Cargando…

Minimising hydrogen sulphide generation during steam assisted production of heavy oil

The majority of global petroleum is in the form of highly viscous heavy oil. Traditionally heavy oil in sands at shallow depths is accessed by large scale mining activities. Recently steam has been used to allow heavy oil extraction with greatly reduced surface disturbance. However, in situ thermal...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Montgomery, Wren, Sephton, Mark A., Watson, Jonathan S., Zeng, Huang, Rees, Andrew C.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Nature Publishing Group 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4323652/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25670085
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep08159
_version_ 1782356576551567360
author Montgomery, Wren
Sephton, Mark A.
Watson, Jonathan S.
Zeng, Huang
Rees, Andrew C.
author_facet Montgomery, Wren
Sephton, Mark A.
Watson, Jonathan S.
Zeng, Huang
Rees, Andrew C.
author_sort Montgomery, Wren
collection PubMed
description The majority of global petroleum is in the form of highly viscous heavy oil. Traditionally heavy oil in sands at shallow depths is accessed by large scale mining activities. Recently steam has been used to allow heavy oil extraction with greatly reduced surface disturbance. However, in situ thermal recovery processes can generate hydrogen sulphide, high levels of which are toxic to humans and corrosive to equipment. Avoiding hydrogen sulphide production is the best possible mitigation strategy. Here we use laboratory aquathermolysis to reproduce conditions that may be experienced during thermal extraction. The results indicate that hydrogen sulphide generation occurs within a specific temperature and pressure window and corresponds to chemical and physical changes in the oil. Asphaltenes are identified as the major source of sulphur. Our findings reveal that for high sulphur heavy oils, the generation of hydrogen sulphide during steam assisted thermal recovery is minimal if temperature and pressure are maintained within specific criteria. This strict pressure and temperature dependence of hydrogen sulphide release can allow access to the world's most voluminous oil deposits without generating excessive amounts of this unwanted gas product.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-4323652
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2015
publisher Nature Publishing Group
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-43236522015-02-20 Minimising hydrogen sulphide generation during steam assisted production of heavy oil Montgomery, Wren Sephton, Mark A. Watson, Jonathan S. Zeng, Huang Rees, Andrew C. Sci Rep Article The majority of global petroleum is in the form of highly viscous heavy oil. Traditionally heavy oil in sands at shallow depths is accessed by large scale mining activities. Recently steam has been used to allow heavy oil extraction with greatly reduced surface disturbance. However, in situ thermal recovery processes can generate hydrogen sulphide, high levels of which are toxic to humans and corrosive to equipment. Avoiding hydrogen sulphide production is the best possible mitigation strategy. Here we use laboratory aquathermolysis to reproduce conditions that may be experienced during thermal extraction. The results indicate that hydrogen sulphide generation occurs within a specific temperature and pressure window and corresponds to chemical and physical changes in the oil. Asphaltenes are identified as the major source of sulphur. Our findings reveal that for high sulphur heavy oils, the generation of hydrogen sulphide during steam assisted thermal recovery is minimal if temperature and pressure are maintained within specific criteria. This strict pressure and temperature dependence of hydrogen sulphide release can allow access to the world's most voluminous oil deposits without generating excessive amounts of this unwanted gas product. Nature Publishing Group 2015-02-11 /pmc/articles/PMC4323652/ /pubmed/25670085 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep08159 Text en Copyright © 2015, Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder in order to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
spellingShingle Article
Montgomery, Wren
Sephton, Mark A.
Watson, Jonathan S.
Zeng, Huang
Rees, Andrew C.
Minimising hydrogen sulphide generation during steam assisted production of heavy oil
title Minimising hydrogen sulphide generation during steam assisted production of heavy oil
title_full Minimising hydrogen sulphide generation during steam assisted production of heavy oil
title_fullStr Minimising hydrogen sulphide generation during steam assisted production of heavy oil
title_full_unstemmed Minimising hydrogen sulphide generation during steam assisted production of heavy oil
title_short Minimising hydrogen sulphide generation during steam assisted production of heavy oil
title_sort minimising hydrogen sulphide generation during steam assisted production of heavy oil
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4323652/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25670085
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep08159
work_keys_str_mv AT montgomerywren minimisinghydrogensulphidegenerationduringsteamassistedproductionofheavyoil
AT sephtonmarka minimisinghydrogensulphidegenerationduringsteamassistedproductionofheavyoil
AT watsonjonathans minimisinghydrogensulphidegenerationduringsteamassistedproductionofheavyoil
AT zenghuang minimisinghydrogensulphidegenerationduringsteamassistedproductionofheavyoil
AT reesandrewc minimisinghydrogensulphidegenerationduringsteamassistedproductionofheavyoil