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Heavy crude oils and bitumen represent more than 50% of all hydrocarbons available on the planet. These feedstocks have a low amount of distillable material and high level of contaminants that makes their production, transportation, and refining difficult and costly by conventional technologies. Subsurface upgrading of heavy crude oils and bitum
List of contents
Introduction
Petroleum Composition and Upgrading
Physical Separation
Thermal Conversion
Hydrogen Addition
Hydrogen
Addition in the Presence of Catalysts
In-situ Combustion
Hybrid and New Concepts
Future Tendencies
About the author
Cesar Ovalles graduated with a Licentiate degree in Chemistry from Simon Bolivar University
and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Texas A&M University. Right after graduation, he worked for 16
years at Petroleos de Venezuela Sociedad Anonima-Instituto de Tecnologia Venezolano del Petroleo
(PDVSA-INTEVEP). In 2006, he joined Chevron and is currently Technical Team Leader of the
Heavy Oil Characterization group. He is involved in the areas of petroleum chemistry, heavy and
extra heavy crude oil upgrading (surface and subsurface), and asphaltene characterization. After his
28 years of industrial experience, Dr. Ovalles has published 62 papers in peer-reviewed scientific
journals, 4 books, has been awarded 18 patents, and presented 116 papers at scientific and technical
conferences. Additionally, he has published 14 articles in Venezuelan journals and 92 Technical
Reports for an outstanding number of 306 total scientific productions. Cesar has also served as
Associate Editor of Revista de la Sociedad Venezolana de Catalisis from 1996 to 2000 and Vision
Tecnologica (Technical Journal of PDVSA-INTEVEP) from 2000 to 2002. In 2014, he won the
Outstanding Technical Achievement Award from Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Awards
Conference and the National STAR-Hispanic in Technology-Corporate Award from the Society of
Hispanic Professional Engineers. Cesar is married to his college sweetheart, Luisa (Lulu), and is the
father of two grown children. His son, Cesar Arturo, is a computer science graduate currently working
for Safeway Supermarkets and his daughter, Manuela, is a microbiologist working for Mission
Bio, a start-up company in South San Francisco.
Summary
Heavy crude oils and bitumen represent more than 50% of all hydrocarbons available on the planet. These feedstocks have a low amount of distillable material and high level of contaminants that makes their production, transportation, and refining difficult and costly by conventional technologies. Subsurface upgrading of heavy crude oils and bitum
