Heavy Crude Oils - From Geology to Upgrading, an Overview

Description

The voluntarily wide scope of this volume encompasses geology, production, transportation, upgrading, economics and environmental issues of heavy oils. It does not pretend to be exhaustive, but to provide an authoritative view of this very important energy resource. Besides presenting the current status of knowledge and technology involved in exploiting heavy oils, the purpose is to provide an insight into technical, economic and environmental challenges that should be taken up in order to increase the efficiency of production and processing, and finally to give a prospective view of the emerging technologies which will contribute to releasing the immense potential reserves of heavy oil and tar deposits. This book will consequently be of interest to both specialists and non-specialists who are looking for a general overview on the question of heavy crude oils. Content: Front Matter • Introduction and Synopsis • Preface • Table of Contents •Part I. Heavy Crude Oils 1. Heavy Crude Oils in the Perspective of World Oil Demand 2. Definitions and Specificities 3. Geological Origin of Heavy Crude Oils 4. Properties and Composition •Part II. Reservoir Engineering and Production 5. Reservoir Geology 6. Oil Sands: Mining and Processing 7. Cold Production 8. Enhanced Recovery 9. Heavy Oil Production: Pumping System 10. Examples of Large Heavy Oil Projects •Part III. Surface Transport 11. Heavy Oil Dilution 12. Aqueous Emulsions 13. Core Annular Flow 14. Surface Pumps for Transport: Selection and Limitations •Part IV. Upgrading 15. De-Asphalting with Heavy Paraffinic Solvents 16. Visbreaking 17. Coking 18. Catalytic Hydrotreatment and Hydroconversion: Fixed Bed, Moving Bed, Ebullated Bed and Entrained Bed •Part V. Environmental Issues 19. Reservoir and Production 20. Upgrading 21. Greenhouse Gas Emissions 22. CO2 Mass Balance: An Integrated Approach •Part VI. Ongoing Technological Challenges 23. In situ Upgrading of Heavy Oil and Bitumen 24. Process Workflows • Conclusion • Abbreviations • Glossary • Nomenclature