Известия Томского политехнического университета: Инжиниринг георесурсов (Nov 2017)
Physico-chemical properties of hard-to-recover oils of Russian Arctic
Abstract
The relevance of the work is determined by insufficient knowledge of the features of physical and chemical parameters and the conditions of occurrence of hard-to-recover oils, considered as the main base of oil production growth in the medium term due to the depletion of easily accessible oils, making it difficult to assess the prospects and identify the areas of development of domestic oil and gas complex. The main aim of the research is to study the features of physical and chemical properties and the conditions of occurrence of hard oils of Arctic zone in Russia, belonging to different quality classes (low, medium and high). The methods used in the study: methods of statistical analysis and classification of data for studying the characteristics of hard-to-recover oils of different classes of quality; methods of geographic information systems for spatial analysis of data on physical and chemical characteristics and the conditions of their occurrence. The results. Due to the absence of the data on the properties of hard-to-recover oil in the Arctic in scientific literature, the new results on the properties of such oils in the article determine the scientific novelty of the work. Based on the proposed quality index and generalized classification of data the analysis was carried out in volume of almost 1,500 samples of hard-to-recover oils in the oilfields of Russian Arctic. The authors have developed the schematic map of placing hard-to-recover oils of different quality classes in the Arctic zone of Russia and studied the features of physicochemical properties of hard-to-recover oils of low, medium and high quality. It is shown that the growth of oil quality is accompanied by increasing in average density, the content of sulfur, asphaltene and resin and decreasing in average the content of oil gas. Wax content in oils of the 2nd class exhibits the maximum value compared with those of the first and third classes for which the average content of paraffins is almost equal. The research results can be used in development of new and improvement of existing methods and technologies of oil extraction, refining and transportation of oil with abnormal physical and chemical properties or the oils with complicated conditions of occurrence, belonging to different quality classes.
