Optimal Use of Solvents and Nanomaterials in Thermal Recovery of Heavy-Oil/Bitumen in Oilsands and Carbonates

在阿尔伯塔，只有15%的重油和沥青储量（估计为1.7万亿桶）可以进行地表开采和提取--阿尔伯塔有85%的石油储量几乎没有受到影响。 这部分未开采的储量需要现场开采技术，目前只有10%的储量可以利用现有技术开采。随着石油需求的持续增长和油价的上涨，有效开发和回收非常规重油和沥青已成为加拿大及其石油工业的优先事项。 然而，到目前为止，石油工业在技术上还没有做好准备，无法满足这一高需求，也无法为重油和沥青开采提供可行的选择。 许多重油/沥青技术（CHOPS、SAGD、VAPEX）产生快速回收，留下大量的渣油和沥青质。 这不是满足石油需求的理想的长期解决方案，并且由于流体与先前注入的不相容性，通常不能应用后续方法，如蒸汽随后混溶注入或冷采随后蒸汽注入。 因此，新的解决方案，包括这些技术的混合应用及其优化设计，以提高热或溶剂技术的效率是必不可少的。 该项目解决了以下问题，并提出了一个研究计划，使用先进的技术，如微（孔）到千兆（场）规模的实验和数值模拟，以及可视化研究：（1）溶剂交替注入的优化（烃和CO2）与蒸汽，（2）添加剂的使用（金属粉末）及辅助材料（聚合物/表面活性剂胶体），以便在热应用过程中输送它们（蒸汽、空气注入和电或电磁加热）以使工艺的温度和成本最小化。

Only 15% of heavy-oil and bitumen reserves (estimated at 1.7 trillion barrels) in Alberta can be surface mined and extracted - leaving 85% of oil reserves almost untouched in Alberta. This untouched portion of the reserves requires in-situ recovery techniques and currently only 10% of them are recoverable using existing technologies. As the demand for oil continues to increase and oil prices rise, efficient development and recovery of unconventional heavy-oil and bitumen have become a priority for Canada and its oil industry. To date, however, the oil industry has been technologically unprepared to meet this high demand and produce viable options for heavy-oil and bitumen extraction. Many heavy-oil/bitumen techniques (CHOPS, SAGD, VAPEX) yield quick recovery leaving significant amounts of residual oil and asphaltene behind. This is not a desirable long-term solution for meeting oil needs, and often, subsequent methods like steam followed by miscible injection or cold production followed by steam injection cannot be applied due to the incompatibility of the fluids with previous injections. Therefore, new solutions including hybrid applications of these techniques and their optimal design to improve the efficiency of thermal or solvent techniques are essential. This project addresses the following issues and proposes a research program using advanced techniques like micro (pore) to giga (field) scale experimental and numerical modeling, and visualization studies: (1) Optimization of alternate injection of solvents (hydrocarbon and CO2) with steam, and (2) use of additives (metal powders) and auxiliary materials (polymer/surfactant colloids) to transport them during thermal applications (steam, air injection, and electrical or electromagnetic heating) to minimize the temperature and cost of the processes.