University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository Graduate Studies The Vault: Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2018-12-27 Reactor Design for Partial Upgrading of Bitumen via Aquaprocessing Gill, Sukhdeep Singh Gill, S. S. (2018). Reactor Design for Partial Upgrading of Bitumen via Aquaprocessing (Unpublished master's thesis). University of Calgary, Calgary, AB. http://hdl.handle.net/1880/109845 master thesis University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission. Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY Reactor Design for Partial Upgrading of Bitumen via Aquaprocessing by Sukhdeep Singh Gill A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE GRADUATE PROGRAM IN CHEMICAL ENGINEERING CALGARY, ALBERTA DECEMBER, 2018 © Sukhdeep Singh Gill 2018 Abstract Alberta oil industry is facing a major challenge because of the widening price differentials between West Texas Intermediate and Western Canadian Select. The Western Canadian Select is trading at low of US$ 16.71 /bbl. because of its high viscosity, density, total acid number, and sulfur content and lack of access to market outside North America. Under these circumstances, partial upgrading processes such as Aquaprocessing are envisioned as a potential solution. The synthetic crude oil produced from Aquaprocessing of bitumen requires 50 vol.% less diluents than the Athabasca bitumen to meet the pipeline specifications. This thesis is focused on evaluating the reactor design parameters required for scale up of this technology. The kinetic parameters for hydrocracking reaction were calculated using first order rate law expression for the packed bed reactor. Diffusivity of steam in bitumen, dimensionless numbers and hydrodynamic properties of the fluid inside the reactor were calculated using experimental and simulated data. The experimental results indicate that the effect of catalyst particle size depends on the catalyst preparation techniques. The steam diffusivity in bitumen was found to increase linearly with increase in reaction temperature. 0.05 psi/m pressure drop and 39 vol.% liquid holdups are predicted for the two-phase flow regime. ii Preface This thesis is original, unpublished, independent work by the author, Sukhdeep Singh Gill. iii Acknowledgements First, I would like to thank Dr. Pedro Pereira-Almao who believed in me and gave for this exceptional opportunity to work in his team. It was an honor to work under his leadership and learn from him. I am indebted to Dr. Pereira for this lifetime opportunity to pursue my dream. Thanks to Dr. Venkataraman Thangadurai from Department of Chemistry at University of Calgary and Dr. Xiaohui Zhang & John Evans from Shell Canada for encouraging me to pursue this goal. My sincere thanks to Dr. Suresh Mulmi, Dr. Gerardo Vitale, Dr. Lante Carbognani, Dr. Josefina Scott, Dr. Carlos Scott, Alejandro Coy, Eduardo Garcia, Dr. Azfar Hassan and Dr. Monica Bartolini for their encouragement, constructive feedbacks and being always accessible when needed. I would like to thank Mike Grigg from Electronics and Instrument department for his help with LabVIEW programming. A special thanks to Jose Luis and Dr. Khaled Omar for their help during pilot plant construction. Thanks to Dr. Suresh Mulmi for In-situ XRD and TGA experiments and continuous support throughout my university career. It has been my pleasure to be a part of CAFÉ group. Thanks Tatiana, Violeta, Mariana, Maria, Diego, Jose, Omar, Alejandro, Eduardo, Josune, Christian, Juan Carlos, Ghada, Erika, Fahad, Vahideh, Mysam, Mina and many more for creating a friendly and safe working environment. My sincere thanks to all the members of Shell Technology Centre Calgary for being an excellent support. I apologize to my parents andmy brothers; Randeep, Mandeep and Navdeep for being so busy and missing most of the family events. I owe you guys. iv Dedication To Jaspreet Pawan Guru Pani Pitta Mata Dhartmahat Air as Teacher Water as Father Mother as Great Earth Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji v Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... ii Preface ........................................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ iv Dedication ....................................................................................................................................... v Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................... vi List of Tables .................................................................................................................................. x List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ xi List of Abbreviations .................................................................................................................... xii List of Symbols ............................................................................................................................ xiv CHAPTER 1: Introduction ............................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Motivation and Objectives .................................................................................................... 3 1.3 Thesis Organization............................................................................................................... 5 CHAPTER 2: Literature Review .................................................................................................... 6 2.1 Crude Oil ............................................................................................................................... 6 2.2 Bitumen Transportation......................................................................................................... 8 2.3 Upgrading .............................................................................................................................. 9 2.3.1 Non-Catalytic Carbon Rejection .................................................................................. 10 2.3.1.1 Solvent De-Asphalting (SDA) .................................................................................. 10 2.3.1.2 Thermal Cracking/Coking......................................................................................... 11 2.3.2 Hydrogen Addition ...................................................................................................... 13 2.3.2.1 Trickle Bed Reactor .................................................................................................. 13 vi 2.3.2.2 Fixed-Bed Reactor with Cocurrent Upflow .............................................................. 14 2.3.2.3 Ebullated Bed Reactor .............................................................................................. 14 2.3.2.4 Slurry Reactor ........................................................................................................... 14 2.4 Upgrading in Alberta ........................................................................................................... 15 2.5 Partial Upgrading ................................................................................................................ 16 2.6 Aquaprocessing ................................................................................................................... 16 2.6.1 Advances in Aquaprocessing ....................................................................................... 18 2.7 Fixed-Bed Reactor with Cocurrent Upflow ........................................................................ 19 2.7.1 Process Chemistry ........................................................................................................ 20 2.7.2 Process Conditions ....................................................................................................... 24 2.7.3 Steps in Catalytic Reaction .......................................................................................... 24 2.7.4 Packed Bed Reactor Design Equation ......................................................................... 25 2.7.5 Mass Transfer ............................................................................................................... 29 2.7.6 Flow regime ................................................................................................................. 30 2.7.7 Pressure Drop ............................................................................................................... 31 2.7.8 Gas and Liquid Holdup ................................................................................................ 33 Chapter 3: Experimental Section