油砂原位开采 In-situ
油砂原位开采是指开采油砂中沥青的系列技术， In-situ refers to the group of oil sands technologies
沥青储层埋藏太深而无法直接开采， used to recover bitumen that is too deep
且粘度太高而无法自行流动。 beneath the surface to be mined and too viscous to flow on its own.
原位开采中主要使用了四种技术。 There are four main technologies used in In-situ production.
蒸汽辅助重力泄油或SAGD； Steam assisted gravity drainage or SAGD
蒸汽吞吐或CSS； and cyclic steam stimulation or
将蒸汽用作降低粘度和生产沥青的手段。 CSS use steam as a means of reducing viscosity and producing bitumen.
水平井趾部到跟部注空气技术或THAI， Toe to heel air injection or THAI involves
指在垂直井中点燃空气以融化和采出沥青。 igniting air in a vertical well to melt and recover bitumen.
VAPEX－蒸气萃取技术 And VAPEX uses solvents to
使用溶剂降低沥青的粘度以进行采集。 decrease the viscosity of bitumen for recovery.
油砂中约80％的沥青需要原位生产， In-situ production is required for approximately 80% of the bitumen found in the oil sands
而最常用的技术是SAGD。 and the most commonly used technology for this production is SAGD.
SAGD是由英国化学工程师Roger Butler博士 SAGD was invented in 1978 by Dr. Roger Butler,
于1978年发明的。 a chemical engineer from England.
SAGD的工作原理是在储层中钻两口水平井， SAGD works by drilling two horizontal
彼此平行，相距约四到六米。 wells beneath the surface parallel to each other about four to six metres apart.
顶部井注蒸汽， The top well is injected with steam that
蒸汽加热周围的沥青以降低其粘度。 heats the surrounding bitumen reducing its viscosity.
这就是蒸汽辅助的由来。 This is the steam assisted part of the name.
然后，粘性较低的沥青在重力的作用下进入下部井筒， The less viscous bitumen then drains into the bottom well
并被泵送到地面。 with the help of gravity and is pumped to the surface.
这就是重力泄油。 This is the gravity drainage part of the name.
将生产的沥青与碳氢化合物混合 The produced bitumen is mixed with hydrocarbons
以进一步降低其粘度， to further reduce its viscosity and
然后将其存储在储罐中， then stored in storage tanks
以进行运输和进一步处理。 for transportation and further processing.
与油砂直接开采相比，SAGD具有多种优势。 SAGD has several advantages over oil sands mining.
SAGD对土地的干扰较小， SAGD production has less land disturbance
并且不会形成尾矿池。 and does not result in the creation of tailings ponds.
但是，SAGD需要大量的热能才能产生蒸汽。 However, SAGD requires large amounts of thermal energy to produce steam.
目前，这种能源的绝大部分是由天然气提供的。 Currently the vast majority of this energy is provided by natural gas.
使温室气体排放成为关键问题。 Making greenhouse gas emissions a key concern for the process.
此外，用水是另一个重要的问题。 In addition water use is another important concern.
尽管80％至95％的水被循环利用， The safety process requires a significant amount of water
开采过程仍需要大量的水。 though 80 to 95 percent of the water used is recycled back into the process.
为了尽量减少淡水的使用， Some SAGD operations also use saline water
某些SAGD操作 that is determined to be unsuitable for
使用不适合饮用或灌溉的盐水。 drinking or irrigation purposes in order to minimise the use of fresh water.
这，就是原位开采。 That's In-situ.