In-Line Partial Upgrading of Bitumen

Due to Alberta being a land locked province, it relies heavily on pipelines for oil distribution. Using our proposed design, we can upgrade crude oil with less diluent compared to conventional methods. This leads to the pipeline having a higher oil to diluent ratio, effectively increasing the capacity without changing the volume or size of the piping itself. 

The use of electromagnetic radiation as a heat source for our hydro-cracking reaction is a newer approach to a common process. Several companies are starting to explore the uses of electromagnetic radiation, but it is still very new. 

Using methane as our hydrogen donor for our hydro-cracking reactions is a novel process which has not been extensively tested at an industrial scale. Our group is hoping that this process can be an effective use for Alberta’s excess natural gas. 

Our process increases the pipeline capacity. By reducing the need for the addition of diluent to our bitumen we will be increasing bitumen carrying capacity by 40 bbl/day.  

At our site there is net zero emissions and the process will reduce emissions produced by upgrading facilities.  

The modular setup of our plant allows for a reduced footprint to reduce environmental impact. 

As our design is a novel process it would require validation through experimental trials. Due to time and resource constraints these trials were unable to be done. Short of completing these trials, our solution relies on the information we were able to get from published research papers and communication with our mentor. 

This project has been completed by making eight major assumptions which would require verification:

1.  Non-upgraded crude oil represented as C₃₈H₅₆ in material balance
2. With the use of the electromagnetic heater, cavitation will occur in the emulsion allowing the for methane-bitumen interface to reach 400C while maintaining a bulk temperature of 235°C.
3. Emulsion electromagnetic properties follow those of water when the mixture contains more than 50% water by volume.
4. Upgrading characterized by the conversion of C₃₈H₅₆ to C₈H₁₈, C₁₂H₂₄, and petroleum coke. Conversion and final weight percent of species set to match from research paper on methanotreating published in 2016 from the University of Calgary’s Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering.
5. Partially upgraded bitumen assumed to follow viscosity trend developed by De Ghetto and Fitzgerald.
6. Assumed 10% of water remains within the bitumen after electromagnetic heating. 
7. 95% gas and 98% water separation efficiencies in our free-water-knockout (FWKO) with 100% separation of hydrogen-sulfide.
8. Plant was assumed to operate 348 days of the year

Remember the use of methanotreating and EM radiation for bitumen upgrading is still a novel process that requires further research and experimentation. As the topic is better understood the feasibility of its implementation will increase.