Separation and Recovery of Heavy Oil from Oil Sands and Heavy Oil Reservoirs

摘要

This paper will demonstrate the use of newly developed surfactants for the separation and recovery of oil from oil sands. The addition of small amounts of properly designed surfactant systems have been found to be very effective in separating oil from sand without the use of steam or solvents. The separation can occur “in situ” or after the oil sand has been removed from the formation. High viscosity heavy oil can also be transformed to a low viscosity, free flowing liquid by contacting with the proper surfactant system. The oil can then be transported out of the formation to the treating unit where it can be further processed. No emulsions are involved so the oil is easily separated from the aqueous phase. The same process can also be used to transport the heavy oil through pipelines. The application of both systems to Canadian oilfields will be discussed.