Hydrogen donor‐assisted visbreaking of Canadian oil sands bitumen

Abstract High‐viscosity Canadian oil sands bitumen requires processing for efficient transportation and refining. Partial upgrading technologies, primarily based on thermal processing, can effectively reduce, or even eliminate, the use of costly diluent, increase bitumen quality and market value, potentially decrease greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and reduce capital and operating costs compared to bitumen full upgrading. In this study, we focused on the investigation of hydrogen donor assisted visbreaking process as an innovative approach to reducing bitumen viscosity while maintaining a high liquid yield, enhancing product stability while minimizing coke formation and over‐cracking. Continuous pilot plant experiments were conducted to evaluate the impact of hydrogen donor on bitumen visbreaking. The results demonstrate that the incorporation of hydrogen donor significantly stabilizes cracked molecules, thereby suppressing coke formation even at high pitch conversions. Hydrogen donor assisted visbreaking achieved substantial viscosity reduction and maintained product stability and compatibility, rendering the visbreaking product suitable for pipeline transportation and highlighting the promising pathway for bitumen partial upgrading.