The effect of slight to minor biodegradation on C_6 to C_7 light hydrocarbons in crude oils: a case study from Dawanqi Oilfield in the Tarim Basin,NW China

Light hydrocarbons （LHs） are one of the main petroleum fractions in crude oils, and carry much infor- mation regarding the genetic origin and alteration of crude oils. But secondary alterations--especially biodegrada- tion--have a significant effect on the composition of LHs in crude oils. Because most of the LHs affected in oils underwent only slight biodegradation （rank 1 on the biodegradation scale）, the variation of LHs can be used to describe more the refined features of biodegradation. Here, 23 crude oils from the Dawanqi Oilfield in the Tarim Basin, NW China, eleven of which have been biodegraded to different extents, were analyzed in order to investigate the effect of slight to minor biodegradation on C6--C7 LHs. The study results showed that biodegradation resulted in the prior depletion of straight-chained alkanes, followed by branched alkanes. In slight and minor biodegraded oils, such biodegradation scale could not sufficiently affect C6- C7 cycloalkanes. For branched C6--C7 alkanes, generally, monomethylalkanes are biodegraded earlier than dimethylalkanes and trimethylalkanes, which indicates that branched alkanes are more resistant to biodegradation, with the increase of substituted methyl groups on parent rings. The degree of alkylation is one of the primary controlling factors on the biodegradation of C6-Cv LHs. There is a particular case： although 2,2,3-trimethylbutane has a rela- tive higher alkylation degree, 2,2-dimethylpentane is more resistant to biodegradation than 2,2,3-trimethylbutane. 2,2- Dimethylpentane is the most resistant to biodegradation in branched C6-C7 alkanes. Furthermore, the 2-methylpen- tane/3-methylpentane and 2-methylhexane/3-methylhexane ratios decreased steadily with increasing biodegradation, which implies that isomers of bilateral methyl groups are more prone to bacterial attack relative to mid-chain iso- mers. The position of the alkyls on the carbon skeleton is also one of the critical factors controlling the rate of biodegradation. With increasing biodegradation, Mango＇s LH parameters K1 values decrease and K2 values increase, the values of n-heptane and isoheptane decrease, and the indices of methylcyclohexane and cyclohexane increase. LH parameters should be applied cautiously for the biodegraded oils. Because biodegraded samples belong to slight or minor biodegraded oils, the values of n-heptane and isoheptane from Dawanqi Oilfield can better reflect and determine the ＂Biodegraded＂ zone. When the heptane value is 0-21 and the isoheptane value is 0-2.6, the crude oil in Dawanqi Oilfield is defined as the ＂Biodegraded＂ zone

Tribological Properties of Few-layer Graphene Oxide Sheets as Oil-Based Lubricant Additives

The performance of a lubricant largely depends on the additives it involves. However, currently used additives cause severe pollution if they are burned and exhausted. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a new generation of green additives. Graphene oxide（GO） consists of only C, H and O and thus is considered to be environmentally friendly. So the tribological properties of the few-layer GO sheet as an additive in hydrocarbon base oil are investigated systematically. It is found that, with the addition of GO sheets, both the coefficient of friction（COF） and wear are decreased and the working temperature range of the lubricant is expanded in the positive direction. Moreover, GO sheets has better performance under higher sliding speed and the optimized concentration of GO sheets is determined to be 0.5wt%. After rubbing, GO is detected on the wear scars through Raman spectroscopy. And it is believed that, during the rubbing, GO sheets adhere to the sliding surfaces, behaving like protective films and preventing the sliding surfaces from contacting with each other directly. This paper proves that the GO sheet is an effective lubricant additive, illuminates the lubrication mechanism, and provides some critical parameters for the practical application of GO sheets in lubrication.

Catalytic Partial Oxidation of Biomass/Oil Mixture

Investigation was focussed to application of waste POX （partial oxidation）, e.g., meal rape in form of suspension in high boiling hydrocarbons from crude oil distillation. There is an opportunity for utilization of biomass waste resulted from fuels bio-components production. A decrease of oxygen and water steam demand in feed for POX process was observed in this variant. Catalytic effect of iron nanoparticles or nickel nitrate as catalysts in improvement of the pilot plant biomass/oil partial oxidation was investigated as well. Presence of catalyst in the feed supports formation of carbon monoxide and suppression content of methane in the gas product. Experimental data were well compared with process simulation based on eauilibrium reactor model.

Formation mechanism of condensates, waxy and heavy oils in the southern margin of Junggar Basin, NW China

It is a challenge to determine the source and genetic relationship of condensate, waxy and heavy oils in one given complicated petroliferous area, where developed multiple sets of source rocks with different maturity and various chemical features.The central part of southern margin of Junggar Basin, NW China is such an example where there are condensates, light oils, normal density oils, heavy crude oils and natural gases. The formation mechanism of condensates has been seriously debated for long time;however, no study has integrated it with genetic types of waxy and heavy oils. Taking the central part of southern margin of Junggar Basin as a case, this study employs geological and geochemical methods to determine the formation mechanism of condensates,waxy and heavy oils in a complicated petroliferous area, and reveals the causes and geochemical processes of the co-occurrence of different types of crude oils in this region. Based on detailed geochemical analyses of more than 40 normal crude oils, light oils,condensates and heavy oils, it is found that the condensates are dominated by low carbon number n-alkanes and enriched in light naphthenics and aromatic hydrocarbons. Heptane values of these condensates range from 19% to 21%, isoheptane values from1.9 to 2.1, and toluene/n-heptane ratios from 1.5 to 2.0. The distribution of n-alkanes in the condensates presents a mirror image with high density waxy crude oils and heavy oils. Combined with the oil and gas-source correlations of the crude oils, condensates and natural gas, it is found that the condensates are product of evaporative fractionation and/or phase-controlled fractionation of reservoir crude oils which were derived from mature Cretaceous lacustrine source rocks in the relatively early stage. The waxy oils are the intermediate products of evaporative fractionation and/or phase-controlled fractionation of reservoir crude oils, while the heavy oils are in-situ residuals. Therefore, evaporative fractionation and/or phase-controlled fractionation would account for the formation of the condensate, light oil, waxy oil and heavy oil in the central part of southern margin of Junggar Basin, resulting in a great change of the content in terms of light alkanes, naphthenics and aromatics in condensates, followed by great uncertainties of toluene/n-heptane ratios due to migration and re-accumulation. The results suggest that the origin of the condensate cannot be simply concluded by its ratios of toluene/n-heptane and n-heptane/methylcyclohexane on the Thompson's cross-plot, it should be comprehensively determined by the aspects of geological background, thermal history of source rocks and petroleum generation,physical and chemical features of various crude oils and natural gas, vertical and lateral distribution of various crude oils in the study area.