THERMAL EFFECT ON THE PERMANENT VISCOSITY OF A SASKATCHEWAN HEAVY OIL

Future energy demands will likely cause increased activity towards the recovery of heavy oil using non-conventional means. Most non-conventional attempts to recover Saskatchewan's heavy oil resources have utilized thermal techniques.

This report discusses the permanent viscosity changes which occur when heavy oil.is subjected to thermal processes from 220 to 425°C. It was observed that under closed operating conditions, the oil viscosity drops in a manner which can be modeled by a first order, kinetic reaction model. The rate constant for this reaction varied from 0.3 × 10^-3 to 6.0 × 10^-3 h^-1 depending on temperature and the assumed molecular weights of the model components. These findings closely parallel earlier results.

Experimental observations on thermal effects during opened operating conditions indicate a dramatic and rapid rise In the remaining crude oil viscosity. The oil was observed to increase its permanent absolute viscosity by a factor as high as 21 times its original absolute viscosity. The single product, first order kinetic model was not capable of predicting this rise in oil viscosity. A simple, two product, first order kinetic model was developed and found to fit the data satisfactorily with a rate constant of 0.6 h^-1 for heavy product formation and a rate constant of 0.03 h^-1 for light product formation at 275°C.