Microwave applications to oil sands and petroleum: A review

This review provides a general overview of microwave applications in oil sands bitumen or shale oil production in petroleum upgrading. The vast oil reserves in the oil sands of Alberta will become a major source of petroleum products in the near future and a number of alternative technologies have been explored for the production and upgrading of oil sands and heavy oil. This study is based primarily on the unique selective heating capacity associated with exposure of materials to microwaves. Of particular interest are applications of microwaves for bitumen extraction, upgrading heavy oils, removing heteroatoms, and the underground heating of oil sands to reduce bitumen viscosity and allow it to be pumped to the surface. The fundamentally different method of transferring energy from the source to the sample is the main advantage of utilizing microwave energy. By directly delivering energy to microwave-absorbing materials, conventional issues such as long heating periods and energy loses can be minimized. Microwave energy was shown to be effective in some applications; however, it is not used commercially at the present time.

[1]  Y. Yürüm,et al.  Chemical desulfurization of Turkish Cayirhan lignite with HI using microwave and thermal energy , 2003 .

[2]  M. R. Islam,et al.  The effect of microwave and ultrasonic irradiation on crude oil during production with a horizontal well , 2004 .

[3]  Akshay Sahni,et al.  Electromagnetic Heating Methods for Heavy Oil Reservoirs , 2000 .

[4]  C. Fang,et al.  Oil recovery and waste reduction by microwave radiation , 1989 .

[5]  S. Kingman,et al.  Microwave-assisted stripping of oil contaminated drill cuttings. , 2008, Journal of environmental management.

[6]  D. Whan,et al.  Recent applications of microwave heating in catalysis , 1993 .

[7]  D. Michael P. Mingos,et al.  Applications of Microwave Dielectric Heating Effects to Synthetic Problems in Chemistry , 1991 .

[8]  A. Kiennemann,et al.  Controlled oxidation of methane doped catalysts irradiated by microwaves , 1994 .

[9]  E. Caramão,et al.  Analysis of organic compounds of water-in-crude oil emulsions separated by microwave heating using comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography and time-of-flight mass spectrometry. , 2009, Journal of Chromatography A.

[10]  Peter Scholz,et al.  Heterogeneous Gas-Phase Catalysis Under Microwave Irradiation—a New Multi-Mode Microwave Applicator , 2004 .

[11]  Nicholas E. Leadbeater,et al.  Microwave-Promoted Desulfurization of Heavy and Sulfur-Containing Crude Oil , 2008 .

[12]  Xunli Zhang,et al.  Dielectric Properties of MoS2 and Pt Catalysts: Effects of Temperature and Microwave Frequency , 2002 .

[13]  Xunli Zhang,et al.  Effects of Microwave Dielectric Heating on Heterogeneous Catalysis , 2003 .

[14]  K. Kusakabe,et al.  Chemical coal cleaning with molten alkali hydroxides in the presence of microwave radiation , 1988 .

[15]  Shu-shan Dai,et al.  Microwave effects on the oxidative coupling of methane over proton conductive catalysts , 1995 .

[16]  Chih-Chieh Chan,et al.  DEMULSIFICATION OF W/O EMULSIONS BY MICROWAVE RADIATION , 2002 .

[17]  Xunli Zhang,et al.  Applications of microwave dielectric heating in environment-related heterogeneous gas-phase catalytic systems , 2006 .

[18]  D. C. Esveld,et al.  The role of selective heating in the microwave activation of heterogeneous catalysis reactions using a continuous microwave reactor , 1998 .

[19]  J. Wan,et al.  Microwve inducdd catalytic decomposition of some alberta oil sands and bitumens , 1991 .

[20]  L. Membrado,et al.  Chemical Desulfurization of Coal with Hydroiodic Acid , 1996 .

[21]  A. Loupy.  Microwaves in organic synthesis , 2002 .

[22]  J. Speight,et al.  Desulfurization of heavy oils and residua , 1981 .

[23]  F. E. Vermeulen,et al.  In-Situ Electromagnetic Heating for Hydrocarbon Recovery and Environmental Remediation , 2000 .

[24]  C. Chavarie,et al.  Exprimental Result on the Hesting of Athabasca Tar Sand Samples with Microwave Power , 1977 .

[25]  Lixin Xia,et al.  Stability and demulsification of emulsions stabilized by asphaltenes or resins. , 2004, Journal of colloid and interface science.

[26]  Alexandre F. Santos,et al.  Effect of Salinity, Temperature, Water Content, and pH on the Microwave Demulsification of Crude Oil Emulsions† , 2007 .

[27]  R. H. Snow,et al.  Recovery of Bitumen From Tar Sand Deposits With the Radio Frequency Process , 1986 .

[28]  Jacqueline M. R. Bélanger,et al.  Applications of microwave-assisted processes (MAP™) to environmental analysis , 2006, Analytical and bioanalytical chemistry.

[29]  W. McWhinnie,et al.  Does microwave heating have a role in functional group reactions of coal , 1997 .

[30]  M. R. Islam,et al.  Alteration of asphaltic crude rheology with electromagnetic and ultrasonic irradiation , 2000 .

[31]  G. Gallone,et al.  Broad Band Dielectric Analysis Of Bituminous Concrete , 2004 .