Development of catalysts and adsorbents derived from petroleum coke and applied to oil sands upgrading

加拿大油砂对加拿大具有巨大的战略重要性，目前的产量为170万桶/日，预计到2020年将达到300万桶/日。 加拿大油砂含有约10wt%的沥青，其在与砂和水分离后被升级为合成原油。通过焦化提质生产气体、液体和固体油砂焦炭。 目前，与阿尔伯塔油砂（每年600万吨）相关的大部分焦炭生产被添加到6800万吨的库存中，这意味着沥青产品价值的重大损失。从油砂焦炭中生产有价值的产品对于加拿大油砂的持续增长至关重要，但由于焦炭中的硫和金属污染物（特别是镍和钒），这一点很困难。 本提案集中于利用油砂焦炭生产增值产品，用于焦炭中存在的硫、镍和钒有益而非有害的应用。 更具体地说，我们建议从油砂焦炭合成低成本的中孔活性炭，使用热催化和热化学方法，并将这些活性炭转化为催化剂和气体吸附剂，可用于将沥青转化为合成原油的过程中。催化剂可用于加氢处理和加氢转化反应，而吸附剂可用于从工艺排放物中捕获二氧化碳和甲烷。将测量催化剂和吸附剂的物理和化学性质以及性能，以便确定最佳制备方法。 开发新方法来选择性地改性油砂焦炭以产生本身可用于沥青提质工艺的有价值的产品，将改善油砂操作的总体经济性和环境影响。该项目利用了不列颠哥伦比亚省和卡尔加里大学两个研究小组的专业知识和能力，并得到了壳牌加拿大公司的支持，壳牌加拿大公司对确保加拿大油砂的生产具有浓厚的兴趣。

The Canadian oil sands are of immense strategic importance to Canada with the current production of 1.7 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil equivalent expected to reach 3 million bpd by 2020. The Canadian oil sands contain about 10 wt % bitumen, which, after separation from the sand and water, is upgraded into a synthetic crude oil. Upgrading by coking yields gas, liquid and solid oil sands coke. Presently, much of the coke production associated with the Alberta oil sands (6 million tonnes per year) is added to a 68 million tonne stockpile, representing a significant loss in the value of products derived from the bitumen. Generating valuable products from oil sands coke is critical for the continued growth of the Canadian oil sands but difficult because of the sulphur and metal contaminants (particularly nickel and vanadium) within the coke. The present proposal is focused on utilizing the oil sands coke to produce value-added products for applications where the sulphur, nickel and vanadium present in the coke are beneficial rather than detrimental. More specifically, we propose to synthesize low cost mesoporous activated carbon from oil sands coke, using both thermo-catalytic and thermo-chemical methods and to convert these activated carbons into catalysts and gas adsorbents that can be used in processes converting bitumen to synthetic crude oil. The catalysts can be used for hydrotreating and hydroconversion reactions, while the adsorbents can be used to capture carbon dioxide and methane from process emissions. The physical and chemical properties as well as the performance of the catalysts and adsorbents will be measured so that the optimal preparation methods can be determined. The development of new methods to selectively modify oil sands coke to generate a valuable product that itself can be used in bitumen upgrading processes, will improve the overall economics and environmental impact of the oil sands operations. This project takes advantage of the expertise and capabilities between two research groups at the University of British Columbia and the University of Calgary with support from Shell Canada, who has a strong interest in ensuring the production from the Canadian oil sands is sustainable.