In-situ preparation of high concentration of ultradispersed nanocatalysts for in-situ heavy oil hydrocracking

随着传统轻质原油资源的日益枯竭和价格的不断上涨，炼油厂被迫使用重油、油砂和沥青作为可行的替代品。在加拿大，北方阿尔伯塔的油砂矿床以厚度达100米的地层存在，分布面积超过40，000平方公里。这些矿床含有约1.3万亿桶原油当量。目前，北方阿尔伯塔的沥青总储量中只有一小部分可利用目前的原地和地表开采技术开采。更大比例的沥青资源（约93%）太深，无法开采。重油开采的成本和露天采矿对环境的影响要求研究和开发用于回收和升级的新的和创新的现场技术，这将提供进入更深的沥青矿床的机会。

As the sources of conventional light crude are depleting and its price increasing, refineries are more forced to use heavy oils, oil sands and bitumens as feasible substitutes. In Canada, the oil sands deposits of northern Alberta, occur in layers with thickness up to 100 m, spread over more than 40,000 km2. The deposits contain about 1.3 trillion barrels of crude oil equivalent. Currently, only small fraction of the total bitumen reserves of Northern Alberta are recoverable using the current in-situ and surface mining techniques. The larger percentage, about 93%, of bitumen resources are too deep to mine. The cost of heavy oil extraction and the environmental impact of surface mining mandate the search and development of new and innovative in-situ technologies for recovery and upgrading, which would provide access to the deeper deposits of bitumen.