In-situ study of asphaltene precipitation by using total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy

全内反射荧光显微镜原位研究沥青质沉淀

• 批准号: 531877-2018
• 负责人: Zhang, Xuehua
• 金额: $ 2.73万
• 依托单位: University of Alberta
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Collaborative Research and Development Grants
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2020-01-01 至 2021-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=697449
• 关键词: situ; study; asphaltene; precipitation; using

Canada has one of the largest sources of oil sands, including more than two-trillion barrels of heavy oil in Alberta with proven recoverable reserves of about 170 billion barrels of bitumen. Paraffinic froth treatment (PFT) is the step in oil sand extraction to remove solids and water from bitumen froth by dilution with paraffinic solvents. Precipitation of a fraction of asphaltene during the dilution is key to agglomeration and separation of water and solids for high quality bitumen. However, a large volume of solvents used in PFT is a heavy burden not only from a high cost of solvents, but also from intensive energy consumption required to recycle the solvents and from limited pipeline capacity for bitumen transportation. In this project, a suit of cutting-edge techniques will be employed to investigate very early stage asphaltene precipitation induced by dilution. The findings will lay the foundation for technology innovation based on optimization of the solvent supply system to achieve less use of solvents in PFT.

加拿大拥有最大的油砂来源之一，其中包括阿尔伯塔超过2万亿桶的重油，已探明的可采储量约为1700亿桶沥青。石蜡泡沫处理（PFT）是油砂提取中通过用石蜡溶剂稀释来从沥青泡沫中去除固体和水的步骤。在稀释过程中沥青质部分的沉淀是高质量沥青的水和固体的附聚和分离的关键。然而，PFT中使用的大量溶剂是一个沉重的负担，不仅因为溶剂的高成本，而且因为回收溶剂所需的密集的能量消耗和用于沥青运输的有限的管道容量。本项目将采用一套先进的技术手段来研究稀释引起的沥青质极早期沉淀。研究结果将为优化溶剂供应系统的技术创新奠定基础，以实现PFT中溶剂的少用。