(644a) Effect of Interfacial Heterogeneity on Heavy Oil Desorption
AIChE Annual Meeting
2018
2018 AIChE Annual Meeting
Fuels and Petrochemicals Division
Alternative Fuels and Enabling Technology II
Thursday, November 1, 2018 - 12:30pm to 12:55pm
The unconventional oils (e.g., heavy oil, oil/tar sands bitumen) are considered as important alternative to traditional crude oil. Separation of heavy hydrocarbons from mineral surfaces is the key step for unconventional oil production (He, L. et al. Chem. Soc. Rev., 2015). The interfacial heterogeneities, especially the mineral type and oil composition, play an important role in the desorption process.
In this study, silica and muscovite are applied as two typical host solid surfaces to investigate the effect of mineral type on oil desorption. Results of liberation by visualization measurements demonstrated that it was much slower for oil to liberate from silica surface than that from muscovite surface. This result was further confirmed by surface force measurements. Molecular dynamic (MD) simulation was also conducted to provide detailed profiles of molecular scale structure, dynamics, and energetics of the adsorbed model heavy oil molecules on the mineral surfaces, which was highly consistent with the above experimental results.
Another essential factor affecting the separation efficiency is the oil composition. The petroleum are divided into SARA fractions (saturates, aromatics, resins, asphaltenes) to investigate their desorption behaviors on mineral surfaces (silica, kaolinite and calcium carbonate). The Quartz Crystal Microbalance with Dissipation (QCM-D) tests showed that heavier oil fractions (resins and asphaltenes) exhibited less desorption, caused more significant wettability alteration to the mineral surfaces, and dominated in determining the physicochemical and desorption properties of bitumen. Besides, kaolinite and calcium carbonate showed closer affinity with heavy oil fractions through polar and chemical interactions.
The findings in this study provide fundamental understanding of the effects of mineral type and oil composition on the heavy oil separation, allowing potential insights to the development of enhanced oil recovery.
In this study, silica and muscovite are applied as two typical host solid surfaces to investigate the effect of mineral type on oil desorption. Results of liberation by visualization measurements demonstrated that it was much slower for oil to liberate from silica surface than that from muscovite surface. This result was further confirmed by surface force measurements. Molecular dynamic (MD) simulation was also conducted to provide detailed profiles of molecular scale structure, dynamics, and energetics of the adsorbed model heavy oil molecules on the mineral surfaces, which was highly consistent with the above experimental results.
Another essential factor affecting the separation efficiency is the oil composition. The petroleum are divided into SARA fractions (saturates, aromatics, resins, asphaltenes) to investigate their desorption behaviors on mineral surfaces (silica, kaolinite and calcium carbonate). The Quartz Crystal Microbalance with Dissipation (QCM-D) tests showed that heavier oil fractions (resins and asphaltenes) exhibited less desorption, caused more significant wettability alteration to the mineral surfaces, and dominated in determining the physicochemical and desorption properties of bitumen. Besides, kaolinite and calcium carbonate showed closer affinity with heavy oil fractions through polar and chemical interactions.
The findings in this study provide fundamental understanding of the effects of mineral type and oil composition on the heavy oil separation, allowing potential insights to the development of enhanced oil recovery.