Floating Heavy Oil Recovery: Current State Analysis
2006
Cooper, David
Spills of heavy oils behave differently than lighter oils which affects recovery operations and costs. The oils are typically viscous and sticky in nature, and may require specialized equipment to effectively and efficiently contain and recover. Heavy oil spills have traditionally been infrequent in nature, but the trend of frequency is slowly increasing. This trend, coupled with their greater impact due to response difficulties has led to this review of the technologies and techniques used to contain and recover floating heavy oils. Technologies reviewed include pumps, containment strategies and equipment, skimmers, and storage with an emphasis on Coast Guard Vessel of Opportunity Spill Systems (VOSS) and Spilled Oil Response System (SORS). Research over the past five years has led to dramatic advances primarily in the pumping of heavy oils through the adaptation of steam/water injection systems on the inlet of pumps and annular water injection systems on the discharge end of pumps though some areas of investigation still exist. Additional advances have been made through the use of belt and brush adapters on weir skimmers commonly used by both the US and Canadian Coast Guards. Recent testing has demonstrated improvements in collection efficiencies which more than doubled the quantity of fluid being recovered while simultaneously reducing water up-take. These advances are helping to build heavy oil recovery capacity but target equipment areas still require additional development. Data gaps are identified and suggested areas of future research are summarized.
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