Catalytic and Noncatalytic in Situ Hydrogen Production from Heavy Oil: A Review of Experimental Studies.

Hydrogen (H) offers a less carbon-intensive energy production method than natural gas. The potential of utilizing hydrogen at a large scale within the future energy mix to fuel the world opens the door to investigating hydrogen production from heavy and extra-heavy oil reservoirs. Various reaction mechanisms are involved in the in situ combustion gasification of heavy oil to produce sustainable and low carbon intensive hydrogen.

Emulsification and pH Control for Sustainable Thermochemical Fluids Reactivity.

Managing chemical reactivity is crucial for sustainable chemistry and industry, fostering efficiency, reducing chemical waste, saving energy, and protecting the environment. Emulsification is used for different purposes, among them controlling the reactivity of highly reactive chemicals. Thermochemical fluids (TCFs), such as NHCl and NaNO salts, have been utilized in various applications, including the oil and gas industry.

Thermally Activated Nitrogen/Heat Generating Reaction: A Kinetic Study.

Sodium nitrite and ammonium chloride are the most widely used thermochemicals in the oil and gas industry. The kinetics of this reaction when activated with acids or acid precursors were the subject of extensive research by several researchers. The activation of such a highly spontaneous/vigorous reaction by heat is considered a promising reaction control.

Effect of Sulfate-Based Scales on Calcite Mineral Surface Chemistry: Insights from Zeta-Potential Experiments and Their Implications on Wettability.

Scale formation and deposition in the subsurface and surface facilities have been recognized as a major cause of flow assurance issues in the oil and gas industry. Sulfate-based scales such as sulfates of calcium (anhydrite and gypsum) and barium (barite) are some of the commonly encountered scales during hydrocarbon production operations. Oilfield scales are a well-known flow assurance problem, which occurs mainly due to the mixing of incompatible brines.

Effect of Native Reservoir State and Oilfield Operations on Clay Mineral Surface Chemistry.

An understanding of clay mineral surface chemistry is becoming critical as deeper levels of control of reservoir rock wettability via fluid-solid interactions are sought. Reservoir rock is composed of many minerals that contact the crude oil and control the wetting state of the rock. Clay minerals are one of the minerals present in reservoir rock, with a high surface area and cation exchange capacity.

Feature Ranking and Modeling of Mineral Effects on Reservoir Rock Surface Chemistry Using Smart Algorithms.

Reservoir rock minerals and their surface charge development have been the subject of several studies with a consensus reached on their contribution to the control of reservoir rock surface interactions. However, the question of what factors control the surface charge of minerals and to what extent do these factors affect the surface charge remains unanswered. Also, with several factors identified in our earlier studies, the question of the order of effect on the mineral surface charge was unclear.

Impact of Asphaltene Precipitation and Deposition on Wettability and Permeability.

Asphaltene precipitation and deposition have been a formation damage problem for decades, with the most devastating effects being wettability alteration and permeability impairment. To this effect, a critical look into the laboratory studies and models developed to quantify/predict permeability and wettability alterations are reviewed, stating their assumptions and limitations. For wettability alterations, the mechanism is predominantly surface adsorption, which is controlled by the asphaltene contacting minerals as they control the surface chemistry, charge, and electrochemical interactions.

Reduction of Breakdown Pressure by Filter Cake Removal Using Thermochemical Fluids and Solvents: Experimental and Numerical Studies.

The process of well cleanup involves the removal of an impermeable layer of filter cake from the face of the formation. The inefficient removal of the filter cake imposes difficulty on fracturing operations. Filter cake's impermeable features increase the required pressure to fracture the formation.

A Surface Charge Approach to Investigating the Influence of Oil Contacting Clay Minerals on Wettability Alteration.

Reservoir rock wettability has been linked to the adsorption of crude fractions on the rock, with much attention often paid to the bulk mineralogy rather than contacting minerals. Crude oil is contacted by different minerals that contribute to rock wettability. The clay mineral effect on wettability alterations is examined using the mineral surface charge.

Rapid Determination of Emulsion Stability Using Turbidity Measurement Incorporating Artificial Neural Network (ANN): Experimental Validation Using Video/Optical Microscopy and Kinetic Modeling.

Determination of emulsion stability has important applications in crude oil production, separation, and transportation. The turbidimetry method offers advantage of rapid determination of stability at a relatively low cost with good accuracy. In this study, the stability of an oil-in-water (O/W) emulsion prepared by dispersing heavy oil particles in the aqueous solution containing poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) has been determined using turbidity measurements.

Impact of Iron Minerals in Promoting Wettability Alterations in Reservoir Formations.

Asphaltene adsorption and deposition onto rock surfaces are predominantly the cause of wettability and permeability alterations which result in well productivity losses. These alterations can be induced by rock-fluid interactions which are affected by well operations such as acidizing, stimulation, gas injections, and so forth. Iron minerals are found abundantly in sandstone reservoir formations and pose a problem by precipitation and adsorption of polar crude components.

Novel Approach for Improving the Flow of Waxy Crude Oil Using Thermochemical Fluids: Experimental and Simulation Study.

This article focuses on the flow assurance of waxy crude oil using an environmentally benign and cost-effective approach involving thermochemical reaction. The study incorporates experimental and simulation works to evaluate heat and pressure generation potentials and heat transfer efficiency of the thermochemical fluids. Experimental results reveal that at the concentration (1 M) of thermochemical fluid (TCF) ranging between 14 and 33% v/wt of the waxy oil, sufficient heat could be generated to raise the temperature of the oil significantly above the pour point (48 °C).