Enhanced aquathermolysis of extra-heavy oil by application of transition metal oxides submicro-particles in relation to steam injection processes
Xian Zhang, Hongchang Che, Yongjian Liu
Abstract
Abstract In order to investigate the catalytic effects of transition metal oxides submicro-particles on aquathermolysis of Liaohe extra-heavy crude oil, the catalysts NiO, α ·Fe 2 O 3 and Co 3 O 4 are used and evaluated during the experiments. The optimum mass fraction of the catalyst and water was determined to be 5.0 wt% and 30 wt%, respectively. The optimum reaction time for aquathermolysis was 24 h, and the optimum reaction temperature was 240 °C. The analysis results showed the heavy oil was upgraded dramatically by addition of the catalysts based upon viscosity reduction, saturate/aromatics/resins/asphaltenes analyses, elemental analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and gas chromatography. All results show the heavy oil is in situ updated dramatically by catalytic aquathermolysis under the optimum operating conditions. A five-lump model is proposed for estimating kinetic parameters of aquathermolysis and agrees well with the experimental data.