Research and development in heavy and extra heavy oil upgrading in PDVSA-Intevep: aqua conversion

After twenty five years of Intevep's creation, is now a good time to revise, from a technical and conceptual perspective, some of the ideas developed in one of the activities that this institution has more persistently sustained. The referred activity targets at the generation of new processes for the upgrading of the bitumen or extra heavy crude oils that Venezuela possesses. This revision concludes in an eclectic synthesis method for the selection and harmonization of the various different advances made through the research performed on processes such as HDH, coking, visbreaking, partial or selective steam reforming and others. Thus, from conceptually different research perspectives a new PDVSA's process already known as as aqua conversion has been assembled. The deepening in the use of this methodology may lead to other new and better upgrading technologies or to improve the existing for the same. All this keeping in mind that whatever these technologies are proprietary or from third parties is of low relevance in front of the mayor objective of commercializing the wide extra heavy oil reservoirs of this country