Thermocatalytic upgrading and viscosity reduction of heavy oil using copper oxide nanoparticles

Abstract

A transition metal oxide catalyst of copper oxide nanoparticles was synthesized by a conventional non-hydrothermal method. It was studied as a catalyst in thermocatalytic upgrading and viscosity reduction of heavy oil in the laboratory. The experimental results showed that the viscosity of heavy oil may be reduced by 85.75% with 0.2 wt% catalyst at 350 °C for 40 min. With determinations of analyzation, it was found that under the thermocatalytic action of copper oxide nanoparticles, the presence of hydrogen-donor in the reaction could further improve the chemical constitution of resin and asphaltene in heavy oil.