Coking of high-viscosity water-containing oil

Objectives. A characteristic feature of oil production is an increase in the volume of highviscosity bituminous oil. In Russia, technologies based on the use of water vapor are used for their extraction. The use of such technologies leads to a large amount of water in the product stream from the production well. Preparation of oil for processing involves its stabilization, desalination, and dewatering. Since the densities of the extracted oil and the water contained in it are comparable, traditional preparation schemes for processing of high-viscosity bituminous oil are ineffective. One of the possible solutions to the problem involving such oil in the fuel, energy, and petrochemical balance is to use a coking process at the first stage of its processing. This aim can be achieved by studying the influence of the process conditions of coking high-viscosity water-containing oil on the yield and characteristics of the resulting products.

Methods. Coking of oil with a density of 1.0200 g/cm³ at 50 °C and with 18 wt % water content was carried out in a laboratory installation in a “cube.” A hollow cylindrical apparatus was used as a reactor and was placed in a furnace. The temperature and pressure in the reactor were maintained at 500–700 °C and 0.10–0.35 MPa, respectively.

Results. An increase in the coking process temperature results in an increase in the amount of gaseous products, a decrease in the amount of the coke generated, and a higher dependence of the amount of liquid products on temperature with a maximum yield at 550–600 °C. The process temperature also affects the composition of liquid products. At a lower temperature, the amount of gasoline and kerosene fractions in liquid products is higher. With an increase in pressure, a higher amount of gaseous products, coke, and low-molecular-weight hydrocarbon fractions in liquid products could also be obtained. The characteristics of the coke produced in the coking process are similar to those of commercially produced grades. It is noted that when coking water-containing oil, up to 98% of the emulsion water goes with liquid products, and the remaining amount of water remains in the formed coke.

Conclusions. Results showed the possible application of the coking process at the initial stage of processing high-viscosity bituminous oil. In this case, the dewatering stage is significantly simplified since the technological scheme of delayed coking allows the separation of the gasoline fraction from water.  

1. Shchurov V.I. Tekhnologiya i tekhnika dobychi nefti (Technology and technology of oil production). Moscow: Al’yanS; 2009. 509 p. (in Russ.). ISBN 978-5- 903034-51-2

2. Shchelkachev V.N. Otechestvennaya i mirovaya neftedobycha. Istoriya razvitiya, sovremennoe sostoyanie i prognozy (Domestic and world oil production-history of development, current state and forecasts). Moscow: Inst. Komp’yuter. Issled.; 2002. 132 p. (in Russ.). ISBN 5-93972-189-3

3. Basarygin Yu.M., Bulatov A.I., Proselkov Yu.M. Zakanchivanie skvazhin (Well completions). Moscow: NedraBiznestsentr; 2002. 667 р. (in Russ.). ISBN 5-8365-0053-3

4. Urazakov K.R., Bogomol’nyi E.I., Seitpagambetov Zh.S., Nazarov A.G. Nasosnaya dobycha vysokovyazkoi nefti iz naklonnykh i obvodnennykh skvazhin (Pumping production of high-viscosity oil from inclined and watered wells). Moscow: Nedra-Biznestsentr; 2003. 303 p. (in Russ.).

5. Forest G. Dobycha nefti (Oil production), transl. from Eng. Moscow: Olimp-Biznes; 2001. 416 p. (in Russ.). ISBN 5-901028-38-4

6. Korshak A.A. Osnovy neftegazovogo dela (Fundamentals of oil and gas business). Ufa: DizainPoligrafServis; 2005. 528 p. (in Russ.). ISBN 5-94423-066-5

7. Zheltov Yu.P. Razrabotka neftyanykh mestorozhdenii (Development of oil fields). Moscow: Nedra; 1986. 332 p. (in Russ.).

8. Stepanov V.A., Archegov V.B., Kozlov A.V., Smyslov A.A. Modern technologies for the development of deposits of super-heavy oil and bitumen, prospects for their application in Russia. In: Natural Bitumen and Heavy Oil. Collection of materials of the International scientific and practical conference on the 100th anniversary of t he birth of V.A. Uspensky. St. Petersburg: 2006. Р. 54–68 (in Russ.).

9. Baret E. On the possibilities of commercial exploitation of natural bitumen. In: Proceedings of the International conference Problems of complex development of hard-to-recover oil and natural bitumen reserves (production and processing). Kazan: 1994;1:78–85 (in Russ.).

10. Kayukova G.P., Petrov S.M., Uspenskii B.V. Svoistva tyazhelykh neftei i bitumov permskikh otlozhenii Tatarstana v prirodnykh i tekhnogennykh protsessakh (Properties of heavy oils and bitumen of Permian deposits of Tatarstan in natural and technogenic processes). Moscow: GEOS; 2015. 341 p. (in Russ.).

11. Muslimov R.Kh., Romanov G.V., Kayukova G.P., Yusupova T.N., Petrov S.M. Oil production prospects. Vserossiiskii ekonomicheskii zhurnal EKO = ECO Journal. 2012;(1):35–40 (in Russ.).

12. Glagoleva O.F., Kapustin V.M. Tekhnologiya pererabotki nefti (Oil refining technology). In 2 v. V. 1. Moscow: Khimiya. KolosS; 2007. 400 p. (in Russ.).

13. Kapustin V.M. Tekhnologiya pererabotki nefti. Pervichnaya pererabotka nefti (Oil refining technology. Primary oil refining). In 4 v. V. 1. Moscow: KolosS; 2019. 451 p. ISBN 978-5-9933-0164-8

14. Solodova N.L., Terenteva N.A. Current state and development trends of catalytic petroleum cracking. Vestnik Kazanskogo Tehnologicheskogo Universiteta = Bulletin of the Kazan Technological University. 2012;15(1):141–147 (in Russ.).

15. Khisamov R.S., Gatiyatullin N.S., Shargorodskii I.E., Voitovich E.D., Voitovich S.E. Geologiya i osvoenie zalezhei prirodnykh bitumov Respubliki Tatarstan (Geology and development of natural bitumen deposits in the Republic of Tatarstan). Kazan: FEN; 2007. 295 р. (in Russ.).

16. Gimaev R.N., Kuzeev I.R., Abyzgil’din Yu.M. Neftyanoi koks (Oil coke). Moscow: Khimiya; 1992. 80 p. (in Russ.). ISBN 5-7245-0483-9