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Heavy oil is a type of crude oil which is very
viscous, meaning that it does not flow easily. The common characteristic
properties of heavy oil are: high specific gravity, low hydrogen to
carbon ratios, high carbon residues, and high contents of asphaltenes,
heavy metal, sulphur and nitrogen. Specialized processing is
required to produce more useful fractions, such as: naphtha, kerosene,
and gas oil. The Husky Energy Lloydminster
Upgrader is specially designed to take heavy oil and bitumen
feedstock and process it into high quality, low sulfur, synthetic crude
oil. The upgrader in 1998 produced an average of 54,000 barrels per day (bpd) of synthetic crude oil (8585
m3)and 15,000 bpd (2385 m3 per day) of oil equivalent in other products such as: diluent, petroleum
coke, and sulphur. By 2008, the average production had increased to
66,00 bpd of synthetic crude blend, 1,000 tonnes per day of petroleum
coke, 375 tonnes per day of sulphur (used in fertilizer), 12,000 bpd of
diluent (used to reduce the viscosity of heavy oil to facilitate
movement in pipelines, for example, and 4,000 bpd of low sulphur diesel fuel.
The above information courtesy of Husky Energy - click here
More articles:
Future Challenges and Opportunities for Heavy Oil - click here
Crudey (the heavy oil drop) tells his family story - click here
Science stuff about Heavy Oil - click here
Heavy Oil is People - click here