There are many different
approaches to Partial Upgrading, but the goal is to reduce the
amount of sulfur and heavier ends in crude oil, making it less
toxic and corrosive, and providing a lighter oil for transport.
Partial Upgrading is more cost effective than Full Upgrading, but
it is not a commercial practice just yet
Partial upgrading is a
relatively new technology where bitumen is upgraded to a point
where diluent is no longer needed, in turn increasing pipeline
capacity. The technology was recommended by the Alberta Royalty
Review Advisory Panel as a way to increase revenues for the
province.
About 40% of bitumen currently extracted from the oil
sands is fully upgraded into light synthetic crude. The remaining
60% is diluted with a generous volume of condensate
(
as
much as 30% by volume) and sold directly to market as heavy oil. Condensate is
very expensive, typically trading close to West Texas
Intermediate (WTI) prices and takes up significant volume in the
pipelines
Full upgraders have
fallen out of favour in Alberta due to high capital costs and waning demand. Most of the refineries in the US are highly
complex and designed to process heavy/sour crude. Rising
production of light oil from US shale has also boosted the demand
for heavy crude, required for blending
purposes.
a private Alberta based technology company
providing innovative solutions for the energy industry. Expander
has engineered the patented FT Crude process to upgrade heavy oil
and bitumen
into a synthetic heavy crude which is able to be
transported via pipeline without the requirements of a
diluent blend. In addition, the Expander technology can convert
the remaining bottom ends, or left-over bi-product from the
upgrading process, into a more valuable synthetic
diesel.
To learn more about Expander Energy:
Source:
http://www.oilsandsmagazine.com/news/2017/1/5/university-of-calgary-extolls-the-virtues-of-partial-upgrading
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