A new approach to ignition time prediction in crude oil oxidation using PDSC

• Published in: Fuel (Guildford) Vol. 353; p. 128940
• Main Authors: Ushakova, Alexandra S., Zatsepin, Vladislav V., Khelkhal, Mohammed A., Vakhin, Alexey V., Gilmanova, Rasima Kh
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.12.2023
• Subjects: Air injection; Chain reaction; Enhanced oil recovery; HPAI; In-situ combustion; PDC; Air injection; HPAI; Chain reaction; In-situ combustion; Enhanced oil recovery; PDC
• ISSN: 0016-2361; 1873-7153
• DOI: 10.1016/j.fuel.2023.128940

•In-situ combustion ignition time was estimated with a new approach based on PDSC.•Time estimation depends on heat release time exponential dependence on φ-factor.•Oil A and B showed an oxidation delay of 27 days and 8.8 months, respectively.•Our results were applied in two pilot projects for 2 crude oils field.•Oil A showed self-ignition meanwhile oil B required artificial ignition. In-situ combustion process is recognized as being one of the promising methods in the field of enhanced oil recovery. In this study, we developed a procedure for estimating ignition time using pressurized differential scanning calorimetric technique (PDSC) and the chain reaction ignition approach. The procedure was based on the free-radical mechanism of oxidation and was successfully applied to PDSC kinetic curves processing. The initial stages of oxidation of crude oils A and B were studied in detail. It was found that the procedure for processing the oils' activity to oxidation was characterized by a heat release time exponential dependence factor (φ − factor). Even though oil A and oil B exhibit comparable kinetic parameters of oxidation, there is a marked difference in their behavior. Oil A demonstrated an induction period of 27 days and a φ value of 0.0123. Conversely, oil B did not initiate combustion within a suitable timeframe in-situ, and presented a lower φ value of 0.0067. The results of pilot tests using oil A and B were consistent with the predictions and demonstrated the potential of the proposed approach.