Upgrading - Overview

Upgrading is the process that changes bitumen into synthetic crude oil. Bitumen, like crude oil, is a very complex mixture of chemicals (a hydrocarbon with chains in excess of 2,000 molecules). It also has a lot of carbon in relation to hydrogen. Some upgrading processes remove carbon, while others add hydrogen or change molecular structures. Upgrading also involves sorting bitumen into its component parts and then using them to produce a range of additional products and byproducts. Some of these products can be used “as is”. Others become raw materials for further processing. The main product of upgrading is synthesized crude oil that can be later refined like conventional oil into a range of consumer products.

There are four main steps to the upgrading process: Thermal Conversion, Catalytic Conversion, Distillation, and Hydrotreating. The purpose of upgrading is to separate the light and convert the heavy components of bitumen into a refineable product. Different companies use these processes in different ways and at different stages in the transformation of bitumen into synthetic crude oil, but the principles behind this transformation remain the same. Syncrude and Suncor upgrade their bitumen at their plant sites. Albian Sands sends diluted bitumen down their pipeline to the Scotford Upgrader where it is upgraded into synthetic crude oil.

The initial step in upgrading is to remove naphtha in a simple distillation process (diluent recovery unit). This naphtha can then be re-used in the froth treatment process.