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Canadian crude is landlocked far from the marketplace;
finding better ways to get bitumen to the refinery
will improve market access for heavy oil, bitumen, bitumen-derived
crudes and related products. NCUT is developing partial
upgrading technologies that can be implemented
at remote field production sites to lower the viscosity
and density of heavy oil, while also removing some of
the impurities and dispersed water.
Major S&T strategies include:
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Screen
thermal cracking technologies |
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NCUT is assessing whether
any of the conventional thermal cracking
technologies presently employed in upgraders
and refineries could be used in remote
field situations. |
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Screen
physical upgrading technologies |
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Physical processing is
more energy efficient than thermal processing
and produces fewer emissions. However,
it is a more subtle approach and changes
in the oil will not be as extensive
as for thermal processing. |
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Screen
bio-upgrading technologies |
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Biotechnology is an unprecedented
new approach to upgrading. The prize
in bioprocessing is in its benign nature,
potential selectivity, and the apparent
congruence of its long reaction times
with production methods. NCUT is assessing
whether bioupgrading has potential to
be commercialized. |
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Develop
product quality standards for field
upgrading processes |
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The lack of quality standards
for partially upgraded crudes has been
identified by all industry stakeholders
as one of the main gaps in the acceptance
of field-upgraded bitumen. NCUT's role
in establishing product standards for
field upgrading is in the creation of
fundamental scientific knowledge that
will enable the development of standards
upon which refineries will accept those
products. |
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