Removing water from diluted bitumen in naphthenic froth treatment of oil sands production and the underlying interfacial science

油砂生产环烷泡沫处理中稀释沥青中的水去除及其基础界面科学

• 批准号: 543409-2019
• 负责人: Zeng, Hongbo
• 金额: $ 37.15万
• 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=699219
• 关键词: Removing; water; diluted; bitumen; naphthenic

The proposed project focuses on a challenging issue confronting the Canadian oil sands industry: destabilization and removal of water-in-diluted bitumen emulsions in naphthenic froth treatment process. Canada has the third largest oil reserves in the world, after Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. Surface mining technique is widely used by oil industry for bitumen extraction, where bitumen is extracted from the oil sands deposits by using water through several steps such as liberation and flotation. In subsequent bitumen froth treatment based on naphthenic solvent, the diluted bitumen froth still contains considerable amount of water (2-4 wt%) and solids (0.5-1.0 wt%), forming water-in-oil emulsion. The emulsified water, containing dissolved salts (e.g., NaCl), are extremely stable and highly undesired, causing serious processing problems to downstream equipment, e.g., fouling and corrosion in heat exchangers, pipelines and upgrading equipment. In this research, we propose a bottom-up research strategy, through a solid understanding of underpinning fundamental interface science, to develop effective solutions to remove water from the naphtha-diluted bitumen, with the goal of obtaining <0.5 wt.% water and < 0.3 wt.% solid. We will (1) develop a strong and improved understanding on the properties and stabilization mechanism of the emulsions in naphthenic froth treatment process as well as the determining factors which cause the separation difficulty using a combination of advanced techniques, and (2) develop effective solutions to destabilize and remove water and fine solids in the naphtha-diluted bitumen, such as by the applications of (commercial or synthesized) chemicals, and functionalized filters/membranes, based on the strong understanding of the properties of emulsions, stabilization and interaction mechanisms of the emulsions and fine solids. The research outcomes of this project will facilitate the Canadian oil sands industry to eliminate the associated challenging problems (e.g., fouling and corrosion) and lower the operating cost.

拟议的项目侧重于加拿大油砂行业面临的一个具有挑战性的问题：环烷泡沫处理过程中稀释沥青乳状液的不稳定和去除。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。露天开采技术是石油工业普遍采用的一种开采沥青的方法，它是用水从油砂矿床中提取沥青，经过解吸、浮选等步骤。在后续的基于环烷基溶剂的沥青泡沫处理中，稀释后的沥青泡沫中仍含有相当多的水(2~4wt%)和固体(0.5wt%~1.0wt%)，形成油包水乳状液。含有溶解盐(如氯化钠)的乳化水非常稳定，非常不受欢迎，对下游设备造成严重的加工问题，例如热交换器、管道和升级设备中的结垢和腐蚀。 在这项研究中，我们提出了自下而上的研究策略，通过对基础界面科学的扎实理解，开发有效的解决方案来去除石脑油稀释沥青中的水分，目标是获得&lt；0.5wt.%的水和&lt；0.3wt.%的固体。我们将(1)结合先进技术，对环烷泡沫处理过程中乳液的性质和稳定机理以及导致分离困难的决定因素有更深入的了解，(2)在对乳液的性质、乳液和细固体的稳定和相互作用机理深入了解的基础上，开发有效的解决方案，例如通过应用(商业或合成的)化学品和功能化过滤器/膜来破坏和去除石脑油稀释沥青中的水分和细固体。该项目的研究成果将有助于加拿大油砂行业消除相关的挑战性问题(如结垢和腐蚀)，并降低运营成本。