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PAPER 2006-727

Releasing the Value of Heavy Oil and Bitumen:


HTL Upgrading of Heavy to Light Oil
E. VEITH
Ivanhoe Energy Inc., Bakersfield, California, USA

This paper has been selected for presentation and publication in the Proceedings at the 1st World Heavy Oil Conference.
All papers selected will become the property of WHOC. The right to publish is retained by the WHOCs Publications Committee.
The authors agree to assign the right to publish the above-titled paper to WHOC, who have conveyed non-exclusive right to the
Petroleum Society to publish, if it is selected.

processing facilities are in operation in the United States and

ABSTRACT

Canada.

Ivanhoe Energy Inc.s proprietary heavy oil to light oil


(HTL) upgrading technology is designed to cost effectively

A petroleum pilot plant built by Ensyn in 1998 has been

process heavy oil in the field and produce a stable, significantly

used for testing crude oil from around the world. In December,

upgraded synthetic oil product along with by-product energy

2004, operations at a 1,000-barrel-per-day commercial

which can be used to generate steam or electricity. Analysis

demonstration plant were initiated in the Belridge Heavy Oil

shows that HTL can virtually eliminate cost exposure to natural

Field in the San Joaquin Valley in southern California.

gas and diluent and capture the majority of the heavy to light

Ivanhoe Energy and Ensyn merged in April 2005, and

price differential for oil producers. HTL accomplishes this at a

Ivanhoe Energy gained full ownership of the petroleum

much smaller scale and at lower per barrel capital costs

upgrading technology for the development of heavy oil reserves

compared with established competing technologies.

around the world. Ensyn Group spun off its existing biomass
processing business, Ensyn Renewables Inc., to its shareholders

The HTL process represents the application of a

prior to the closing of the merger with Ivanhoe Energy

commercially proven technology to a new feedstock. Ensyn


Group, Inc. initially developed the technology in the early

Since the commissioning of the commercial demonstration

1980s and has applied it commercially for over 15 years in the

facility (CDF), Ivanhoe Energy has tested a number of crude

biomass (wood) industry. Seven commercial Ensyn biomass

oils and vacuum tower bottom feedstocks. Analysis of CDF


performance confirms that the HTL process is capable of

delivering high yields of upgraded product. The HTL process

production of heavy crude and bitumen: the volatile supply and

significantly reduces or eliminates most contaminants and the

price swings of natural gas used for steam generation and

product typically meets pipeline specifications without further

diluent to transport heavy crude and the high differential

treatment. CDF run analysis validates data obtained in the

between heavy and light crude prices. Additionally, centralized

pilot scale experiments.

mega-projects are no longer required to support traditional

Pilot results and feedstock and

synthetic product properties are presented.

upgrading schemes, as the HTL upgrading technology is


economic in field-sited modules as low as 10,000 to 15,000
bpd,

INTRODUCTION

thereby

allowing

producers

without

downstream

operations the ability to dramatically reduce the risk of heavy

In mid-2005, Ivanhoe Energy Inc. acquired a new patented

oil development in a capital-efficient manner. HTL provides an

process, called Rapid Thermal Processing (RTP), for the

option to build upgrading capacity, synchronized with field

field-located upgrading of heavy oil and bitumen. This patented

development.

process will be used to upgrade heavy oil to light oil (HTL) to


enable the economic development of heavy oil and bitumen

HTL TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT

resources worldwide. Ivanhoe Energys acquisition included a


new Commercial Demonstration Facility (CDF) in California

The

development

of

the

rapid

thermal

processing

that demonstrates a processing capacity of approximately 1,000

technology commenced in the early 1980s when it was

barrels-per-day (bpd) of heavy crude oil.

discovered that a broad array of carbonaceous feedstocks (i.e.

There are significant accumulations of heavy crude and

wood and heavy oil) could be thermally cracked to obtain

bitumen throughout the world, much of it "stranded" or

valuable products, at residence times of a few seconds. The

economically constrained, which can be targeted by this

initial commercial focus of the technology, beginning in 1989,

technology, thereby providing access to reserves. Heavy oil

was aimed at conversion of wood and wood residues to value-

upgrading is receiving considerable attention as much of the

added fuels and chemicals. Seven commercial biomass plants

remaining unexploited petroleum reserves in the world are

based on this technology have been in operation for many years.

heavy and extra heavy (bitumen). Both Canada and Venezuela

As the biomass side of the business grew and operational

have extensive heavy oil reserves which compare in size to

and design parameters were optimized, the focus turned towards

current reserves in the Middle East. As conventional, lighter

petroleum feedstocks.

crude oil supplies decline, they will need to be replaced by

technology was demonstrated in Ensyns pilot plant in Ottawa

The petroleum application of the

heavier crudes . As heavy crude production increases deep

on more than 90 experimental runs using a number of different

conversion capacity will also have to be expanded.

crude oils, bitumen, and residue between 1999 and 2002. Since

New residue processing capacity could be added to existing

it was believed that the technology had relatively low capital

refineries, or it could be built in separate, stand-alone upgrading

and operating costs compared to conventional carbon rejection

facilities. If the oil is too heavy to transport by pipeline, and/or

technologies, such as delayed coking, the commercialization of

there is the need for heat or energy at the production site, heavy

the HTL process was initiated.

oil upgrading in the field is attractive, and may avoid extensive


modifications of existing refineries. Traditional residue

HTL PROCESS DESCRIPTION

processing such as coking or hydrocracking are very expensive

HTL upgrading uses a continuous, short contact time

processes, and require large scale to be viable. The HTL

thermal conversion process (Rapid Thermal Processing or

technology would provide a lower cost, simpler residue

RTP), which takes place at moderate temperatures and at

processing option compatible with field development.

atmospheric pressure. It uses a circulating transported bed of

The challenges of using conventional technology to develop

hot sand in the system to quickly heat the feedstock and convert

heavy oil and bitumen resources are many. Now, with the

it to more valuable products, in the absence of air.

advent of HTL upgrading, producers have the ability to protect

The

following description is representative of the two general

themselves from exposure to significant uncertainties in the

commercial process configurations (High Yield and High

make a synthetic crude product. In the High Yield mode of

Quality) applicable to heavy oil or bitumen upgrading.

operation the resulting quenched product is routed to the


product tank where it is blended. The process flow diagram is
shown in Figure 2. In the High Quality mode of operation the

Pre-fractionation

bottoms product from the product distillation tower is routed

In a commercial HTL facility, the whole heavy oil feed is

back to the reactor to further convert any VTBs that survived

sent to a series of distillation towers, where material with a

the first pass through the reactor. See Figure 3.

liquid boiling point below 985-1050 F is removed in a vacuum


tower. The lighter material is later recombined with the

RTP Reheater Section

upgraded liquid product to form transportable synthetic crude.

The coke covered sand from the RTP Reactor is separated

The vacuum tower bottoms (VTBs) are routed to the RTP

from the product vapor stream via a high-efficiency cyclone and

Reactor. The general process flow is shown in Figure 1

directed to a fluidized bed reheater for carbon removal. Air is


used to fluidize the sand and facilitate combustion in the

RTP Reaction Section

reheater. See Figure 4. The temperature of the regenerated sand

The heavy oil residue feed or VTBs are atomized and mixed

is adjusted to the proper reactor temperature in a sand cooler

in the reactor with hot circulating silica sand and transported up

where excess heat is recovered prior to circulation back to the

through the reaction zone by transport or carrier gas. See Figure

reactor. High pressure steam can be generated from the heat

2. Recycle product gas (or by-product gas) is used as the

recovered in the sand cooler. See Figure 5. Operation of the

transport gas. Rapid mixing of the oil and sand promotes

circulating sand system is similar to a conventional fluid

effective heat transfer and thermal cracking of heavy oil

catalytic cracker (FCC) and residue fluid catalytic cracker

feedstocks. Carbon is rejected as the long hydrocarbon chains

(RFCC).

are cracked and coke is deposited on the sand during thermal


conversion. When long chain hydrocarbons are cracked, the
boiling point is reduced and the cracked product is vaporized.

By-product Heat, Flue Gas Treatment and

The coke covered sand, vapor (cracked VTBs), transport gas

Solids Handling System

and feed that survive the first pass in the reactor are separated in

Sorbent is added to reduce contaminants in the heavy oil

a high temperature cyclone system. The fluids are quenched

feed. A portion is added to the heavy oil feed to the Distillation

rapidly and vapors condensed with light oil to maximize liquid

Tower section to reduce the total acid number (TAN) of the

yield and minimize undesirable secondary thermal cracking

feed and to capture sulphur released in the reactor section. The

reactions. A very short residence time is required between the

rest is added to the reheater in order to capture SO2 which is

feed injection point and the quench point. Typically, residence

formed as the normally high sulphur coke is burned off of the

times less than a few seconds are targeted.

sand grains. The sorbent also acts as a site for the metals to be
deposited.

Product Fractionation

Flue gas from the reheater is directed through a cyclone

Following quenching, the liquid product can be routed to the

system to remove ash, spent sorbent, and any sand fines from

product tank for blending (High Yield) or recovered in a

the gas prior to injection in a power recovery turbine. See

product distillation tower for further separation for recycle

Figure 5. High pressure steam production is possible by energy

operations (High Quality). Part of the non-condensable gas is

recovery from the hot flue gas, plus burning excess by-product

recycled to the reactor system to be used as transport gas for the

gas, in a WHB. This approach maximizes the useful energy

circulating sand, with the balance, or net product gas, used to

output from the process, either as high pressure steam or as

raise steam and/or power in a Waste Heat Boiler (WHB). All

power available for onsite facility use with the excess exported

liquid products, including the light liquids from the whole crude

for use in heavy oilfield production operations.

which are separated in the pre-fractionation step, are blended to

Since sorbent is added to the feed and reacts with sulphur

recycle stream to reduce the +1000 F cut in the final product.

released in the reactor section, the by-product gas is effectively

Since the products are low viscosity (typically below 100 cSt at

sulphur free and can be routed to a fuel gas system and used for

40 C) the need for diluents required for transportation is

another purpose if the steam and or power requirements can be

eliminated since the products meet or exceed pipeline

met by the combustion of the by-product coke.

specifications with respect to viscosity. This protects the heavy

Flue gas polishing to meet SO2 emission requirements

oil or bitumen producer from exposure to market conditions

through a flue gas de-sulphurization unit (FGDSU) is also

related to the purchase of condensate or synthetic crude oils for

included as part of the flue gas system. The ash, spent sorbent

diluent.

and sand fines are routed to an ash cooler and collected in a


hopper, ready for disposal as a non-hazardous solid waste.

Yield
The HTL process has the ability to achieve higher yields than

HTL PATENT STATUS

delayed coking. It is believed the reason for this is the kinetics

Since 1998, core patents related to the HTL technology

of the process. A unique combination of very short contact time

were successfully obtained. Other patent applications related to

with sand, short residence time of the flashed distillable oil

heavy oil upgrading, viscosity reduction, and total acid number

fraction in the high temperature zone (helps to minimize

(TAN) reduction are currently pending.

secondary cracking reactions), complete lack of porosity and

Ivanhoe Energy believes that it has broad patent coverage

surface catalytic activity of sand, and a high ratio of sand-to-oil

from the original Ensyn's RTP patents. These patents

helps to achieve higher liquid yields and lower by-product gas

presently provide coverage in key markets, including Canada

make as compared to delayed coking.

and USA. In addition, Ivanhoe Energy has a number of patents

Yields (on a C5+ basis) are shown in Figure 7 and Table 1

and patents pending applications for petroleum HTL

for several heavy oils and bitumen as a function of processing

applications of RTP in the USA and Canada and other

configuration. As residue content increases there is a trade off in

countries as well. Once granted, they will provide patent

volumetric yield in both the High Yield and High Quality

protection beyond 2022.

processing

configurations.

The

higher

residue

content

feedstocks have a tendency to have a higher propensity to coke


resulting in more carbon being rejected thereby resulting in a

HTL ADVANTAGES

higher yield loss.

Viscosity Reduction

Reactions in thin films of Athabasca vacuum residue have

Significant viscosity reduction and gravity increases are a

been shown experimentally to give lower coke yield and a

favorable result of HTL upgrading as asphaltenes, which

lighter product2. Grey et al. found that as film thickness

contribute to the very high viscosity, are removed or cracked.

approached 20 microns, the transport through the reacting film

The fraction of the feed that does not boil under the atmospheric

of lighter cracked products is more easily facilitated as a result

pressure conditions of the process stays in close contact with the

of the reduced diffusional resistance and resulted in an overall

sand, which facilitates its rapid decomposition into smaller

increase in liquid yield.

molecules and coke. Even in a once through or High Yield

The HTL upgrading system has an estimated feedstock film

configuration the HTL process will destroy in excess of 90% of

thickness of less than 20 microns. The operation of the HTL

the asphaltines.

process results in a thin film of coke being deposited on the

The relationship between viscosity and API for four heavy

sand and, as discussed above, has a beneficial impact on the

crudes and the resulting products using the HTL technology is

product quality and yields. Another important aspect of the

presented in Figure 6 and Table 1. It is apparent that there is a

HTL process is that there are no coke by-products to dispose of,

dramatic reduction in the viscosity using the High Yield

as is typical in conventional coking technologies, as all of the

configuration. Further reductions in viscosity are achievable by

coke is oxidized in the reheater vessel.

processing in the High Quality mode of operation which uses a

feed. Also discussed is the relative stability of the HTL

By-Product Heat

products.

Another important benefit is the utilization of the byproduct heat that becomes available due to the rapid oxidation

the unique characteristics of being able to efficiently oxidize

Total Acid Number (TAN) Reduction,


Sulphur Capture and Demetallation

coke in the reheater or regenerator vessel and to utilize that heat

A novel approach has also been developed for reducing the

in the production of steam for enhanced oil recovery operation

acid content of crudes that are rich in naphthenic acid, a

or for the generation of power. There is a direct relationship

corrosive component found in many heavy oil crudes (see Table

between the residue content of the crude and the amount of by-

1). A calcium-based additive can be introduced to the reaction

product energy available. See Figure 8.

system to serve as a sorbent. As the sorbent interacts with the

of the thin film of coke coating the sand. The HTL process has

This benefit tilts the economics for HTL upgrading

oil in the upgrading process, it reduces the total acid number

favorably, e.g., as the price of natural gas increases, the wider

(TAN), absorbs sulphur in flue gas, facilitates metals removal

the advantage of HTL upgrading.

and effectively removes sulphur from by-product gas.

HTL may be the best

upgrading option in such situations where the excess energy of

The addition of a calcium compound as sorbent to the

the process can be utilized for enhanced recovery of heavy oil.

feedstock neutralizes acids within the oil as determined by total

For Athabasca bitumen (with a residue content of 52 wt%), the

acid number (TAN), and reduces sulphur oxides (SOx) in the

process can support a steam-oil-ratio (SOR) of 3.0, thereby

flue gases. The reduction of the TAN value of the oil at an early

effectively eliminating or reducing the exposure to market

stage of its processing can lead to improved performance and

conditions related to the purchase of fuel gas.

lifetime of the equipment used in the HTL system as well as in


downstream refineries that would receive the upgraded product

Product Quality

from the field. Furthermore, addition of calcium-based sorbent

The reduction in the +1000 F cut is seen more explicitly on

to the reheater effectively scrubs the flue gases of SOx as well

Figure 9. High Temperature Simulated Distillation curves are

as providing a site for the nickel and vanadium to report to in

presented for the case of using Athabasca bitumen as the feed.

the regeneration step in the reheater.


Sorbent addition to the feedstock also enables significant

The bitumen was processed in both a High Yield (once through)


and High Quality (recycle) configuration. It is apparent from the

reduction of H2S in the by-product gas stream that is generated

curves that the bitumen had a 1000+ F fraction of 52 wt% and

as high sulphur vacuum tower bottoms are cracked in the

a 1300+ F fraction of approximately 22 wt%. The processing

reactor. This can allow for the direct use of the by-product gas

of this material resulted in the complete conversion of the

in gas turbines or exporting it for other uses.

1300+ F material in both the High Yield and High Quality

High metals (vanadium and nickel) reduction is also

products and the overall reduction in the 1000+ F material

possible. Metals are easily recovered with the spent sorbent at

from approximately 52 wt% to 30 wt% in the High Yield

the exit of the reheater cyclone. Metals react with the calcium

Product and approximately 2 wt% for the High Quality product.

based sorbent to form high melting point compounds. Since

Also apparent from the curves is that the VGO cut (650-1050

most of the impurity metals are concentrated in the asphaltene

F) increases from 43 wt% to 57 wt % in the High Quality

portion of the crude, >90% asphaltene destruction under the

product. There is a similar dramatic increase in the 650- F

process conditions lets the metals break away from the organic

material from approximately 10 wt% to 43 wt%.

structures, report to the calcium based sorbent and leads to very


high demetallation. See Table 1.

In addition to the dramatic viscosity reduction and


conversion of high boiling point hydrocarbons (+1000 F) to

Stability

more valuable lighter hydrocarbons and by-product energy, a


number of other characteristics of the HTL process add value.

The stability of the product may be one of the most

Among those discussed below is the reduction in metals content

important benefits of HTL upgrading over delayed coking.

and acid number of the upgraded product compared to the raw

Hydroprocessing the delayed coker product is costly. Though


5

HTL upgrading is a thermal cracking process, just like delayed

Refineries with excess VGO processing and hydrotreating

coking and fluid coking, the HTL products are stable, whereas

capacity will find the most value in HTL product since these

the delayed coking and fluid coking products are unstable and

processing capabilities allow them to process the additional

need further stabilization via hydrotreating.

volumes and reduce the contaminants impact on overall

The HTL products have been tested by third parties for

refinery yields. Although there is very little sulphur removal

stability and compatibility. The cracked products formed from

occurring in the upgrading process, some key vacuum residue

the conversion of the heaviest fraction of the feedstock through

properties are typically improved such as the viscosity and

contact with the hot sand can be unstable at reaction

Conradson Carbon (CCR).

temperature, if allowed to proceed to secondary reactions.

Many of the VGO quality characteristics of interest to

However, these products are quenched immediately after

refiners measure the materials crackability or the expected

separation of the product vapor from the solid heat carrier, so

conversion to lighter products in the FCC process. Some of the

that the entire liquid product is stabilized.

important quality characteristics of VGO that would impact the

Unlike delayed coker products, light distillate products

VGO value are sulphur and nitrogen content and aniline point,

using HTL upgrading do not appear to be prone to oxidation or

refractive index and K-factor. The value of any feedstock to a

slow polymerization reactions that result in gum formation. The

refinery is typically also dependent on the amount processed

products are low in unstable olefins with conjugated double

relative to its other feedstocks.

bonds, such as butadiene and diolefins. Compared to delayed

A number of marketing studies have been completed by

coker distillate, the light distillate of HTL product contains

third parties that investigate the value of HTL products in

mostly aliphatic olefins formed by the cracking of waxy

specific markets3. HTL processing of California heavy oils such

molecules and side chains of aromatic molecules. This fraction

as Midway Sunset, Belridge and San Ardo were evaluated in

also has an increased content of aromatic molecules that

the California marketplace and Athabasca bitumen was

improve its stability and compatibility with other crudes.

evaluated in the Midwestern refineries. Typically, value uplifts

Stability testing was conducted through the Shell Hot

of 50-80% of the price differential between the raw feed and

Filtration test, Total Sediment Analysis (D4870-99), Potential

light oil prices were indicated to be achievable. These uplifts

Total Sedimentation (IP390), NCUT Stability testing and

depended on the raw feed and upgraded product qualities and

viscosity testing over several weeks. Similarly, product

the configuration and throughputs of the target refineries.

compatibility testing was performed through the Weihe method,


which tested the blendability of the HTL products against

Field Upgrading: Impact on Greenhouse


Gas Reduction

paraffinic and aromatic stocks. As a result, the light distillates


using the HTL technology are not expected to require

In order to determine if partial field upgrading of Athabasca

hydrotreating for stability and compatibility.

bitumen could potentially have a net positive impact on carbon


dioxide emissions; Enbridge, Inc. conducted a "well to wheels

Product Value

analysis that compared generic Steam Assisted Gravity

In general, HTL products generated with High Quality

Drainage (SAGD) operations with and without generic partial

processing configuration are distinguished by the low

field upgrading. This analysis was published in a paper4 that

concentration

was

of

vacuum

residual,

compared

to

the

presented

at

the

Petroleum

Societys

Canadian

corresponding native crude. In the High Quality configuration

International Petroleum Conference 2002, Calgary, Alberta,

the vacuum residue is either converted to coke or vacuum gas

Canada, June 11 13, 2002.

oil (VGO) and lighter material. Given the high percentage of

The base case of the analysis was a stand-alone SAGD

VGO in the overall products, the VGO fractions qualities will

operation located in the Athabasca oil sands with diluted

have the largest effect on the value of the RTP product for a

bitumen transported to a coking refinery located in the United

particular refinery3.

States to produce transportation fuels. The coke generated at the


refinery was eventually sold and used as fuel. The majority of
6

the bitumen produced from the oil sands today is processed in

environmental regulations are much more lenient. The impact

this manner. See Table 2.

on the planet, with respect to sulphur and nitrogen oxides, is not

One of the comparison cases had partial upgrading with by-

accounted for in this high level analysis.

product carbon removal integrated as fuel in the field to


generate steam for SAGD. In this analysis it was assumed that

Commercialization of HTL Upgrading

the generic partial upgrader would supply 65% of the energy


required for steam; a conservative assumption with regard to

Pilot Plant

HTL, which is able to support 100% of the assumed SOR of 3.0

Since 1998, Ensyn has been developing the technology for

when starting with Athabasca 8 API bitumen.

heavy oil upgrading on a nominal 20 bpd (~ 5 bpd vacuum

It was assumed that by-products from the partial upgrading

residue) pilot plant, at their research facility in Ottawa, Canada.

process (gas and coke) were used to reduce the volume of

Ensyn operated the unit from 1998 to 2002, testing a variety of

natural gas required to make steam. The steam generated from

heavy oil and bitumen feeds, with over 90 pilot plant runs

the combustion of by-product coke and gas supplied 65% of the

completed. During this time, process scheme developments

required steam load (SOR=1.95). The partially upgraded

took place, which now form the basis of the CDF demonstration

product was stabilized in a mid-stream polisher and transported

unit and commercial unit designs. A number of patents have

without diluent to a US refinery that produced an equal amount

been issued and are pending for use of the process to upgrade

of transportation fuels for all cases. The stabilization process

heavy oils.

consisted of mild hydrotreating (hydrogen addition) to stabilize


olefins in the cracked product. This is a rather typical approach

Commercial Demonstration Facility (CDF)

and is considered to be a value-add process as it generates a


more desirable product for refiners. As shown in Table 2, using

During 2003 and 2004 a nominal 300 bpd vacuum residue

the carbon removed by partial upgrading as fuel for SAGD and

feed commercial demonstration facility, which demonstrates an

avoiding the burning of coke in low efficiency and

overall processing capacity of 1,000 bpd of California heavy

environmentally substandard coke-fired furnaces reduces the

crude, was designed and built at Aera Energys (owned by

well to wheels greenhouse gas emissions by 22%.

affiliates of ExxonMobil and Shell) Belridge field, near


Bakersfield, California. See Figure 10.

It is apparent that on a field or point source basis, burning


coke off of the sand using generic field upgrading is a net

The CDF is designed to demonstrate upgrading performance

negative with respect to CO2 emissions (500 vs. 900 CO2e kg/m

under a variety of operating parameters and process

bitumen). From a global perspective though, the net reduction

configurations. The CDF was commissioned in late 2005 and

of greenhouse gas emissions becomes more clearly understood.

operation with heavy crude oil feed commenced. Test runs with

Generating coke at a refinery, transporting the coke to the

whole crudes and vacuum tower bottoms in once-through and

power generation site, typically offshore, and then combusting

recycle operation confirmed pilot plant performance using

the coke in coke-fired furnaces leads to a significant level of

similar crudes and processing schemes. Further test runs are

underway using California heavy oil and Athabasca VTB and

emissions (650 CO2e kg/m bitumen).

ATB (atmospheric tower bottoms) feedstocks.

A deeper look at the environmental impact would suggest


that in terms of NOx (nitrous oxides) and SOx (sulphur oxides)

Commercial Plant Design

emissions the net reduction will be significant with HTL


technology due to the application of our novel sulphur capture

A number of third party engineering studies have been

process using calcium hydroxide, known flue gas de-

performed to establish a commercial plant design, together with

sulphurization techniques and nitrogen capture technologies that

estimated capital and operating costs.

will allow us to meet California air quality requirements the

In 2000, SNC Lavalin developed a conceptual design for a

Gold Standard. On the other hand, coke is normally shipped

30,000 bpd commercial HTL upgrading plant. The design

offshore and burned in furnaces in locations where the

consisted of a number of reaction and reheater sections. In

2005, based on improved pilot plant performance data,


improved design parameters and target process performance,

they will not be exposed to high heavy oil to light oil


price differentials,

Colt Engineering of Calgary, Alberta was contracted by Ivanhoe

they will not be exposed to volatile price swings and

Energy to prepare a preliminary process design package (PDP)

availability of blending agents used to transport the

for a single train 5,000 bpd vacuum residue feed HTL plant.

heavy oil to market,

This would be the core residue processing unit for an integrated

their exposure to natural gas pricing and supply

plant size of 15,000 bpd of raw California heavy crude oil

concerns for steam generation is reduced or

feedstock. As part of their design package, Colt prepared a

eliminated,

preliminary capital cost estimate and overall schedule for

this can be accomplished where the initial capital

project execution. This improved design basis and target

outlay is matched to field development and is a

process performance form the basis of the current commercial

fraction of the cost of alternative upgrading schemes

HTL plant designs.

and,

AMEC Group Ltd. has completed a Preliminary Design


Package (PDP) that builds on the Colt PDP work by expanding

they can grow their upgrading capacity inline with the


field development.

the focus to include all of the systems and facilities required to


enable total operations outside the core processing unit

Ivanhoe Energys HTL upgrading technology is a unique

previously defined and estimated by Colt. In particular, this

thermal cracking technology that solves some of the

work included the feed fractionator and associated equipment,

disadvantages that exist for delayed coking, fluid coking, and

all offsites and utilities, including boiler feed water, nitrogen,

visbreaking processes.

flare, fuels, feed and product tankage, lime and ash handling

residue are thermally cracked in this selective thermal cracking

systems and instrument air. Also addressed was site

process. The technology is simple with known analogues in the

infrastructure, including all buildings, control system, site civils

downstream industry (FCC and RFCC) and a track record of

and fire protection. This work was completed in June 2006.

on-stream efficiency established via the biomass application

Preliminary engineering has been completed and will be the

using the same core technology in seven commercial plants

basis for front-end engineering and design (FEED).

over 16 years.

Only the heaviest molecules in the

Since >90% of the asphaltenes in the heavy oil are


converted to coke , light oils and by-product gas in the process,

SUMMARY

and since most of the metal impurities are eliminated in the

The four key advantages that the HTL technology affords to

process, the upgraded oil product from the process could be

the heavy oil and bitumen producer are:


1.

easily

Ability to capture the majority of the price differential

transportation

fuels

using

In summary, the HTL technology significantly improves the


economics of heavy oil and bitumen projects and provides, in

pipeline.

effect, a hedge on the risk exposure that heavy oil producers are

By-product energy is used to generate steam and/or

typically exposed to.

power.
4.

to

Upgraded product does not require diluents or


blending agents to move the product through a

3.

further

conventional refining technologies.

between heavy and light oil.


2.

upgraded

Small scale is appropriate to grow field-sited


upgrading capacity along with resource development

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

(minimum scale of 10,000-15,000 bpd).

The author would like to thank the management teams of

These features of the HTL technology enable the producer

Ivanhoe Energy Inc. and Ensyn Corporation for permission to

to proceed with heavy oil and bitumen development knowing

publish this paper. Many individuals contributed to the

that:

technology development but special mention of Joe Kuhach,


Doug Clarke, Jerry Kriz, Geoff Hopkins, Ron Conrow, Steve

Young, Bill Grassi, Thomas Fisher, Trevor Hibbs, Dennis Reed


and Ron Russell is warranted.

NOMENCLATURE
bpd
cSt
FCC
N
NCUT

=
=
=
=
=

Ni
RFCC
S
TAN
V
VTBs

=
=
=
=
=
=

barrels per day


centistokes
fluid catalytic cracker
nitrogen
National Centre for Upgrading
Technology
nickel
residue fluid catalytic cracker
sulphur
total acid number
vanadium
vacuum tower bottoms

REFERENCES
1. WEI, E. AND SARNA, M. E., Technical Review Update:
Ivanhoe/Ensyn RTP Upgrading Process, internal
Ivanhoe Energy report prepared by Purvin & Gertz Inc.,
July 2005.
2. GREY, M.R., LE, T., MCCAFFREY, W. C., BERUTTI,
F., SOUNDARARAJAN, S., CHAN, E., HUG, I., and
THORNE, C., Coupling of Mass Transfer and Reaction
in Coking of Thin Films of an Athabasca Vacuum
Residue, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. Vol. 40, No. 15, 2001,
pp3317-3324.
3. CRUTCHER, T., HOULTON, G. A. and SARNA, M. E.,
Synthetic Crude Oil Analysis For the California Refining
Market, internal Ivanhoe Energy report prepared by
Purvin & Gertz Inc., October 2003.
4. LUHNING, R. W., BLACKMORE, T., and LAWSON,
D. S. of Enbridge Inc., Pipeline Transportation of
Emerging Partially Upgraded Bitumen, presented at the
Petroleum Societys Canadian International Petroleum
Conference 2002, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, June 11-13,
2002.
5. FREEL, B. and GRAHAM, R.G., Internal Reports, Ensyn
Group Ltd., October 2002 April 2005.

FIGURE 1. HTL Core process showing the sand path through the RTP
Reactor and RTP Reheater. Flow is clockwise from the reheater up
through the reactor and back to the reheater. Raw feed is pre-fractionated,
routing the straight run 1000 minus F fractions to a product tank for
blending in the final upgraded product.

FIGURE 2. Processing in a High Yield mode: Vacuum tower bottoms are


routed to the RTP Reactor where thermal cracking takes place. Upgraded
VTBs (product) are quenched at the exit of the Reactor Cyclone and routed
to the product tank and blended.

10

FIGURE 3. Processing in a High Quality mode: Vacuum tower bottoms are


routed to the RTP Reactor where thermal cracking takes place.
Upgraded VTBs (product) are quenched at the exit of the Reactor Cyclone
and routed back to the distillation column for further quenching, separation
of upgraded products and recycle of VTBs that survived the first pass
through the reactor. In this diagram the distillation process has been
simplified to show only one tower. In a commercial design there would be
an atmospheric and vacuum tower at the front of the plant with an
additional vacuum tower to separate the products and recycle streams
downstream of the product quench.

FIGURE 4. The coke covered sand from the RTP Reactor is separated
from the product vapor stream via a high-efficiency cyclone and directed to
a fluidized bed reheater for carbon removal. Air is used to fluidize the sand
and facilitate combustion in the reheater. Sorbent is added to the reheater
in order to capture SO2. Flue gas polishing to meet SO2 emission
requirements through a flue gas de-sulphurization unit (FGDSU) is also
included as part of the flue gas system. The ash, spent sorbent and sand
fines are routed to a hopper, ready for disposal as a non-hazardous solid
waste.

11

FIGURE 5. The temperature of the regenerated sand is adjusted to the


proper reactor temperature in a sand cooler where excess heat is recovered
prior to circulation back to the reactor. Flue gas from the reheater is directed
through the reheater cyclone to remove ash, spent sorbent, and any sand
fines from the gas prior to injection in a power recovery turbine. High
pressure steam production is possible by energy recovery from the hot flue
gas, plus burning excess by-product gas, in a WHB and from the heat
recovered in the sand cooler.

Viscosity vs. degrees API for Raw Feed and Upgraded Products
100,000

Belridge

Midway-Sunset

Athabasca Bitumen

Raw Feed

10,000

Viscosity (cSt @ 40 C)

San Ardo

1,000

High Quality
Product
100

High Yield Product

10
5

11

13

15

17

19

21

degrees API

FIGURE 6. The relationship between viscosity and API for four heavy crudes and the resulting
products using the HTL technology is presented. It is apparent that there is a significant reduction in
the viscosity using the High Yield configuration. Further reductions in viscosity are achievable by
processing in the High Quality mode of operation which uses a recycle stream to reduce the +1000 F
cut in the final product.

12

Product Yields vs. Processing Configuration / Resid Content


100%

70%
High Quality (Recycle)

Resid Content

98%

65%

96%

60%

94%

55%

92%

50%

90%

45%

88%

40%

86%

35%

84%

30%

82%

25%

80%

Resid Content (wt%)

Volumetric Yields (vol%)

High Yeld (Once Through)

20%
Belridge

Midway Sunset

San Ardo

Athabasca Bitumen

FIGURE 7. Yields (on a C5+ basis) are presented for several heavy oils and bitumen as a function of
processing configuration. As residue content increases there is a trade off in volumetric yield in both
the High Yield and High Quality processing configurations.

Net By-Product Energy vs. Resid Content in Raw Feed


High Quality Mode of Operation

Net MMBtu of steam per bbl of feed

1,400,000
1,200,000
1,000,000
800,000
600,000
400,000
200,000
0
0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Resdid Content (wt % 1000+ F)

FIGURE 8. There is a direct relationship between the residue content of the crude and the amount of
by-product energy available. There is roughly 360,000 400,000 MMBtus in a barrel of steam. For
Athabasca bitumen a steam-oil-ratio (SOR) of approximately 3.0 can be supported as there are 1.1
MMBtus of high pressure steam available for export per barrel of whole bitumen from the HTL
facility for SAGD operations.

13

H T S D B O IL IN G P O IN T D IS T R IB U T IO N

100

R T P - L P , R e c y c le

R T P -L P , O n c e -T h ro u g h

90

A t h a b a s c a B it u m e n , 8 A P I
80

CUMULATIVE wt % OFF

70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000

1100

1200

1300

B O IL IN G P O IN T , F

FIGURE 9. High temperature simulated distillation results for Athabasca bitumen processed in
both the High Yield (Once Through) and High Quality (Recycle) configuration.

FIGURE 10. Ivanhoe Energys Commercial Demonstration Facility (CDF) located in the Belridge
Oil Field in California. The facility can process 300 bpd of VTBs or an equivalent of 1,000 bpd of
typical California heavy oil which has a residue content of approximately 33 vol%.

14

Feed and Product Properties

Belridge

Midway
Sunset

San Ardo

Athabasca
Bitumen

Raw Crude or Bitumen


API
13.4
11
10.4
8
Residue Content* (wt%)
33%
36%
38%
52%
Viscosity (cSt @ 40 deg C)
750
2,500
11,000
40,000
TAN (mgKOH/g)
5.8
4.4
4.6
3.7
Impurities
S (wt%)
1.0
1.8
2.2
4.9
N (wt%)
0.61
0.93
0.73
0.30
Ni (wt ppm)
150
275
100
184
V (wt ppm)
200
300
92
471
Once Through Product
API
16
15
16.9
14
Liquid Yield
94%
91%
87%
90%
Residue Content (wt%)
16%
22%
20%
30%
Residue Conversion %
52%
39%
26%
42%
Viscosity (cSt @ 40 deg C)
100
120
92
150
Viscosity Reduction (@ 40 deg C)
86.7%
95.2%
99.2%
99.6%
TAN (mgKOH/g)
<.5
<.5
<.5
<.5
Impurities
S (wt%)
0.9
1.7
2.0
4.0
N (wt%)
0.53
0.65
0.61
0.25
Ni (wt ppm)
115
138
38
110
V (wt ppm)
130
150
30
270
Recycle Product
API
19
20
18.5
19
Liquid Yield
90%
87%
84%
81%
Residue Content (wt%)
1%
2%
3%
2%
Residue Conversion %
97%
94%
92%
96%
Viscosity (cSt @ 40 deg C)
35
50
45
60
Viscosity Reduction (@ 40 deg C)
95.3%
98.0%
99.6%
99.9%
TAN (mgKOH/g)
<.5
<.5
<.5
<.5
Impurities
S (wt%)
0.9
1.7
5.0
3.6
N (wt%)
0.5
0.5
0.6
0.2
Ni (wt ppm)
15
28
10
18
V (wt ppm)
20
30
9
47
Note: Residue is the cut that boils above 1000 deg F (570 deg C - a vacuum tower bottom or "VTB" cut)

Table 1. Raw heavy oil or bitumen feed, High Yield and High Quality product properties. Source:
internal Ensyn and Ivanhoe reports5.

15

A "Well to Wheels" Analysis


Generic Partial Field Upgrading Impact on Greenhouse Gas Reduction
(values reported as CO2e kg/m3 bitumen at wellhead)
Bitumen Production (Steam/Oil Ratio = 3.0)

SAGD

Natural Gas for Steam Boilers

500

Coke and by-product gas

SAGD with Partial


Field Upgrading
170
730

Pipeline Diluted Bitumen or Non Diluted


Partially Upgraded to USA
Mid-Stream Polisher (CO2 from H2

30

30

40

30

production)
Transportation
Refinery Upgrading (Identical Products)
Refinery Coke & Gas Disposed for Fuel

650

Transportation Fuel Products

equal transportation fuels

CO2e kg/m3 Bitumen at Wellhead

1,190

Reduction in Greenhouse Gas

930
22%

Table 2. A comparison of the GHG emissions from a generic Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD)
operation with and without generic partial field upgrading. This analysis was published in a paper4
that was presented at the Petroleum Societys Canadian International Petroleum Conference 2002,
Calgary, Alberta, Canada, June 11 13, 2002.

16

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