Coagulant-Flocculant Chemistry of SAGD Emulsion Breaker (EB) - Reverse Emulsion Breaker (REB) and Warm Lime Softener (WLS)

SAGD 破乳剂 (EB) - 反破乳剂 (REB) 和温石灰软化剂 (WLS) 的混凝剂-絮凝剂化学

• 批准号: 533279-2018
• 负责人: GamalElDin, Mohamed
• 金额: $ 4.37万
• 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: 2021
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2021-01-01 至 2022-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=719916
• 关键词: Coagulant; Flocculant; Chemistry; SAGD; Emulsion

Steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) is a thermally enhanced heavy oil recovery method that is broadly practiced for bitumen extraction from oil sands in Alberta, Canada. Bitumen-water separation and produced water treatment for steam generation are two critical processes in SAGD operations for oil sands extraction. Complex emulsions are normally formed in bitumen extraction in SAGD operations which have to be treated to separate the bitumen and water. The occurrence of these stable emulsions induces challenges associated with oil transportation or catalytic poisoning, enforcing a constant need to find more efficient and sustainable methods to handle and break such emulsions. Therefore, chemical treatment by adding reagents such as emulsion breaker (EB), reverse emulsion breaker (REB), and diluent has been normally applied to the production fluid before it reaches the separation vessel. Warm lime softener (WLS) is also used to remove hardness and trace oil from water destined for use as boiler feed water. The characterization and an improved fundamental understanding of the emulsification, demulsification, the impact of the addition of these chemicals as well as the interfacial properties of bitumen/water interfaces would be critical for the operators to better control the chemical treatment process to achieve a more efficient oil/water separation and better quality of the produced water for further treatment. Therefore, the proposed NSERC Collaborative Research and Development (CRD) Program will conduct a comprehensive fundamental and applied research in the area of coagulant-flocculant chemistry. We propose to systematic characterize the physiochemical properties of the emulsions and WLS particle, and to provide an improved understanding of the fundamentals of EB, REB, coagulant and flocculant specialty chemicals used in thermal in-situ operations of SAGD. This research will provide a better understanding of interfacial properties, leading to a predictable coalescence mechanism in SAGD emulsions, facilitating the design of next-generation SAGD deoiling unit operations.

蒸汽辅助重力泄油（SAGD）是一种热强化重油开采方法，在加拿大的阿尔伯塔广泛用于从油砂中提取沥青。沥青-水分离和用于蒸汽产生的采出水处理是用于油砂开采的SAGD操作中的两个关键过程。复杂的乳液通常在SAGD操作中的沥青提取中形成，其必须被处理以分离沥青和水。这些稳定乳液的出现引发了与石油运输或催化剂中毒相关的挑战，从而不断需要找到更有效和可持续的方法来处理和破坏这种乳液。因此，通常在采出液到达分离容器之前，对采出液进行添加破乳剂（EB）、反相破乳剂（REB）、稀释剂等试剂的化学处理。温石灰软化器（WLS）也可用于去除锅炉给水中的硬度和微量油。对乳化、破乳、添加这些化学品的影响以及沥青/水界面的界面性质的表征和改进的基本理解对于操作者更好地控制化学处理过程以实现更有效的油/水分离和更好质量的采出水以用于进一步处理将是至关重要的。因此，拟议的NSERC合作研究与发展（CRD）计划将在混凝剂-絮凝剂化学领域进行全面的基础和应用研究。我们建议系统地表征乳液和WLS颗粒的理化性质，并提供对用于SAGD热原位操作的EB，REB，混凝剂和絮凝剂专用化学品的基本原理的更好理解。这项研究将提供一个更好的了解界面特性，导致一个可预测的聚结机制，在SAGD乳液，促进下一代SAGD脱硫单元操作的设计。