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OIL SAND EXTRACTION

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Steam-assisted gravity drainage - Wiki. Canada is the single largest supplier of imported oil to the United States—even larger, despite popular conceptions, than Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, or Nigeria. There are two primary methods of oil sands recovery. The strip-mining technique is known best. However, the more recent steam-assisted gravity drainage technique (SAGD) is better suited to deeper deposits. Much of the future growth of production in the Canadian oil sands will be from SAGD. (Glassman & 2011 9)[5] Description[edit] In the SAGD process, two parallel horizontal oil wells are drilled in the formation, one about 4 to 6 metres above the other. Sub-cool is the difference between the saturation temperature (boiling point) of water at the producer pressure and the actual temperature at the same place where the pressure is measured. History[edit] The gravity drainage idea was originally conceived by Dr. Alberta Oil Sands Technology and Research Authority (AOSTRA) 1974[edit] AOSTRA Underground Test Facility 1984[edit]

Water injection (oil production) - Wiki. Water injection or water flooding refers to the method in the oil industry where water is injected into the reservoir, usually to increase pressure and thereby stimulate production. Water injection wells can be found both on- and offshore, to increase oil recovery from an existing reservoir. Water is injected (1) to support pressure of the reservoir (also known as voidage replacement), and (2) to sweep or displace oil from the reservoir, and push it towards a well. Normally only 30% of the oil in a reservoir can be extracted, but water injection increases that percentage (known as the recovery factor) and maintains the production rate of a reservoir over a longer period.

Waterflooding began accidentally in Pithole, Pennsylvania by 1865. Any and every source of bulk water can be, and has been, used for injection. Produced water is often used as an injection fluid. River water will always require filtration and biociding before injection. Jump up ^ Abdus Satter, Ghulam M. Artificial lift - Wiki. Artificial lift refers to the use of artificial means to increase the flow of liquids, such as crude oil or water, from a production well. Generally this is achieved by the use of a mechanical device inside the well (known as pump or velocity string) or by decreasing the weight of the hydrostatic column by injecting gas into the liquid some distance down the well. Artificial lift is needed in wells when there is insufficient pressure in the reservoir to lift the produced fluids to the surface, but often used in naturally flowing wells (which do not technically need it) to increase the flow rate above what would flow naturally.

The produced fluid can be oil, water or a mix of oil and water, typically mixed with some amount of gas. Usage[edit] Any liquid-producing reservoir will have a 'reservoir pressure': some level of energy or potential that will force fluid (liquid, gas or both) to areas of lower energy or potential. Technologies[edit] Hydraulic pumping systems[edit] ESP[edit] PCP[edit] Destructive distillation - Wiki. Destructive distillation of any particular inorganic feedstock produces only a small range of products as a rule, but destructive distillation of organic materials commonly produces very many compounds, often hundreds, though not all chemical products of any particular process are of commercial importance.

The molecules distilled off generally are smaller and more volatile than the feedstock molecules, but some reactions polymerise or condense small molecules into larger molecules, including heat-stable tarry substances and chars. Cracking into liquid and volatile compounds, and polymerisation or the formation of chars and solids may all occur in the same process, and any class of the products might be of commercial interest. Currently the major industrial application of destructive distillation is to coal.[1][2] Process[edit] The process of pyrolysis can be conducted in a distillation apparatus (retort) to form the volatile products for collection. Products[edit] References[edit] Unconventional oil - Wiki. Unconventional oil is petroleum produced or extracted using techniques other than the conventional (oil well) method. Oil industries and governments across the globe are investing in unconventional oil sources due to the increasing scarcity of conventional oil reserves.

Sources of unconventional oil[edit] According to the International Energy Agency's (IEA) World Energy Outlook 2001 unconventional oil included "oil shales, oil sands-based synthetic crudes and derivative products, (heavy oil, Orimulsion®), coal-based liquid supplies, biomass-based liquid supplies, gas to liquid (GTL) - liquids arising from chemical processing of gas. " In the IEA's World Energy Outlook 2011 report, "[u]nconventional oil include[d] extra-heavy oil, natural bitumen (oil sands), kerogen oil, liquids and gases arising from chemical processing of natural gas (GTL), coal-to-liquids (CTL) and additives. " Defining unconventional oil[edit] Extra heavy oil and oil sands[edit] Heavy oils and oil sands occur world-wide. Oil Sands - Wiki. Tar sandstone from California, USA. Oil sands, tar sands or, more technically, bituminous sands, are a type of unconventional petroleum deposit.

Oil sands reserves have only recently[when?] Been considered to be part of the world's oil reserves, as higher oil prices and new technology enable profitable extraction and processing. Oil produced from bitumen sands is often referred to as unconventional oil or crude bitumen, to distinguish it from liquid hydrocarbons produced from traditional oil wells. The crude bitumen contained in the Canadian oil sands is described by the National Energy Board of Canada as A highly viscous mixture of hydrocarbons heavier than pentanes which, in its natural state, is not usually recoverable at a commercial rate through a well because it is too thick to flow.[5] Making liquid fuels from oil sands requires energy for steam injection and refining.

History[edit] The name tar sands was applied to bituminous sands in the late 19th and early 20th century. Dr. Daniel Fine of M.I.T. Speaks at Heritage about Oil Shale and Energy Pt2.