(57n) Simulation of Bitumen Partial Upgrading Process

Bitumen partial upgrading is a process that transforms bitumen to reduce its diluent requirements, thereby lowering transportation costs and increasing profit. However, this process has failed to meet the product quality specifications for partial upgrading (density <0.9400 g/cm3 at 15.6°C and viscosity <350 cSt at 40°C). Therefore, there is a need to develop an improved partial upgrading process. In this study, we constructed a plant-wide process model in Aspen HYSYS that incorporates visbreaking (VB) and solvent deasphalting (SDA) based on experimental data from batch and bench-scale experiments using VR Feed. Then, simulation studies were performed to evaluate the process configuration by changing the sequence of VB and SDA and using Wabasca Primary feed. The comparison between configurations was evaluated in terms of product yields, diluent requirement, operating cost, and capital cost. Finally, we suggested an optimal configuration that balances all goals.