EP0269231A1 - Récupération d'huile lourde - Google Patents

Récupération d'huile lourde Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0269231A1
EP0269231A1 EP19870308937 EP87308937A EP0269231A1 EP 0269231 A1 EP0269231 A1 EP 0269231A1 EP 19870308937 EP19870308937 EP 19870308937 EP 87308937 A EP87308937 A EP 87308937A EP 0269231 A1 EP0269231 A1 EP 0269231A1
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EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
bitumen
deposit
conditioning
recovery
conditioned
Prior art date
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.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP19870308937
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German (de)
English (en)
Inventor
Alan Stockwell
Alisatair Stewart Taylor
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
BP PLC
Original Assignee
BP PLC
Priority date (The priority date 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 date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by BP PLC filed Critical BP PLC
Publication of EP0269231A1 publication Critical patent/EP0269231A1/fr
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C10—PETROLEUM, GAS OR COKE INDUSTRIES; TECHNICAL GASES CONTAINING CARBON MONOXIDE; FUELS; LUBRICANTS; PEAT
    • C10G—CRACKING HYDROCARBON OILS; PRODUCTION OF LIQUID HYDROCARBON MIXTURES, e.g. BY DESTRUCTIVE HYDROGENATION, OLIGOMERISATION, POLYMERISATION; RECOVERY OF HYDROCARBON OILS FROM OIL-SHALE, OIL-SAND, OR GASES; REFINING MIXTURES MAINLY CONSISTING OF HYDROCARBONS; REFORMING OF NAPHTHA; MINERAL WAXES
    • C10G1/00—Production of liquid hydrocarbon mixtures from oil-shale, oil-sand, or non-melting solid carbonaceous or similar materials, e.g. wood, coal
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C10—PETROLEUM, GAS OR COKE INDUSTRIES; TECHNICAL GASES CONTAINING CARBON MONOXIDE; FUELS; LUBRICANTS; PEAT
    • C10C—WORKING-UP PITCH, ASPHALT, BITUMEN, TAR; PYROLIGNEOUS ACID
    • C10C3/00—Working-up pitch, asphalt, bitumen
    • C10C3/007—Working-up pitch, asphalt, bitumen winning and separation of asphalt from mixtures with aggregates, fillers and other products, e.g. winning from natural asphalt and regeneration of waste asphalt
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C10—PETROLEUM, GAS OR COKE INDUSTRIES; TECHNICAL GASES CONTAINING CARBON MONOXIDE; FUELS; LUBRICANTS; PEAT
    • C10G—CRACKING HYDROCARBON OILS; PRODUCTION OF LIQUID HYDROCARBON MIXTURES, e.g. BY DESTRUCTIVE HYDROGENATION, OLIGOMERISATION, POLYMERISATION; RECOVERY OF HYDROCARBON OILS FROM OIL-SHALE, OIL-SAND, OR GASES; REFINING MIXTURES MAINLY CONSISTING OF HYDROCARBONS; REFORMING OF NAPHTHA; MINERAL WAXES
    • C10G1/00—Production of liquid hydrocarbon mixtures from oil-shale, oil-sand, or non-melting solid carbonaceous or similar materials, e.g. wood, coal
    • C10G1/04—Production of liquid hydrocarbon mixtures from oil-shale, oil-sand, or non-melting solid carbonaceous or similar materials, e.g. wood, coal by extraction

Definitions

  • This invention relates to a method for the recovery of heavy oil, especially bitumen from tar sands.
  • bitumens are associated with minerals such as clays and quartz, and are known as tar sands.
  • the Alberta tar sands are among the largest deposits of their kind in the world and are estimated to contain about one trillion barrels of bitumen in place.
  • the Athabasca region alone has reserves of 250 billion barrels.
  • About 0.7 million acres of the Athabasca deposit is overlain by 150 ft, or less, of overburden and is potentially capable of being mined from the surface.
  • the remaining 16.6 million acres are at such depths that the bitumen can only be recovered by in-situ methods.
  • the crude bitumen occurs in beds of sand and clay, usually partly connected together, and in porous carbonate rocks.
  • bitumen typically 15-20% weight
  • the bitumen typically has an API gravity of 7° and is denser than water at room temperature but becomes less dense than water at elevated temperatures.
  • the overburden may be removed and the tar sand recovered by open cast mining.
  • Mined tar sands are refined by the aforementioned hot water process. A description of this process is given in USP 4 474 616.
  • this process comprises first conditioning the tar sand, to make it amenable to flotation separation of the bitumen from the solids.
  • Conditioning involves feeding mined tar sands hot water (80°C), an alkaline process aid (usually NaOH), and steam into a rotating horizontal drum wherein the ingredients are agitated together under relatively high shear conditions.
  • the mined tar sand (in which the bitumen, connate water and solids are tightly bound together) becomes an aqueous slurry of porridge-like consistency, wherein the components are in loose association.
  • the slurry leaving the drum is screened to remove oversize material and then flooded or diluted with additional hot water.
  • the bitumen is the recovered by primary and secondary froth flotation.
  • Jet leaching is a known technique for the extraction of tar sands which comprises drilling and fixing casing until the pay zone is reached. The ore is then fragmented by directing high velocity jets of water onto it and the bitumen is pumped to the surface, leaving most of the solid particles downhole.
  • alkaline water pH > 11
  • high temperatures > 80°C
  • the water is generally deaerated and stripped of divalent metal ions.
  • Cyclic steam stimulation is otherwise known as "huff and puff".
  • steam is injected and the bitumen produced through the same well.
  • the steam is injected down the well for several weeks.
  • bitumen flows freely up the well for about one week, after which it has to be pumped to the surface. Pumping can usually be continued for several months before more steam must be injected.
  • the steam acts to heat the deposit and drive the bitumen from an injection well to a production well.
  • a two stage method for the recovery of heavy crude oil or bitumen associated with a solid inorganic sustance and water from an underground deposit comprises chemically conditioning the deposit in situ with an aqueous solution of an alkaline compound and subsequently treating the conditioned deposit to recover heavy crude oil or bitumen from it.
  • the preferred alkaline compound is sodium hydroxide.
  • This is preferably added to render the pH of the conditioning solution in the range 11 to 12.5.
  • the alkaline solution is left in a quiescent state so that physico-chemical action (rather than mechanical) detaches the bitumen from the inorganic solid making it more amenable to recovery.
  • a number of options are open to recover the bitumen. These include steam drive, cyclic steam simulation, a modified cyclic steam simulation in which steam and alkali are injected together, cold or hot water drive and jet leaching, preferably the latter, where tar sand is concerned.
  • in situ conditioning will increase yields and, in the case of cyclic steam stimulation, will extend the periods between injection of steam.
  • a medium grade (11.6 wt % bitumen) Athabascan tar sand sample was used.
  • the tar sand had poor processing characteristics and as such was considered to be suitable for investigating experimental procedures aimed at improving processability.
  • Samples of tar sand (125 g) were conditioned by contacting with sodium hudroxide solution (50 ml over pH range 9 - 13), initially at a known temperature (20 - 80°C), and allowed to cool naturally over a known time period (0.25 - 24 h).
  • deionised water (1350 ml) was added to the closed jet leaching loop and bitumen recovered by jetting with leachant at known temperature (30 - 80°C), for a constant time period (0.67 h) and jet velocity (ca 3 m s ⁇ 1).
  • bitumen recovery was determined gravimetrically by solvent (toluene) extraction of the cleaned sand following bitumen extraction.
  • Figure 1 illustrates the bitumen recovery from the tar sand for both the static and jet leaching tests, as a function of the initial pH of the sodium hydroxide conditioning agent.
  • a critical pH ca 11
  • Increasing this pH resulted in tar sand conditioning, characterised by rapid disintegration of the tar sand matrix, the formation of a stable clay dispersion in the supernatant conditioning fluid, and the adoption of a sandy rather than oily tar sand appearance.
  • higher pH > ca 12.5
  • the characteristic physical transformation of the tar sand matrix was not observed.
  • bitumen recovery can be ascribed primarily to emulsification type extraction mechanism, as was evident by the appearance of the leachant following a typical jet leaching experiment.
  • subsequent bitumen recoveries in a second stage extraction step were much higher than those observed in a single stage extraction without prior tar sand conditioning where typically ⁇ 5% bitumen was recovered.
  • the apparent limit in bitumen recovery (ca 85%) is thought to arise from the relatively moderate shear conditions (low jet velocity, short jetting times) imposed on the tar sand during a typical experiment.
  • bitumen recovery is seen to increase with increasing contact time and conditioning temperature, approaching a plateau in recovery at around 24 h contact time.
  • the effect of varying the temperature of the conditioning agent is more important, whereas for longer times (> 24 h), the bitumen recovery is independent of the initial conditioning temperature.
  • tar sand conditioned at 20°C for 24 hours results in an equivalent bitumen recovery to that conditioned initially at 80°C for 24 hours. This suggests that the predominant mechanism in the conditioning process and, in particular, the migration of bitumen within the tar sand matrix is chemically rather than temperature controlled.
  • Figure 3 shows the effect of varying the temperature of the leachtant in the extraction step following the conditioning process.
  • the alkali serves to reject un-wanted clay particles from the tar sand matrix and causes migration of bitumen droplets away from sand grains in readiness for detachment.
  • Reduction of pH in the second stage extraction step to ca pH 9 promotes clay settling and discourages bitumen emulsification.
  • a similar chemical driving force is not present to the same extent, such that bitumen removal is more dependent on a viscosity reduction mechanism with the requirement of high leachant temperatures.
  • the relatively high final alkalinity of the leachant (ca pH 11.2) promotes stabilisation of the clay dispersion and emulsification of the bitumen.

Landscapes

  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Oil, Petroleum & Natural Gas (AREA)
  • Organic Chemistry (AREA)
  • General Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
  • Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
  • Wood Science & Technology (AREA)
  • Civil Engineering (AREA)
  • Structural Engineering (AREA)
  • Materials Engineering (AREA)
  • Analytical Chemistry (AREA)
  • Production Of Liquid Hydrocarbon Mixture For Refining Petroleum (AREA)
EP19870308937 1986-10-30 1987-10-08 Récupération d'huile lourde Withdrawn EP0269231A1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB8625933 1986-10-30
GB868625933A GB8625933D0 (en) 1986-10-30 1986-10-30 Recovery of heavy oil

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0269231A1 true EP0269231A1 (fr) 1988-06-01

Family

ID=10606524

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP19870308937 Withdrawn EP0269231A1 (fr) 1986-10-30 1987-10-08 Récupération d'huile lourde

Country Status (3)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0269231A1 (fr)
CA (1) CA1300000C (fr)
GB (1) GB8625933D0 (fr)

Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5264118A (en) * 1989-11-24 1993-11-23 Alberta Energy Company, Ltd. Pipeline conditioning process for mined oil-sand
US7770643B2 (en) 2006-10-10 2010-08-10 Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. Hydrocarbon recovery using fluids
US7809538B2 (en) 2006-01-13 2010-10-05 Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. Real time monitoring and control of thermal recovery operations for heavy oil reservoirs
US7832482B2 (en) 2006-10-10 2010-11-16 Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. Producing resources using steam injection

Families Citing this family (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CA2972203C (fr) 2017-06-29 2018-07-17 Exxonmobil Upstream Research Company Solvant de chasse destine aux procedes ameliores de recuperation
CA2974712C (fr) 2017-07-27 2018-09-25 Imperial Oil Resources Limited Methodes ameliorees de recuperation d'hydrocarbures visqueux d'une formation souterraine comme etape qui suit des procedes de recuperation thermique
CA2978157C (fr) 2017-08-31 2018-10-16 Exxonmobil Upstream Research Company Methodes de recuperation thermique servant a recuperer des hydrocarbures visqueux d'une formation souterraine
CA2983541C (fr) 2017-10-24 2019-01-22 Exxonmobil Upstream Research Company Systemes et methodes de surveillance et controle dynamiques de niveau de liquide

Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4409091A (en) * 1979-06-08 1983-10-11 Research Council Of Alberta Alkali recycle process for recovery of heavy oils and bitumens
US4549935A (en) * 1980-04-08 1985-10-29 Suncor, Inc. Conditioning drum for a tar sands hot water extraction process

Patent Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4409091A (en) * 1979-06-08 1983-10-11 Research Council Of Alberta Alkali recycle process for recovery of heavy oils and bitumens
US4549935A (en) * 1980-04-08 1985-10-29 Suncor, Inc. Conditioning drum for a tar sands hot water extraction process

Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5264118A (en) * 1989-11-24 1993-11-23 Alberta Energy Company, Ltd. Pipeline conditioning process for mined oil-sand
US7809538B2 (en) 2006-01-13 2010-10-05 Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. Real time monitoring and control of thermal recovery operations for heavy oil reservoirs
US7770643B2 (en) 2006-10-10 2010-08-10 Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. Hydrocarbon recovery using fluids
US7832482B2 (en) 2006-10-10 2010-11-16 Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. Producing resources using steam injection

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
CA1300000C (fr) 1992-05-05
GB8625933D0 (en) 1986-12-03

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