Measurement and Correlation of Viscosity and Density for Compressed Athabasca Bitumen at Temperatures Up to 200ºC

Abstract

The heavy-oil- and bitumen-recovery processes mainly intend to reduce the oil viscosity at the reservoir; therefore, the production and pipeline transportation of such viscous fluids require specific data on the viscosity and density of raw bitumen. In this study, the thermophysical properties of Athabasca bitumen were reported over a wide range of temperatures and pressures applicable for both in-situ-recovery methods and pipeline transportation of oil. The measurements were taken with our designed phase-behaviour experimental apparatus, capturing the density and viscosity of Athabasca bitumen accurately at temperatures varying from ambient temperature up to 200C and at pressures up to 10 MPa. The experimental density data for bitumen were correlated within 60.7 kg/m3 with a newly developed algorithm to obtain the coefficients of correlation equations, considering the influence of pressure and temperature on the density. The viscosity data are correlated reasonably (within 69%) over the studied conditions with two correlations, which include two adjustable parameters each.