Fractionation of Peace River Bitumen Using Supercritical Ethane and Carbon Dioxide

Abstract

The purpose of this work was to provide valuable data for the use of supercritical fluids in both surface and in situ bitumen and heavy oil recovery operations. Experiments were conducted using a semibatch extractor packed with a mixture of bitumen and sand, and the experiments were performed such that thermodynamic equilibrium governed the extraction process. Experimental temperatures and pressures were varied in order to observe their impact on the ability of supercritical ethane and carbon dioxide to recover oil from the bitumen-sand mixture. The results showed that ethane consistently outperformed carbon dioxide in terms of its ability to extract oil from the bitumen-sand mixture. In all cases, supercritical ethane produced yields that were much greater than those obtained with supercritical carbon dioxide. Analysis of the extracted material revealed that the bitumen extracted using ethane was much heavier and contained a wider range of hydrocarbons.