Heavy Oil Viscosity Measurements: Best Practices and Guidelines

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• 作者：Hongying Zhao ; Afzal Memon ; Jinglin Gao ; Shawn D. Taylor ; Donald Sieben ; John Ratulowski ; Hussein Alboudwarej ; James Pappas ; Jefferson Creek
• 刊名：Energy & Fuels
• 出版年：2016
• 出版时间：July 21, 2016
• 年：2016
• 卷：30
• 期：7
• 页码：5277-5290
• 全文大小：696K
• 年卷期：0
• ISSN：1520-5029

文摘

Viscosity is an important parameter in reservoir development, especially in heavy oil production, processing, and transportation. Accurate measurement (±5%) of heavy oil viscosities can be affected by sample handling, storage, and cleaning procedures. In addition, the type of viscometers and the corresponding experimental procedures can impact the accuracy of viscosity measurements. The objectives of this paper are to present the results of a systematic evaluation and comparison of different viscometers typically used in heavy oil viscosity measurements, provide references on the subject of viscometer selection, recommend developed measurement procedures for each viscometer, and generate a reliable viscosity database of dead and live heavy oils. The systematic study was performed using three viscometers typically used in heavy oil systems: a capillary viscometer (CV), an electromagnetic viscometer (EMV), and a rheometer (Rh). Viscosity measurements were performed over a range of temperature and pressure conditions varying from 293 to 422 K (from 20 to 149 °C) and from atmospheric pressure to 31.0 MPa (4500 psia). Three dead heavy oil samples ranging from 20° to 11° American Petroleum Institute (API) gravity and three live heavy oil samples prepared with gas/oil ratios (GORs) of 44.5, 30.3, and 17.8 Sm³/Sm³ by the three dead oils and methane gas were used. The study results showed that, within working limitations, each well-calibrated viscometer can reproduce reported values of viscosity standards with a relative error of less than 5%. The Rh with an open to atmospheric system provides the highest viscosity measurement scale but is limited to lower temperature tests to minimize light and/or intermediate component losses. The EMV and CV provide reasonably consistent viscosity values for both dead and live heavy oil samples as long as key conditions related to the experimental setup, measurement procedures, and sample preparation are met.