chemistry

Upgrader

Upgrader is a chemistry topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Upgrader rather than just read about it. In short: An upgrader is a facility that upgrades conventional heavy crude oil or extra heavy bitumen, or both, into synthetic crude oil. Upgrader plants are typically located close to oil sands production, including: the Athabasca oil sands in Alberta; the heavy crude oil deposits around Lloydminster in Alberta and Saskatchewan; and the Orinoco tar sands in Venezuela.

Key takeaways

Upgrader belongs to chemistry; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Upgrader to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Upgrader from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

An upgrader is a facility that upgrades conventional heavy crude oil or extra heavy bitumen, or both, into synthetic crude oil. Upgrader plants are typically located close to oil sands production, including: the Athabasca oil sands in Alberta; the heavy crude oil deposits around Lloydminster in Alberta and Saskatchewan; and the Orinoco tar sands in Venezuela.

Processes Upgrading means using fractional distillation and/or chemical treatment to convert heavy crude oil or bitumen so it can be handled by oil refineries. At a minimum, this means reducing the bitumens viscosity with naphthenic solvents so that it can be pumped through pipelines (bitumen is 1000x more viscous than light crude oil). However this process often also includes some kind of cracking process, as well as separating different fractions and reducing sulfur, nitrogen and metals like nickel and vanadium. Upgraders typically consist of multiple refinery units and have many variations depending on the required product. Products of an upgrader can be: diluted bitumen, synthetic crude oil (SCO), or refined products (gas oils, distillates and naphtha). Partial upgrading is also possible, where the heavy and sour bitumen viscosity is improved just enough to reduce or eliminate the diluent needs. Upgrading may involve multiple processes:

Vacuum distillation to separate lighter fractions, leaving behind a residue with molecular weights over 400. De-asphalting the vacuum distillation residue to remove the highest molecular weight alicyclic compounds, which precipitate as black/brown asphaltenes when the mixture is dissolved in C3–C7 alkanes, leaving "de-asphalted oil" (DAO) in solution. A mixture of propane and butane will remove metallic compounds that would interfere with hydrotreating. Cracking to break long chain molecules into shorter ones. Delayed cokers, and Ebullated bed reactor hydrocrackers ("LC-Finer") are most commonly utilized for cracking. Hydrotreating may also be employed to remove sulfur and reduce the level of nitrogen. Research into using biotechnology to perform some of these processes at lower temperatures and cost is ongoing.

See also Canadian Centre for Energy Information Co-op Refinery Complex History of the petroleum industry in Canada (oil sands and heavy oil) Scotford Upgrader Syncrude Suncor Visbreaker

References

Further reading University of Alberta Tutorial on Upgrading of Oilsands Bitumen

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Upgrader

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Upgrader claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In chemistry, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Upgrader before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Upgrader ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Upgrader

In research: Upgrader appears in chemistry research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Upgrader in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Upgrader is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Bituminous sands, Chemical plants, Industrial buildings and structures, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Upgrader outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Upgrader in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Upgrader means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Upgrader out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Upgrader in simple terms?

Why does Upgrader matter?

Because it connects several chemistry ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Upgrader?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Upgrader.