The effect of clay minerals on conversion of Yarega heavy oil during catalytic aquathermolysis process

Abstract

In this study we present the results of physical stimulation of in-situ aquathermolysis process carried out on heavy crude oil sample from Yarega (Russia) oil field in the presence of nickel/iron tallates and clay minerals. The experimental results revealed that clay minerals as the co-catalyst show the best performance at 300 °C in case of nickel tallates, where the viscosity of aquathermolysis products reduces by 4 times in contrast to the initial crude oil. Moreover, the content of saturated fraction isolated from the catalytic aquathermolysis products increased from 36.8 to 50.2 in contrast to the saturated fraction of initial crude oil, while the amount of resins decreased by two times after hydrothermal treatment in the presence of nickel catalyst and clay minerals. Thus, the obtained results justify the involvement of clay minerals to the aquathermolysis process and demonstrate catalytic performance in terms of enhancing group composition and viscosity reduction. Keywords: heavy oil; upgrading; catalysts; aquathermolysis; clay minerals; transition metals; SARA; rheology.