LAUSR

Accurate prediction of density of an oil/gas mixture by using the ideal mixing (IM) rule is a great challenge, and its progress is still far from satisfactory. The method proposed by Standing and Katz (1942) for determining methane and ethane apparent densities is limited to only black oils and volatile oils. The methods recently proposed by Saryazdi (2012) and Saryazdi et al. (2013) to determine effective densities of methane through n-heptane (C1 through n-C7) and CO2 have shown some success, respectively, though limitations remain and the extent of their applications is still constrained. In this study, we developed a tangent-line approach for the effective density of C1 through n-C8, CO2, N2, toluene, cyclohexane, and dimethyl ether (DME). This method is more general and flexible than the extrapolation method proposed by Saryazdi (2012). A comprehensive database is established to first develop new correlations with one set of data and then compare them with the other. We successfully extended using the IM rule with effective density (IM-E) to condensate/bitumen systems, solvent/bitumen fraction systems, and solvent/bitumen systems with substantial extraction [i.e., emergence of a solvent-rich liquid phase (denoted as the L1 phase)] by properly treating the densities of condensate, bitumen fractions, extracts, and residues. This study focuses on heavy-oil/bitumen-associated systems, and the observed patterns and trends for different systems will be presented and explained in Part II of this study (Chen and Yang 2020).