Comparison of all produced oil samples
ANALYSIS OF ASPHALTENES- A MAJOR FACTOR BEHIND EMULSIONS-
IN PRODUCED OIL AND SPENT ROCK FOR SAGD AND ES-SAGD
Taniya Kar, Matthew Williamson, and Berna HascakirPetroleum Engineering Department, Texas A&M University
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM• SAGD proved to be efficient for oil sand extraction.• ES-SAGD proved to have much less environmental
impact, energy consumption, and better recovery than SAGD.
• Oil-in-water emulsions• Water-in-oil emulsions
• Role of asphaltenes in emulsion formation.• Comparison of SAGD and SAGD with solvents in
terms of produced emulsions.
MATERIALS METHODSAND
SAMPLES COLLECTED FROM THE EXPERIMENTS
CONDUCTED PREVIOUSLY
SAGD & ES-SAGD EXPERIMENTS CONDUCTED PREVIOUSLY
- Base SAGD- SAGD with n-hexane- SAGD with co-injection of n- hexane and toluene
- Produced Oil- Produced Water- Spent Rock
Microscope Contact Angle
Zeta Potential FTIR
SARA
EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
A) PRODUCED OIL ANALYSIS B) SPENT ROCK ANALYSIS
Parameter, Unit ValueViscosity @ 23oC 54,000Gravity, oAPI @ 23oC 8.65Asphaltene Content, wt% 34.3Zeta Potential for Asphaltenes of original bitumen, mV
-14.0
Contains six vol% water
Microscopic Images
Water-in-oil emulsion
Oil-in-water-in-oil emulsion
(triple emulsion)
Sample Name Asphaltene Content, wt%
Zeta Potential, mV
Original Bitumen 34.3 -14.0Sample1 43.91 -9.87Sample2 24.09 -18.77Sample3 31.07 -16.08
The greatest asphaltene content was observed for the produced oil sample originated from SAGD (Sample1)
0
0.07
0.14
0.21
0.28
0.35
5001000150020002500300035004000
Abso
rban
ce, %
Wavenumber, cm-1
FTIR Spectrums of Produced Oil and Original Bitumen Samples
SAGDES-SAGD with hexaneES-SAGD with hexane and tolueneOriginal Bitumen
O-H stretch prominent for SAGD
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
5001000150020002500300035004000
Abso
rban
ce, %
Wavenumber, cm-1
FTIR Spectrums of Asphaltene fractions of Produced Oil and Original Bitumen SamplesSAGD SAGD with hexane
SAGD with hexane+toluene Original Bitumen
Base SAGDHigh amount of asphaltenes
More oil-wet asphaltenes (zeta potential value)Detection of water in FTIR spectrum.
SAGD SAGD with nC6
Original sample before experiment
Intermediate wet
95.27 ̊
121.44 ̊
More oil-wet
Inside SC
113.11 ̊Intermediate wet
Outside SC
Original sample before experiment 95.50 ̊
Intermediate wet
107.78 ̊Intermediate wet More oil-wet
Outside SC Inside SC
Sample NameAsphaltene Content, wt% Residual Oil, wt%
Inside Steam Chamber
Outside Steam Chamber
Inside Steam Chamber
Outside Steam Chamber
Sample1 7.91 4.78 22.83 18.94Sample2 6.1 7.01 16.69 17.75Sample3 4.87 3.65 13.73 14.86
Higher residual oil → higher contact angle (more oil wet nature)
