Abstract
With the depletion of conventional resources, heavier and more sulfur-rich crude oils come into the focus of interest. However, the utilization of such feedstocks is extremely undesirable since their high sulfur content causes corrosion fouling, catalyst poisoning, and emissions of toxic pollutants into the atmosphere. As known catalyst poisoners, sulfur-containing compounds are also suspected to play an important role in crude oil fouling, that is, the formation of undesired solid deposits. To overcome these problems, insightful knowledge on the chemical composition of the sulfur-containing compounds on a molecular level and their behavior is necessary. Here, fouling reactions of a gas condensate were simulated in the laboratory under atmospheric and inert conditions, with special focus on sulfur-containing compounds, and the resulting mixtures were analyzed by using sophisticated analytical methods such as ultrahigh-resolution mass spectrometry and electron microscopy. The results indicate that sulfur-containing compounds decompose at elevated temperatures, partly by a radical-induced mechanism. Furthermore, the resulting intermediates show a limited stability in the presence of oxygen.
Highlights
The ever-increasing energy demand has led to the depletion of conventional light and sweet crude oil reservoirs
A major problem in the refinery heat exchangers is the formation of corrosion fouling due to chemical reactions triggered by sulfur compounds in crude oil on metallic surfaces
Wang et al have successfully demonstrated the selective analysis of sulfur-containing compounds in a heavy crude oil by deuterium-labeling reactions and their detection with ultrahigh-resolution mass spectrometry by positive electrospray.[39]
Summary
The ever-increasing energy demand has led to the depletion of conventional light and sweet (low-sulfur) crude oil reservoirs. To optimize various industrial processes during oil processing as well as to prevent unfavorable sulfur reactions, a better understanding of the sulfur compounds is necessary.[10,22] In the petroleum industry, elemental analysis is usually performed to determine the sulfur content This method is quite limited since it provides information only for the bulk properties of the sample, while no information about a molecular level can be obtained. Using chemical methods such as alkylation, we can achieve a selectivity toward sulfur-containing species, producing preformed ions and making their characterization by ESI possible.[38] In addition, Wang et al have successfully demonstrated the selective analysis of sulfur-containing compounds in a heavy crude oil by deuterium-labeling reactions and their detection with ultrahigh-resolution mass spectrometry by positive electrospray.[39].
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