Upgrading heavy oil with modular units

Abstract

Methods, systems and other embodiments associated with upgrading heavy oil with modular units are presented. A method of upgrading heavy oil with modular units comprises connecting modular units together to create a heavy oil refinery system. The method upgrades original heavy oil in the refinery system by creating high pressure pulses in heavy oil to crack the heated heavy oil to produce a processed oil with a lower viscosity than the original heavy oil.

1 . A method of upgrading heavy oil with modular units comprising:
 connecting two or more modular units together to create a heavy oil refinery system; and   creating high pressure pulses in the original heavy oil; and   upgrading original heavy oil in the refinery system by cracking the original heavy oil with the high pressure pulses to produce a processed oil with a lower viscosity than the original heavy oil.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the step of upgrading heavy oil further comprises:
 creating the high pressure pulses in a cavitation valve in one of the two or more modular units. 
 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the step of the creating high pressure pulses is generated by a back-and-forth hammering action of a hammer in the cavitation valve. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of upgrading heavy oil further comprises
 heating the original heavy oil in one of the two or more modular units before the step of creating the high pressure pulses.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining a density of the original heavy oil, wherein the step of heating the heavy oil heats the original heavy oil to a temperature based on the determined density.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the step of determining a density further comprises:
 determining the density of the original heavy oil with an American Petroleum Institute (API) density analyzer located within one of the two or more modular units.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 connecting the heavy oil refinery system to an existing non-mobile refinery system that is not capable of processing heavy oils, and   providing the processed oil to the non-mobile refinery system.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 transporting the two or more modular units to a job site.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 connecting one or more additional modular units to the two or more modular units, wherein the two or more modular units can produce a first amount of heavy oil that has a lower viscosity than the original heavy oil, wherein the one or more additional modular units are connected to the two or more modular units to produce a second amount of heavy oil that has a lower viscosity than the original heavy oil, wherein the second amount of heavy oil is greater than the first amount of heavy oil.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the step of upgrading further comprises:
 creating microscopic bubbles in the original heavy oil; and 
 allowing the microscopic bubbles to expand and implode to raise the temperature at the interface of the microscopic bubbles and the original heavy oil to facilitate cracking the original heavy oil. 
 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the step of creating high pressure pulses further comprises:
 pumping the original heavy oil through a cavitation valve, wherein the residency time of the original heavy oil in the cavitation valve is less than three seconds; and 
 creating the high pressure pulses in the cavitation valve. 
 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 creating the high pressure pulses that change pressure from about −2000 pounds per square inch gauge (psig) to about 4000 psig. 
 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the step of upgrading the original heavy oil further comprises heating the original heavy oil to about 450 degrees Celsius. 
     
     
         14 . A modular system comprising:
 an original plurality of mobile units comprising:   a first mobile unit including a heater for heating heavy oil to create heated heavy oil; and   a second mobile unit including a reaction chamber configured to receive the heated heavy oil and to generate a controlled cavitation with high pressure differentials to facilitate cracking of the heated heavy oil to produce an oil that has a lower viscosity than the heated heavy oil.   
     
     
         15 . The modular system of  claim 14  wherein the original plurality of mobile units are skid mounted or truck mounted. 
     
     
         16 . The modular system of  claim 14  wherein the reaction chamber is a cavitation valve. 
     
     
         17 . The modular system of  claim 16 , further comprising:
 a piston within the cavitation valve, wherein the high pressure differentials are created, at least in part, by a back-and-forth action of the piston.   
     
     
         18 . The modular system of  claim 14 , further comprising:
 a second plurality of mobile units, wherein the original plurality of mobile units can produce a first amount of heavy oil that has a lower viscosity than the heated heavy oil, wherein the second plurality of modular units is configured with the modular system to produce a second amount of heavy oil that has a lower viscosity than the heated heavy oil, wherein the second amount of heavy oil is greater than the first amount of heavy oil.   
     
     
         19 . The modular system of  claim 14 , wherein a residency time of the heavy oil in the reaction chamber is less than one second. 
     
     
         20 . The modular system of  claim 14 , wherein a residency time of the heavy oil in the reaction chamber is less than three seconds. 
     
     
         21 . The modular system of  claim 14 , wherein the heater is configured to heat the heavy oil to about 450 degrees Celsius, and wherein the reaction chamber is configured to create pressure differentials between −2000 psig and 4000 psig and between 10 to 100 hertz.