Kinetics of heavy oil non-catalytic aquathermolysis with and without stoichiometric coefficients

Abstract

The aquathermolysis process is considered an efficient method to improve fluidity properties in-situ and increase the degree of oil extraction (recovery factor) from downhole hard-to-recover reserves. In this work, the effect of using stoichiometric coefficients during the kinetic modeling of the aquathermolysis process has been studied. The parameters of two kinetic models based on SARA fractions and gas production were determined. The estimation of kinetic coefficients was carried out through a series of numerical methods and statistical analysis to guarantee that the calculated values provide the lowest average absolute error with respect to experimental data. A series of aquathermolysis tests was carried out in a batch reactor in a temperature range of 250-300 ?C and reaction times of 12-72 h. The results of both kinetic models are in good agreement with experimental data with an error lower than 5%.