Methane Assisted Catalytic Upgrading of Extra Heavy Crudes under Moderate Conditions

随着常规石油资源的枯竭和能源需求的不断增加，更好地利用低质量石油资源对可持续发展变得越来越重要。在现代炼油厂中，真空渣油是原油中比重最大的部分，其利用途径一般效率低、能耗高，对经济和环境都不利。同样，通过蒸汽辅助重力排水（SAGD）工艺回收的沥青具有高粘度、高密度和高杂质含量，因此通常需要稀释剂来运输，这带来了额外的成本和环境问题。含石脑油馏分的SAGD原油和VR稀释剂都被认为是超重质原油，在最终使用前需要进行大量的进一步处理。目前项目的目标是开发一种具有成本效益的升级技术，以大大提高超重原油的质量，用于生产清洁轻质燃料和高附加值的石化产品。这一技术将基于甲烷作为天然气的主要成分，在温和的温度和压力下直接催化合并到超重质原油中，因为天然气价格比氢气更具经济优势，从而提高了生产率，降低了生产成本，从而提高了盈利能力。此外，在油砂开采过程中，将伴生天然气直接掺入可运输的石油产品中，将最大限度地减少采矿和升级过程中的温室气体排放，使其更加环保。此外，所提出的研究成果将创造一种新的甲烷活化和增值方式，从而导致催化领域的突破及其在清洁能源转化中的应用。该项目的成果将通过更高效、更清洁地利用加拿大天然丰富的重质原油和天然气，进一步确立加拿大在世界能源市场上的领先地位。

The better utilization of low-quality oil resources is becoming more and more crucial for sustainable development due to the depletion of conventional petroleum resources and continuously increasing energy demand. Vacuum residue (VR) is the heaviest part of crude oil accounting for a large proportion in modern refineries, while its utilization routes are generally of low efficiency and high energy intensity, and thus economically and environmentally unfavorable. Similarly, bitumen recovered from Steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) process experiences high viscosity and density as well as high content of impurities and thus diluent is often needed for its transportation with additional cost and environmental concerns. Both the diluent containing naphtha fraction recovered SAGD crude and VR are considered as extra heavy crude which are required to be significantly further processed before end use. The goal of the current project is to develop a cost-effective upgrading technology to greatly enhance the quality of extra heavy crudes for the productions of clean light fuel and high-value added petrochemicals. This will be done using a technology based on the directly catalytic incorporation of methane as the main component of natural gas into the extra heavy crude at mild temperatures and pressures as natural gas prices are far more economically advantageous compared to hydrogen, leading to enhanced productivity and reduced production cost and thus improved profitability. Furthermore, the direct incorporation of associated natural gas during oil sands exploitation into the transportable oil product will minimize greenhouse gas emissions from mining and upgrading processes, making it more environmentally friendly. Moreover, the outcomes obtained from the proposed research will create a novel way of methane activation and valorization, leading to the breakthrough in the field of catalysis and its application in clean energy conversion. The achievement made from this project will further ascertain the leading position of Canada in the world's energy market through more efficient and cleaner utilization of heavy crude oil and natural gas which are naturally abundant in Canada.