Abstract
Supercritical water upgrading heavy oil is a promising way to produce light oil and gas. To understand the reactions pathways and the role of supercritical water during the upgrading process, experiments were carried out in a batch reactor at 380–440 °C and reaction times up to 2900 min. The products were classified as gas, coke and liquid products which were further separated into saturates, aromatics, resins and asphaltenes. A kinetic model including aromatics and resins partially dissolved in both supercritical water phase and oil phase was developed. This model could fit experimental data well and interpret effects of supercritical water solubility for aromatics and resins on heavy oil upgrading process. Further, supercritical water upgrading process was divided into three stages: pre-induction primary cracking stage, post-induction primary cracking stage and gas-generation stage. This work provides an in-depth understanding of mechanism of heavy oil upgrading in supercritical water.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 107588 |
| Journal | Fuel Processing Technology |
| Volume | 241 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Mar 2023 |
Keywords
- Heavy oil upgrading
- Kinetic model
- Phase separation
- Supercritical water