Surface properties of slotted liners and associated interfacial interaction mechanisms in oil sands extraction process

该项目主要关注加拿大和全球石油行业面临的一个具有挑战性的问题：在沥青原位开采过程中，广泛用于有效防砂的开槽衬管失效。加拿大拥有世界第三大石油储量，仅次于沙特阿拉伯和委内瑞拉。蒸汽辅助重力排水（SAGD）等原位提取技术被认为是最有前途的沥青提取方法，它可以提取地下深处的沥青，并且比传统的露天开采作业对环境的影响要小得多。开槽衬管已广泛应用于松散稠油油藏和原位开采过程中，它可以有效地过滤出采出油中的砂粒和其他污染物。在包括水、沥青、砂、粘土在内的复杂多相体系中，由于砂/粘土的沉积、沥青的吸附和沉积以及电化学腐蚀，开槽衬管面临许多不利问题，如结垢和堵塞。这些都会导致尾管的性能失效（最终导致尾管材料的机械失效），对石油生产造成严重的负面影响。**** SAGD作业中沥青的萃取效率、缝状尾管防砂性能、尾管表面的潜在结垢和结垢以及尾管槽的堵塞，基本上是由固体砂、粘土、沥青、水和尾管表面之间的分子间和表面相互作用以及局部水动力流动条件决定的。与RGL油藏管理公司（RGL）合作进行的拟议研究的目标是表征开槽尾管的物理化学表面特性。阐明油砂开采过程中导致尾管结垢和失效的相关界面相互作用机制，为油砂行业沥青原位开采过程中更好地选择材料和涂层提供综合解决方案。

The proposed project focuses on a challenging issue confronting the Canadian and global petroleum industry: failure of slotted liners which have been widely used for effective sand control during in situ extraction of bitumen. Canada has the third largest oil reserves in the world, after Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. In situ extraction techniques such as steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) are considered as the most promising methods for bitumen extraction, which can extract bitumen deep in the ground and have a significantly less environmental footprint than the conventional surface mining operations. The slotted liners have been widely used in unconsolidated heavy oil reservoirs and in situ extraction processes, which can effectively filter out the sands and other contaminants from the oil produced. In the complex multi-phase system including water, bitumen, sands, clays and the slotted liners face many detrimental issues such as fouling and plugging due to deposition of sands/clays, adsorption and sedimentation of bitumen, and electrochemical corrosion. All these would lead to the performance failure of the liners (eventually lead to mechanical failure of the liner materials) and cause serious negative impact on oil production. ****The efficiency of bitumen extraction in SAGD operation, sand control performance in slotted liners, potential fouling and scale formation on liner surfaces and plugging of liner slots, are, fundamentally, determined by the intermolecular and surface interactions among the solid sands, clays, bitumen, water and liner surfaces, as well as the local hydrodynamic flow conditions. The goal of the proposed research, in collaboration with RGL Reservoir Management Inc. (RGL), is to characterize the physicochemical surface properties of slotted liners, and elucidate associated interfacial interaction mechanisms in oil sands extraction process that lead to the fouling and failure of the liners and to help provide comprehensive solutions for a better material and coating selection with improved performances in the in situ extraction process of bitumen for the oil sands industry.