Molecular composition of naphthenic acids in a Chinese heavy crude oil and their impacts on oil viscosity

Most heavy crude oils underwent biodegradation and generated a significant amount of naphthenic acids. Naphthenic acids are polar compounds with the carboxylic group and are considered as a major factor affecting the oil viscosity. However, the relationship between the molecular composition of naphthenic acids and oil viscosity is not well understood. This study examined a “clean” heavy oil with low contents of heteroatoms but had a high content of naphthenic acids. Naphthenic acids were fractionated by distillation and caustic extraction. The molecular composition was characterized by high-resolution Orbitrap mass spectrometry. It was found that the 2- and 3-ring naphthenic monoacids with 15–35 carbon atoms are dominant components of the acid fractions;the caustic extraction is capable of isolating naphthenic acids with less than 35 carbons, which is equivalent to the upper limit of the distillable components, but not those in the residue fraction;the total acid number of the heavy distillates is higher than that of the residue fraction;the viscosity of the distillation fraction increases exponentially with an increased boiling point of the distillates. Blending experiments indicates that there is a strong correlation between the oil viscosity and acids content, although the acid content is only a few percent of the total oil.

Enhancing Heavy Crude Oil Flow in Pipelines through Heating-Induced Viscosity Reduction in the Petroleum Industry

The process of transporting crude oil across pipelines is one of the most critical aspects of the midstream petroleum industry.In the present experimental work,the effect of temperature,pressure drop,and pipe diameter on the flow rate of heavy crude oil have been assessed.Moreover,the total discharge and energy losses have been evaluated in order to demonstrate the improvements potentially achievable by using solar heating method replacing pipe,and adjusting the value of the initial pressure difference.Crude oil of API=20 has been used for the experiments,with the studied pipelines sections connecting the separator unit to the storage tank operating at a temperature of 25℃-100℃,pressure drop of 3,4,5,and 6 kg/cm^(2),and with pipe diameter of 4,6,and 8 in.The results show that on increasing the temperature and/or the pressure drop,the flow rate through the pipeline becomes higher,thus raising the total pumping energy(as the pipe diameter increase),while energy losses increase from the last separator to the storage tank in the field.A pipe diameter increase can also produce a growth of the total pumping energy(i.e.,energy losses increase).The results of the present analysis suggest that employing an optimal temperature(50℃)is needed to ensure good performance.

Emulsification of Indian heavy crude oil using a novel surfactant for pipeline transportation

The most economical way to overcome flow assurance problems associated with transportation of heavy crude oil through offshore pipelines is by emulsifying it with water in the presence of a suitable surfactant.In this research,a novel surfactant,tri-triethanolamine monosunflower ester,was synthesized in the laboratory by extracting fatty acids present in sunflower（Helianthus annuus）oil.Synthesized surfactant was used to prepare oil-in-water emulsions of a heavy crude oil from the western oil field of India.After emulsification,a dramatic decrease in pour point as well as viscosity was observed.All the prepared emulsions were found to be flowing even at 1°C.The emulsion developed with 60%oil content and 2wt%surfactant showed a decrease in viscosity of 96%.The stability of the emulsion was investigated at different temperatures,and it was found to be highly stable.The effectiveness of surfactant in emulsifying the heavy oil in water was investigated by measuring the equilibrium interfacial tension（IFT）between the crude oil（diluted）and the aqueous phase along with zeta potential of emulsions.2wt%surfactant decreased IFT by almost nine times that of no surfactant.These results suggested that the synthesized surfactant may be used to prepare a stable oil-in-water emulsion for its transportation through offshore pipelines efficiently.

Succession of bacterial community along with the removal of heavy crude oil pollutants by multiple biostimulation treatments in the Yellow River Delta,China

Multiple biostimulation treatments were applied to enhance the removal of heavy crude oil pollutants in the saline soil of Yellow River Delta.Changes of the soil bacterial community were monitored using the terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism （T-RFLP） and clone library analyses.The 140-day microcosm experiments showed that low C：N：P ratio,high availability of surfactant and addition of bulking agent significantly enhanced the performance,leading to the highest total petroleum hydrocarbon removal.Meanwhile,the bacterial community was remarkably changed by the multiple biostimulation treatments,with the Deltaproteobacteria,Firmicutes,Actinobacteria,Acidobacteria and Planctomycetes being inhibited and the Alphaand Beta-proteobacteria and some unknown Gammaproteobacteria bacteria being enriched.In addition,different hydrocarbon-degraders came to power in the following turn.At the first stage,the Alcanivorax-related Gammaproteobacteria bacteria dominated in the biostimulated soil and contributed mainly to the biodegradation of easily degradable portion of the heavy crude oil.Then the bacteria belonging to Alphaproteobacteria,followed by bacteria belonging to Candidate division OD1,became the dominant oil-degraders to degrade the remaining recalcitrant constituents of the heavy crude oil.

Experimental investigation of the effects of various parameters on viscosity reduction of heavy crude by oil-water emulsion

The effects of water content, shear rate, temperature, and solid particle concentration on viscosity reduction （VR） caused by forming stable emulsions were investigated using Omani heavy crude oil. The viscosity of the crude oil was initially measured with respect to shear rates at different temperatures from 20 to 70℃. The crude oil exhibited a shear thinning behavior at all the temperatures. The strongest shear thinning was observed at 20℃. A non-ionic water soluble surfactant （Triton X-100） was used to form and stabilize crude oil emulsions. The emulsification process has significantly reduced the crude oil viscosity. The degree of VR was found to increase with an increase in water content and reach its maximum value at 50 % water content. The phase inversion from oil- oil emulsion occurred at 30 in-water emulsion to water-in- % water content. The results indicated that the VR was inversely proportional to temperature and concentration of silica nanoparticles. For water-in-oil emulsions, VR increased with shear rate and eventually reached a plateau at a shear rate of around 350 s^-1. This was attributed to the thinning behavior of the continuous phase. The VR of oil-in-water emulsions remained almost constant as the shear rate increased due to the Newtonian behavior of water, the continuous phase.

A review on the rheology of heavy crude oil for pipeline transportation

Given the combination of rising global energy demand and the decline in conventional crudes, heavycrudes are generally considered to be the future energy resource. In many regions of the world, heavycrude oil must be transported through pipelines from the point of production to storage facilities orrefineries. The transportation of heavy crude oil by pipeline poses serious problems related to the highviscosity and flow difficulties, particularly in cold climates or offshore conditions. Indeed, the viscosity ofcrude oil is an important physical property that influences and controls crude oil flow in pipelines.Viscosity introduces resistance to movement by causing a shear or frictional force between the fluidparticles and the boundary walls. This high viscosity means that the pumping power requirements forcrude oil in a long-distance pipeline are very high in order to overcome the increasing shear and frictionforces. Therefore, in order to facilitate the pumping of these viscous oils and reduce operating expensesand the negative impact of pressure drops in pipelines during flow and processing, their viscosity mustbe reduced. Various techniques are used to increase pumping efficiency and improve the flow of crude oilthrough the pipeline, which may present logistical, technical or economic disadvantages for a givenapplication. The main ones are the addition of surfactants or polymers, dilution with lighter crudes, useof water as annular fluid, thermal remediation and emulsification with surfactant (O/W). This reviewhighlights the methods currently used to enhance the fluidity of heavy crude oil in pipelines behindrheology improvement, in particular the addition of additives and the use of water and surfactants tocreate a stable emulsion of heavy crude oil in water have been considered.