoir material.
In a booklet, "Syncrude AnalyticalMethods for Oil Sand and Bitumen Processing", published by Syncrude Canada, ~td., August, 1979, the extraction procedure is substantially the same --"The sample is separated into bitumen, water and solids by reflexing with toluene in a solids extraction apparatus.
Condensed solid and co-distilled water are continuously separated in a trap, the water being retained in the graduated section" (page 46).
Such prior procedures are relatively widely used but have a serious defect. It is generally desirable to mechanically separate the laboratory sample of the oil from solid particles
Background of the Invention This invention relates to extracting a heavy oil from a field sample of -the oil and/or oil-containing portion of a subterranean oil formation and preparing a substan~ially solids-free oil sample having a chemical composition which is substan-tially identical to that of the oil in the reservoir.
As far as applicants have been able to ascertain, the methods of separating such oils from field samples and preparing samples for laboratory utilizations have remained substantially the same for at least about 40 years. For example, the text-book "Petroleum Production Engineering Oil Field Development"
by Lester Charles Uren, McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1946, describes a procedure for extracting oil Erom fielc~ samples. It comprises contacting the sample in a Soxhlet extractor with substantially any volatile solvent which does not alter the mineral structure of the reservoir material and is capable of dissolving the oil or oil residue from the reservoir material.
In a booklet, "Syncrude AnalyticalMethods for Oil Sand and Bitumen Processing", published by Syncrude Canada, ~td., August, 1979, the extraction procedure is substantially the same --"The sample is separated into bitumen, water and solids by reflexing with toluene in a solids extraction apparatus.
Condensed solid and co-distilled water are continuously separated in a trap, the water being retained in the graduated section" (page 46).
Such prior procedures are relatively widely used but have a serious defect. It is generally desirable to mechanically separate the laboratory sample of the oil from solid particles
-2- '~ 8 63293-2426 larger than about 0.1 micron;for example, by filtration through a millipore filter or by means of centrifugation. Due to the high viscosity of heavy oils, their dilution with the volatile solvent is usually required. After separating the solid particles, the solvent is removed by evaporation. The evaporation removes most of the water which is present in the original oil and also removes most or all of the volatil~e components that were present in the oil. Thus, in such prior procedures, the light ends are irretrievably lost and the hydrocarbon distribution within the solids-free sample of the oil is different from that in the original oil. These differences are particularly important in tests oE -the mobility of the oil in cores or packs at diEEerent temperatures and/or in contact with different fluids.
Summary of the Invention ._ The present invention relates to a process for pre-paring a substantially solids-free sample of a heavy oil obtained from a subterranean reservoir formation so that the hydrocarbon distribution in the solids-free oil is substantially the same as that in the reservoir oil. As a first step, the volatile hydrocarbon components arevacuum-distilled from a field sample of oil or oil~containin~ material from the subterranean reservoir formation. The distillation is conducted at a temperature which is greater than the boiling point of the oil solvent to be used but less then the boiling or cracking temperature of the heavy hydrocarhon components of the reservoir oil. Substantially all of the distilled light ends and water are condensed and retained. Water is mechanically separated from the condensed volatile hydrocarbon compnents. The "topped"
heavy hydrocarbon components of the reservoir oil, which remain
Summary of the Invention ._ The present invention relates to a process for pre-paring a substantially solids-free sample of a heavy oil obtained from a subterranean reservoir formation so that the hydrocarbon distribution in the solids-free oil is substantially the same as that in the reservoir oil. As a first step, the volatile hydrocarbon components arevacuum-distilled from a field sample of oil or oil~containin~ material from the subterranean reservoir formation. The distillation is conducted at a temperature which is greater than the boiling point of the oil solvent to be used but less then the boiling or cracking temperature of the heavy hydrocarhon components of the reservoir oil. Substantially all of the distilled light ends and water are condensed and retained. Water is mechanically separated from the condensed volatile hydrocarbon compnents. The "topped"
heavy hydrocarbon components of the reservoir oil, which remain
-3- ~ 63293-2426 as a distillation residue, are dissolved in a volatile oil solvent and the solution is mechanically separated from substantially all so]id paricles having diame-ters greater than about 0.1 micron. Substantially all of the oil solvent is then vacuum-distilled from the solids-free solution of the heavy hydrocarbon components of the reservoir oil. ~he condensed volatile hydrocarbon componentsof the reservoir oil are then combined with the solids~free heavy hydrocarbons, remaining as a residue from the distillation of the solvent, in order to form a reconstituted solids-free reservoir oil hav~ng substantially the same hydrocarbon distribution as the oil in the reservoir.
Description of the Drawing Figure 1 is a schematic illustration of an apparatus suitable for vacuum-distilling the volatile components from a reservoir oil in accordance with the present invention.
Figure 2 is a graph of the weight percent of h~dro-carbons with the indicated numbers of carbon atoms.
Description of Preferred Embodiments Figure 1 shows an apparatus with which the volatile hydrocarbon components or light ends can advantageously be vacuum-distilled from a field sample of the reservoir oil or an oil-Gontaining portion of the subterranean reservoir formation.
The field sample is placed in distillation flask 1, which is arranged to be mechanically rotated by a motor unit 2 while being evacuated by a vacuum pump 3. The distillation flask is preferably heated in a liquid-filled fluid bath 4. The volatil-ized light ends and any water present in the field sample are preferably condensed in an evacuated container immersed in a liquid-filled cold-trap 5. Such a cold trap is preferably
Description of the Drawing Figure 1 is a schematic illustration of an apparatus suitable for vacuum-distilling the volatile components from a reservoir oil in accordance with the present invention.
Figure 2 is a graph of the weight percent of h~dro-carbons with the indicated numbers of carbon atoms.
Description of Preferred Embodiments Figure 1 shows an apparatus with which the volatile hydrocarbon components or light ends can advantageously be vacuum-distilled from a field sample of the reservoir oil or an oil-Gontaining portion of the subterranean reservoir formation.
The field sample is placed in distillation flask 1, which is arranged to be mechanically rotated by a motor unit 2 while being evacuated by a vacuum pump 3. The distillation flask is preferably heated in a liquid-filled fluid bath 4. The volatil-ized light ends and any water present in the field sample are preferably condensed in an evacuated container immersed in a liquid-filled cold-trap 5. Such a cold trap is preferably
-4- ~3~ 63293-2426 cooled by liquid nitrogen, a mixture of acetone and dry ice, or the like, to form a condensed liquid 6 comprising condensed "light" or volatile hydrocarbons and any water that was present in the field sample.
The initial evacuation or distillation of the volatile hydrocarbon and water components of the field sample can conveniently be conducted in a distillation flask connected to a stirring and evacuating system such as a Rotovac Unit available from Buchlar Instruments. Such a vacuum-distillation is preferably conducted at a relatively "hard vacuum" at least as low as aboutO.Ol millimeter of mercury. The distillation flask is preferably heated in a water bath to a temperature of not more than about 70~. Where the field sample is, or contains, portions oE solid reservoir formation material, that solid material is preferably crushed and placed in th~ distil-lation flask along with heat transfer-material such as relatively large steel balls.
After the vacu~-distillation of the volatile components of the field sample, the residual material in the distillation ~o flask is contacted with a volatile oil solvent and dissolved and/or dispersed -to form a solution containing substantially all of the heavy hydrocarbon components of reservoir oil. The volatile oil solvent preferably comprises at least one liquid which is substantially completely miscible with substantially all components of the reservoir oil and contains non-hydrocarbon groups or atoms and/or radioactive isotopes which are readily detectable in the presence of hydrocarbons, for making it easy to detect the amount of the solvent which is mixed with hdyrocarbon components of the reservoir oil. ~alogenated hydrocarbon oil solvents such as methylene chloride, ch:Loroform, Freon-ll(b.p. about 2~C) and mixtures such as methanol and ~23B~3~13 63293-2~26 chloroform are suitable. Methylene chloride is a particularly suitable solvent.
The resulting solution of heavy oil hydrocarbon~ in an oil solvent is mechanically freed of solid particles by a mechanical means such as filtration or centrifugation. The separation is preferably accomplished by filtering the solution through a millipore filter having pore sizes of about 0.1 micron. Such a separation can be conducted by means of sub-stantially any of the conventionally available methods or apparatuses.
The volatile oil solvent in the resulting substantially solids-free solution of heavy hydrocarbons is preEerably distilled out of that solution (for example, at a temperature no greater than about 50C in the case of methylene chloride solvent) to an extent reducing the solvent concentration in the solution to less than about 0.1 percent by weight. In general, the temperature at which the volatile oil sample is distilled should be at least about 10C less than the temperature at which the volatile components were distilled from -the field sample.
The heavy hydrocarbons remaining after the distillation of the volatile oil solvent are then mixed with the volatile hydro-carbons condensed in the initial vacuum-distillation of the field sample to provide a substantially solids-free sample of a reservoir oil having a hydrocarbon distxibution substantially equalling that of the oil in the reservoir.
E~e~
The following example illustrates a reconstruction of the original hydrocarbon distribution of a sample of Ca-t Canyon crude oil by means of an initial evacuation t cold-tapping and recombination in accordance with the present process. The ~2~
-5a- 63293-2426 hydrocarbon distributions at each stage are shown in Table 1.
~s known to those skilled in the art the exemplified results would be substantially unchanged by the inclusion of the presently specified procedures of diluting the initially evacuated, mechanically removing solids, distilling of the solvent prior to the recombining of the light and heavy components as exemplified.
The hydrocarbon distributions were obtained by a standard "simulated boiling point" procedure. In that pro-cedure a relatively small sample is stripped with inert gas at arelatively high temperature and the residue is burned while measurements are being made of the proportions of each of the hydrocarbon fractions. The results have a ]~nown correlation with the hydrocarbon distribution that would be obtained by an actual distillation of a relatively large sample.
f~l~t~ R r';~
6. ~3 Carbon B.P., C Volati 1 ~strlblltlo~~ Wel~lt Percent Number at 760 mm Colun~ A Column B Column C
_ 4 - .5 __ _ _ 36.1 ~
6 68.~ 0.4 0.0 o.6 7 98.4 1.3 0.0 o.8 8 125.7 2.1 0.0 1.~
9 150.8 2.3 0.0 1.8 174.1 2.1 0.0 1.9 11 195.9 2.2 0.3 2.0 12 216.3 2.1 1.1 1.9 13 235.ll 2.3 1.6 2.3 14 253.6 2.1 1.~ 2.1 270.6 1.9 1.8 1.9 16 286.8 1.7 I.~ 1.6 17 301.8 1.9 1.~ 1.8 18 316.1 1.7 1.7 1.7 19 329-7 1.4 1.LI 1.3 3LI2.7 1.3 1.3 1.3 21 355.6 1.2 1.2 1.2 22 367.6 1.1 1.1 1.2 23 379.0 1.1 1.1 1.1 24 389.9 0.9 1.0 1.0 400.4 Q.9 1.0 1.0 26 ~10.5 0.8 1.0 1.0 27 420.2 0.~ 1.0 1.0 28 429.6 0.~ 1.0 1.0 29 438.6 0.~ 1.0 1.0 447.3 0.8 1.0 0.9 31 456 0,7 0.~ 0.
32 46LI 0,7 o.8 Q.~
33 ll72 o .6 o . 8 o .8 34 479 0.6 0.7 0.7 34 ~ 479 61. 7~. ~2.
' .
-7- ~3~ 63293-2426 The hydrocarbon distribution of the original tar is listed in Column A. After that tar was heated and subjected to evacuation at a temperature of about 70C, its hydrocarbon distribution was that shown in Column B. When the volatile hydrocarbon components were recovered from the cold trap and added back to the topped tar sample (having the composition shown in Column B) the composition of the reconstituted -tar is shown in Column C.
The tabulated results show that in the topped sample the C7 and C8 components are substantially missing and there is a significant increase in the fraction of components heavier than C3~. Such an increase is typically produced by a loss oE
light ends. Column C shows that the adding back oE the cold-trapped volatiles substantially reproduces the original hydro carbon distribution of the original sample.
Figure 2 shows a graph of the results listed in Table 1. In the exemplified procedure the volatile hydrocarbon components cold trapped at the temperature of an acetone/dry ice bath. As shown in Figure 2, the volatility dristribution is complete.ly different for the original and that oil after the light ends were removed, up to carbon numbers of about 15.
The reconstituted oil, however, has most of the missing fractions. It is possible that, even with -the procedure exemplified, a trace of light ends can be lost. This could be minimized by using a liquid nitrogen cold trap or other trap of lower temperature.
To illustrate the effect of the light ends on the overall viscosity, it should be noted that a crude such as that shown in Figure 2 would have a viscosity of about 2300 centi-poises at 75F. If about 12% of the light endsaxe lost due to an -8- ~2~ 63293-2426 inadequate condensation of the initiallv vaporized light ends (as discussed above and indicated in Figure 2), and/or due to vaporization with solvent removal, the residue would probably have a viscosity of at least 9000 centipoises. Such a marked difference in viscosity could considerably affect the flow properties of the recovered material.
Such viscosity differences may be important. Although different crude oils are sometimes considered to be similar if their API gravities are similar (and thus may be expected to have similar flow properties) there is surprisingly little correlation between a high API gravity and a low viscosity. A plot showing the trend of API gravity with oil viscosity is given in "Laboratory Test on Heavy Oil Recovery by Stearn Injection", SPE Paper No. 10778, presented at the 1982 CaliEornia Regional Meeting of SPE, March 24-26, 1982, by P.J. Closmann and R.D.
Seba.
:
,., ~.
The initial evacuation or distillation of the volatile hydrocarbon and water components of the field sample can conveniently be conducted in a distillation flask connected to a stirring and evacuating system such as a Rotovac Unit available from Buchlar Instruments. Such a vacuum-distillation is preferably conducted at a relatively "hard vacuum" at least as low as aboutO.Ol millimeter of mercury. The distillation flask is preferably heated in a water bath to a temperature of not more than about 70~. Where the field sample is, or contains, portions oE solid reservoir formation material, that solid material is preferably crushed and placed in th~ distil-lation flask along with heat transfer-material such as relatively large steel balls.
After the vacu~-distillation of the volatile components of the field sample, the residual material in the distillation ~o flask is contacted with a volatile oil solvent and dissolved and/or dispersed -to form a solution containing substantially all of the heavy hydrocarbon components of reservoir oil. The volatile oil solvent preferably comprises at least one liquid which is substantially completely miscible with substantially all components of the reservoir oil and contains non-hydrocarbon groups or atoms and/or radioactive isotopes which are readily detectable in the presence of hydrocarbons, for making it easy to detect the amount of the solvent which is mixed with hdyrocarbon components of the reservoir oil. ~alogenated hydrocarbon oil solvents such as methylene chloride, ch:Loroform, Freon-ll(b.p. about 2~C) and mixtures such as methanol and ~23B~3~13 63293-2~26 chloroform are suitable. Methylene chloride is a particularly suitable solvent.
The resulting solution of heavy oil hydrocarbon~ in an oil solvent is mechanically freed of solid particles by a mechanical means such as filtration or centrifugation. The separation is preferably accomplished by filtering the solution through a millipore filter having pore sizes of about 0.1 micron. Such a separation can be conducted by means of sub-stantially any of the conventionally available methods or apparatuses.
The volatile oil solvent in the resulting substantially solids-free solution of heavy hydrocarbons is preEerably distilled out of that solution (for example, at a temperature no greater than about 50C in the case of methylene chloride solvent) to an extent reducing the solvent concentration in the solution to less than about 0.1 percent by weight. In general, the temperature at which the volatile oil sample is distilled should be at least about 10C less than the temperature at which the volatile components were distilled from -the field sample.
The heavy hydrocarbons remaining after the distillation of the volatile oil solvent are then mixed with the volatile hydro-carbons condensed in the initial vacuum-distillation of the field sample to provide a substantially solids-free sample of a reservoir oil having a hydrocarbon distxibution substantially equalling that of the oil in the reservoir.
E~e~
The following example illustrates a reconstruction of the original hydrocarbon distribution of a sample of Ca-t Canyon crude oil by means of an initial evacuation t cold-tapping and recombination in accordance with the present process. The ~2~
-5a- 63293-2426 hydrocarbon distributions at each stage are shown in Table 1.
~s known to those skilled in the art the exemplified results would be substantially unchanged by the inclusion of the presently specified procedures of diluting the initially evacuated, mechanically removing solids, distilling of the solvent prior to the recombining of the light and heavy components as exemplified.
The hydrocarbon distributions were obtained by a standard "simulated boiling point" procedure. In that pro-cedure a relatively small sample is stripped with inert gas at arelatively high temperature and the residue is burned while measurements are being made of the proportions of each of the hydrocarbon fractions. The results have a ]~nown correlation with the hydrocarbon distribution that would be obtained by an actual distillation of a relatively large sample.
f~l~t~ R r';~
6. ~3 Carbon B.P., C Volati 1 ~strlblltlo~~ Wel~lt Percent Number at 760 mm Colun~ A Column B Column C
_ 4 - .5 __ _ _ 36.1 ~
6 68.~ 0.4 0.0 o.6 7 98.4 1.3 0.0 o.8 8 125.7 2.1 0.0 1.~
9 150.8 2.3 0.0 1.8 174.1 2.1 0.0 1.9 11 195.9 2.2 0.3 2.0 12 216.3 2.1 1.1 1.9 13 235.ll 2.3 1.6 2.3 14 253.6 2.1 1.~ 2.1 270.6 1.9 1.8 1.9 16 286.8 1.7 I.~ 1.6 17 301.8 1.9 1.~ 1.8 18 316.1 1.7 1.7 1.7 19 329-7 1.4 1.LI 1.3 3LI2.7 1.3 1.3 1.3 21 355.6 1.2 1.2 1.2 22 367.6 1.1 1.1 1.2 23 379.0 1.1 1.1 1.1 24 389.9 0.9 1.0 1.0 400.4 Q.9 1.0 1.0 26 ~10.5 0.8 1.0 1.0 27 420.2 0.~ 1.0 1.0 28 429.6 0.~ 1.0 1.0 29 438.6 0.~ 1.0 1.0 447.3 0.8 1.0 0.9 31 456 0,7 0.~ 0.
32 46LI 0,7 o.8 Q.~
33 ll72 o .6 o . 8 o .8 34 479 0.6 0.7 0.7 34 ~ 479 61. 7~. ~2.
' .
-7- ~3~ 63293-2426 The hydrocarbon distribution of the original tar is listed in Column A. After that tar was heated and subjected to evacuation at a temperature of about 70C, its hydrocarbon distribution was that shown in Column B. When the volatile hydrocarbon components were recovered from the cold trap and added back to the topped tar sample (having the composition shown in Column B) the composition of the reconstituted -tar is shown in Column C.
The tabulated results show that in the topped sample the C7 and C8 components are substantially missing and there is a significant increase in the fraction of components heavier than C3~. Such an increase is typically produced by a loss oE
light ends. Column C shows that the adding back oE the cold-trapped volatiles substantially reproduces the original hydro carbon distribution of the original sample.
Figure 2 shows a graph of the results listed in Table 1. In the exemplified procedure the volatile hydrocarbon components cold trapped at the temperature of an acetone/dry ice bath. As shown in Figure 2, the volatility dristribution is complete.ly different for the original and that oil after the light ends were removed, up to carbon numbers of about 15.
The reconstituted oil, however, has most of the missing fractions. It is possible that, even with -the procedure exemplified, a trace of light ends can be lost. This could be minimized by using a liquid nitrogen cold trap or other trap of lower temperature.
To illustrate the effect of the light ends on the overall viscosity, it should be noted that a crude such as that shown in Figure 2 would have a viscosity of about 2300 centi-poises at 75F. If about 12% of the light endsaxe lost due to an -8- ~2~ 63293-2426 inadequate condensation of the initiallv vaporized light ends (as discussed above and indicated in Figure 2), and/or due to vaporization with solvent removal, the residue would probably have a viscosity of at least 9000 centipoises. Such a marked difference in viscosity could considerably affect the flow properties of the recovered material.
Such viscosity differences may be important. Although different crude oils are sometimes considered to be similar if their API gravities are similar (and thus may be expected to have similar flow properties) there is surprisingly little correlation between a high API gravity and a low viscosity. A plot showing the trend of API gravity with oil viscosity is given in "Laboratory Test on Heavy Oil Recovery by Stearn Injection", SPE Paper No. 10778, presented at the 1982 CaliEornia Regional Meeting of SPE, March 24-26, 1982, by P.J. Closmann and R.D.
Seba.
:
,., ~.
Claims (3)
WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:
1. A process for preparing a substantially solids-free sample of a heavy reservoir oil comprising:
vacuum-distilling volatile components from a field sample of oil or oil-containing material from a subterranean heavy oil reservoir at a temperature which is at least significantly greater than the boiling point of an oil solvent to be used but is less than the boiling or cracking temperature of the heavy hydrocarbon components of the reservoir oil while condensing and retainer substantially all of the distillate;
mechanically separating water from the hydrocarbon com-ponents of the resultant condensate;
dissolving the remaining topped heavy hydrocarbon com-ponents of the reservoir oil in a volatile oil solvent and mechanically freeing the solution of substantially all solid particles having dia-meters greater than about 0.1 micron;
distilling substantially all of the volatile oil solvent from the solids-free solution at a temperature and pressure which is significantly less than that used in the vacuum distillation of the field sample; and combining the condensed volatile hydrocarbon components with the heavy hydrocarbon components to provide a substantially solids-free sample of oil having a hydrocarbon distribution substantially equalling that of the reservoir oil.
vacuum-distilling volatile components from a field sample of oil or oil-containing material from a subterranean heavy oil reservoir at a temperature which is at least significantly greater than the boiling point of an oil solvent to be used but is less than the boiling or cracking temperature of the heavy hydrocarbon components of the reservoir oil while condensing and retainer substantially all of the distillate;
mechanically separating water from the hydrocarbon com-ponents of the resultant condensate;
dissolving the remaining topped heavy hydrocarbon com-ponents of the reservoir oil in a volatile oil solvent and mechanically freeing the solution of substantially all solid particles having dia-meters greater than about 0.1 micron;
distilling substantially all of the volatile oil solvent from the solids-free solution at a temperature and pressure which is significantly less than that used in the vacuum distillation of the field sample; and combining the condensed volatile hydrocarbon components with the heavy hydrocarbon components to provide a substantially solids-free sample of oil having a hydrocarbon distribution substantially equalling that of the reservoir oil.
2. The process of Claim 1 in which the volatile hydrocarbon components are distilled at a temperature of about 70°C and a pressure of less than about 0.01 millimeter of mercury and the volatile oil sol-vent in which the topped heavy hydrocarbon components of the reservoir oil are dissolved in contains at least one non-hydrocarbon group or atom and is distilled from the solution at a temperature less than about 60°C.
10.
10.
3. The process of Claim 2 in which the volatile oil solvent is methylene chloride and is distilled from the solution at about 50°C.
Priority Applications (1)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
CA000457364A CA1238008A (en) | 1984-06-25 | 1984-06-25 | Heavy oil sample preparation |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
CA000457364A CA1238008A (en) | 1984-06-25 | 1984-06-25 | Heavy oil sample preparation |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
CA1238008A true CA1238008A (en) | 1988-06-14 |
Family
ID=4128166
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
CA000457364A Expired CA1238008A (en) | 1984-06-25 | 1984-06-25 | Heavy oil sample preparation |
Country Status (1)
Country | Link |
---|---|
CA (1) | CA1238008A (en) |
-
1984
- 1984-06-25 CA CA000457364A patent/CA1238008A/en not_active Expired
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