Investigation of factors affecting on viscosity reduction of sludge from Iranian crude oil storage tanks

Crude oil is a kind of water/oil emulsion, which the oil phase consists of organic molecules with different molecular weights such as alkanes, paraffin, asphaltene, and resins. Due to the change in physicochemical conditions during the production, transportation, storage, and refining, heavier molecules can precipitate from crude oil. Thus, viscous sludge formed at the bottom of storage tanks can cause many problems including reduction of storage capacity of tank, oil contamination, corrosion, repair costs, environmental pollution, etc. The reduction of sludge viscosity can be achieved by reduction of its interfacial tension. In this study, different chemical and physical factors, influencing prepared emulsions（made of sludge, water and surfactant）, such as surfactants, solvents, temperature, pressure, and mixing conditions were investigated. Results showed that non-ionic surfactants（like bitumen emulsifier）, and solvents（such as mixed xylene, AW-400, and AW-402）, injection of additives, applying pressure, and mixing operations had a positive effect on reduction of emulsion viscosity. All experiments were carried out with sludge obtained from crude oil storage tanks at Kharg Island,Iran.

Progress and Outlook on Technologies for Processing Inferior Crude Oil in China

The recent growth of the global petroleum refining industry and the main technologies and measures for China to process inferior crude oil were introduced. The main technologies and measures include the control over equipment corrosion induced by sour and acidic crude, in particular the corrosion of atmospheric and vacuum distillation units, the development of technology for processing inferior residue, and the development of desulfurization technology and sulfur recovery technology in the course of processing of petroleum products. In order to meet the needs for national economic development, China’s refining enterprises will uninterruptedly develop and prefect technologies for processing inferior crude, enhance the process and equipment management, sum up the experience for better processing of inferior crude, so as to provide high-quality oil products and petrochemical feedstocks to public with better economic return.

The Features of Acoustic Bathymetry of Sludge in Oil Storage Tanks

The features of acoustic bathymetry of sludge in crude oil tanks are considered. Different parameters of crude oil and sludge which are important for the selection of acoustic parameters such as sound speed, the acoustic impedances of “oil-sludge” boundaries and sound attenuation are analyzed and compared with experimental data. The main sources of errors of sludge volume estimation are discussed.

Analysis of Environment for Development of Oil Refining Business in China

This articles focuses on analysis of the changing trend relating to crude supply and petroleum products demand inside China, while introducing the preliminary progress resulted from restructuring of China’s refining industry and dynamics of competition among Chinese refining enterprises. This article has made a preliminary judgment and analysis on the situation facing China’s refining industry and may serve as a reference to refiners intending to develop refining business inside China.

Research on Performance Optimization of Phase Change Thermal Storage Electric Heating Device

At present, the main heating method for reducing crude oil viscosity is electric heating, and the all-day electric heating method has the problems of high energy consumption and high cost. In order to meet the needs of environmental protection and industrial production, a new type of phase change thermal storage electric heating device was designed by combining the crude oil viscosity reduction heating method with valley price and phase change materials. The results indicate that as the inlet flow rate of the working fluid increases, the outlet temperature continuously decreases. And when the outlet temperature rises to 10?C, the inlet flow rate of the device can meet the flow range of 1.413 - 2.120 m3/h. At the same time, the addition of foam nickel makes the internal temperature of PCM more uniform, and the internal temperature of PCM decreases with the decrease of porosity of foam metal. By increasing the number of electric heating rods and reducing the power of individual electric heating rods, the structure of the device was optimized to significantly improve local high-temperature phenomena. The use of this device can maintain high heat exchange efficiency and reduce production costs.

Prospect Analysis of the United States' Crude Oil Exports to the Asia-Pacific Region

At the end of 2015, the United States lifted a 40-year ban on crude oil exports, which has far-reaching implications for the global crude oil market and crude oil trade patterns. Since the release of crude oil exports, with the recovery of crude oil production and improved export infrastructure in the United States, U.S. crude oil exports have been growing rapidly, with an average of about one million barrels/day in 2017, making the U.S one of the major global crude oil exporters. Currently, the AsiaPacific region has replaced North America as the first major destination for U.S. crude oil exports. In light of future trends in the oil refining industry of the Asia-Pacific region, it will usher in a new wave of refinery operations around 2020 and crude oil imports will continue to grow rapidly. The American region, represented by the United States, will replace West Africa as the second largest source of crude oil imports to the Asia-Pacific region, and that energy trade cooperation between the Asia-Pacific region and the United States will continue to grow. In particular, for China, the United States will become an important source of crude oil imports for our country in the future, and the two countries will shift from the past of energy competition to energy cooperation. Sino-US energy trade will play a more active role in economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.

Energy and Exergy Analysis of a Vegetable Oil Refinery

Energy and exergy analysis was conducted for a vegetable oil refinery in the Southwest of Nigeria. The plant, powered by two boilers and a 500 kVA generator, refines 100 tonnes of crude palm kernel oil (CPKO) into edible vegetable oil per day. The production system consists of four main group operations: neutralizer, bleacher, filter, and deodourizer. The performance of the plant was evaluated by considering energy and exergy losses of each unit operation of the production process. The energy intensity for processing 100 tonnes of palm kennel oil into edible oil was estimated as 487.04 MJ/tonne with electrical energy accounting for 4.65%, thermal energy, 95.23% and manual energy, 0.12%. The most energy intensive group operation was the deodourizer accounting for 56.26% of the net energy input. The calculated exergy efficiency of the plant is 38.6% with a total exergy loss of 29919 MJ. Consequently, the exergy analysis revealed that the deodourizer is the most inefficient group operation accounting for 52.41% of the losses in the production processes. Furthermore, a critical look at the different component of the plant revealed that the boilers are the most inefficient units accounting for 69.7% of the overall losses. Other critical points of exergy losses of the plant were also identified. The increase in the total capacity of the plant was suggested in order to reduce the heating load of the boilers. Furthermore, the implementation of appropriate process heat integration can also help to improve the energy efficiency of the system. The suggestion may help the company to reduce its high expenditure on energy and thus improve the profit margin.

Problems Confronting China’s Petroleum Refining Industry During the High Oil Price Period and Suggestions

This article has suggested that high oil price could loom many years in the future and has analyzed the impact of this trend on the oil product mix and petroleum refining industry in China. This article has also put forward measures for sharpening the international competitive edge of China’s petroleum refining indus- try to cope with the challenges of high oil price.

Study on Co-refining of Poplar Powder with Soybean Oil in Supercritical Methanol

Poplar powder co-refined with soybean oil or fatty acid methyl esters in supercritical methanol in a high-pressure autoclave was studied to verify the promotion of poplar powder liquefaction and decomposition by oils & fats and methyl esters in the present work. It was shown that the decomposition rate of poplar powder was improved by the fatty acid methyl esters as well as the soy bean oil, and the efficiency of the latter was higher than the former. Further study showed that the decomposition rate of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin was all improved by co-refining, while the relative decomposition rate of lignin increased most remarkably. After vacuum distillation under mild condition, the light components of the liquid products from biomass co-refining were removed, and then petroleum ether was used to separate the remains into two parts, viz.: the bio-light oil mainly composed of the derivatives of oils and fats and the bio-heavy oil mainly composed of poplar powder liquefaction products. When more unsaturated oils and fats were used in the biomass co-refining, more products in the boiling range of diglycerides were produced, which were mainly contained in the bio-light oil obtained from the condensation of oils and fats derivatives with the poplar powder liquefaction products. The yield of the bio-heavy oil originating from the biomass co-refining is far more than that from the direct liquefaction of poplar powder in supercritical methanol, with the possible reasons analyzed in the article.

Analysis of China's Oil Imports and Exports Situation

China＇s oil import dependence had risen to 72% in 2017, while its net imports of various oil products, including crude oil, refined oil, liquefied petroleum gas （LPG） and other products, had climbed to 418.8 million tons, an increase by10.7% over 2016. China＇s crude oil import reached 420 million tons, surpassed the United States for the first time, and China had become the biggest crude oil importing country in the world. Net export of the rejqned oil, mainly the diesel, continued to increase to 22.7 million tons, as driven by the oversupply situation of the domestic market. Last year, China＇s LPG import was 18.45 million tons, but its growth was diminishing. Oil price would continue to rise in 2018, while the domestic demand of refined oil would be maintained at a lower rate of growth. However, driving by new refining capacities to be brought online, it is estimated that the crude oil import would still be increased remarkably. LPG import would reach a new high due to the growth potential and strong demand for feedstocks in the petrochemical product market.

Evaluation and comparison of antibacterial activities of edible vegetable oils in China

To evaluate antibacterial activities of edible vegetable oils in China for healthy consumption, we investigated the antibacterial activities of extracts from 6 edible vegetable oils and rapeseed oils at different refining levels on 4 bactria (Staphylococcus aureus,Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas strains) by disc diffusion test. Results showed that camellia oil had considerable antibacterial activity against E. coli with antibacterial rate of 108.3%. Perilla oil, sunflower seed oil, and flaxseed oil showed the highest antibacterial activities against B. subtilis with the antibacterial rates of 108.3%, 102.8%and94.4%respectively. Moreover, the extracts of rapeseed oils obtained by different processing technologies showed significantly different antibacterial effects. Two crude oils and grade4 rapeseed oil showed antibacterial rates of more than 40%, whereas grade 1 and 2 rapeseed oils showed antibacterial rates of less than 20%. Therefore, it was recommended to use rapeseed oil rather than refined rapeseed oil because of higher antibacterial activities. It was suggested that proper refining processes should be taken to obtain the edible oils with higher antibacterial activities.

Processing of Liaohe Highly Sour Crude

In order to solve the problems related with processing low-quality Liaohe highly sour crude, the Liaohe Petrochemical Company has explored the possibility in optimizing the processing of highly sour crude by adopting different process schemes depending upon the properties of the highly sour crude. The Liaohe naphthenic-base crude oil with low freezing point is earmarked for manufacture of naphthenic lube oils and heavy traffic paving asphalt, while the extra-heavy Liaohe crude with high acid number is routed directly to delayed coking unit coupled with corresponding corrosion preventing measures, resulting in tackling the problem of equipment corrosion arising from refining of Liaohe highly sour crude to obtain light distillates from Liaohe heavy crude through a short process scheme.

Oil Import and Export in China

Domestic economic growth slowed down and supply exceeded demand in oil market in 2015, so the growth of refineries＂ processing volume was limited. Nevertheless, the gradual decontrol of market and the storage requirement under low oil price, crude oil imports hit a record high of 335.5 million tons, with the growth rate approximating 9%. Refined oil exports soared and imports decreased, which made China become a net refined oil exporter for the first time for 24 years, and net imports reached 6.22 million tons. Robust requirement on chemical raw materials propelled imported liquefied petroleum gas market to go on expanding. Imports exceeded 12 ,zillion tons in 2015, thus China leaped into the world＇s largest liquefied petroleum gas importer. In 2016, oil consumption growth would be kept at lower level. However, China would further decontrol crude oil import and refined oil export permits and put incremental storage capacity, into use. Therefore, crude oil imports would continue to rise up, and refined oil exports may hit a new historic high. hnported liquefied petroleum gas market will enter into a stage of stable growth after two years rapid development.

Effect of ammonium based ionic liquids on the rheological behavior of the heavy crude oil for high pressure and high temperature conditions

Heavy crude oil(HCO)production,processing,and transportation forms several practical challenges to the oil and gas industry,due to its higher viscosity.Understanding the shear rheology of this HCO is highly important to tackle production and flow assurance.The environmental and economic viability of the conventional methods(thermal or dilution with organic solvents),force the industry to find an alternative.The present study was constructed to investigate the effect of eco-friendly ionic liquids(ILs)on the HCO's rheology,at high temperature and high pressure.Eight different alkyl ammonium ILs were screened for HCO's shear rheology at the temperatures of 25-100℃ and for pressures 0.1e10 MPa.The addition of ILs reduced the HCO's viscosity substantially from 25 to 33%from their original HCO viscosity.Also,it aids to reduce the yield stress to about 15-20%at all the studied experimental conditions.Furthermore,the viscoelastic property of the HCO was studied for both strain-sweep and frequencysweep and noticed the ILs helps to increase HCO's loss modulus(G00)by reducing storage modulus(G0),it leads to the reduction of the crossover point around 25-32%than the standard HCO.Mean the ILs addition with HCO converts its solid-like nature into liquid-like material.Besides,the effect ILs chain length was also studied and found the ILs which has lengthier chain length shows better efficiency on the flow-ability.Finally,the microscopic investigation of the HCO sample was analyzed with and without ILs and witnessed that these ILs help to fragment the flocculated HCO into smaller fractions.These findings indicate that the ILs could be considered as the better alternative for efficient oil production,processing,and transportation.

能源转型及“双碳”目标背景下全球炼油行业发展新态势与前景展望

2023年,全球炼化项目建设稳步推进,炼油重心继续东移;全球新增炼油能力8617.5万吨/年,高于上年新增量,总炼油能力提升至51.8亿吨/年。全球原油加工量合计约8240万桶/日,恢复至疫情前水平,装置开工率持续回升,炼油毛利继续保持历史较高水平。炼油行业加快结构调整和转型升级,欧美炼油商加快投资生物燃料生产,中东非洲地区以新建项目推动炼油业转型升级。炼油技术在劣质重油加工、清洁燃料生产、炼油向化工转型等方面取得持续进展,原油直接制化学品技术成为重点方向。2024年全球有望新增炼油能力近1亿吨,全球炼化项目在2030年前仍将继续保持增长,增长中心集中在亚太和中东地区;2024年全球炼厂原油加工量同比增长约100万桶/日,增量主要来自中国、中东、非洲地区,世界炼油毛利有望维持较好水平;2030年前炼油结构调整和转型升级仍是炼油业发展的主基调,新兴经济体炼油行业将继续加快转型升级和绿色智能化发展进程。

动态热条件下原油罐储维温过程主要影响因素分析

掌握原油罐储维温过程主要影响因素,对原油库实现节能降耗目的起重要作用。在建立动态热条件下含蜡原油罐储维温过程三维理论模型的基础上,提出了加热盘管空间结构、周向效应对罐内对流传热的影响,划分了内、外因素影响区以及过渡区域;采用多元非线性回归的方法,建立不同季节边界位置主控影响因素模型,定量表征了罐边界油温与内、外因素之间的作用机制。结果表明:罐内大涡结构受无加热盘管区域局部湍涡影响,导致大涡结构向无盘管区域发生偏移。罐底低温区域受盘管周向效应影响较大,罐顶边界油品受内外因素影响大,形成最大厚度1.79 m的外界环境影响区;罐壁受保温层影响,只形成了内部维温热流影响区;冬季罐底形成了0.13 m的外界土壤影响区。

雷电预警系统在大型原油储存基地的应用

雷击是造成大型原油储存基地发生火灾爆炸事故的重要原因,如何避免雷电危害已成为各大型原油储存基地夏季安全生产工作的重中之重。本文通过描述雷电预警系统的设计原理以及在某大型原油储存基地的实际应用情况,验证了雷电预警系统在监控雷电形成、雷电场移动等方面具有的准确性、时效性和前瞻性等特点,对保障大型原油储存基地夏季安全生产具有重要作用。

2023年中国油气进出口状况分析

2023年,中国原油进口量为5.64亿吨,与上年相比增速为11%。成品油进口量创历史新高,达到4755万吨,比上年增长80.4%。其中,燃料油进口量大幅增至2783万吨,比上年增加113.4%;航空煤油出口量为1586万吨,首次超过柴油和汽油成为第一大出口品种;石脑油净进口量为1235万吨,达到空前水平。2023年,中国天然气净进口量为1589.45亿立方米,比上年增长9.67%。包括丙烷、丁烷和混合气在内的LPG进口量增至3219万吨,比上年增长21%。预计未来中国原油进口量会保持小幅上升的态势;炼油能力过剩需要高度关注,进一步增加成品油出口仍是重要方向;LPG进口数量和能力将延续增长态势,中国需提升国际贸易参与度及自身话语权;天然气消费仍存在巨大增长空间,碳达峰、碳中和目标将拉动中国天然气进口量持续攀升。

基于电子鼻技术对罐藏食用毛油上下层氧化程度检测

针对菜籽和大豆毛油储藏期间油罐上、中、下层毛油氧化情况的差异问题,提出一种电子鼻技术结合化学计量学对毛油氧化情况进行判别的方法,为改善毛油储藏措施提供技术参考。基于常规理化分析,通过电子鼻结合偏最小二乘判别(PLS-DA)、支持向量机(SVM)、BP神经网络(BPNN)、人工神经网络(ANN)对特征样本进行特征筛选和分类识别。结果表明,上、中、下层毛油的理化差异不显著,且中、下层呈现高度相似性,上层劣变稍快。PLS-DA和BPNN模型在大豆和菜籽毛油上层和中下层混样氧化程度的分类识别上效果不佳,而优化后的SVM和ANN模型测试集准确率分别达到了96.7%和98.3%。因此,电子鼻结合ANN或SVM可以有效识别上层和中下层的大豆和菜籽毛油。