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Heavy crudes and tar sands
New technologies will have to be developed if the technical efficiency of heavy crude production is to be improved. These crudes are extremely viscous, making them difficult to exploit:
- recovery rates are very poor in cold production conditions,
- heavy crudes need to be highly diluted with a light cut before they can be transported. Piping naphtha to the fields reduces pipeline yield and increases costs.
IFP is working to improve existing technologies and develop new ways of producing and transporting heavy crudes.
Research areas
IFP is working to optimize the exploitation of heavy crudes.
Understanding the mechanisms of viscosity
IFP’s researchers are studying the viscosity mechanisms of heavy crudes. The results of their research will be used to:
- develop new production and transport methods,
- formulate appropriate additives.
Adapting reservoir simulators to heavy crudes
Reservoir simulators need to take account of:
- the specific physicochemical phenomena generated by certain recovery methods,
- the presence of fronts which move around the reservoir and require the implementation of appropriate meshes.
Elaborating processes to reduce viscosity
At present, when heavy crudes are transported over great distances, they are first heavily diluted with light cuts. New processes based on polar solvents provide levels of viscosity compatible with the transport of diluted heavy crudes. It should be noted that the viscosity of heavy crudes diminishes significantly once the asphaltenes have been flocculated. This discovery forms the basis of research into transport methods which take advantage of the properties of flocculated and stabilised asphaltenes.
+ Industrial development > IFP's offer in improvement of recovery
