Ultradispersed particles in heavy oil: Part II, sorption of H2S(g)

During steam assisted gravity drainage for heavy oil recovery aqua-thermolysis reactions take place, whereupon gaseous hydrogen sulfide, H2S(g), is produced. A method to capture H2S(g) and convert it into a chemically inactive species is deemed necessary for sustaining in-situ recovery and upgrading. Part I of the current study explored the formation and stabilization of colloidal FeOOH particles in heavy oil matrices. In this Part, we evaluate the H2S(g) sorption ability of these particles as well as other metal oxide/hydroxide particles. Furthermore, the effect of mixing and temperature on H2S(g) sorption was investigated. Results showed that the rate and capacity of H2S(g) sorption increased as the concentration of FeOOH increased. Mixing, on the other hand, had insignificant effect on the sorption capacity, however it improved the sorption kinetics. In addition, in-situ prepared colloidal particles showed better reactivity towards H2S(g) than commercial α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles. Temperature had an adverse effect on the H2S(g) sorption capacity of FeOOH. This was attributed to a change in chemical structure of FeOOH as the temperature increased. Nevertheless, in-situ prepared ZnO colloidal particles completely removed H2S(g) even at high temperatures.