Kazan University testing steam injection on Liaohe oilfield in China

A new paper saw light in Fuel.

Co-author, Professor of Mexican Petroleum Institute Jorge Ancheyta, comments, "The proposed kinetic model has been tested on Russian oil and confirmed with experiments on Chinese oil. We can say that the model is capable of predicting catalytic and non-catalytic aquathermolysis of various crude oils."

The study of various chemical reactions with petroleum components under the influence of steam at high temperatures and pressures is important for the control of changes in the composition and properties of heavy oil. The series of reactions called aquathermolysis has been studied using various transition metals that have demonstrated the ability to catalyze the formation of lighter compounds.

Guillermo Félix, Research Associate of the In-Situ Combustion Lab, adds, "One of the most widely used is the heterogeneous catalyst, which includes metal particles, metal oxides, sulphides, carbides and phosphide nanoparticles, as well as metal solids. Results showed that nickel oxide has the highest catalytic activity with respect to viscosity reduction."

His colleauge Alexis Tirado says, "The resulting kinetic model is able to predict the composite distribution of oil fractions, the quantity and composition of gaseous products under conditions of catalytic aquathermolysis with good correspondence to experimental data."

According to project lead, Chair of the Department of Petroleum Engineering Mikhail Varfolomeev, the results help in creating kinetic models for well modeling. Digital modeling is now available to determine the optimal conditions and infrastructure for catalytic aquathermolysis to ehnance oil productio at Liaohe.

More information:
Definition of reaction pathways for catalytic aquathermolysis of Liaohe heavy crude oil
www.sciencedirect.com/science/ … 0016236122031696?via%3Dihub

Provided by Kazan Federal University