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Douglas L, Rivera-Gonzalez N, Cool N, Bajpayee A, Udayakantha M, Liu GW, Anita, Banerjee S. A Materials Science Perspective of Midstream Challenges in the Utilization of Heavy Crude Oil. ACS OMEGA 2022; 7:1547-1574. [PMID: 35071852 PMCID: PMC8772305 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.1c06399] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2021] [Accepted: 12/24/2021] [Indexed: 12/30/2023]
Abstract
An increasing global population and a sharply upward trajectory of per capita energy consumption continue to drive the demand for fossil fuels, which remain integral to energy grids and the global transportation infrastructure. The oil and gas industry is increasingly reliant on unconventional deposits such as heavy crude oil and bitumen for reasons of accessibility, scale, and geopolitics. Unconventional deposits such as the Canadian Oil Sands in Northern Alberta contain more than one-third of the world's viscous oil reserves and are vital linchpins to meet the energy needs of rapidly industrializing populations. Heavy oil is typically recovered from subsurface deposits using thermal recovery approaches such as steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD). In this perspective article, we discuss several aspects of materials science challenges in the utilization of heavy crude oil with an emphasis on the needs of the Canadian Oil Sands. In particular, we discuss surface modification and materials' design approaches essential to operations under extreme environments of high temperatures and pressures and the presence of corrosive species. The demanding conditions for materials and surfaces are directly traceable to the high viscosity, low surface tension, and substantial sulfur content of heavy crude oil, which necessitates extensive energy-intensive thermal processes, warrants dilution/emulsification to ease the flow of rheologically challenging fluids, and engenders the need to protect corrodible components. Geopolitical reasons have further led to a considerable geographic separation between extraction sites and advanced refineries capable of processing heavy oils to a diverse slate of products, thus necessitating a massive midstream infrastructure for transportation of these rheologically challenging fluids. Innovations in fluid handling, bitumen processing, and midstream transportation are critical to the economic viability of heavy oil. Here, we discuss foundational principles, recent technological advancements, and unmet needs emphasizing candidate solutions for thermal insulation, membrane-assisted separations, corrosion protection, and midstream bitumen transportation. This perspective seeks to highlight illustrative materials' technology developments spanning the range from nanocomposite coatings and cement sheaths for thermal insulation to the utilization of orthogonal wettability to engender separation of water-oil emulsions stabilized by endogenous surfactants extracted during SAGD, size-exclusion membranes for fractionation of bitumen, omniphobic coatings for drag reduction in pipelines and to ease oil handling in containers, solid prills obtained from partial bitumen solidification to enable solid-state transport with reduced risk of damage from spills, and nanocomposite coatings incorporating multiple modes of corrosion inhibition. Future outlooks for onsite partial upgradation are also described, which could potentially bypass the use of refineries for some fractions, enable access to a broader cross-section of refineries, and enable a new distributed chemical manufacturing paradigm.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lacey
D. Douglas
- Department
of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77842-3012, United States
- Department
of Materials Science and Engineering, Texas
A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-3003, United States
| | - Natalia Rivera-Gonzalez
- Department
of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77842-3012, United States
- Department
of Materials Science and Engineering, Texas
A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-3003, United States
| | - Nicholas Cool
- Department
of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77842-3012, United States
- Department
of Materials Science and Engineering, Texas
A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-3003, United States
| | - Aayushi Bajpayee
- Department
of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77842-3012, United States
- Department
of Materials Science and Engineering, Texas
A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-3003, United States
| | - Malsha Udayakantha
- Department
of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77842-3012, United States
- Department
of Materials Science and Engineering, Texas
A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-3003, United States
| | - Guan-Wen Liu
- Department
of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77842-3012, United States
- Department
of Materials Science and Engineering, Texas
A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-3003, United States
| | - Anita
- Department
of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77842-3012, United States
- Department
of Materials Science and Engineering, Texas
A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-3003, United States
| | - Sarbajit Banerjee
- Department
of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77842-3012, United States
- Department
of Materials Science and Engineering, Texas
A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-3003, United States
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Li X, Bian R, Wang J, Wang X, Ma J, Ma G, Sui H, He L. Recovery of extra-heavy oil and minerals from carbonate asphalt rocks by reactive extraction. RSC Adv 2019; 9:14372-14381. [PMID: 35519333 PMCID: PMC9064009 DOI: 10.1039/c9ra02025j] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2019] [Accepted: 04/25/2019] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Quite different from the Canadian oil sands, the Indonesian asphalt rocks proved to be carbonate unconventional oil ores. The strong interactions between asphalt and minerals make water-based extraction work poorly in separating this kind of ore. Herein, a reactive extraction process has been proposed to separate asphalt and mineral solids from the ores through dissolving the mineral solids (i.e., carbonate minerals, metal oxides, etc.) by acids (formic acid). It is evidenced that most of the asphalt could be recovered and collected on the top of the solution by generated CO2. What's more, the unreacted formic acid could be recycled in this process. The dissolved metal ions could be efficiently recovered to obtain different by-products by chemical settling and crystallization. The amount of residual solids settled at the bottom of the reactor is very small. Further tests show that the reaction efficiency is highly dependent on the operational conditions, including temperature, stirring rate, acid dosage, concentration of acid, etc. It is also found that the reaction could allow minerals to be redistributed in different phases. Although some metal elements could be dissolved into solution, elements such as Fe, Al, S, Si, and Ti are observed to accumulate in asphalt froth. In addition to reacting with minerals, formic acid is also found to reduce asphalt viscosity. This reduction improves the reaction efficiency. Based on primary evaluations, the above findings suggest that the reactive extraction would be a potential process to exploit the Indonesian asphalt rocks (or other similar ores) due to its full recovery to all materials. A reactive extraction was applied to recover heavy and minerals from carbonate asphalt rocks.![]()
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Affiliation(s)
- Xingang Li
- School of Chemical Engineering and Technology
- Tianjin University
- Tianjin
- China
- National Engineering Research Center of Distillation Technology
| | - Renzhou Bian
- School of Chemical Engineering and Technology
- Tianjin University
- Tianjin
- China
- National Engineering Research Center of Distillation Technology
| | - Junyan Wang
- School of Chemical Engineering and Technology
- Tianjin University
- Tianjin
- China
- National Engineering Research Center of Distillation Technology
| | - Xianyi Wang
- School of Chemical Engineering and Technology
- Tianjin University
- Tianjin
- China
- National Engineering Research Center of Distillation Technology
| | - Jun Ma
- School of Chemical Engineering and Technology
- Tianjin University
- Tianjin
- China
- National Engineering Research Center of Distillation Technology
| | - Guoqiang Ma
- School of Chemical Engineering and Technology
- Tianjin University
- Tianjin
- China
- National Engineering Research Center of Distillation Technology
| | - Hong Sui
- School of Chemical Engineering and Technology
- Tianjin University
- Tianjin
- China
- National Engineering Research Center of Distillation Technology
| | - Lin He
- School of Chemical Engineering and Technology
- Tianjin University
- Tianjin
- China
- National Engineering Research Center of Distillation Technology
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Geramian M, Liu Q, Ivey DG, Etsell TH. Influence of Oil Sands Composition on Bitumen Quality During Non‐Aqueous Bitumen Extraction from the Athabasca Deposit. CAN J CHEM ENG 2018. [DOI: 10.1002/cjce.23340] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Mirjavad Geramian
- Department of Chemical and Materials EngineeringUniversity of AlbertaEdmontonAB, Canada, T6G 1H9
| | - Qi Liu
- Department of Chemical and Materials EngineeringUniversity of AlbertaEdmontonAB, Canada, T6G 1H9
| | - Douglas G. Ivey
- Department of Chemical and Materials EngineeringUniversity of AlbertaEdmontonAB, Canada, T6G 1H9
| | - Thomas H. Etsell
- Department of Chemical and Materials EngineeringUniversity of AlbertaEdmontonAB, Canada, T6G 1H9
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Lin F, Stoyanov SR, Xu Y. Recent Advances in Nonaqueous Extraction of Bitumen from Mineable Oil Sands: A Review. Org Process Res Dev 2017. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.oprd.6b00357] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Feng Lin
- Natural Resources
Canada, CanmetENERGY
- Devon, One Oil Patch Drive, Devon, Alberta, Canada, T9G 1A8
| | - Stanislav R. Stoyanov
- Natural Resources
Canada, CanmetENERGY
- Devon, One Oil Patch Drive, Devon, Alberta, Canada, T9G 1A8
| | - Yuming Xu
- Natural Resources
Canada, CanmetENERGY
- Devon, One Oil Patch Drive, Devon, Alberta, Canada, T9G 1A8
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Sui H, Zhang J, Yuan Y, He L, Bai Y, Li X. Role of binary solvent and ionic liquid in bitumen recovery from oil sands. CAN J CHEM ENG 2016. [DOI: 10.1002/cjce.22477] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Hong Sui
- School of Chemical Engineering and Technology; Tianjin University; Tianjin, 300072 China
- National Engineering Research Center of Distillation Technology; Tianjin, 300072 China
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin); 300072 China
| | - Jianqiang Zhang
- School of Chemical Engineering and Technology; Tianjin University; Tianjin, 300072 China
| | - Yipu Yuan
- School of Chemical Engineering and Technology; Tianjin University; Tianjin, 300072 China
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin); 300072 China
| | - Lin He
- School of Chemical Engineering and Technology; Tianjin University; Tianjin, 300072 China
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin); 300072 China
| | - Yun Bai
- School of Chemical Engineering and Technology; Tianjin University; Tianjin, 300072 China
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin); 300072 China
| | - Xingang Li
- School of Chemical Engineering and Technology; Tianjin University; Tianjin, 300072 China
- National Engineering Research Center of Distillation Technology; Tianjin, 300072 China
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin); 300072 China
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He L, Lin F, Li X, Sui H, Xu Z. Interfacial sciences in unconventional petroleum production: from fundamentals to applications. Chem Soc Rev 2015; 44:5446-94. [DOI: 10.1039/c5cs00102a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 203] [Impact Index Per Article: 22.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
With the ever increasing demand for energy to meet the needs of growth in population and improvement in the living standards, in particular in developing countries, the abundant unconventional oil reserves (about 70% of total world oil), such as heavy oil, oil/tar sands and shale oil, are playing an increasingly important role in securing global energy supply.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lin He
- School of Chemical Engineering and Technology
- Tianjin University
- Tianjin
- P. R. China
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin)
| | - Feng Lin
- Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering
- University of Alberta
- Edmonton
- Canada
| | - Xingang Li
- School of Chemical Engineering and Technology
- Tianjin University
- Tianjin
- P. R. China
- National Engineering Research Centre of Distillation Technology
| | - Hong Sui
- School of Chemical Engineering and Technology
- Tianjin University
- Tianjin
- P. R. China
- National Engineering Research Centre of Distillation Technology
| | - Zhenghe Xu
- Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering
- University of Alberta
- Edmonton
- Canada
- Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology
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11
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Ding M, Zhang Y, Liu J, Jia W, Hu B, Ren S. Application of microbial enhanced oil recovery technology in water-based bitumen extraction from weathered oil sands. AIChE J 2014. [DOI: 10.1002/aic.14483] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Mingshan Ding
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences; Beijing 100039 P.R. China
- State Key Laboratory for Oxo Synethesis and Selective Oxidation; Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physic, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Lanzhou 730000 P.R. China
| | - Yan Zhang
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences; Beijing 100039 P.R. China
- State Key Laboratory for Oxo Synethesis and Selective Oxidation; Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physic, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Lanzhou 730000 P.R. China
| | - Juan Liu
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences; Beijing 100039 P.R. China
- State Key Laboratory for Oxo Synethesis and Selective Oxidation; Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physic, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Lanzhou 730000 P.R. China
| | - Weihong Jia
- State Key Laboratory for Oxo Synethesis and Selective Oxidation; Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physic, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Lanzhou 730000 P.R. China
| | - Bin Hu
- State Key Laboratory for Oxo Synethesis and Selective Oxidation; Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physic, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Lanzhou 730000 P.R. China
| | - Sili Ren
- State Key Laboratory for Oxo Synethesis and Selective Oxidation; Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physic, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Lanzhou 730000 P.R. China
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Drelich J, Wang YU. Charge heterogeneity of surfaces: mapping and effects on surface forces. Adv Colloid Interface Sci 2011; 165:91-101. [PMID: 21296313 DOI: 10.1016/j.cis.2010.12.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2010] [Revised: 12/23/2010] [Accepted: 12/23/2010] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The DLVO theory treats the total interaction force between two surfaces in a liquid medium as an arithmetic sum of two components: Lifshitz-van der Waals and electric double layer forces. Despite the success of the DLVO model developed for homogeneous surfaces, a vast majority of surfaces of particles and materials in technological systems are of a heterogeneous nature with a mosaic structure composed of microscopic and sub-microscopic domains of different surface characteristics. In such systems, the heterogeneity of the surface can be more important than the average surface character. Attractions can be stronger, by orders of magnitude, than would be expected from the classical mean-field DLVO model when area-averaged surface charge or potential is employed. Heterogeneity also introduces anisotropy of interactions into colloidal systems, vastly ignored in the past. To detect surface heterogeneities, analytical tools which provide accurate and spatially resolved information about material surface chemistry and potential - particularly at microscopic and sub-microscopic resolutions - are needed. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) offers the opportunity to locally probe not only changes in material surface characteristic but also charges of heterogeneous surfaces through measurements of force-distance curves in electrolyte solutions. Both diffuse-layer charge densities and potentials can be calculated by fitting the experimental data with a DLVO theoretical model. The surface charge characteristics of the heterogeneous substrate as recorded by AFM allow the charge variation to be mapped. Based on the obtained information, computer modeling and simulation can be performed to study the interactions among an ensemble of heterogeneous particles and their collective motions. In this paper, the diffuse-layer charge mapping by the AFM technique is briefly reviewed, and a new Diffuse Interface Field Approach to colloid modeling and simulation is briefly discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jaroslaw Drelich
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, 49931, USA.
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