We studied the rheological properties of heavy oil-in-water emulsions with the final goal of decreasing the high viscosity of oil in pipeline transportation. The emulsions containing 3% silica or 5% montmorillonite were stabilized by Triton X-100.…
During production of conventional as well as heavy oils, emulsions occur at well bore, in pipelines, and at surface facilities. As the production time of the oil wells increases, there will be an increased coproduction of oil and water in the form of…
The transportation of heavy and extra-heavy crude oils from the head-well to the refinery is becoming important since their production is currently rising all over the world. Such oils are characterized by a low API gravity (103cP at 298.15K) that…
Improvement of flow properties of crude oil through pipelines, the effect of temperature, diameter, water cut, and novel extracted surfactant on pressure drop, shear viscosity was studied along with energy analysis. The impact of diameter,…
Petroleum fuels the world economy but also burdens the environment due to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Forty percent of annual global crude oil production is transported by ships, which are fueled by residual heavy fuel oil, yet GHG released…
At present, many petroleum copmpanies in the world are facing processing problems about crude oil extraction, production and refining. For example, conventional pipelines are not suitable for pipelining of extra heavy oils and bitumen from the…
A series of experiments has been carried out in order to construct a master curve generalizing the combined impact of temperature and low viscosity additives on the viscosity of heavy crude oil. The goal was to establish the temperature–diluent…
The high viscosity and low surface tension of heavy crude oils, combined with the low relative permeability of the medium, cause their entrapment in the porous reservoir nets, affecting the oil production. In this work, the effect of two…
The production of crude oil has three stages: formation drive, wellbore lifting, and pipeline transportation. This paper summarizes the application effects of flow improvers within several long-distance pipelines in China. The effects of oil- and…
Reducing the viscosity of heavy oil is of great significance in petroleum production and transportation. In this paper, we studied the reduction of viscosity of crude oil under the irradiation of a 532 nm laser in which the variation of current,…
The composition and structure of pour point depressant/viscosity reducer for pipeline transportation and its application effect in long-distance pipeline transportation in China as well as the application effect of oil-soluble viscosity reducer and…
The highly viscous property of heavy oil often causes problems in its transportation in pipelines. Mixing heavy oil with light oil as well as ultrasound treatment are viable solutions to this problem. In this study, extra heavy crude oil samples were…
Numerous viscosity predicting models for mixed crude oil at various operating conditions had been established and widely applied in oil industry, but little attention was paid on the mixed viscosity of heavy or extra-heavy oil with a certain amount…
The increasing energy demand is persuading oil companies to exploit unconventional reserves of heavy and extra heavy crude oil, which are characterized for their elevated viscosities and upraised production costs. Expensive flow modifiers are often…
Heavy or extra-heavy crude oil has difficulty in transportation, especially for off shore. Catalytic upgrade treatment with iron oil-soluble catalyst (FASFe) was used in this paper to reduce crude oil's viscosity and meet the transport demand. After…
Abstract: Viscosity reduction is one of the key issues for heavy oil reservoir development and its transportation. Up to now, the mechanisms for ultrasonic viscosity reduction still remain unclear, especially for that of heavy crude oil which needs…
The use of asphaltic crude oil resources as an alternative to offset light oil supplies over the next years has attracted oil field attention. However, its high viscosity greatly impedes the production of asphaltic crude oil from wells and…
Heavy crude oils are complex fluid mixture with a high proportion of asphaltic molecules, sulfur and several heavy metals like nickel, vanadium, and nitrogen. These components will affect negatively transporting viscous crude oil from production…
Pipelines are used to transport large amounts of crude oil over large distances (either overland or subsea), representing the most economical alternative. Flow assurance faces two main problems: viscosity increase due to gradual cooling of the oil…
Heavy crude oil shows high viscosity combined with low mobility, which affects the efficient transportation through pipelines. Drag has long been identified as the main reason for the loss of energy in pipeline fluid transmission and other similar…
Amongst the innumerable challenges that permeate the production chain of heavy oils, the transportation stage deserves to be highlighted. Due to its high viscosity, heavy oils exhibit considerable flow resistance, requiring auxiliary mechanisms to…
During the long distance transportation of heavy oil by water ring, instability will occur under the action of gravity. In order to meet the demand of stable transportation of water-ring heavy oil, an innovative design method integrating TRIZ and…
In view of the situation that heavy oil well production fluid needs to be gathered and transferred by heating or with heat water to ensure the normal operation, a kind of cold transportation viscosity reducer was developed through the compounding of…
Heavy crude oil (HCO) is still possessing concrete challenges due to its ineffective flowing characteristics. Asphaltenes and resins are the complex fractions of heavy oil, possessing relatively high polar constituents of heteroatoms, which tend to…
The development of offshore heavy oil field need to reduce investment, energy consumption for oil and gas processing and transportation, we should improve the process, in order to simplify the process by using advanced technology, reduce processing…
Recently, global attraction has shifted toward heavy unconventional crude oil due to the depletion of light oil resources. Generally, heavy crude oils are highly viscous in nature
Regarding the growth of global energy consumption and the paucity of light crude oil, extracting and using heavy and extra heavy crude oil has received much more attention, but the application of this kind of oil is complicated due to its very high…
Heavy oil dilution has been widely used in the oil production and transportation due to its high efficiency in viscosity and drag reduction, and great convenience in operation. The composition of the heavy oil will change while being mixed with some…
In the production and transportation of crude oil, undesirable water-in-oil emulsions may form. Undesirable water-in-oil emulsions may also form in hydraulic fracking when acid is added to the injection water. We investigate the role of acid-base…
In the lubricated pipe flow (LPF) of non-conventional oils, a water annulus acts as the lubricant. It separates the viscous oil from the pipe wall by taking a steady state position at the high shear region in the pipe. Compared to transporting the…
At present, heavy oil and natural bitumen in supplying the worlds demand for fuels and petrochemical feedstock is increasing, because of the reduction of light traditional oil reserves. Heavy oil is characterized by its high viscosity, which creates…
Residue hydroprocessing requires a large quantity of hydrogen. The utilization of the low-cost hydrogen donor for the hydroprocessing reaction can helps to reduce the high cost of hydrogen. Generally, hydroaromatic compounds such as tetralin,…
Pipelines are used to transport large amounts of crude oil over large distances (either overland or subsea), representing the most economical alternative. Flow assurance faces two main problems: viscosity increase due to gradual cooling of the oil…
With the trend of higher yield of heavy crude oil, transporting and refining this kind of oil becomes the key issue in oil industry due to the high viscosity and bad fluidity. Microwave heating can change crude oil's properties according to reported…
Continuous water-assisted flow (CWAF), where a water layer surrounds a viscous oil core, provides low energy, long distance transport of heavy oil and bitumen without requiring heating or solvent addition. In industrial applications of CWAF, the pipe…
The large reserves of heavy crude oils and the significant demand of light olefins, particularly propylene, have created new opportunities for developing advanced catalyst and process technologies that efficiently upgrade asphaltenes-enriched crudes…
Asphaltene precipitation adversely affects crude oil recovery and transportation. Hence, a precise determination of asphaltene precipitation is of great importance. Development of a scaling equation by Rassamdana et al. and its modifications have…
An oil-tolerant and salt-resistant aqueous foam system was screened out as a possible lubricant to enable cold heavy oil transportation. The microstructures and viscoelasticity and effects of heavy oil, salt and temperature on the foam stability were…
In order to make better understanding of extra heavy oil-water two phase flow, an experiment has been performed by using the methods of high-speed photography, equal-momentum sampling, and pressure gradient testing. The flow pattern and properties of…
The increase in demand for crude oil and the depletion of light crude oil reserves have led to increase in the production of heavy crude oils. This has resulted in an interest in decreasing the pumping costs by techniques such as heating, dilution…
The increase in global energy demand and decrease in easily extractable light crude oil has generated a growing interest in heavy oil exploitation. However, the high viscosity of heavy oil leads to exploitation, transportation and refining…
The paper discusses in detail the experience of joint transportation of high pour point wax and viscous heavy oil exhibiting anomalous non-Newtonian properties, the separate pumping of which is associated with high costs of maintaining high…
Temperature variation during crude production, transportation, and processing gives heavy organic deposition problems. Asphaltene particle size evolution from two Iranian heavy crudes (II and II) in thermal de-asphaltene in the absence of n-alkane by…
Physical and numerical simulations of subsurface upgrading by use of solvent deasphalting (SSU-SDA) at laboratory conditions will be presented with a heavy crude oil and propane as a solvent. In this work, 1D propane-flood experiments were performed…
The processing, production, and transport of heavy crude oils are big challenges for the petroleum industry. Central to this challenge is the fluid viscosity: the key variable responsible for the oil fluidity throughout the entire production process.…
Inspired by the special asymmetric wettability and controllable permeation function of cell membranes, we report a Janus nanostructured copper mesh film with unidirectional water transportation ability. Water can permeate from the hydrophobic side to…
Understanding the rheological properties of mixtures of heavy oil or bitumen and diluents, specifically at low temperatures, is key in designing different processes employed in the production or transportation of these resources reliably and…
Ultrasonic treatment was introduced to improve the viscosity reduction efficiency of Xinjiang ultra-heavy oil using active macromolecule viscosity reducer. The effects of ultrasonic treatment power and time on the viscosity reduction system were…