Catalytic Heavy Oil Partial Upgrading under Natural Gas

传统的加氢处理工艺可用于降低重质原油的粘度，提高API比重，降低原油的硫含量。在稠油提质中使用氢气可以提高稠油的性能，这是众所周知的，但由于高压H2 （> - 8 MPa）的消耗，加氢处理的成本相对较高。另一种获得加氢好处的方法是在重质原油中添加廉价而丰富的h供体，如天然气的主要成分甲烷。本项目的目标是开发一种具有成本效益的部分改造技术，以提高重常规的质量，既满足管道运输规范，又能生产高附加值的石化产品。与加氢处理（即400℃和16 MPa H2）相比，该技术将采用一种基于天然气（即甲烷-甲烷处理）在温和的温度和压力（不高于5 MPa）下直接催化结合到重油中的技术，因为天然气价格比H2更具经济优势，从而提高了生产率，降低了生产成本，从而提高了盈利能力。此外，将天然气纳入可运输石油产品将最大限度地减少升级过程中的温室气体排放，使其更加环保。此外，所提出的研究成果将创造一种新的甲烷活化和液化方式，从而导致催化领域的突破及其在清洁能源转化中的应用。此外，该项目的成果将通过更高效、更清洁地利用加拿大丰富的重质原油和天然气，进一步确立加拿大在世界能源市场上的领先地位。

Traditionally hydrotreating processes can be used to decrease the viscosity of heavy crude oil, improve the API gravity, and reduce the sulfur content of the oil. Using hydrogen in heavy oil upgrading is well known and can enhance the properties of the oil, but the costs of hydrotreating are relatively high due to the consumption of high pressure H2 (>8 MPa). An alternative approach to obtain the benefits of hydrogen addition is to add a cheap and abundant H-donor to the heavy crude oil, such as methane, the main component of natural gas. The goal of the current project is to develop a cost-effective partial upgrading technology to enhance the quality of heavy conventional for not only satisfying the pipeline transportation specification, but also producing high-value added petrochemicals. This will be done using a technology based on the directly catalytic incorporation of natural gas (i.e. methane - methanotreating) into the heavy oil at mild temperatures and pressures (no higher than 5 MPa) compared to hydrotreating (i.e. 400 oC and 16 MPa H2) as natural gas prices are far more economically advantageous compared to H2, leading to enhanced productivity and reduced production cost and thus improved profitability. Furthermore, the incorporation of natural gas into the transportable oil product will minimize greenhouse gas emission from upgrading process, making it more environmentally friendly. Moreover, the outcomes obtained from the proposed research will create a novel way of methane activation and liquefaction, leading to the breakthrough in the field of catalysis and its application in clean energy conversion. Moreover, the achievement made from this project will further ascertain the leading position of Canada in the world's energy market through more efficient and cleaner utilization of heavy crude oil and natural gas which are abundant natural resources in Canada.