Hydrocarbon Oil Upgrading Under Natural Gas

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Forty percent of heavy crude oil must be upgraded prior to entering the pipeline and eventually arriving at a refinery. The current upgrader process is conducted under high pressure, consumes large amounts of hydrogen and is a heavy greenhouse gas (GHG) emitter. The hydrogen is known to enhance the properties of the oil but the economic cost is high. An innovative new partial upgrade has been proposed by Kara Energy Services. This novel process maintains the benefits attributed to hydrogen but uses a cheap and abundant H-donor such as methane, this is the main component of natural gas. Kara's proprietary process is conducted under low pressure, uses natural gas, which is cheap and abundant, and consumes considerably less hydrogen. Therefore, the entire process has lower GHG emissions. This project will move the Kara technology along the technology readiness level toward commercialization from TRL 5 to TRL 6. The goal is to ensure the novel approach provides a cost-effective quality product ready for pipeline transportation and producing high-value added petrochemicals. The success is achieved by the catalytic incorporation of natural gas (methane-methanotreating) into the heavy oil at mild temperatures and pressures (<5 MPa). Natural gas prices are much lower than H2 providing enhanced productivity, reduced production costs and improved profitability. These outcomes establish a novel methane activation and liquefaction tool which is a breakthrough in the field of catalysis and its application to clean energy conversion.