(240b) Multiphysics Approach to Developing a New Heavy Oil Upgrading Technology

Continuous
increases in the sulfur content and average molecular weight of remaining
petroleum reserves are straining refinery capacity using current technologies.  New technologies are required for cleaner,
energy efficient utilization of sulfur rich heavy oils.   Treating heavy oils and bitumen in
supercritical water has been known since the 1980s to reduce their molecular
weight distributions and sulfur contents. 
Crucially, supercritical water treatment does not promote coke
formation, does not require catalysts, and reduces heavy oil asphaltene content. 
However, commercialization has been held back by contradictory
literature data and a lack of fundamental understanding of the chemical reactivity,
thermodynamic phase behavior, and transport phenomena at supercritical
conditions.  This paper will present an
overview of an on-going research effort to provide a deeper fundamental
engineering understanding of the relevant physical and chemical processes.  Experimental work has been performed on model
systems to measure global rate constants, close material balances, and identify
decomposition products.  Catalysts have
been deployed to help understand chemical mechanisms and evaluate the potential
of catalytic enhancement of the supercritical water process.  Computational work has utilized these
experimental data to construct extensive reaction networks that elucidate the
role of water, the water gas shift reaction, and primary reaction
pathways.  Transport and thermodynamic
simulations provide understanding of the relevant heat, mass, and momentum time
scales and how they interact with the complex, multi-component, near-critical
thermodynamic phase behavior and relevant chemical time scales.