In-Situ Techniques for Recovery of Oil Sands
Oil Sands, sometimes referred to as Tar Sands, are considered a source of unconventional oil, consisting of a molasses-like oil called bitumen, mixed with sand, which is much more difficult to recover and process than conventional oil.
Two tons of oil sands are required to recover a single barrel of oil.
Teledyne Isco Syringe Pumps are a proven reliable system component in recovery process studies, and in upgrading bitumen to a refinable compound similar to conventional crude oil.
Reservoir characterization involves testing in-situ methods under real-world operating conditions. This requires extremely low flow rates of a highly viscous fluid under high temperatures (about 200 cP at 150°C), and high pressures (up to 1500 psi). These conditions are not reliably reproducible without the use of highly accurate and precise equipment.
Because of their ability to handle viscous fluids, high temperatures, and low flow rates, Teledyne Isco Syringe Pumps have proven to be an excellent choice for these permeability studies.
Figure 2: System schematic: Continuous flow or batch reactor
