Solvent/heat-assisted recovery processes (SHARP)

溶剂辅助油砂沥青回收（例如VAPEX、ES-SAGD、LASER）已被确定为与当前基于蒸汽的回收方法（例如CSS和SAGD）相比节约能量、水消耗和相关的GHG排放减少的强有力的候选者。尽管基于溶剂的回收方法的概念和主要机制是已知的，并且一些已经在本领域中成功地尝试，但是对于优化这些溶剂方法至关重要的关键要素的缺乏程度令人担忧。 缺少的是在操作条件下溶剂-沥青相互作用的具体数据和机械理解。 其中最值得注意的是1）性质，例如溶剂对沥青的溶解度、混合物的粘度、密度和相行为，和2）非平衡传输性质，例如溶剂在沥青中的扩散/分散，和3）溶剂-沥青混合物在多孔介质中的相流动。该项目的主要目标是建立一个坚实的基本理解，可以应用于工业使用的各种溶剂辅助回收工艺和/或建立在研究人员努力推进相同的回收工艺。 一个状态方程的方法将开发模型的相行为的基础上创建的数据库，从这项研究。 粘度和扩散率的相关性将根据测得的流体性质来开发。这项工作将创建所需的知识库，为油藏和过程模拟建立稳健、可靠和有效的模型。有了这些知识和工具，不仅可以设计和优化新的和现有的井下开采工艺，而且可以推进用于升级和精炼的技术。然后，这些发展可以由工业界在商业上进行。SHARP联盟是一个关键的推动者，为溶剂为基础的技术，是政治，社会和环境可接受的。其目的是支持工业界开发回收和分离工艺，以较低的能源密集度和较无害环境的方式维持经济上可行的重油回收。

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.