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Volume 10 Journal of Earth Science & Climatic Change
Page 16
conference series.com
May 10-11, 2019 Bangkok, Thailand
8th World Climate Congress
Climate Congress 2019
May 10-11, 2019
Alternative recovery methods of heavy oil as an option to reduce greenhouse gas emission
Nearly 40% of energy consumption is met by oil (liquid hydrocarbons) in the world. Heavy oil/bitumen resources
comprise more than 70% of the remaining oil reserves and their share in oil production is in increasing trend. These
resources, however, require intensive steam injection to reduce the viscosity of oil, but steam generation is one of the
contributors to carbon emission. For example, Canada is the 5 th biggest producer of natural gas and 6% of this amount
is consumed in heavy oil production. Based on the GHG emissions intensity of 68-77 kg for every barrel of oil produced
via steam injection in Canada (mainly Alberta), the daily amount of GHG emissions is in the range of 91,300 to 103,400
tons. As such, reduction of steam use in heavy oil recovery is essential to mitigate greenhouse gas emission. This study
summarizes the new approaches and methods (using chemical and solvent additives) to minimize the steam use in heavy
oil recovery. Possible solutions to improve steam injection efficiency using chemical additives (surfactants, nanoparticles,
nano solutions and ionic liquids) and even replacement to it by solvent injection and electrical methods for heating and
optimization of these processes are outlined. Steam/solvent co-or alternate injection possibilities are also using laboratory
and field scale numerical simulation trials as efficient methods also reducing the GHG emission. The GHG emissions of
enhanced in situ bitumen recovery technique (e.g. Nano-based smart materials-solvent assisted SAGD) can be decreased
by 20-70% comparison with the conventional one. In case of Alberta, Canada, the application of novel thermal/non-
thermal in situ recovery technique can potentially reduce the GHG emission from 6.7 Mt to 23.5 Mt per year based on
the current bitumen production. The core goal of this research is to decrease such an environmental footprint (including
GHG emissions and water/natural gas consumption) and sustain a stable oil production at a comparable level of the
conventional in situ heavy oil and bitumen recovery technique.
Biography
Tayfun Babadagli is working as a Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, School of Mining and Petroleum Engineering
at the University of Alberta, where he holds an NSERC-Industrial Research Chair in Unconventional Oil Recovery. He has worked as Faculty
at Istanbul Technical University, Turkey and Sultan Qaboos University, Oman. His areas of interest includes modeling fluid and heat flow in
heterogeneous and fractured reservoirs, reservoir characterization through stochastic and fractal methods, optimization of oil/heavy oil recovery
by conventional/unconventional enhanced oil recovery methods and CO2 sequestration. He has completed his Bachelor’s and Master’s degree
from Istanbul Technical University and MS and PhD degrees from the University of Southern California, all in Petroleum Engineering. He was an
Executive Editor for SPE Reservoir Evaluation and Engineering (Formation Evaluation part) between 2010 and 2013 and an Associate Editor
of ASME Journal of Energy Resources Technology between 2011 and 2014. He is currently a Member of the JPT Editorial Committee. He has
received SPE’s A Peer Apart Award in 2013, elected as an SPE Distinguished Member in 2013 and was an SPE Distinguished Lecturer from
2013-2014. He is also the recipient of the 2017 SPE International Reservoir Description and Dynamics Award.
Tayfun Babadagli
University of Alberta, Canada
Tayfun Babadagli, J Earth Sci Clim Change 2019, Volume 10
DOI: 10.4172/2157-7617-C2-058