Orimulsion{reg_sign} - The growing pains of an idea
Conference
·
OSTI ID:269532
- Bitumenes Orinoco, Caracas (Venezuela)
The huge reserves of natural bitumen present in the Orinoco Belt in Venezuela - 260 thousand million barrels at the last count - have for a long time been the subject of speculation by the energy world, and its development one of the biggest challenges facing Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA), the flagship of the Venezuelan energy industry. During the planning exercises of the early eighties, PDVSA recognized that the most feasible way of developing significant amounts of these reserves was to try to place them in the market of electricity generation. The development of Orimulsion, an emulsion of bitumen in water, enabled PDVSA to think in terms of delivering the Btus, so to speak, to the market at competitive prices. This paper tries to summarize the road traveled by Orimulsion since its inception to today`s developments. The paper describes the issues associated with the production of the bitumen, its emulsification into Orimulsion, its transport, and the lessons learned in the marketing of this fuel around the globe. The paper also documents the environmental challenges of the fuel, together with the responses adopted by Bitumenes Orinoco, S.A. (BITOR), the PDVSA affiliate in charge of Orimulsion. This information records the unique experience of developing a fossil fuel in the {open_quotes}green world{close_quotes} of the end of the century, and should show the way for the likely future of the heavy hydrocarbons.
- OSTI ID:
- 269532
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9502114--Vol.1
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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