The In Situ Upgrading Technology (ISUT)

Although ISUT refers to Upgrading it’s an Enhanced Oil Recovery method that uses upgrading as its commanding chemistry. Being a very disruptive EOR process for the heavy oil reserves, ISUT requires explanation to avoid both misunderstandings and myths. Essentially, ISUT brings secure and safe nano-technology and a smart process configuration to make economically successful producing medium quality oil from reservoirs containing 6 to 15 °API oils in situ, either mobile oil like in most parts of the populated world or immobile oil like in closer to the poles areas of which the Canadian Oil Sands are an example.

The oil ISUT produces to go to the market from the moment it is applied, is higher than 19 °API, 100% transportable (no diluent), low sulfur, and ready to market. ISUT uses extremely small amount of nano-catalyst injected only once and for all during a short period of time (few months) and after that it continuously injects a Dense Hot Fluid (DHF) obtained from the same heavy oil being produced, to perform Enhanced Oil Recovery.

ISUT is the most advanced integrated, experimentally and numerically simulated Thermal Enhanced Heavy Oils Recovery process coupled with In Situ Upgrading reactions. The owner of this process, Nanostech Solutions, partners with oil producers to provide adequate configurations and techno-economic Engineering for a preliminary assessment on how the technology will maximize economics, exploitation efficiency and would allow close to zero emissions during the activity.

After securing a minimal injectivity created for the well to be used as injector, and after pre-heating the injector well at T higher than 180°C (with recycled diesel, for example) the DHF initially containing catalyst nanoparticles at a very low concentration in the fluid (less than 800 ppm) is to be injected. From this initial moment an oil 19°API and the field is ready for the Enhanced Oil Recovery from ISUT.

Not using hydrogen would imply deterioration of the quality of the produced oil, which will contain numerous light olefins, diolefins and aromatics. Lack of hydrogen will cause propensity to hardly breakable emulsions formed with connate water produced and serious risks of reservoir impairment — this is what other supposedly in situ upgrading processes such as In Situ Combustion or non-hydrogen injecting “catalytic in situ upgrading” don’t disclose.

The EOR mechanisms that ISUT integrates are:

1. Increased heavy oil mobility: by continuous heat injection, which reduces oil viscosity in the confines of the injection well.
2. Push mechanism: by permanently injecting hot oil, which upgrades with a positive delta of about 8 API within the reservoir.
3. Heavy oil dissolution by the light gases and distillates produced via upgrading.
4. Extraction of heavy oil trapped within micropores of carbonate reservoirs, by gas penetration and light fractions dissolution with the oil in the matrix.
5. Heat expansion of the rock in the surrounding of the injection well, which further opens the matrix pores to enhance internal fluids extraction, especially in carbonates.
6. UPGRADING of the oil or the residual fraction being continuously injected.

This is the breakthrough technology that allows thermal enhanced oil recovery of very heavy oils and pipelining only light oil-residue-less. A number of producing wells can be placed and connected to a central facility where the unit will operate to inject the DHF stably.

The Cat-Skid™ is designed to be online monitored, or by field operator contractors or by oil producing personnel in a very simple manner.