In Situ Prepared Nanoparticles in Support of Oilsands Industry Meeting Future Environmental Challenges
affecting NP colloidal concentration and uptake in light oil matrix can be found elsewhere.18
The in situ preparation of colloidal iron
oxide/hydroxide in heavy oil matrices followed a similar procedure developed for light oil W/O microemulsions, with the asphaltenes taking the role of the surfactant.19
The heavy oil matrices consisted
of a mixture of vacuum residue, vacuum gas oil and water. Trends in NP colloidal stability as a function of microemulsion and operation variables were common between the W/O microemulsions and heavy oils’ matrices. An optimum water content in oil phase was found for which a maximum NP uptake was obtained. NP uptake increased linearly with the surfactant concentration and displayed a power function with the precursor salt concentration.15,16,18,19
systems provided excellent stability for appreciable numbers of colloidal particles. This was attributed to the rigidity of surface layer, which limited aggregation of the colloidal particles.15,16
Oil production Steam injection
Line for in situ formation of nanocatalysts
Figure 1: Cartoon Representation of In Situ Heavy Oil Recovery and Upgrading Coupling Ultradispersed Nanocatalyst and the Steam-assisted Gravity Drainage Process, Whereupon Light Oil is Produced at the Surface and Heavy Molecules, Solids and Minerals Stay Sub-surface
Both Higher
uptake was reported for the W/O microemulsion owing to the high interaction between the commercial surfactant AOT and the stabilised NPs.15,19
H2S Sorption by In Situ Prepared Ultra-dispersed Nanoparticles
Husein et al. showed that ultra-dispersed colloidal FeOOH particles formed in situ in 1-methyl naphthalene continuous oil phase with a high hydrocarbon boiling point. This occurred by means of
W/O microemulsion methods effectively converted H2S(g) into FeS and S0.7
well as FeCl3 and NaOH aqueous precursors as possible scavengers for H2S(g).
The in situ prepared FeOOH NPs displayed the highest sorption rate and capacity by virtue of their extended and easily accessible
Water Pool
The most common subsurface bitumen recovery process employs steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) in situ with various stimulation techniques.
surface. They converted H2S(g) into an environmentally neutral final product. Higher temperatures (>120°C) retarded the performance of
FeOOH particles. The authors attributed this retardation to phase separation and NP aggregation.7
investigated capturing H2S(g) while bubbling through a heavy oil matrix consisting of 20vol.% vacuum residue and
In order to better mimic heavy oil recovery conditions, Nassar et al.2
80 vol.% vacuum gas oil under SAGD conditions using ultra-dispersed metal oxide particles.2,5
The authors reported
H2S(g) sorption to be metal oxide-specific with the following affinity: ZnO > CaO > MgO > Fe2O3.
Furthermore, the sorption effectiveness of in situ prepared metal oxide particles was compared with commercially-available metal oxides. The in situ prepared oxides yielded the highest
EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION – VOLUME 9 ISSUE 2
The water pools solubilise the precursors and accommodate the resultant nanoparticles. The size of the water pool can be manipulated by controlling the ratio of mole water/mole surfactant.
The authors also tested commercial α−Fe2O3 NPs as Figure 2: Schematic Diagram of Water-in-oil Microemulsions Oil
Surfactant Nanoparticle
rate and sorption capacity as a result of their uniform dispersion and higher surface area. Recently, Nassar and Pereira-Almao employed the in situ prepared metal oxide nanoparticles in an oilsand matrix for H2S(g) capture. The authors found that the in situ prepared metal oxide particles were more efficient for H2S(g) removal than the commercially available nanoparticles because of their dispersion abilities, high surface areas, and intrinsic reactivities.20
Asphaltene Adsorption onto Metal Oxide Nanoparticles Asphaltenes are aromatic macromolecules containing heteroatoms. They are present to different extents in heavy oils. Asphaltenes
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