Oxidation, ignition and combustion characteristics of hydrocarbons for the safety of drilling and upstream oil and gas operations and IOR

上游油气作业，例如油气威尔斯井的钻探、修井、清洁和增产、石油分离和加工以及基于空气注入的提高石油采收率（IOR），可能涉及存在烃的空气或含氧气体。 在这样的操作中，空气或含氧气体可以有意地（作为过程的一部分）或不期望地（由于操作的性质）引入。 因此，当点火源也存在时，存在火灾和/或爆炸危险的可能性。 在过去几年中，发生了多起严重的油田火灾和爆炸事件，导致工人伤亡和设备重大损失。 在此期间，在加拿大和世界范围内的此类操作期间，空气或含氧气体的使用有所增加。 虽然有关于爆炸危险的条例，但没有明确的行业准则处理这些井场作业中的空气-碳氢化合物混合物。 这主要是由于缺乏基本的了解，复杂的点火过程与这样的操作。因此，拟议的研究旨在建立各种油藏油的挥发，氧化和点火特性的基本信息，从阿萨巴斯卡沥青C5+凝析油。 此外，纯以及复杂的混合物的气态烃/空气混合物的燃烧特性将被检查。 重要的操作参数，如压力，温度，孔径的影响也将被研究。 基于所建立的信息，可以开发相关的预测模型。 建立的数据以及模型将直接适用于工业设计安全和成功的上游石油和天然气业务。 此外，这些信息将有助于为处理这些井场作业中的空气-烃混合物提供急需的指导方针。

Upstream Oil and Gas operations, such as drilling of oil and gas wells, well workovers, cleaning and stimulation, petroleum separation and processing, and air injection-based improved oil recovery (IOR), may involve air or an oxygen containing gas in the presence of hydrocarbons.  In such operations, air or oxygen containing gas may be introduced either deliberately (as a part of the process) or undesirably (due to the nature of the operations).  Therefore, when an ignition source is also present, there is a potential for fire and/or explosion hazard.  Over the past several years, there have been a number of serious oilfield fires and explosions that have resulted in worker injuries and fatalities, and significant loss of equipment.  During this period, there has been an increase in the use of air or oxygen containing gas during such operations in Canada and worldwide.  While regulations exist with respect to explosive hazards, there are no clear industry guidelines dealing with air-hydrocarbon mixtures in these well-site operations.  This is mainly due to the lack of fundamental understanding of the complex ignition precesses associated with such operations.Accordingly, the proposed research is aimed at establishing fundamental information on volatilization, oxidation and ignition characteristics of a variety of reservoir oils, from Athabasca bitumen to C5+ condensates.  Moreover, combustion characteristics of pure as well as complex mixtures of gaseous hydrocarbon/air mixtures will be examined.  Effects of important  operating parameters such as pressure, temperature, pore size will also be studied.  Based on the established information, relevant predictive models may be developed.  The established data as well as the models would be directly applicable to industry for designing safe and successful  upstream oil and gas operations.  Moreover, this information will aid in providing much-needed guidelines for dealing with air-hydrocarbon mixtures in these well site operations.