Chemistry Solutions to Challenges in the Petroleum Industry

Parviz Rahimi obtained his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Alberta in 1980 and joined Natural Resources Canada in 1981. He worked as a senior research scientist in the primary upgrading division of the CanmetENERGY in Edmonton. He has developed expertise in partial upgrading technologies applying processing chemistry for better understanding of viscosity reduction during thermal conversion of heavy oils and bitumen to reduce or eliminate diluent requirement for pipeline transportation. His research activities also include fouling and corrosion related to bitumen processing. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Alberta and industrial advisor to students at the Chemical and Material Engineering department. He has published more than 50 journal publications and four book chapters, and has made more than 60 presentations at technical conferences. Cesar Ovalles graduated with a licentiate degree in Chemistry from Simon Bolivar University and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Texas A&M University. Right after graduation, he entered the R&D branch of Petroleos de Venezuela, where he worked for 16 years. In 2006, he joined Chevron, where he has been involved in the areas of heavy and extra heavy crude oil characterization and upgrading. He has published 57 papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals and has been awarded 16 patents. He has also presented 111 papers at scientific and technical conferences. Yunlong Zhang obtained his Ph.D. in Physical Organic Chemistry from The Ohio State University in 2010. After completing postdoctoral training at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he joined ExxonMobil Research and Engineering in 2014 as a research scientist. Since then, he has been involved in research on characterization of molecular structures and reaction mechanisms in hydroprocessing of heavy oils and asphaltenes. His research has resulted in more than 30 publications, over 20 technical presentations, and several patents. Jeramie Adams received his Ph.D. from the University of Wyoming in 2008 in Inorganic Chemistry focusing on self-assembled supramolecular structures, carborane chemistry, inorganic photochemistry, exotic phosphorous ligand synthesis, and organometallics. He continued at the University of Wyoming as a postdoctoral researcher for nearly four years pursuing organometallic design for hydrocarbon conversion and inorganic photochemistry focused on the development of highly oxidizing excited state complexes. He joined the Western Research Institute in 2012 and has worked extensively in the areas of asphaltene adsorption, emulsion, and heat exchanger fouling. He has managed consortiums in the area of heavy oil, asphalt, and most recently carbon fiber. A key goal in his research has been to link the chemistry of hydrocarbon materials to their physical properties and how they behave in certain processes or to produce advanced carbon materials. In the last three years, Jeramie has branched out into the chemistry of coal-derived liquids and is currently the Program Manager for Hydrocarbons at the Western Research Institute and an adjunct professor at the University of Wyoming.