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# 2006 Institution of Chemical Engineers
www.icheme.org/journals Trans IChemE, Part A, September 2006
doi: 10.1205/cherd.04192 Chemical Engineering Research and Design, 84(A9): 856 864

IN SITU UPGRADING OF ATHABASCA TAR

SAND BITUMEN USING THAI
T. X. XIA and M. GREAVES

IOR Research Group, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Bath, Bath, UK

D
ownhole upgrading of virgin Athabasca Tar Sand bitumen has been investigated in a
series of 3-D experiments using THAIToe-to-Heel Air Injection. The THAI
process uses combinations of vertical injection wells and horizontal producer
wells, arranged in a direct, or staggered line drive. 3-D experiments were performed to inves-
tigate THAI as a primary recovery method, and also as a secondary recovery method. The
latter followed a prior THSFToe-to-Heel Steam Flood. Oil recovery efficiencies for
THAI, using primary and secondary operation modes, were respectively, 80% and 67%
OOIP. The THSF recovery was much lower, only 23% OOIP, owing to the low steam temp-
erature in the sandpack. Downhole upgrading of the Athabasca Tar Sand bitumen was very
significant, with the API gravity of the produced oil increasing by an average of 88 API,
compared to the original bitumen. The produced oil viscosity was also dramatically reduced,
to less than 200 mPa s, with a minimum value of 50 mPa s. SARA analysis was used to assess
the quality of the produced oil. The original bitumen contained only 15.5% saturates, but the
amount in the produced oil was increased to 72%. The high oil recovery factor and partial in
situ upgrading achieved by the THAI process could therefore have important economic
implications for the future of heavy oil and bitumen production. The first field pilot of the
THAI process is scheduled to take place at Christina Lake, Alberta, Canada, in 2006.

Keywords: in situ combustion; heavy oil; air injection; THAI; Athabasca Tar Sand bitumen;
in situ upgrading; EOR.

INTRODUCTION In situ combustion (ISC) is a thermal enhanced oil

Very large resources of heavy oil and bitumen exist around
the world, mainly in Venezuela and Canada There are also
about 10 billion barrels of heavy oil in-place in the UKCS,
that remain undeveloped. Heavy oil presents many techni-
cal challenges at all stages of oil recovery and processing.
During the oil production phase, heavy oils are much more
difficult to recover from the reservoir than conventional
light oil. Cold production of heavy oil recovers less than
20% OOIP (original oil in place), but this is only achiev-
able if the reservoir temperature is sufficiently high to
lower the oil viscosity, or else the viscosity is lowered by
dissolved gas. Thermal methods are generally thought of
as a secondary production technique, as a follow-up to
cold production. However, in situ thermal methods are
now used for primary recovery, when the oil is immobile
at reservoir conditions, e.g., Athabasca Tar Sand bitumen.
recovery (EOR) process, in which a small fraction of the
oil in the reservoir is burned in order to enable flow of
the unburned fraction. It has been extensively studied for
many years as a method of heavy oil recovery (Sarathi,
1998; Lake, 1989; Burger et al., 1985). Compared with
other methods of thermal heavy oil recovery, ISC has cer-
tain potential advantages, such as high thermal efficiency,
high oil recovery, reduced environmental impact and
lower costs (Sarathi, 1998). The conventional ISC process,
which uses a vertical injection well-vertical producer well
arrangement, suffered from serious operational problems,
with gas overriding and channelling being especially pro-
blematic. Consequently, this process has not achieved the
universal success that theory predicts. Many of the failures
of the conventional ISC process can be attributed to the
poor choice of reservoir but, as Moore et al. (1997) have
remarked, there were also some significant successes.

Correspondence to: Professor M. Greaves, IOR Research Group, Depart- THAIToe-to-Heel Air Injection
ment of Chemical Engineering, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK.
E-mail: M.Greaves@bath.ac.uk THAI is a new EOR (enhanced oil recovery) process,

Now with TOTAL E&P UK Plc. which integrates in situ combustion and horizontal well

856
 IN SITU UPGRADING OF ATHABASCA TAR SAND BITUMAN USING THAI
Figure 1. THAItoe-to-heel air injection process.
technology (Greaves et al., 2000). It uses a horizontal pro-
ducer well instead of a vertical producer well employed
in conventional ISC. The vertical injection (VI) well and
horizontal producer (HP) well are arranged in direct line
drive (VIHP), or staggered line drive (2VIHP). In direct
line drive, a single vertical injection well is positioned on
the same horizontal axis as the producer well, but is
offset from the toe of the latter by a few metres. In stag-
gered line drive, two injection wells are equally spaced,
either side of the horizontal producer. In both arrange-
ments, the vertical well is placed towards the top of the
oil layer, and the horizontal well is positioned low in the
reservoir. After the combustion front becomes anchored
onto the toe of the horizontal well, it then propagates in
steady manner, along the horizontal well, from the toe
to the heel position (Figure 1).
It has been demonstrated in 3-D experiments, that THAI
can achieve very high oil recovery in heavy oil and tar sand
bitumen reservoirs (Greaves and Xia, 1998; Xia et al.,
2003; Xia and Greaves, 2002). This is due to the efficient
sweep of the reservoir by the combustion front and hot
gas drive. A further important benefit of THAI for heavy
oil and bitumen applications is that it produces partially
upgraded oil. In 3-D combustion cell tests on Wolf Lake
heavy crude the produced oil had a viscosity of 50 to
500 mPa s at 158C and an API gravity of 188, compared
with the original crude oil viscosity of 48 000 mPa s at
158C, and API gravity of 10.58 (Xia et al., 2003).
The basic mechanism of THAI, as applied to heavy oil
reservoirs, is the same as for the conventional ISC process;
namely, burning of heavy residue, or a coke-like fraction,
to generate heat, thereby increasing the temperature of
the oil-bearing formation. This leads to a reduction in the
in situ oil viscosity, increasing its mobility. The fuel for
combustion is coke, which is generated ahead of the com-
bustion front by thermal cracking of the heavy residue.
When ISC is operated in a high temperature oxidation
mode (HTO), the chemical reactions taking place are:
(a) Thermal cracking (pyrolysis):
Heavy residue ! Light oil Coke (1)
(b) Oxidation of coke:
Coke Oxygen ! CO CO2 H2 O (2)
Trans IChemE, Part A, Chemical Engineering Research and Design, 2006, 84(A9): 856 864
857
(c) Oxidation of heavy residue:
Heavy residue Oxygen ! CO CO2 H2 O (3)
The very heavy residue, or coke, which remains on
the reservoir matrix after displacement of lighter hydro-
carbon components is the result of thermal cracking of
heavy hydrocarbons. The latter comprises very high mol-
ecular weight compounds, mainly asphaltenes and resins.
According to the above reaction scheme, the produced
oil will be lighter than the original crude, due to thermal
upgrading. This upgrading was not an obvious feature of
the conventional ISC process, either in combustion tube
tests (Moore et al., 1999), or in field operations. Essen-
tially, this was because unconverted oil was produced
first, as a result of the horizontal displacement. THAI,
on the other hand, preserves the thermal upgrading (Xia
et al., 2003), due to the radically different flow behaviour
ahead of the combustion front, which is completely differ-
ent to that in conventional ISC. In conventional ISC,
mobilized oil banks-up in the colder, downstream regions
of the oil-bearing formation ahead of the combustion
front, before it is produced. In THAI, a mobile oil zone
(MOZ) is created ahead of the combustion front
(Figure 1). Thus, mobilized oil, including thermally
cracked oil, is drawn downwards, directly into the
exposed section of the horizontal producer well, directly
below. The thermally upgraded oil is thus preserved and
produced quickly, without banking-up, or mixing with
the cold, unconverted oil. A further distinguishing feature
of THAI is that it is a short-distance oil displacement oil
recovery process (Xia et al., 2003), like SAGD, whereas
conventional ISC is long-distance displacement (Singhal
and Turta, 2000).
In the conventional ISC process, fluids (gas, steam, water
and mobilized oil) move through the formation horizon-
tally, from the vertical injection well to the vertical produ-
cer well. The interwell distance may be 100 to 200 metres
in a heavy oil reservoir. The difference in density between
the gas and oil gives rise to gravity segregation. Thus, gas
overriding is inevitable in the conventional ISC process.
The scaled 3-D model tests of in situ combustion carried
out by Binder et al. (1967) showed that gas overriding
was more severe in the larger prototype than in the smaller
experimental model. Importantly, in THAI, the effect of gas
overriding is controlled. This is because the horizontal pro-
ducer well, placed in the bottom of the oil layer, is the only
pathway for mobilised fluids to leave the formation. This
occurs via a top-to-bottom flow, directly into the horizontal
production well. In 3-D combustion cell tests of THAI,
using Wolf Lake heavy oil, a post-mortem analysis of the
burned sandpacks showed that the most advanced part of
the combustion front was in the top region of the oil
layer (Xia et al., 2003). This controlled gas overriding
effect was a stable feature throughout the experiment,
as evidenced by the invariant shape of the vertical plane
temperature profiles versus time. In this way, THAI
achieves very stable combustion front propagation, from
the toe to the heel of the horizontal producer well.
This contributes to a very efficient sweep of the reservoir,
with commensurately high oil recovery. The main benefits
of THAI are listed in Table 1.
858 XIA and GREAVES

Table 1. Potential benefits of THAI for heavy oil recovery. Table 2. Properties of Athabasca Tar Sand Bitumen.
Controlled gas override, results in a quasi-upright in situ combustion API gravity 8
front Density @ 258C (g cm23) 1.0077
High air flux maintain process in HTO mode, avoiding LTO reactions Elemental (wt%)

High sweep efficiency, related to the absence of any gas coning C 81 84
(channelling) in the producer well H 10 11.0
Process produces thermally upgraded oil, up to 8-10 8API higher than N 0.3 0.6
reservoir crude oil S 4.6 5.6
Significant environmental benefits due to in situ removal of sulphur and Viscosity @ 158C (mPa s)
1.8  104 1  106
heavy metals SARA composition (wt%)


Unique mobile oil zone (MOZ) ahead of the combustion front reduces Saturates 14.5
sensitivity to reservoir heterogeneity in the virgin zone (mainly for Aromatics 34.8
extra-heavy reservoirs) Resins 38.0
Fluid injectivity is increased due to higher permeability in the burned Asphaltenes 12.7
zone Porosity 34
Front tracking capability via toe-to-heel propagation Oil content (wt%) 13.615.3
For a commercial line drive operation, and a fixed well pattern, the Water content (wt%) 1.75
number of wells is reduced to almost half due to their use first as


producers and then as injectors Values from Strausz, (1989).



Analysis by University of Salford.

THSFToe-to-Heel Steam Flood

Table 3. Experimental conditions of 3-D cell tests.
THSF is a new application of the toe-to-heel displace-
ment concept, in which the injected fluid is steam, instead Run 2000-01 2000-03 2000-04
Sandpack Virgin Athabasca Tar Sand
of air. The intended purpose of THSF, therefore, was to Oil content (wt%) 13.55 15.3 15.3
create a stable steam front propagation along the horizontal Initial temperature (8C) 20 15 100
producer well, in a similar fashion to that achieved by the Recovery method THAI THSF THAI
combustion front in THAI. The well configuration used (dry and wet (post-steam
combustion) flood)
for THSF was identical to that used for the secondary Air flux (Sm3 m22 h21) 1218 1222
production mode THAI experiment (Run 2000-04), which Steam injection rate 10
used a single vertical injection well and two horizontal (g min21)
producer wells, in a staggered line drive (VI2HP). This Estimated temperature 135141
well combination translates, in the field case, to a staggered of injected steam (8C)
Water air ratio 1.1
line drive, consisting of two injectors placed uppermost in (m3/1000 Sm3)
the oil layer, equally spaced, left and right of a centrally Well type HIHP VI2HP VI2HP
located horizontal well. In the experiment, however, it Well configuration Direct line Staggered Staggered
was used to create a narrower well spacing for the two hori- drive line drive line drive
Back pressure (psig) 10 to 20 15 to 30 15 to 20
zontal producers. THSF, like THAI, embodies the original
toe-to-heel concept (Greaves and Turta, 1997), which has
been the subject of extensive heavy oil recovery research
by the IOR Group at the University of Bath, for more maintain the sandpack in an approximately adiabatic con-
than 15 years. The experimental results for the novel dition. Each heating tape was controlled automatically by a
THSF process, and also the implementation of THAI in a computer in response to the measured temperatures. During
secondary production mode (post-steam flood), are pre- the combustion cell experiments, the produced gas was con-
sented. The paper presents the results of three, 3D physical tinuously monitored for oxygen, CO and CO2, using three
model experiments, carried out on virgin Athabasca Tar Servomex gas analysers. A special electrical steam generator
Sand bitumen, for the primary purpose of investigating was constructed for the THSF test, supplying a nominal 20 ml
the upgrading performance of the THAI process (primary of water (steam) per minute, at a pressure of 2 to 3 bar.
and secondary recovery) and THSF (primary recovery). Three experiments were performed using unconsolidated,
The basic 3-D combustion cell results and oil production virgin Athabasca Tar Sand, obtained from the Alberta
were reported in an earlier paper (Xia and Greaves, 2002). Research Council, successors to the AOSTRA Oil Sands
Sample Bank, Alberta, Canada. The Tar Sand bitumen had
a density of 1007.7 kg m23 and its viscosity was approxi-
mately 1 000 000 mPa s at 158C. The main physical proper-
3-D COMBUSTION CELL EXPERIMENTS
ties of Athabasca Tar Sand are presented in Table 2. The
A rectangular stainless steel cell (0.6 m  0.4 m  0.1 m) experimental conditions used for the experiments are given
was used as the physical 3-D model for the investigation of in Table 3. Run 2000-01 was a THAI in situ combustion
the THAI and THSF processes. The cell was fitted with an experiment conducted using an HIHP well arrangement, con-
array of 85 thermocouples that were used to track the sisting of a single horizontal injection well and a single
movement of the combustion front and steam condensation horizontal producer well. A horizontal injector was used
front. Nine separate heating tapes were wound around the instead of vertical injector, simply because it was considered
combustion cell, to provide heat compensation and so to be a more efficient means of distributing the injection air in
reduce heat loss from the sandpack. In this way, by control- the experiments, thereby helping to ensure good ignition. Run
ling the temperature difference between the temperature in 2000-03 was a THSF steam flood test, which employed a
the sandpack and that at a corresponding cell wall position, single vertical injection well and two horizontal production
it was possible to minimize the heat loss, and thereby wells (VI2HP). Run 2000-04 was a post-steam flood THAI

Trans IChemE, Part A, Chemical Engineering Research and Design, 2006, 84(A9): 856 864
 IN SITU UPGRADING OF ATHABASCA TAR SAND BITUMAN USING THAI 859

Table 4. Experimental results of 3-D cell tests.

Run 2000-01 2000-03 2000-04

Recovery method THAI THSF THAI
(primary) (primary) (post-steam
flooded)
Overall period (h) 14.5 14 14.5
Pre-ignition period (h) 3.5 3.5
Dry combustion phase (h) 11 11
Peak temperature (8C) 600 750 600 700
Average composition of
produced gases (%)
CO2 17.0 15.4
CO 5.6 3.18
O2 1.38 2.54
CO/(CO2 CO) 0.248 0.171
H/C 0.0 0.401
O2 utilization (%) 93.4 87.9
Fuel consumption (% OOIP) 8.2 9.5
Injected air (Sm3) 5.37 8.28
Oil recovery (wt% OOIP)
81.5 23 63.9 (83.0


)
(vol% OOIP)

85.5 66.7 (86.6


)
AOR (Sm3 m23) 1080 1690
Combustion front 0.035 0.038
velocity (m/h21)
Residual oil (% OOIP) 11.0 8.2
Steam/oil ratio (m3 m23) 5 (2)
overall, (steady oil
production period)


Oil recovery is calculated from the weight of the initial oil in place.



Oil recovery is based on the volume of the initial oil in place.




Calculated values are based on the residual oil after steam flooding.

experiment, which was operated after the completion of the

THSF experiment, with the same well arrangement as Run
2000-04. Further details of the 3D cell experiments are
given in an earlier paper (Xia and Greaves, 2002). SARA
analysis was used to analyse the virgin Athabasca Tar Sand
Bitumen and the produced oil from the 3D experiments.
The SARA analysis employed a MK-5 Iatroscan thin layer
chromatograph (TLC) system equipped with flame ionisation
detection (FID). The analyses were performed by the IOR
Group at the University of Salford.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Oil Recovery, Air-to-Oil Ratio (AOR) and
Steam-to-Oil Ratio (SOR)
Both THAI experiments, Run 2000-01 (primary pro-
duction) and Run 2000-04 (secondary production) achieved
stable propagation of a high temperature combustion front
(.6008C). In the THSF experiment (Run 2000-03), a steam
front was propagated along the producer well, in a toe-to-
heel manner. The main results of the tests are reported in
Table 4.
THAI
Figures 2 and 3 show the oil production and AOR during
the 3-D Cell THAI tests. The AOR is obtained from the
measured air injection and oil production rates. Oil
production began 5 min before commencement of air
injection in Run 2000-01 (primary THAI), due the high
temperature of the hot gas (nitrogen) used to preheat the
entry section of the sandpack, prior to ignition. However,
there was a long delay (180 min) before oil production
commenced in Run 2000-04 (secondary THAI test).
Figure 2. (a) Cumulative oil recovery and (b) air-to-oil ratioRun
2000-01 (primary THAI).
This was due to the large amount of water that had
condensed in the sandpack, during the steam flood in Run
2000-04. Once the combustion front had stabilised, the
oil production rate increased to more than 10 ml min21,
higher than that achieved in 2000-01 (primary THAI).
During the initial oil production period (t 260 to
370 min), the AOR in Run 2000-04 was less than
1000 Sm3 m23. This value is very close to the AOR for
the wet combustion period in Run 2000-01. Overall, oil
recoveries in both tests were very high, 81.5 wt% OOIP
for Run 2000-01 and 83 wt% ROIP (residual oil in place)
for Run 2000-04 (secondary THAI).
3-D experiments can provide an indicative estimate of
what the production rate would be in the field, assuming
that the reservoir pay is of good quality and there is also
good conformity. For example, using a simple direct
scaling approach, which basically involves ratioing
the cross-sectional areas between field and experiment:
taking 2000 m2 in the field case and 0.04 m2 for the exper-
imental combustion cell, and then multiplying this by
the ratio of the air injection fluxes (lower in the field),
say, 2 Sm3 m2 h21 to 10 m3 m22 h21, gives a field oil pro-
duction rate of nearly 86 m3/day. This is for a nominal
experimental oil production rate of 6 ml min21. In practise,
the reservoir will be much more complex, so this estimate

Trans IChemE, Part A, Chemical Engineering Research and Design, 2006, 84(A9): 856 864
860
Figure 3. (a) Cumulative oil recovery and (b) air-to-oil ratioRun 2000-
04 (post-steam flood THAI).
should be treated with caution. The only reliable way to
predict oil recovery is from a detailed reservoir simulation
analysis, validated against suitable characteristics from the
3-D experiments, or other reliable information, i.e., pilot.
AOR is also a very important indicator of the performance
of the in situ combustion process in heavy oil recovery oper-
ations. The average AOR is 50% higher during the secondary
THAI test (post-steam flood), compared with that for the pri-
mary THAI experiment (Run 2000-01). This is most probably
due to the large amount of heat required to vaporise the water
that had condensed in the sandpack during the steam flood
operation. During the oil production period, starting at
210 min, the AOR in Run 2000-04 averaged 1370 Sm3 m23
(7700 scf/bbl). This value is still very reasonable, compared
with typical values for conventional ISC operations (Nodwell
et al., 1997). Economic values of the AOR can range up to
3000 Sm3 m23, or more, depending on the particular reser-
voir application and previous operation. However, it is the
cost of air compression, which sets the upper limit on this.
The high oil recoveries obtained in these experiments, with
AORs in the range 10801690 Sm3 m23, indicate that
THAI is potentially a very promising process for use as a
primary, or secondary method of oil recovery in Tar Sands
bitumen and heavy oil reservoirs.
THSF
In the THSF experiment (Run 2000-03), there was a long
production delay of more than 300 min before oil
Trans IChemE, Part A, Chemical Engineering Research and Design, 2006, 84(A9): 856 864
XIA and GREAVES
Figure 4. (a) Cumulative oil recovery and (b) steam-to-oil ratioRun
2000-03, THSF.
production commenced. The cumulative oil recovery was
approximately 23 wt% OOIP. This was after steam flooding
for 14 h, at a steam injection rate of 10.0 ml min21. During
the oil production period (320 510 min), the SOR reduced
down to about 2, which is a very good value. However, it
subsequently deteriorated, so that the overall value was
around 4 (Figure 4). The oil recovery for this 3-D steam
flood experiment is on the low side, and the overall SOR
high, compared with SAGD (steam assisted gravity drai-
nage) laboratory tests, using two-dimensional physical
models (Jiang et al., 2000). In the present experiment,
virgin Athabasca Tar Sand was used, whereas glass beads
of 1 mm were used to simulate the reservoir matrix in the
SAGD experiments. In the latter, when 20/30-mesh sand
was used in a three-layered model, a SOR of 2.8 times
that of the homogeneous glass bead model was obtained.
This was attributed to the high residual oil saturation
remaining on the sand inside the steam chamber.
At higher experimental pressures, similar to those in the
field, more realistic steam temperatures of 200 2508C
would be possible, leading to expected higher oil recoveries
for THSF, and lower SOR.
The pressure in the reservoir will be approximately
10 times that in the experiments (30 bar versus 2 3 bar).
Thus, the thermodynamic properties for the steam and
gas will need to be adjusted to scale the physical model
 IN SITU UPGRADING OF ATHABASCA TAR SAND BITUMAN USING THAI
experiments to reservoir pressure. Primarily, it means that,
at reservoir pressure, gas volumes, including superheated
steam, will be reduced by a similar factor. Reduced gas
volumes and pore velocities should be beneficial as regards
pressure drop and flow in the horizontal well. This will aid
well productivity, but oil production is determined (primar-
ily) by how fast the combustion front advances (combus-
tion front velocity) through the reservoir, and also, to
some extent, by the width of the mobile oil zone (MOZ).
The latter is not known exactly, but the experiments indi-
cate that it is of the order of a few centimeters, which
could translate to a few metres in the field.
As far as operating THAI in a wet combustion mode is
concerned, this may only be advantageous for short-term
productivity gains. This is because the injected water
(steam) causes a direct temperature shock on the combus-
tion front, leading to a continuous fall-off in temperature.
This can be seen during the wet combustion period in
Figure 2(a). This effect is very different to that found in
conventional forward ISC, when operated in a normal
wet combustion mode. The benefit in this case, is that,
water injection transfers heat from the burned upstream
zone, into the downstream colder oil zone. In THAI,
water injection should be stopped, however, before the
combustion front temperature has fallen by a certain
amount, say 508C, in order to maintain a stable combustion
front temperature of about 5508C. Operating THAI in
an intermittent wet combustion mode (as in Run 2000-01)
can be beneficial us as a control mechanism, to control
the temperature in the reservoir, or near the horizontal pro-
duction wellif either of thesis is tending to increase
beyond acceptable limits.
Fuel Laydown, Fuel Consumption and
Combustion Temperature
Fuel laydown, or fuel availability, of an oil-bearing
formation is a critical factor affecting the amount of reac-
tion energy (heat) released per unit volume of the reservoir
matrix. Fuel consumption, as % OOIP, is the ratio of the
fuel actually consumed during the combustion process
and the initial oil in place. Fuel availability is determined
primarily by the properties of the oil-bearing formation,
the physical and chemical properties of the oil, and the
temperature in the coke zone ahead of the combustion
front. Thus, fuel consumption is determined by fuel lay-
down, initial oil in place, the combustion front velocity
and sweep efficiency.
Due to the complexity of the ISC process, one-
dimensional combustion tube experiments have tradition-
ally been employed in order to measure fuel laydown and
fuel consumption, as well as other important variables,
such as peak combustion temperature and combustion
front velocity. The volumetric sweep efficiency of the
combustion front obtained from vertically-positioned com-
bustion tube tests, with the gas flow from top to bottom is,
as one would expect from a gravity stabilized process, very
high. Correspondingly, the residual oil saturation in the
burned zone is very low, and close to zero. This means
that all of the fuel laid down during a combustion tube
test is consumed by the oxidation reactions. However, the
volumetric sweep efficiency achieved in an actual reservoir,
or a three-dimensional, conventional ISC experiment, will
Trans IChemE, Part A, Chemical Engineering Research and Design, 2006, 84(A9): 856 864
861
be significantly lower, typically around 30%. This is princi-
pally due to gas overriding, if it is not otherwise controlled.
Fuel consumption is the amount of fuel actually burned
per unit volume and it determines the combustion tempera-
ture, for a given air injection rate, oxygen utilization and
rock properties. Scaled-model tests of the conventional
ISC process, using unconsolidated sand, showed that the
combustion front temperature in a larger prototype model
was lower than that in the smaller experimental model,
because of the reduced volumetric sweep efficiency
(Binder et al., 1967). Maintaining a high combustion front
temperature (450 6008C) is the key factor to achieving a
successful field ISC project for heavy oil recovery
(Moore et al., 1998). The volumetric sweep of the combus-
tion front is therefore a very major design parameter for
any ISC operation, since it sets the bounds on what oil
recovery efficiency is achieved by the hot gas displacement.
One dimensional combustion tube tests cannot provide this
important information.
3-D combustion cell experiments are extremely useful
for determining the volumetric sweep of the combustion
front in ISC. The sweep was estimated from post-mortem
analysis of the sandpack (Figure 5). At the injection end
of the cell, the combustion front sweep is artificially high
(.95%), due to the effect of inlet preheating of the sand-
pack, prior to ignition. As shown in Figure 5, the sweep
efficiency then decreases progressively towards the produ-
cer end of the sandpack. The volumetric sweep efficiency
of the combustion front, for primary and secondary THAI
experiments (Runs 2000-01 and 2000-04), was 52% and
50%, respectively. This is significantly higher than that
achieved in the conventional 3-D ISC experiments by
Binder et al. (1967) Samples were also taken from the
sandpack to determine the residual oil concentration in
the burned and unburned parts of the sandpack. The oil
recovery was determined from mass balance, as follows:
Oil recovery OOIP  Fuel consumption
 Residual oil (4)
where OOIP is the original oil in place (%).
Fuel consumption during the THAI experiments was also
calculated from the produced gas composition, which
involves calculating values of the following parameters:
apparent H/C ratio, CO/(CO CO2), oxygen utilization
and air injection rate. These results are given in Table 5.
The values obtained basically agree with those calculated
from equation (4), differing by only 0.7% in Run
2000-01, and 5.6% in Run 2000-04. The difference in the
latter case may be due to some error in estimating the oil
recovery for the THSF experiment (Run 2000-03).
Fuel lay down is the sum of the fuel consumption and
residual oil, i.e., 19.2% OOIP and 17.3% OOIP for Runs
2000-01 and 2000-04, respectively. These values represent
a fuel availability of about 55 kg m23. A comparison with
3-D cell THAI tests using Wolf Lake Oil (Xia et al., 2003),
shows that virgin Athabasca Tar Sand produces 2 3%
OOIP more fuel on the reservoir matrix. A likely reason
for this is that Athabasca Tar Sand bitumen contains
more heavy-end components (5208C), and these are the
main source of fuel for the process.
862
Figure 5. Post-mortem analysis of sandpack. (a) Ratio of unburned vertical
area to total area versus horizontal distance. (b) Post-mortem photograph
of a mid-vertical section (THAI, Run 2000-01).
Table 5. Oil mass balance during THAI tests.
Run 2000-01
Oil in place (OOIP), % 100
Fuel consumption (%OOIP) 8.2
Residual oil (%OOIP) 11
Fuel laydown (OOIP) 19.2
Oil recovery (%OOIP), equation (4) 80.8
Oil recovery (%OOIP), 3-D-cell test 81.5
Error (%OOIP) 0.7
Thermal Upgrading of Produced Oil (THAI)
A significant advantage of the THAI process is its ability
to produce a lighter, or partially upgraded oil from heavy
oil and bitumen, without the use of a catalyst (Xia et al.,
2003; Xia and Greaves, 2002). This is because thermally
cracked oil, which is mobilized ahead of the combustion
front, is produced directly into the exposed section of the
horizontal producer well. However, in conventional ISC
operation, the mobilised oil first has to bank-up in the
colder, downstream regions of the reservoir. Generally,
the oil produced by conventional ISC is only slightly lighter
(about 0.05 g cm23) than the original crude oil, as observed
during the later stages of combustion tube tests conducted
by Freitag and Exelby (1998).
Figure 6(a) shows the thermal upgrading trend for the oil
produced from virgin Athabasca Tar Sand bitumen oil. In
Run 2000-01, THAI produces thermally upgraded oil
from the start of oil production, which is 38 API higher
Trans IChemE, Part A, Chemical Engineering Research and Design, 2006, 84(A9): 856 864
XIA and GREAVES
Figure 6. Thermal upgrading versus time for Athabasca Tar Sand Bitumen
THAI primary production (Run 2000-01) and THAI secondary production
(Run 2000-04). (a) API gravity versus time, (b) produced oil viscosity
versus time.
2000-04
77
9.5 than the original bitumen. Thereafter, it increases to 16 to
8.2 188 API during the stable operating period of oil pro-
17.7
59.3 duction. Oil samples collected during the wet combustion
63.9 period have a similar API gravity to those obtained
5.6 during the stable dry combustion period. The oil produced
in the secondary THAI experiment (Run 2000-4), during
the first 180 min of operation, was insufficient to measure
its oil density. The degree of upgrading of the produced
oil during the stable combustion period is the same as
that obtained in Run 2000-01 (THAI primary). Together,
Runs 2000-01 and 2000-04 achieved averaged upgrading
of 8 9 API points above the original bitumen value.
This, therefore, represents a very substantial level of
upgrading, sufficient almost to dispense with the need to
use diluent for pipeline transportation. It is also very sig-
nificant because no other in situ heavy recovery process,
including SAGD (steam assisted gravity drainage) is
capable of achieving any significant level of in situ upgrad-
ing. VAPEX, a solvent counterpart to SAGD, can achieve
some in situ upgrading, via asphaltene rejection in the
reservoir, but there has not been any reported success for
the process in the field. Produced oil viscosity is another
important upgrading measure, particularly for pipeline
transportation. The viscosity of the produced oil from pri-
mary and secondary THAI experiments was 50 and
1000 mPa s at 208C, respectively [Figure 6(b)], compared
to virgin Athabasca Tar Sand bitumen, which has a
 IN SITU UPGRADING OF ATHABASCA TAR SAND BITUMAN USING THAI 863

Table 6. SARA analysis of produced oil from run 2000-01 (primary THAI).

Sample Time (min) 0 75 210 420 570

Oil Gravity (API) 12.7 15.3 17.9 17.1 18.6
Saturates (wt%) 49.0 62.0 69.7 61.0 69.7
Aromatics (wt%) 9.0 9.2 7.5 9.7 7.3
Resins (wt%) 38 26.4 21.0 26.0 21.4
Asphaltenes (wt%) 4.0 2.2 1.8 3.3 1.6

Table 7. SARA analysis of produced oil from Run 2000-04 (post-steam

flood THAI).

Sample time (min) 270 330 480 610 760

Oil gravity (API) 14.1 15.6 17.4 16.4 17.7
Saturates (wt%) 49.7 64.3 72.3 68.6 68.6
Aromatics (wt%) 7.5 8.3 7.5 9 7.2
Resins (wt%) 27.4 18.5 18.2 20.4 23
Asphaltenes (wt%) 15.4 8.9 2 2 1.2

viscosity of approximately 1 000 000 mPa s at 158C. Thus,

thermal in situ upgrading by the THAI process achieves a
permanent viscosity reduction of 1000 10 000 times.

SARA Fractions
The SARA analyses of produced oil from the two THAI
experiments (Runs 2000-01, 2000-04) are an average of
five to seven separate scans on the same samples. The
results from are shown in Tables 6 and 7, and also
Figure 7. During Run 2000-01 (primary THAI), the satu-
rates fraction of the produced oil shows a very large
increase, from 14.5% for the original Athabasca bitumen,
Figure 7. SARA analysis of Athabasca Tar Sand and produced oil.
up to 49%. This occurs right from the start of oil pro- (a) Primary THAI (Run 2000-01) and (b) secondary THAI (Run 2000-04).
duction. The aromatics and asphaltenes fractions are corre-
spondingly reduced by more than three times, compared
with the bitumen values, but the resins fraction is
unchanged. Asphaltene molecules consist of high-molecu- that aromatics, which are also large molecules (like asphalt-
lar-weight polyaromatic or polycyclic nuclei with heteroa- enes), play a major role in in situ upgrading by THAI. Since
tom linkages, such as N, O and S. Due to their polar nature, asphaltenes appear to be mainly consumed as fuel, then
asphaltenes tend to agglomerate into larger aggregates. At resins may also contribute to the upgrading effect.
high temperature, these agglomerates tend to form the fuel Based on the above observations, the following scheme
(coke) for combustion. It is speculated, therefore, that the for thermal cracking (upgrading) of Athabasca Tar Sand
increase in the saturates fraction could be due, in large bitumen, using the THAI process, is suggested:
part, to transformation of the aromatic components, by (a) Aromatics (Ar) cracking:
way of transalkylation (aromatic conversion into alkanes).
The saturates fraction of the produced oil increases to
nearly 70 wt% during the stable combustion period, whereas Ar ! As light oil (5)
aromatics and asphaltenes remain more or less constant
during Run 2000-01. Since the resins fraction in the same (b) Resins (Re) cracking:
experiment is also reduced by a significant amount, from
38 wt% to 21 wt%, they may also contribute to the upgrad-
ing process, i.e., increase in saturates. Re ! As light oil (6)
For the post-steam flood, secondary THAI experiment
(Run 2000-04), the SARA analysis shows some differences
(c) Asphaltenes (As) cracking:
compared with Run 2000-01. Although the saturates frac-
tion in the produced oil is the same initially, the asphaltenes
content actually increases. The change in aromatics is not As ! Coke light oil (7)
very significant, but is, overall, tending to slightly lower
values. Resins, on the other hand, are significantly lower,
except towards the end of the experiment. However, the However, since each SARA fraction contributes differently
main conversion trend to higher levels of saturates, is to the upgrading effect in THAI, further research is required
more than maintained, increasing to over 70% at one to understand more precisely the details of the thermal
stage during the experiment. It is concluded, therefore, upgrading mechanism.

Trans IChemE, Part A, Chemical Engineering Research and Design, 2006, 84(A9): 856 864
864 XIA and GREAVES
CONCLUSIONS
1. THAI is potentially a very efficient thermal technique
for the recovery of heavy oil and bitumen. The oil
recovery from 3-D combustion cell experiments, using
virgin Athabasca Tar Sand, was greater than 80%
OOIP. Similar levels of oil recovery were also achieved
during secondary production, after a prior-steam flood of
the same sandpack, using a novel Toe-to-Heel Steam
Flood process, THSF.
2. The oil produced by THAI, via primary or secondary
production (post-steam flood) was substantially upgraded,
on average by more than 88 API. The produced oil
viscosity was also permanently reduced by over four
orders of magnitude, compared with the virgin bitumen.
No upgrading effect was observe during THSF.
3. For Athabasca Tar Sand bitumen, the fuel lay down dur-
ing THAI is about 17 19% OOIP, or 53 57 kg m23.
The volumetric sweep of the combustion front
approached 50% of the sandpack volume, which is
about 66% more than for a conventional ISC experiment
in a 3-D combustion cell.
4. The upgraded oil produced by THAI contains nearly
70% saturates, compared with only 14.5% for the orig-
inal Athabasca bitumen. Aromatics, resins and asphalt-
enes were all substantially reduced, especially the
aromatics and asphaltenes.
5. It appears that asphaltenes are the main donor com-
pounds for the formation of the fuel needed to sustain
stable combustion front propagation. Thermal cracking
of aromatics is considered to play a major role in the
in situ upgrading process, leading to the large increase
in saturates fraction. The latter increased to nearly
70%, which represents almost a four-fold increase
over the original bitumen value. It is possible that con-
version of resin compounds may also make an important
contribution to the overall upgrading effect achieved by
THAI, in addition to being a fuel precursor.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors are grateful to the Engineering and Physical Sciences
Research Council (EPSRC), United Kingdom, for supporting the THAI
Process research via Research Grant No. GR/M93017. We would like to
thank the Alberta Research Council, Oil Sands Sample Bank, for supplying
the Athabasca Tar Sand. We acknowledge the assistance of Dr Hider Al-
Saffar and Professor R Hughes of the University of Salford, in providing
the SARA analyses. Thanks are also due to Mr Adrian Tuddenham
(Research Technician) for the design and construction of the steam injec-
tion system.
The manuscript was received 16 July 2004 and accepted for publication
after revision 20 February 2006.