Hot-gas injection in Asphalt Ridge tar sand

Technical Report · Wed May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1985

OSTI ID:5476072

Romanowski, Jr, L J; Thomas, K P

Bench-scale experiments were conducted in a one-dimensional reactor to evaluate the potential of hot-gas injection for the in situ recovery of oil from tar sand. The use of hot gas was examined both as a preheating technique before a steamflood and as an alternative oil recovery process utilizing bitumen pyrolysis. Process results were compared with results from previous thermal recovery experiments utilizing steam displacement and reverse combustion. Hot-gas injection can be successfully used to preheat tar sand provided a reasonably slow heating rate is maintained. Preheat temperatures up to 500/sup 0/F (260/sup 0/C) can be achieved producing a viscous oil bank, which could form a liquid blockage and plug the tar sand matrix. The oil recovery from the subsequent steamflood experiment approached 42 wt. % of the initial bitumen, which is identical to the oil recovery from previous electrically preheated steamflood tests and indicates that the bitumen was not adversely affected by extended preheating periods at low heating rates. Oil yields from hot-gas injection improved with increasing temperatures, ranging from 9 to 73 wt. % of the initial bitumen as process temperatures were increased from 520/sup 0/F (270/sup 0/C) to 1040/sup 0/F (560/sup 0/C). Since bitumen pyrolysis was not observed at temperatures below about 600/sup 0/F (315/sup 0/C), the oil yield below the pyrolysis temperature was probably caused by the viscosity reduction and thermal expansion of the bitumen. Steamflooding appears to be the least efficient thermal process evaluated for the recovery of oil from Asphalt Ridge tar sand, whereas reverse combustion and hot-gas pyrolysis yield greater net gains in energy production. 12 refs., 2 figs., 5 tabs.

• Research Organization: Western Research Inst., Laramie, WY (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: FC21-83FE60177
• OSTI ID: 5476072
• Report Number(s): DOE/FE/60177-2176; ON: DE86015469
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

04 OIL SHALES AND TAR SANDS
040401* -- Oil Shales & Tar Sands-- In Situ Methods
True & Modified
040500 -- Oil Shales & Tar Sands-- Properties & Composition
API GRAVITY
ASPHALT RIDGE DEPOSIT
BENCH-SCALE EXPERIMENTS
BITUMENS
BITUMINOUS MATERIALS
CARBON DIOXIDE INJECTION
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CHEMICAL REACTORS
COMBUSTION
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
DATA
DECOMPOSITION
DENSITY
DIAGRAMS
DISTILLATION
ENERGY SOURCES
ENHANCED RECOVERY
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FLOWSHEETS
FLUID INJECTION
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
GAS INJECTION
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
HEATING
IN-SITU COMBUSTION
IN-SITU PROCESSING
INFORMATION
MATERIAL BALANCE
MATERIALS
MISCIBLE-PHASE DISPLACEMENT
MOLECULAR WEIGHT
NUMERICAL DATA
OIL SAND DEPOSITS
OIL SANDS
OIL YIELDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OTHER ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXIDATION
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
PROCESSING
PYROLYSIS
RECOVERY
REVERSE COMBUSTION
SEPARATION PROCESSES
STEAM INJECTION
TAR
THERMAL RECOVERY
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
VISCOSITY
YIELDS