96 PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY, ECONOMICS, AND POLITICS
instead of the 20-year life of a cargo ship, although protective coatings have been developed that help to withstand the corrosive
effects of petroleum products.
Transportation is a major aspect of oil sands exploitation
(Demaison, 1977). There are four major aspects of liquid fuels production from an oil sand resource:
1. Ore recovery
2. Bitumen separation
3. Bitumen conversion to synthetic crude oil; and
4. Refining the synthetic crude oil to usable liquid fuels.
Currently, the two commercial plants carry out the first three
stages on-site, and in this respect the plants are completely selfcontained. The synthetic crude oil is then shipped by pipeline to a
more conventional refinery site (e.g. Edmonton) for fuel upgrading to liquid fuels. However, there are constraints on the character
of liquids that may be shipped by pipeline. The synthetic crude oil
conveniently meets the specifications for pipeline shipment, but
should an alternative means of bitumen upgrading be established,
that is visbreaking (viscosity breaking), pipeline specifications
must be met.
It may be deemed desirable to ship the whole bitumen feed by
pipeline, in which case dilution with naphtha is necessary. The
naphtha may actually be produced at the recovery site by construction of a nominal conversion operation. However, it is to be anticipated that a feed having a viscosity in excess of 15,000 cSt at 35°C
(100°F) will require in excess of 0.5 barrels naphtha per barrel of
bitumen. At higher temperatures, the amount of naphtha required
is reduced, but light ends and even water may have to be removed
to prevent undue pressure buildup in the pipeline if shipping temperatures of about 95°C (200°F) are considered.
One other aspect of transportation is the shipment of bitumen
separated from tar sand (or the whole oil sand or even bitumenenriched oil sand, produced by a less efficient once-through hot
water separation) in trucks or trains. Currently, economic constraints related to the amount of material that would have to be
moved to enable even a nominal conversion or upgrading operation to run continuously (hazards of weather and mechanical constraints notwithstanding) have caused these types of operation to
be downgraded in priority.
instead of the 20-year life of a cargo ship, although protective coatings have been developed that help to withstand the corrosive
effects of petroleum products.
Transportation is a major aspect of oil sands exploitation
(Demaison, 1977). There are four major aspects of liquid fuels production from an oil sand resource:
1. Ore recovery
2. Bitumen separation
3. Bitumen conversion to synthetic crude oil; and
4. Refining the synthetic crude oil to usable liquid fuels.
Currently, the two commercial plants carry out the first three
stages on-site, and in this respect the plants are completely selfcontained. The synthetic crude oil is then shipped by pipeline to a
more conventional refinery site (e.g. Edmonton) for fuel upgrading to liquid fuels. However, there are constraints on the character
of liquids that may be shipped by pipeline. The synthetic crude oil
conveniently meets the specifications for pipeline shipment, but
should an alternative means of bitumen upgrading be established,
that is visbreaking (viscosity breaking), pipeline specifications
must be met.
It may be deemed desirable to ship the whole bitumen feed by
pipeline, in which case dilution with naphtha is necessary. The
naphtha may actually be produced at the recovery site by construction of a nominal conversion operation. However, it is to be anticipated that a feed having a viscosity in excess of 15,000 cSt at 35°C
(100°F) will require in excess of 0.5 barrels naphtha per barrel of
bitumen. At higher temperatures, the amount of naphtha required
is reduced, but light ends and even water may have to be removed
to prevent undue pressure buildup in the pipeline if shipping temperatures of about 95°C (200°F) are considered.
One other aspect of transportation is the shipment of bitumen
separated from tar sand (or the whole oil sand or even bitumenenriched oil sand, produced by a less efficient once-through hot
water separation) in trucks or trains. Currently, economic constraints related to the amount of material that would have to be
moved to enable even a nominal conversion or upgrading operation to run continuously (hazards of weather and mechanical constraints notwithstanding) have caused these types of operation to
be downgraded in priority.