Hydrocarbon Oil Upgrading Under Natural Gas

40%的重质原油在进入管道并最终到达炼油厂之前必须进行升级。目前的升级过程是在高压下进行的，消耗大量的氢气，是一个重温室气体（GHG）排放源。众所周知，氢可以提高石油的性能，但经济成本很高。卡拉能源服务公司提出了一个创新的部分升级方案。这种新工艺保留了氢的优点，但使用了廉价而丰富的氢供体，如甲烷，这是天然气的主要成分。卡拉的专利工艺是在低压下进行的，使用廉价而丰富的天然气，消耗的氢气也少得多。因此，整个过程的温室气体排放量较低。该项目将把Kara技术从TRL 5推进到TRL 6的商业化阶段。目标是确保新方法提供具有成本效益的优质产品，为管道运输和生产高附加值的石化产品做好准备。通过在温和的温度和压力（<5 MPa）下将天然气（甲烷-甲烷处理）催化掺入稠油，取得了成功。天然气价格远低于氢气，从而提高了产能，降低了生产成本，提高了盈利能力。这些成果建立了一种新的甲烷活化液化工具，这是催化领域的一个突破，并将其应用于清洁能源转化。

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.