Lopeman Thomas, Anbari Hossein, Leeke Gary, Wood Joseph
School of Chemical Engineering, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, BirminghamB15 2TT, U.K.
Faculty of Engineering, University of Nottingham, NottinghamNG7 2RD, U.K.
Energy Fuels. 2023 Jan 5;37(1):237-250. doi: 10.1021/acs.energyfuels.2c03069. Epub 2022 Dec 22.
There are huge reserves of heavy oil (HO) throughout the world that can be energy-intensive to recover. Improving the energy efficiency of the recovery process and developing novel methods of cleaner recovery will be essential for the transition from traditional fossil fuel usage to net-zero. In situ combustion (ISC) is a less used technique, with toe-to-heel air injection (THAI) and catalytic processing in situ (CAPRI) being specialized novel versions of traditional ISC. They utilize a horizontal producing well and in the case of CAPRI, a catalyst. This paper aims to investigate the impact that injected steam has on both the THAI and CAPRI processes for the purpose of in situ HO upgrading and will help to bridge the gap between the extant laboratory research and the unknown commercial potential. This study also presents a novel method for modeling the THAI-CAPRI method using CMG STARS, proposing an in situ hydrogen production reaction scheme. THAI and CAPRI experimental-scale models were run under three conditions: dry, pre-steam, and constant steam. Starting from a reservoir American Petroleum Institute (API) of 10.5°, THAI reached an average API of ∼16 points, showing no increase in the API output with the use of steam injection. A decreased API output by ∼0.7 points during constant steam injection was achieved due to a high-temperature oxidation-dominant environment. This decreases the reactant availability for thermal cracking. The CAPRI dry run reached an API of 20.40 points and achieved an increased API output for both pre-steaming (∼21.17 points) and constant steaming (∼22.13 points). The mechanics for this increased upgrading were discussed, and catalytic upgrading, as opposed to thermal cracking, was shown to be the reason for the increased upgrading. Both processes produce similar cumulative oil (∼3150 cm) during dry and pre-steamed runs, only increasing to ∼3300 cm with the constant steam injection during THAI and 3500 cm for CAPRI.
世界各地存在大量重油储备，其开采过程能源消耗大。提高开采过程的能源效率并开发更清洁的新型开采方法对于从传统化石燃料使用向净零排放过渡至关重要。原地燃烧（ISC）是一种较少使用的技术，而从井头到井尾注气（THAI）和原位催化处理（CAPRI）是传统ISC的专门新型版本。它们利用水平生产井，在CAPRI的情况下还使用催化剂。本文旨在研究注入蒸汽对THAI和CAPRI工艺在原地重油升级方面的影响，这将有助于弥合现有实验室研究与未知商业潜力之间的差距。本研究还提出了一种使用CMG STARS对THAI - CAPRI方法进行建模的新方法，并提出了一种原位制氢反应方案。THAI和CAPRI实验规模模型在三种条件下运行：干燥、预蒸汽和恒定蒸汽。从储层美国石油学会（API）为10.5°开始，THAI达到平均API约16个点，表明注蒸汽并未使API产量增加。由于高温氧化占主导的环境，在恒定蒸汽注入期间API产量下降了约0.7个点。这降低了热裂解的反应物可用性。CAPRI的干燥运行达到API为20.40个点，并且预蒸汽（约21.17个点）和恒定蒸汽（约22.13个点）运行的API产量均有所增加。讨论了这种升级增加的机理，结果表明与热裂解相反，催化升级是升级增加的原因。在干燥和预蒸汽运行期间，两个工艺产生的累计油量相似（约3150立方厘米），在THAI的恒定蒸汽注入期间仅增加到约3300立方厘米，而CAPRI为3500立方厘米。
