Bitumen and heavy oil rheological properties: Reconciliation with viscosity measurements

Complex viscosity and phase-angle measurements for Athabasca bitumen and Maya crude oil were performed with a rotational rheometer using parallel plates and a double gap cylinder in the oscillatory mode over the temperature range of (200 to 410) K. A large range of shearing conditions were applied (frequency of oscillations, shear strain, or stress), and up to three orders of magnitude of variations in measured viscosity values for individual samples at a fixed temperature were obtained. Athabasca bitumen and Maya crude oil were found to be solid-like materials up to (260 to 280) K and (230 to 240) K, respectively. Athabasca bitumen is a non-Newtonian shear-thinning fluid up to (310 to 315) K, whereas Maya crude is a shear-thinning fluid up to (280 to 285) K. Both are Newtonian at higher temperatures. Maya crude oil was also found to possess thixotropic behavior. Athabasca bitumen reveals the thermal irreversibility of complex viscosity, if it is heated above 360 K. These rheological behaviors are attributed to the multiphase behavior of these materials over the temperature range of interest, and these results can be used to reconcile the large differences in reported viscosity values for bitumen and heavy oil obtained with diverse viscometers where shear rate and other variables are not controlled. Additional artifacts introduced during measurements are also addressed. Sample variation due to geographical location, depth of formation, and production and postproduction processing can also result in up to three orders of magnitude of differences between the measured "viscosity" of bitumen when the measurement method and temperature are fixed. The flow properties of bitumen and heavy oil are expected to be strong functions of sample source and the hydrodynamics prevailing in situ or in processes at temperatures where non-Newtonian behaviors prevail.