Solvent/heat-assisted recovery processes (SHARP)

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Solvent assisted oil-sand bitumen recovery (e.g. VAPEX, ES-SAGD, LASER) has been identified as a strong candidate for economizing the energy, water consumptions and associated reduction of the GHG emissions compared to current steam based recovery methods such as CSS and SAGD. Although the concepts and primary mechanisms of solvent based recovery processes are known and some have been tried successfully in the field, there is an alarming level of absence of the key elements which are crucial for optimizing these solvent processes. Missing is the concrete data and mechanistic understanding of solvent-bitumen interactions at operating conditions. Most notable among these are 1) the properties, such as solubility of solvents to bitumen, viscosity, density and phase behaviours of the mixtures, and 2) the non-equilibrium transport properties, such as diffusion/dispersion of the solvent in the bitumen and 3) phase flow of solvent-bitumen mixtures in porous media. The primary objective of this project is establish a solid fundamental understanding that can be applied to various solvent-assisted recovery processes in use by industry and/or be built upon by researchers working to advance the same recovery processes. An equation-of-state approach will be developed to model the phase behaviour based on the data base created from this research. Correlations for viscosity and diffusivity will be developed based on the measured fluid properties. This work will create the knowledge base needed to build robust, reliable and valid models for reservoir and process simulations. With this knowledge and these tools, it will be possible to not only design and optimize new and existing down hole recovery processes but to advance the technology used for upgrading and refining. These developments can then be pursued commercially by industry. The SHARP Consortium is a key enabler for solvent-based technology that is politically, socially and environmentally acceptable. The intention is to support industry in the development of recovery and separation processes that sustain economically viable heavy oil recovery in a less energy intensive and more environmentally benign manner.