Developing Specialized Methodologies for Diluent Determination in Produced Fluid from Solvent Enhanced Bitumen Recovery Technologies

森科尔能源公司(森科尔)是一家领先的国际能源公司，也是加拿大油砂、碳捕获和封存以及替代能源(风能和太阳能)的主要参与者。在接下来的30年里，随着加拿大的油砂向净零解决方案过渡并实现加拿大的气候目标，它们预计将为国内生产总值贡献3万亿美元，并产生1.7万亿美元的特许权使用费。这些收入为所有加拿大人在基础设施、社会服务、医疗、教育、文化和其他重要项目上的政府支出做出了贡献。森科尔正在与南艾伯塔省理工学院(SAIT)能源研究和清洁非常规技术解决方案(CERCUTS)研究小组合作，开发一种新的分析方法和实验室程序，以表征通过扩展溶剂蒸汽辅助重力排水(ES-SAGD)回收的稀释剂混合物和流体。ES-SAGD涉及少量的溶剂与蒸汽共注入以提高沥青回收率，但为了经济和环境高效，降低能源和蒸汽需求并将稀释剂对油砂和周围地层的损失降至最低是至关重要的。目前的测量方法假设生产的稀释剂与注入的稀释剂具有相同的组成分布，这造成了不准确。主要目标是开发一种新的分析方法，包括与相关实验室程序的验证，以表征由ES-SAGD回收的稀释剂混合物和液体。其成果将是一种专门的方法，用于准确和可重复地测定用于循环使用的产出液的溶剂。有了这一系统，使用ES-SAGD等溶剂技术就地回收沥青的商业可行性将变得更可验证、更可靠、更节能、更环保，而且更有市场价值。这种独特的现场技术诀窍，如果转移到其他应用，如利用地热能，将促进加拿大作为技术领先者的地位。

Suncor Energy Inc (Suncor) is a leading international energy company and a major player in Canada's oil sands, carbon capture and storage, and alternative energy (wind and solar power). Over the next 3 decades, as Canada's oil sands transition to net-zero solutions and meet Canada's climate goals, they're expected to contribute $3 trillion to the GDP and $1.7 trillion in royalties. These revenues contribute to government spending on infrastructure, social services, medical, educational, cultural and other important programs for all Canadians. Suncor is partnering with the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology's (SAIT) Centre for Energy Research and Clean Unconventional Technology Solutions (CERCUTS) research group to develop a novel analytical method and laboratory procedures to characterize diluent mixtures and fluids recovered by Expanding Solvent Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (ES-SAGD). ES-SAGD involves a small volume of solvents co-injected with steam to increase bitumen recovery, but for it to be economically- and environmentally-efficient, it is critical to reduce energy and steam requirements and minimize diluent loss to the oil sands and surrounding formations.A primary challenge is current measurement methods assume produced diluent has the same compositional distribution as injected diluent, creating inaccuracies. The key objective is to develop a novel analytical method which includes validation with associated laboratory procedures to characterize diluent mixtures and fluids recovered by ES-SAGD. The outcome will be a specialized methodology for the accurate and reproducible solvent determination of produced fluids for recycle. With this system, the commercial viability of in-situ bitumen recovery using solvent technologies, such as ES-SAGD, will become more verifiable, reliable, energy- and environmentally- efficient and marketable. This unique in-situ technological know-how, if transferred for other applications such as harnessing geo-thermal energy, will promote Canada's position as a technology leader.