Understanding the Impact of Polyacrylamide Present in Oil/Water Emulsions on Thermally Formed Deposits on Steel Surfaces

使用含有胶凝剂的加压水驱油储层是提高原油采收率的常用方法。 地下碳氢化合物的开采。加拿大自然资源有限公司（CNRL）越来越依赖 来提高重油产量。在生产井的寿命期间，胶凝剂将 最终以增加的浓度作为所产生的油/水乳液的一部分出现。期间 在处理设施中对井液进行破乳，将油与水分离， 剂近年来，直燃管在锅炉内的使用寿命缩短， 上游石油设施，与管道表面上的碳质层沉积有关， 随后的局部加热和管材料的变形。存款的增长似乎与 在所生产的油/水乳液中发现的胶凝剂的量增加。这一问题导致 在相当长的停机时间和显着的维修成本在发电机。在与CNRL的直接合作中， 卡尔加里大学的Birss小组将对自然界进行详细而系统的分析， 表面沉积物的组成以及它们在模拟现场条件下是如何形成的，然后使用 这些信息可以提出切实可行的、具有成本效益的缓解策略。台式研究将重点关注如何 在油/水乳液中加入的胶凝剂和其它化学组分的浓度影响 高温处理期间存款生长的类型和速率。随后的工作将探讨使用 添加剂来减缓这种增长。最终，将理解存款形成的机制， 并将提出缓解战略。随着石油生产利润率在一个 低油价环境下，降低生产成本和消除浪费停机时间是至关重要的 频繁的火管故障这项工作所产生的知识将用于提高 在上游设施的石油加工厂，从而消除了一个很大的障碍，扩大使用这一 加拿大的提高石油采收率技术。

Flooding an oil reservoir using pressurized water containing gelation agents is a common method of enhancing the extraction of underground hydrocarbons. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (CNRL) has increasingly relied on this method to improve heavy oil yields. Over the lifetime of the production well, the gelation agent will eventually emerge in increasing concentrations as part of the produced oil/water emulsion. During de-emulsification of the well fluids at a processing facility, oil is separated from the water and the gelation agent. In recent years, there has been a decrease in the service life of the direct-fired tube within the treaters at upstream oil facilities, associated with the deposition of a carbonaceous layer on the tube surfaces and subsequent local heating and deformation of the tube material. Growth of the deposit appears to be correlated with an increase in amount of gelation agent found in the produced oil/water emulsion. This issue has resulted in considerable down time and significant repair costs at the treaters. In direct collaboration with CNRL, the Birss group at the University of Calgary will perform a detailed and systematic analysis of the nature and composition of the surface deposits and how they are formed under simulated field conditions, and then use this information to propose practical, cost effective mitigation strategies. Bench top studies will focus on how the concentration of added gelation agent and other chemical components in the oil/water emulsion impact the type and rate of deposit growth during high temperature treatment. Subsequent work will explore the use of additives to slow this growth. Ultimately, an understanding of the mechanism of deposit formation will be developed and mitigation strategies will be proposed. With oil production margins becoming ever tighter in a low oil price environment, it is critical to bring down production costs and eliminate wasteful downtime caused by frequent firetube failures. The knowledge produced by this work will be used to improve the service life of the oil processing treaters at upstream facilities, thus removing a large barrier to the expanded use of this enhanced oil recovery technique within Canada.