KFU-made catalyst for oil recovery successfully tested in Samara Oblast
A peptizer for the upgrading of heavy oil, developed by the staff of the In-Situ Combustion Laboratory of the Institute of Geology and Petroleum Technologies of the Kazan Federal University, has been tested at one of the fields of the RITEK-Samara-Nafta territorial production enterprise.
“We have synthesized new heat-resistant surfactants based on medium-molecular polyglycols (polyethylene glycol and polypropylene glycol), which have proven their effectiveness in the destruction (peptization) of asphaltene aggregates under hydrothermal conditions. Initially, we studied the possibility of increasing the efficiency of oil aquathermolysis catalysts by facilitating their access to the attacked carbon-sulfur bonds using peptizers. In the course of further research, it was found that peptizers ensure upgrading of oil even without a catalyst. Its viscosity is reduced by 1.5 times,” says junior research associate Temurali Kholmurodov.
Peptization of heavy oil asphaltene aggregates facilitates their further chemical conversion and allows realizing the catalytic potential of the mineral components of the oil-bearing formation, the researcher emphasizes.
“New reagents for enhancing oil recovery have undergone a series of laboratory studies. As a result, the optimal peptizer composition was selected for field testing. Then, measures were taken to scale up industrial production of the pilot batch. Injection was carried out at a steam-cyclic well,” adds junior research associate Oibek Mirzaev.
Domestic raw materials are used for industrial production of the asphaltene peptizer, notes laboratory head Alexey Vakhin.
“By order of RITEK, laboratory studies were conducted and a pilot batch of the reagent was produced, after which it was tested at a field in the Samara Region in June of this year,” he explains. “The new reagent will increase the efficiency of steam-thermal methods of heavy oil production.”
The scientists plan to continue testing various peptizer compositions at heavy oil fields.
