Special Lecture

"Transforming Alberta's In Situ Oil Sands Industry: A New Process for Simultaneous Enhanced Oil Recovery and Upgrading Based on Nano-Catalytic Technology" -- an ISEEE Experts Talk

Prof. Pereira Almao leads the Alberta Innovates In Situ Energy Centre at the University of Calgary. He and his team are working to commercialize next-generation technologies and processes to reduce the environmental footprint of oil sands production by enhancing the recovery and upgrading of bitumen directly in the reservoir.

 

Breakfast: 7:15 AM / Presentation: 7:45 AM

Calgary Petroleum Club, 319 5^th Avenue S.W.

$35 charge (includes GST) to cover the cost of a hot breakfast.

 

reserve your seat(s) by 8 A.M.  Tuesday, September 11, by registering at:

https://netcommunity.ucalgary.ca/ISEEE.ExpertsSeries

SUMMARY:
Presenter: Pedro Pereira Almao. Co-authors: John Chen, Brij Maini and Carlos Scott, all from the Schulich School of Engineering, University of Calgary.

Alberta is on the verge of a dramatic technological change for the exploitation of in situ bitumen reserves. This change is the result of combining nano-catalytic technology with a simple surface processing that allows efficient heat introduction into the reservoir.

The Catalysis for Bitumen Upgrading group first, and later the In Situ Energy Centre at the University of Calgary demonstrated that nano-catalytic particles are sufficiently reactive at temperatures very close to the ones reached by steam-recovery methods. The former provincial research initiative AICISE demonstrated that nano-particles can flow with ease during extensive periods through porous media with permeability similar to the in situ Athabasca reservoir, and even through media with lower permeability. These nano-particles are injectable into the reservoir via an online manufacturing original device. The nano-catalysts can be injected either cyclically ("huff and puff") or via injector wells. These nano-catalysts disperse by adsorption in the vicinity of the well bores through which they are injected, and they perform high levels of bitumen upgrading with minimal catalyst make-up needed. The presence of nano-catalyst in the well bore surroundings has no effect on the permeability of the reservoir media.

The finding that unlocked the application of this nano-technology is the use of the heaviest -- and therefore the lower economic value portions of the bitumen -- to carry the heat needed to extract the in situ bitumen. This will result in higher economic and energy-efficiency benefits, with lower environmental footprint.

This process configuration eliminates the use of steam, and it allows production directly from the reservoir a partly upgraded oil ready for transportation, which eliminates the need for further processing in upgraders and also the use of diluent.

The technology is currently being engineered for demonstration in carbonate reservoirs abroad and is ready for entrepreneurial initiatives in this province, for which most of the experimental development has been sufficiently advanced at bench scale and via reservoir simulation. 


About Pedro Pereira Almao:
Prof. Pereira Almao is a chemist with 25 years of experience in upgrading processes. He pioneered the use and scale-up of ultra-dispersed catalysts-based processes. He is currently an ISEEE Fellow and the NSERC-NEXEN-AIEES Industrial Research Chair in Catalysis for Bitumen Upgrading, through which he continues to innovate with surface nano-catalytic processes.