Abstract
Increasing interest to study hydrocarbon behavior in fine porous media, awakened by the shale revolution, requires the application of suitable model porous media. In the current study we prepared nano-porous synthetic opal, profoundly investigated its morphological and textural properties, and studied the kinetics of combustion of heavy oil impregnated into nanopores. Comparison of kinetic parameters of the oil oxidation process for nano-porous and coarse-porous media revealed that nanoconfinement affects the reactivity of oil.
Highlights
The shale revolution in the petroleum industry started in the USA and resulted in enhanced production of gas and oil from shale deposits
Unlike the aforementioned model porous media, pore networks of shale samples are extremely complex.[25]. This complexity is caused by the fractal nature of the pore network[26,27] including the presence of micro- (50 nm) distributed within both the organic and inorganic parts of the shale.[28,29,30]. Despite their simplicity, model porous media have been successfully applied for studying the in uence of the nanocon nement effect on physical processes
The investigation of mechanisms of the in uence of porous media on combustion process lies far beyond the scope of this study, we suggest some possible reasons for the combustion acceleration in the nano-porous medium that we observed in the case of high temperature oxidation
Summary
The shale revolution in the petroleum industry started in the USA and resulted in enhanced production of gas and oil from shale deposits. This awakened increasing interest to study gas and uid behavior in ne porous media. The in uence of con nement on crystallization and melting,[1,2] and on bubble point temperatures[3] of individual hydrocarbons and their binary mixtures[4,5,6] is a well-known phenomenon, as is the in uence of porous media properties on the formation of gas hydrates.[7,8,9] The general conclusion from these studies is that con nement in uences both the thermodynamics and kinetics of physical processes. The in uence of con nement on chemical reactions is a rare subject of research
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
