Developing Specialized Methodologies for Diluent Determination in Produced Fluid from Solvent Enhanced Bitumen Recovery Technologies

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Suncor Energy Inc (Suncor) is a leading international energy company and a major player in Canada's oil sands, carbon capture and storage, and alternative energy (wind and solar power). Over the next 3 decades, as Canada's oil sands transition to net-zero solutions and meet Canada's climate goals, they're expected to contribute $3 trillion to the GDP and $1.7 trillion in royalties. These revenues contribute to government spending on infrastructure, social services, medical, educational, cultural and other important programs for all Canadians. Suncor is partnering with the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology's (SAIT) Centre for Energy Research and Clean Unconventional Technology Solutions (CERCUTS) research group to develop a novel analytical method and laboratory procedures to characterize diluent mixtures and fluids recovered by Expanding Solvent Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (ES-SAGD). ES-SAGD involves a small volume of solvents co-injected with steam to increase bitumen recovery, but for it to be economically- and environmentally-efficient, it is critical to reduce energy and steam requirements and minimize diluent loss to the oil sands and surrounding formations.A primary challenge is current measurement methods assume produced diluent has the same compositional distribution as injected diluent, creating inaccuracies. The key objective is to develop a novel analytical method which includes validation with associated laboratory procedures to characterize diluent mixtures and fluids recovered by ES-SAGD. The outcome will be a specialized methodology for the accurate and reproducible solvent determination of produced fluids for recycle. With this system, the commercial viability of in-situ bitumen recovery using solvent technologies, such as ES-SAGD, will become more verifiable, reliable, energy- and environmentally- efficient and marketable. This unique in-situ technological know-how, if transferred for other applications such as harnessing geo-thermal energy, will promote Canada's position as a technology leader.