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

随着常规轻质原油来源的枯竭和价格的上涨，炼油厂更多地被迫使用重油、油砂和沥青作为可行的替代品。在加拿大，阿尔伯塔省北部的油砂矿藏呈层状分布，厚度可达100米，覆盖面积超过40,000平方公里。这些矿藏包含约1.3万亿桶原油当量。目前，使用目前的原地和露天开采技术，阿尔伯塔省北部的沥青总储量中只有一小部分是可开采的。较大比例的沥青资源(约93%)太深，无法开采。由于开采重油的成本和露天开采对环境的影响，必须研究和开发新的、创新的原地回收和升级技术，这将使人们能够接触到更深层的沥青矿藏。

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.