EQUIPMENT & SERVICES: INTEGRATED BITUMEN RECOVERY, WATER RECYCLING & CIRCULAR OIL APPLICATIONS

Current Project Status:
ONGOING | Confidential Pilot Development & Application Evaluation
Organizations Involved:
Klean Industries, KEC, Major Oil Companies, Several Tyre Recycling Companies  
Services:
Design & Engineering, Component Supply, Feasibility Study, Due Diligence, Supply Chain Management 

Klean Energy: Circular Oil for Heavy Oil Recovery

Klean Industries is evaluating tire pyrolysis oil for bitumen recovery and heavy oil applications, alongside integrated SAGD, water recycling and upgrading technologies.

Introduction

Heavy oil production connects three demanding tasks: making bitumen flow, separating and recycling produced water, and upgrading recovered hydrocarbons into more valuable products. Improving one stage delivers its greatest value when the surrounding systems work with it.

Klean Industries has and is undertaking exploratory confidential development work involving an integrated approach to these challenges and Alberta and Venezuela. The programme brings together pilot-scale steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) development, dewatering, water recycling and gasification-linked upgrading. Its objectives are to improve resource recovery, reduce purchased inputs and produce higher-value refinery and petrochemical feedstocks with a smaller environmental footprint.

This work also connects Klean’s tire recycling activities with an emerging oilfield application: evaluating tire pyrolysis oil (TPO) as a component of heavy-oil diluents and downhole treatment formulations.

The Challenge

Bitumen’s high viscosity makes extraction, separation and transportation expensive. Thermal recovery requires steam and reliable water treatment, while conventional diluents add procurement costs and occupy transportation capacity. Water, sediment and difficult heavy fractions create further processing demands.

The challenge is to improve the economics of the complete production system: how much saleable hydrocarbon is recovered, how much water and energy must be supplied, and what the resulting product is worth to the buyer.

The Solution

Klean’s pilot-focused development approach connects four complementary systems:

  • Recovery and Fluid Handling: SAGD heats bitumen so it can flow to a production well. Application-specific solvent evaluation considers opportunities to improve mobility and flow assurance. Downhole treatments and surface transport blending have separate qualification requirements.
  • Dewatering and Water Recycling: Produced fluids are separated to recover oil and water, with further treatment tailored to the steam-generation system. Evaporation and, where justified, crystallization can increase water reuse and reduce liquid disposal. Treatment selection balances water quality, energy demand and the management of concentrated residuals.
  • Upgrading and Gasification Integration: Separation and upgrading recover more useful hydrocarbon fractions, while suitable heavy residues can be evaluated for conversion into syngas. Depending on the configuration, conditioned syngas can support heat, power or hydrogen production. Gasification supports the upgrading system; finished product quality depends on the full separation, conversion and finishing train.
  • Circular Oil Qualification: TPO recovered from end-of-life tires is evaluated against the intended crude oil, treatment conditions and downstream acceptance criteria. The commercial objective is to supply a consistent product that delivers measurable value in the customer’s operation.

Tire Pyrolysis Oil: A Potential Oilfield Performance Product

TPO-containing formulations for heavy-oil flow improvement and downhole treatment. Selected laboratory mixtures have achieved approximately 60–80% lower viscosity than their controls. These findings support application testing; they do not establish a universal increase in oil production or recovery.

For qualified applications, the potential value includes lower conventional diluent demand, improved fluid handling and reduced operating interruptions. Product selection must account for composition, sulfur, water, solids, stability and compatibility with the receiving operation. A downhole application also requires reservoir-specific testing and evaluation of solvent retention and recovery.

Klean’s opportunity is to connect controlled tire conversion and oil conditioning with customers seeking dependable, application-qualified TPO supply.

Commercial Scale: Small Blend Shares, Significant Supply Volumes

The following scenarios illustrate gross TPO blending requirements for a 10,000-barrel-per-day final hydrocarbon blend, excluding produced water:

Illustrative TPO share of final blend TPO, barrels/day TPO, m³/day TPO, tonnes/year
0.5% 50 7.95 2,610
1.0% 100 15.90 5,220
2.0% 200 31.80 10,450

Planning examples only, assuming 365 operating days and TPO density of 0.90 tonnes/m³. Percentages are not recommended dosages or disclosed project formulations. Actual requirements depend on testing, throughput and operating days; downhole solvent recycling and losses require a separate net purchase balance.

A qualified application at the 1% example would represent approximately 5,200 tonnes of annual gross TPO supply. At the same blend share, a 50,000-barrel-per-day stream would represent approximately 26,100 tonnes annually. These examples illustrate potential offtake scale rather than contracted demand.

The Outcome

Klean’s development work brings oil recovery, water management, residue conversion and product upgrading into one evaluation framework. It also identifies a potential commercial outlet for tire-derived hydrocarbons in applications where performance can justify their use.

The objectives are better hydrocarbon recovery, lower total processing costs, greater water reuse and reduced carbon intensity. Environmental benefits must be established against a defined baseline, including emissions from energy supply, residue conversion and solvent production and use. Project identities, formulations and operating data remain confidential.

Learn More

Discuss TPO Supply for Your Heavy Oil Operation

Evaluating tire pyrolysis oil for heavy oil dilution, bitumen processing or downhole treatment? Share your crude characteristics, intended application, delivery location and expected monthly demand with the KleanTeam to discuss product qualification, available supply and commercial terms.

For integrated plant development or significant process modifications, Klean can define the appropriate paid DEQ and feasibility pathway.

Discuss TPO Supply and Application Qualification >> GO.