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FTCrude® TECHNOLOGY
A Cleaner Way to Refine and Ship Heavy Oil

Expander’s FTCrude® technology transforms how heavy oil and bitumen are refined and shipped. By converting the heaviest 25% of the bitumen barrel (the asphalt portion) into a lighter, cleaner product, the process eliminates the need to add thinning agents (diluent). This frees up to 30% more pipeline capacity, making transportation faster and more cost-effective.

 

Additionally, using FTCrude® during refining eliminates the need for a coker unit and prevents the creation of petroleum coke (petcoke) - avoiding the sulfur and $CO_2$ emissions typically released when petcoke is burned.

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Key Environmental Benefits of FTCrude®:

 

  • No Petcoke or Residue Waste: The heavy bottom of the barrel is turned into usable product instead of being stockpiled as petcoke or residue.

  • Lower Sulphur Emissions: Removing petcoke from the process removes the sulphur and CO2 released when it is burned.

  • Full Use of the Resource: Nearly the whole barrel becomes saleable product, so less of the extracted resource is wasted.

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Other Benefits & Characteristics of FTCrude®:

 

Transport & Market Access:

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  • No Diluent Needed: The upgraded product can move by pipeline, rail or tanker without blending in diluent.

  • More Pipeline Capacity: Without diluent taking up space, up to 30% more product can move through existing pipelines.

  • Higher Market Value: A lighter, cleaner product is expected to sell above Western Canadian Select pricing.

 

Product Quality:

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  • Sweet, Light Synthetic Crude: Produces a low-sulphur synthetic crude that is easier and cheaper for refineries to process.

  • Refinery-Ready Feedstock: Suited to conventional refineries, which are not built to handle raw heavy oil and bitumen.

  • Valuable Co-Products: The process also produces paraffinic naphtha and light gases that can be used elsewhere in the operation.

  • Higher-Quality Fuels: The synthetic portion can be blended to improve the diesel and jet fuel made from the barrel.

Technical Papers

 

  1. Bitumen Upgrader Residue Conversion to Incremental Synthetic Fuels Products (World Heavy Oil Congress 2014?)[Download Link]

  2. Convert Heavy Oil Residue into Synthetic Fuel (Hydrocarbon Processing, March 2014)[Download Link]

  3. Bitumen Partial & Targeted Upgrading the Next Step (World Heavy Oil Congress 2015)[Download Link]

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