Reduced Emission In Situ Oil Sands Recovery Processes

西气东输稠油和沥青可采储量分别为1000万t/a和1000万t/a。加拿大约为1700亿桶，价值数万亿美元。由于这些资源的原位粘度，这些资源的回收过程面临严重的挑战，对于重油，这些资源的原位粘度通常为数千至数万厘泊，对于油砂，这些资源的原位粘度通常为数十万至数百万厘泊（水的粘度为1厘泊）。油砂回收过程的能量和排放强度与常规石油过程相比是高的;因此，在全球舞台上，重油和沥青作为液体化石燃料由于其高能量和排放强度而显得相对没有吸引力。为了保持社会许可证，油砂开采的能源和环境效率必须等于或低于传统石油。来自申请人先前的NSERC DG的结果揭示，油砂回收过程不仅是其中油粘度在基于蒸汽的加热下降低的物理过程，而且是由蒸汽-油和蒸汽-岩石反应产生的化学反应性过程。发生的反应包括水热裂解（水合热解）、热裂解（热解）和蒸汽-水-岩石地球化学反应。关键问题在于，所产生的气体不仅包括溶解气体（主要是CH4），还包括来自反应的CO2和H2S，因此总排放强度包括来自蒸汽产生的CO2和基于反应的CO2。氧燃料燃烧的直接接触蒸汽发生器在燃烧器火焰内产生蒸汽，从而产生蒸汽-CO2混合物。因此，如果将蒸汽发生产生的二氧化碳注入地层，并且发现一种在生产石油时使地层内注入和产生的二氧化碳矿化的方法，那么开采过程的二氧化碳排放量将为零。拟议的研究计划的目的是确定一组操作条件和注入策略的蒸汽为基础的恢复过程中，所有产生的CO2，无论是从蒸汽或原位生成，和H2S（从原位水热）被隔离为固体在油藏中的恢复过程的发展。该研究计划包括理论和实验项目，以了解CO2和H2S在砂基质中转化为固体形式的动力学，并利用结果找到新的操作条件和注入策略，以最大限度地提高CO2和H2S的封存率，采油率和采收率。在为期5年的研究计划中，它将为10名HQP（2名博士，3名硕士和5名理学士学生）提供全面的培训。

The recoverable volume of heavy oil and bitumen in W. Canada is ~170 billion barrels with value in the trillions of dollars. Serious challenges face recovery processes for these resources due to their in situ viscosities which are typically thousands to tens of thousands of centipoise for heavy oil and hundreds of thousands to millions of centipoise for oil sands (water has viscosity 1 centipoise). The energy and emissions intensities of oil sand recovery processes are high compared to conventional oil processes; thus, on a global stage, heavy oil and bitumen appear relatively unattractive as liquid fossil fuels given their high energy and emissions intensities. To maintain a social license to operate, the energetic and environmental efficiencies of oil sands extraction must be equal or lower than that of conventional oil. Results from the applicant's previous NSERC DG revealed that oil sands recovery processes are not only physical ones where oil viscosity decreases under steam-based heating but also chemically reactive ones that result from steam-oil and steam-rock reactions. The reactions that occur include aquathermolysis (hydrous pyrolysis), thermal cracking (pyrolysis), and steam-water-rock geochemical reactions. The key issue is that the produced gases not only include solution gas (mainly CH4) but also CO2 and H2S from the reactions and thus the total emission intensity includes both CO2 from steam generation and reaction-based CO2. Oxyfuel-fired direct contact steam generators produce steam within the burner flame producing a steam-CO2 mixture. Thus, if CO2 from steam generation is injected into the formation and a means was discovered to mineralize both injected and generated CO2 within the formation as the oil is produced, the recovery process would have zero CO2 emissions. The objective of the proposed research program is to determine a set of operating conditions and injection strategies for steam-based recovery processes where all of the generated CO2, whether from steam or in situ generation, and H2S (from in situ aquathermolysis) is sequestered as solid in the reservoir as the recovery process evolves. The research program consists of both theoretical and experimental projects to understand the kinetics of conversion of CO2 and H2S to solid form in a sand matrix and to use the results to find new operating conditions and injection strategies to maximize CO2 and H2S sequestration, oil rates and recovery factor. Over the 5-year research program, it will provide comprehensive training to 10 HQP (2 PhD, 3 MSc, and 5 BSc students).**