PredictingandMeasuringViscosityof

CrudeOilBlends
June20 22,2012
Kananaskis,Alberta
JointCCQTA/COQAMeetings
BrankoBanjac
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TABLEOFCONTENTS
Viscositymeasurementtechniques
Predictingviscosityofhydrocarbonblends
Measuringviscosityofhydrocarbonblends
Challengesinviscositymeasurementofblendsandemulsions
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AboutViscosityofCrudeOils
Crudeoilsareaverycomplexcombinationofhydrocarbons
Notfullycharacterizedcomparedtofuelsandpetroleum
products
Lackofmethodsfortestingofcrudes
Viscosityisoneofthemostimportantpropertiesofcrudeoil
Bydefinition,viscosityisthemeasurementofresistanceto
flowundergravityexpressedinunits:
Centipoise(mPa.sec)
Centistoke(mm
2
/sec)
Kinematicanddynamicviscositiesareeasytoconvert
(conversionfactorisdensity)
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ViscosityMeasurementTechniques
Commontechniquesadoptedinthepetroleumindustry:
Timevs.flow(glasscapillaryviscometer)
Stabingerviscosity(rotationalviscometer)
Shearstress(coneandplateviscometer)
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ASTMD445 StandardTestMethodforKinematic
ViscosityofTransparentandOpaqueLiquids
Stillreferencemethodforviscosityinpetroleumindustry
Measureskinematicviscosity measurementismadewhile
fluidisflowingundertheforceofgravity.
Inexpensivehardware
Requireslongermeasurement
time
Requireslargersolvent
volumeforcleaning
Occasionallyrequires
recalibrationofcapillarytubes
Bathtemperaturemaintening
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ASTMD7042StandardTestMethodforDynamic
ViscosityandDensityofLiquidsbyStabingerViscometer
Verypopularatterminals
Fullyautomated
Wideoperational
temperaturerange
Autosamplerupgradeoption
Expensive
Fillingviscositymax.1000cP
Measuresdynamicviscosityanddensityandcalculateskinematic
viscosity
Precisetemperaturecontrol(Peltierelement)
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ConeandPlateViscometer
Ultimatemethodforheavycrude
oilsandbitumen
Relativelysimpletooperate
Calculatesshearrateshearstress
TemperaturecontrolledbyPeltier
element(newermodels)
Somemodelsrequiredheating
bathformaintainingtemperature
Samplesizeaffectsmeasurement
NotestablishedasASTMstandard
forheavycrudeoils
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WhatAffectsViscosityMeasurement
Maintainingtesttemperaturehasthestrongestinfluenceon
thequalityofaviscositymeasurement
Itisbesttodetermineviscosityatthreetemperaturesto
ensurethematerialisNewtonianatthetesttemperature.
Theviscositymeasurementshouldbeperformedintherange
inwhichcrudeoilsarehomogeneousliquids
Newtonian behavior
Newtonian behavior
Initial Boiling
Point
Initial Boiling
Point
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SignificanceandUseofPredictingBlend
Viscosity
Viscosityintheupstreamoilindustryisprimarilya
transportationrelatedmeasurement
Theenergytotransportpetroleuminpipelinesisproportional
totheviscosityofthefluid
Blendingtechniqueisexpensive requirestheadditionof
expensivelightcrudestotransportbitumen
Shortageofdiluentonthemarket
Accuratelypredictingtheviscosityofablendofhydrocarbonsis
acommonindustryproblem
Ifdonerightcangeneratesignificantsavings
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BlendingIssue Incompatibility
Asphaltenecanflocculateandprecipitatefromtheblend
Veryimportanttomonitorincompatibilityinblendingof
Canadianoilsandbitumen,heavysyntheticcrudesand
diluents
Wrongproportionsoftheblendcomponentsoreventhe
wrongorderinblendingcancauseincompatibility
Operationalproblems:
Blendmodelingdonotalwayspredictincompatibility
Asphalteneprecipitationinstoragetanksandpipelines
Foulingofheatexchangersandheaters
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ASTMD715211StandardPracticeforCalculatingthe
ViscosityofaBlendofPetroleumProducts
Kinematicviscosityofablendisestimatedfromkinematic
viscositiesofblendcomponentsandtheirfractions
Notapplicabletomaterialswhichexhibitstrongnon
Newtonianproperties
Practicedescribestwowaysofcalculations:
TheWrightBlendingMethod
/moreaccurate requirescomponentviscositiesattwotemperatures/
TheASTMBlendingMethod
/requiresviscositiesofcomponentsatasingletemperature/
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SchematicIllustrationofWrightBlending
Method
Source:ASTMD7152
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LaboratoryProcedureforPredictingthe
ViscosityofaBitumen/DiluentBlends
Basedonpreparationofrealblendsandmultiplemeasurings
ofblendviscositiesatdifferenttemperatures
Canindicatetheproblemsrelatedtoincompatibilityofthe
blendcomponents
Providesshrinkagevaluebasedoncomparisonofmeasured
andcalculateddensitiesoftheblends
Generatesveryusefulgraphsandformulas
SpotsanyproblemsrelatedtononNewtonianbehaviorof
blends
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Step1:BlendPreparationandDensityand
ViscosityMeasurements
OIL TYPE: Bitumen
DILUENT TYPE: Condensate
SPECIFIC GRAVITY OF OIL @ 15C (kg/m3): 1001.2
SPECIFIC GRAVITY OF DILUENT @ 15C (kg/m3): 722.7
MIXTURE A MIXTURE B MIXTURE C MIXTURE D
MASS % DILUENT: 19.00 21.00 23.00 25.00
VOLUME % DILUENT: 24.5 26.9 29.3 31.6
THEORETICAL DENSITY @ 15C (kg/m3): 932.9 926.2 919.7 913.2
MEASURED DENSITY @ 15C (kg/m3): 936.0 929.4 922.8 916.0
SHRINKAGE FACTOR (THEORETICAL/MEASURED): 0.997 0.997 0.997 0.997
KINEMATIC VISCOSITY @ 5C (mm2/sec): 547 378 269 188
KINEMATIC VISCOSITY @ 10C (mm2/sec): 376 262 190 137
KINEMATIC VISCOSITY @ 15C (mm2/sec): 253 190 140 102
KINEMATIC VISCOSITY @ 20C (mm2/sec): 192 143 107 81.0
Densitydeterminationofblendcomponents
Preparationoftheblendsbymass(forhigheraccuracy)
Simple
shrinkage
factor
calculation
Simple
shrinkage
factor
calculation
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Step2:GraphicalInterpretationof
theMeasuredResults
Linearfunction
lfviscosityis
plottedinlog
loggraph
350 cSt
350 cSt
Viscosityvs.
mass%of
diluentgraph
couldbealso
generated
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Step2:GraphicalInterpretationof
theMeasuredResults(cont.)
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Step3:PredictionofPipelineViscositySpec
Requirement
Extrapolationsfromthepreviousgraphsaregoingto
generatedatarelatedto350cStviscosityblendtarget
CALCULATED VOLUME % DILUENT REQUIRED TO ACHEIVE 350 mm2/SEC @ 5.0 degrees C: 27.3
CALCULATED VOLUME % DILUENT REQUIRED TO ACHEIVE 350 mm2/SEC @ 10.0 degrees C: 25.0
CALCULATED VOLUME % DILUENT REQUIRED TO ACHEIVE 350 mm2/SEC @ 15.0 degrees C: 22.8
CALCULATED VOLUME % DILUENT REQUIRED TO ACHEIVE 350 mm2/SEC @ 20.0 degrees C: 20.6
CALCULATED DENSITY
15C
(kg/m3) REQUIRED TO ACHEIVE 350 mm2/SEC @ 5.0 degrees C: 927.8
CALCULATED DENSITY
15C
(kg/m3) REQUIRED TO ACHEIVE 350 mm2/SEC @ 10.0 degrees C: 934.9
CALCULATED DENSITY
15C
(kg/m3) REQUIRED TO ACHEIVE 350 mm2/SEC @ 15.0 degrees C: 943.0
CALCULATED DENSITY
15C
(kg/m3) REQUIRED TO ACHEIVE 350 mm2/SEC @ 20.0 degrees C: 950.2
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Step4:GraphicalInterpretationofExtrapolated
Results
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Step4:GraphicalInterpretationofExtrapolated
Results(cont.)
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ChallengesinViscosityMeasurement
Crudeoilblendsmadewithbutane
difficulttopreciselyprepareandtesttheblendsinlabconditions
difficulttokeepintegrityofthesample
Viscosityofheavyoilemulsions
emulsionstabilityissues
nonNewtonianbehavior(pseudoplastictypeoffluid)
viscositywilldecreasewithanincreasingshearrate
Viscosityofheavyoilslurry(viscoushydrocarbonemulsions
surroundedbyalighterviscosityliquid,suchaswater)
usuallymixturesofdifferenttypesofemulsionsandfreewater
difficulttomimicreservoirconditions
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ViscosityofEmulsions
Increasedrequestsfromindustrytomeasureviscosityof
emulsions
Commonrule:Theviscosityoftheemulsionishigherthan
viscosityofindividualcomponents(crudeoilandwater)
Viscositiesoftheemulsionsdependonwhichphaseisthe
dispersedphaseandwhichisthecontinuousphase:
waterinoilemulsion
oilinwateremulsion
Labmeasurementmorereliableandmorerealisticcomparing
tothecalculatingmodels
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InfluenceofSamplePreparationonViscosity
Data
CMSamples:preparedusingultra highspeed centrifuge
SMSamples:preparedbysolventextractionfollowedbysolventremovalfrombitumen
Description CM1 CM2 CM3 SM1 SM2 SM3
AbsoluteDensity@25C 1,020.0 1,019.0 1,017.0 1,015.0 1,016.0 1,016.0
AbsoluteDensity@40C 1,010.0 1,010.0 1,008.0 1,006.0 1,006.0 1,006.0
AbsoluteDensity@60C 998.1 997.5 995.4 993.5 993.4 993.6
AbsoluteDensity@80C 985.6 985.1 983.0 981.1 980.8 981.2
Sediment(mass%) 1.0 1.3 1.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1
WaterContent(wt%) 4.6 7.8 6.6 <0.01 <0.01 <0.01
Temperatures(C)
DynamicViscosity(cPs)
CM1 CM2 CM3 SM1 SM2 SM3
25 1,248,000 824,400 1,273,000 291,000 248,800 367,200
40 115,000 103,000 110,000 37,900 32,840 45,540
60 11,260 11,810 10,240 4,584 4,222 5,437
80 1,721 2,232 1,523 941 857 1,073
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InfluenceofSamplePreparationonViscosityData
(Graph)
Emulsion
Emulsion
Bitumen
Bitumen
THANK YOU
QUESTIONS ?