And some details from a while back. There is no meaningful basis for comparing Orimulsion to dilbit IMHO:
Re: Orimulsion: A potential energy source?
Post by ROCKMAN » Sat Feb 18, 2017 8:27 pm
No one said orimulsion can't be refined. In essence that's what upgraders do...call it refining light. Orimulsion is just a very poor quality feedstock with limited product capability. But efforts to improve the process have been ongoing for the obvious reason: the huge reserve base of billions of bbls. But that wasn't the initial question: why orimulsion and not dilbit: insufficient local/cheap source of light oil. From
http://www.digitalrefining.com/article/ ... KjmavJMFcs
"Article Summary - A number of leading oil companies, including Exxon, BP, Shell, Total and Petrobras, have given consideration to the manufacture of oil-in-water emulsion fuel from heavy refinery residues as a means of enhancing refining margins. The margin enhancement arises from recovery to the fuel pool of high-value cutter stock added to residue to meet heavy fuel oil viscosity specifications and to make a transportable fuel oil product.
In the summer of 2008, a commercial demonstration of Quadrise Fuels’ proprietary multiphase superfine atomised residue (MSAR) technology was successfully completed at Mazeikiu Nafta’s 200 000 bpd refinery in Lithuania. More than 140 000 barrels (22 000 mt) of MSAR fuel was manufactured in a joint initiative between the refinery, Quadrise Fuels International (QFI) and its technology licensor AkzoNobel. The fuel was subsequently transported over 300 km by rail and combusted at the 1800 MWe Elektrenai power plant owned by Lietuvos Elektrinė.
The commercial demonstration established the technical and commercial viability of MSAR technology in an operating refinery environment, and opens opportunities for refiners to add significant value to residue streams without incurring the high capital costs and extended schedules associated with conventional hydrogen addition or carbon rejection upgrading technologies.
Emulsion developments - Commencing in 1990, British Petroleum (BP) and Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) successfully established a 6.5 Mtpa market for their proprietary emulsion fuel known as Orimulsion — a 70% bitumen in 30% water emulsion. The product, manufactured from
8° API Orinoco bitumen, was exported worldwide as a boiler fuel for power generation.
By 2003, supply contracts with major generating companies (gencos) had been secured for power plants in North and Central America, Europe and Asia. A US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report established that under adequate safeguards Orimulsion could comply with all environmental legislation, and the technical success of Orimulsion for a 160 MWe Wärtsilä diesel generator plant in Guatemala opened new horizons for the application of the fuel. By 2006, more than 60 million tonnes of Orimulsion had been shipped to end users worldwide. However, production of the product ceased in December 2006."
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