Experimental study on the effect of mineral on hydrogen production from heavy oil in-situ combustion gasification

In-situ combustion gasification (ISCG) technology is an emerging alternative for hydrogen production directly from oil reservoirs, and rock debris have a catalytic role in this process. It was unclear that the contribution of the mineral type to catalysis and whether the catalytic role is sustainable remains. In this paper, closed experiments were used to investigate the catalytic role of minerals on hydrogen production in heavy oil ISCG via reactor and gas chromatography (GC). The results show that plagioclase and clay significantly enhanced hydrogen production, and has a sustainable catalytic role after multiple rounds of ISCG. In addition, the mineral element changed after ISCG were clarified through the scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), Fe2S was transformed into Fe3O4 and Fe3O4, which catalysts for hydrogen production from heavy oil. These findings emphasize the importance of incorporating the catalytic role and stability of minerals into numerical simulations of hydrogen production from heavy oil ISCG to improve the accuracy of results and reliability of predictions.