Light Oil Fractions Research Articles

Growing of Carbon Nanotubes from Hydrocarbons in an Arc Plasma

A new method of synthesis of multilayer carbon nanotubes from liquid hydrocarbons is proposed. The interaction of an electric arc, fi ring between an anode and a cathode submerged in a thick layer of a heavy-hydrocarbon liquid, with hydrocarbon molecules was investigated for the purpose of obtaining new light fractions of oil and an atomic carbon. The carbonaceous substance deposited on the cathode was analyzed on an electron microscope. Chromatographic investigations of the products of the plasmachemical decomposition of heavy hydrocarbons have been performed. It was established that carbon nanotubes are present in a large amount in the deposit on the cathode and that the volatile oil fractions include gasoline fractions, acetylene, methane, ethane, and other substances.

Products optimization by FeS2 catalyst for low-rank coal microwave pyrolysis

Catalytic microwave pyrolysis aims to improve the energy efficiency and perfect product distribution. In this work, ferrous disulfide (FeS2) is employed as a catalyst for low-rank coal microwave pyrolysis reaction. The catalytic effects on pyrolysis temperature, product yields, and three pyrolysis products are also discussed. Some key analytical techniques, such as SEM-EDS, FT-IR, and GC-MS, are used to compare the products of microwave pyrolysis and catalytic microwave pyrolysis. A catalytic mechanism of FeS2 is proposed based on the catalytic effects. Results showed that FeS2 catalyst improves the temperature-rising rate and final temperature of microwave pyrolysis, leading to the change of the distribution of pyrolysis products. When 12.0% FeS2 catalyst is added for the microwave pyrolysis, the yields of solid, liquid, and gaseous products are 64.10%, 27.20%, and 8.7%, respectively, and the yield of liquid product increases by 6.40% compared with microwave pyrolysis. The number of small particles on the surface of solid product obviously decreases, and a layered phenomenon appears in large solid product. Moreover, the mass fraction of light oil significantly increases, indicating that FeS2 catalyst can make coal tar “light”. Catalytic microwave pyrolysis of low-rank coal can be divided into coal liquefaction and secondary reaction stages, and the FeS2 catalyst works better in the entire catalytic microwave pyrolysis.

Comparison of performance of Ni\u2013Mo/\u03b3-alumina catalyst in HDS and HDN reactions of main distillate fractions

A bimetallic nickel–molybdenum catalyst supported on γ-alumina was synthesized by the two-step incipient wetness impregnation technique. The activity of the prepared Ni–Mo/γ-alumina catalyst was evaluated in a down flow fixed-bed micro-reactor. In this way, hydrodesulfurization (HDS) and hydrodenitrogenation (HDN) reactions of the main distillate fractions of crude oil were assessed. XRD, SEM, TPR, ICP-OES, BET–BJH and nitrogen adsorption/desorption methods were used for characterizing the synthesized Ni–Mo/γ-alumina catalyst. The active metals with Ni/Mo mass ratio of 0.23 and total metal of 13.7 wt% were loaded on the support, similar to the commercial industrial catalyst. The performance tests were conducted at 3.0 MPa (for light naphtha and heavy naphtha) and at 4.5 MPa (for kerosene and gas oil). The results revealed that the total sulfur conversion of the light naphtha, heavy naphtha, kerosene and gas oil fractions was 98.3%, 95%, 91.7% and 90.1% (after 24 h), respectively.

Distribution and chemical structure characteristic of the fast thermal-cracking products of Buton oil sand bitumen by Py–GC/TOF–MS and a fluidized bed reactor

In order to obtain a deep insight into the upgrade of oil sand bitumen (OSB), the composition, distribution and chemical structure of products obtained from the fast thermal cracking of the OSB were investigated via Py-GC/TOF-MS and a laboratory-scale fluidized bed reactor. A detail composition information of fast thermal-cracking products of the OSB was determined by Py-GC/TOF-MS, which mainly contained alkenes (1-alkenes, iso-alkenes and cycloalkenes), alkanes (n-alkanes, iso-alkanes and cycloalkanes), diolefins, aromatics and sulfur-containing compounds. The distribution of fast thermal-cracking products varied under different temperature. Alkenes were the uppermost style in volatile products at the temperature ranging from 500 °C to 700 °C, whereas with the temperature further rising to 800 °C, aromatics products became predominant and were mainly generated from the deep cleavage of alkyl substituent groups and the secondary reactions to form aromatics. Moreover, the relative content and carbon number distribution of volatile products along with various temperature were summarized. The thermal cracking experiments of the OSB over silica sand in a laboratory-scale fluidized bed reactor showed that the gas products had a remarkable increase in yield as the temperature increase, which was connected with the increase in methane and ethylene of dry gas as well as propylene and butenes of LPG. The coke yield also exhibited an increase tendency with the enhancement of temperature, while this variation was slighter in comparison to that of gases. Conversely, the yield of liquid products gradually decreased with the temperature, which was closely related to the significant decrease of VGO and heavy oil fractions due to the coke formation of polyaromatics and the intensive rupture of alkyl side chains. Nevertheless, the light oil fraction (diesel and gasoline) displayed the different variation along with the temperature, which increased firstly and then decreased as a result of the decomposition of heavy fractions and secondary cracking of light oil itself. Compared to the native OSB, there was a slight difference in functional group distribution for liquid products which was concerned with the formation of olefins, whereas the average structural parameters of the liquid products changed dramatically after the fast thermal cracking of the OSB. Furthermore, the effects of the reaction temperature on the chemical structures were significant due to the decomposition, condensation and secondary reactions proceeded during the fast thermal cracking process.

Treatment of Waste Extract Lubricating Oil by Thermal Cracking Process to Produce Light Fractions

This work deals with thermal cracking of three samples of extract lubricating oil produced as a by-product from furfural extraction process of lubricating oil base stock in AL-Dura refinery. The thermal cracking processes were carried out at a temperature range of 325-400 ºC and atmospheric pressure by batch laboratory reactor. The distillation of cracking liquid products was achieved by general ASTM distillation (ASTM D -86) for separation of gasoline fraction up to 220 ºC from light cycle oil fraction above 220 ºC. The comparison between the conversions at different operating conditions of thermal cracking processes indicates that a high conversion was obtained at 375°C, according to gasoline production. According to gasoline production, noticed that sample (3) was the best due to their high gasoline product at thermal cracking, so another distillation will occur to obtain other composition and its volume present. Gasoline and kerosene conversion was 19 % and for light cycle oil 81% for the best one (sample 3).

Analysis of light weight fractions of coal-based crude oil by gas chromatography combined with mass spectroscopy and flame ionization detection

To realize the fast and accurate determination of coal-based crude oils, gas chromatography combined with mass spectrometry and flame ionization detection is employed to assist in qualitative and quantitative analysis. In addition, material balance is introduced into the analysis at the same time as a constraint. A new equation is deduced and verified, which can predict flame ionization detection relative response factors mainly by the molecular formula of the compounds. Meanwhile, the formula is integrated with the area normalization method. The standard compound addition method is employed to test the reliability as well, and the recovery experiments show that the designed system is simple, fast, accurate and effective. Finally, the analytical method system is applied to characterize the light weight fractions of coal-based crude oil, and the results show that approximately 70–80 wt% of the components can be balanced.

High‐resolution GC/MS studies of a light crude oil fraction

The continuous development in analytical instrumentation has brought the newly developed Orbitrap-based gas chromatography / mass spectrometry (GC/MS) instrument into the forefront for the analysis of complex mixtures such as crude oil. Traditional instrumentation usually requires a choice to be made between mass resolving power or an efficient chromatographic separation, which ideally enables the distinction of structural isomers that is not possible by mass spectrometry alone. Now, these features can be combined, thus enabling a deeper understanding of the constituents of volatile samples on a molecular level. Although electron ionization is the most popular ionization method employed in GC/MS analysis, the need for softer ionization methods has led to the utilization of atmospheric pressure ionization sources. The last arrival to this family is the atmospheric pressure photoionization (APPI), which was originally developed for liquid chromatography / mass spectrometry (LC/MS). With a newly developed commercial GC-APPI interface, it is possible to extend the characterization of unknown compounds. Here, first results about the capabilities of the GC/MS instrument under high or low energy EI or APPI are reported on a volatile gas condensate. The use of different ionization energies helps matching the low abundant molecular ions to the structurally important fragment ions. A broad range of compounds from polar to medium polar were successfully detected and complementary information regarding the analyte was obtained.

Improving the safety of operation of tanks with a floating roof in the winter period

Tanks with a floating roof (VST FR) allow reducing losses from evaporation of light oil fractions and petroleum products by 90-98%. However, their use in areas with high snow cover, which includes the Tyumen Oblast, is difficult because the accumulation of a large amount of snow on the roof can lead to sinking, and uneven distribution of the snow cover causes its skew and further jamming on the rails racks. Such accidents have occurred and caused enormous damage.

Pretreatment of lignite by acidic bronsted ionic liquid [B(SO3H)mim]OTf for lignite pyrolysis

The effect of pretreatment with acidic bronsted ionic liquid 1-sulfonic acid butyl-3-methylimidazolium trifluoromethanesulfonate ([B(SO3H)mim]OTf) on Shengli lignite (SL) pyrolysis behavior and its pyrolysis products distribution were investigated in this paper. In order to study the mechanism of [B(SO3H)mim]OTf pretreatment on the dissolution of SL, [B(SO3H)mim]OTf treated-SL was also analyzed by the Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Diffuse Reflectance Infrared Fourier Transform Spectroscopy (DRIFT) and TG-DTG. It is found that the pretreatment temperature and the ratio of [B(SO3H)mim]OTf to SL have a significant impact on the pyrolysis of SL. The pretreatment of SL with [B(SO3H)mim]OTf can not only result in the increase of the yield of total tar and light oil fraction but also improve the quality of tar. After the pretreatment at 200 °C and [B(SO3H)mim]OTf/SL at 1, the tar yield, light fraction content, arenes, and phenolics content in tar is 1.6, 2.4, 6.3 and 3.2 times higher than that from raw SL pyrolysis, respectively. Pretreatment with [B(SO3H)mim]OTf leads to the fracture of the coal network, resulting in the increase of the content of CO and COC bonds and the disruption of hydrogen bonds.

Mild degradation of Powder River Basin sub-bituminous coal in environmentally benign supercritical CO2-ethanol system to produce valuable high-yield liquid tar

A novel and environmentally benign binary supercritical fluid system, comprised of supercritical CO2 and ethanol (SCCO2-ethanol), was employed to convert coal, a conventional energy resource, into high-value liquid tar which can be used as feedstock for the production of fuels/chemicals and carbon fibers. The SCCO2-ethanol system shows good performance for producing valuable liquid tar in high yield from Powder River Basin sub-bituminous coal. The results show that the highest yield of liquid tar reaches up to approximate 38 wt% (38 g/100 g raw coal) at 350 °C, and that SCCO2 can promote the liquid tar yield by 5.6 wt% compared to that using pure ethanol due to the synergistic effect between ethanol and SCCO2. The liquid tars are better candidates as clean fuels than the raw coal or even bituminous coal due to their higher heating values and almost free from ash. The liquid tars from degradation in SCCO2-ethanol (liquid tarSCCO2-ethanol) and in ethanol without SCCO2 (liquid tarethanol) at 350 °C were characterized with multiple analytical techniques. Fourier transform infrared analyses indicated that both liquid tars have similar distributions of functional groups. The proportion of volatile and small-molecular species in liquid tarSCCO2-ethanol is higher than liquid tarethanol according to thermogravimetric analysis. Further, gas chromatograph/mass spectrometry analyses show that phenols and aliphatic esters are the dominant volatile compounds in both liquid tars. The 1H and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance analyses reveal that both liquid tars have low aromaticity and liquid tarSCCO2-ethanol contains more aromatic carbons than liquid tarethanol, especially highly condensed aromatic carbons. Methylene and aliphatic and aromatic CH3 are the major aliphatic moieties in both liquid tars. The liquid tars can be separated into light oil and asphaltene fractions by extraction with n-heptane. In addition, the asphaltene fraction has potential to be used as the precursor for fabricating carbon nanofibers via electrospinning. Possible mechanisms for releasing volatile compounds and asphaltene from Powder River Basin sub-bituminous coal by SCCO2-ethanol degradation were also discussed.

Changes in the composition and properties of Ashalchinskoye bitumen-saturated sandstones when exposed to water vapor

Ashalchinskoye bitumen deposit is an experimental platform for testing technology of high-viscosity oil extraction from reservoir rocks. Last time for enhanced of oil recovery in reservoir used pressurization a water vapor with a temperature of ∼ 180 ° C (SAGD technology). However, what happens in sandstone reservoir is little known. We did a study of the effects of water vapor on the structural components of bitumen saturated sandstone. In paper were studied the rock samples at base condition and after one week exposure by water vapour. The thermal analysis showed that steaming helps to removes light and middle oil fractions with a boiling point up to 360 ° C from oil saturated sandstones. Content of heavy oil fractions virtually unchanged. Studying the composition of water extractions of samples showed that the process of aquathermolysis of oil is accompanied by a lowering of the pH of the pore solution from 7.4 to 6.5 and rise content in several times of mobile cations Ca2+, Mg2+ and HCO3-, SO42- anions. Follows from this that the thermal steam effect by bitumen saturated sandstones leads to partial oxidation of hydrocarbons with to form a carbon dioxide. The source of sulfate ions were oxidized pyrite aggregates. Due to the increasing acidity of condensed water, which fills the pore space of samples, pore fluid becomes aggressive to calcite and dolomite cement of bitumen saturated sandstones. As a result of the dissolution of carbonate cement the pore fluid enriched by calcium and magnesium cations. Clearly, that the process is accompanied by reduction of contact strength between fragments of minerals and rocks. Resulting part of compounds is separated from the outer side of samples and falls to bottom of water vapor container. Decreasing the amount of calcite and dolomite anions in samples in a steam-treated influence is confirmed by X-Ray analysis. X-Ray analysis data of study adscititious component of rocks showed that when influenced of water vapor to bitumen saturated sandstones there are the processes of transformation of clay minerals. Mixed-illite-montmorillonite phase is primarily exposed to changes. In this case we fix initial stage of the destruction of polycrystalline particles mixed-mineral. Reducing the size of clay minerals particles along the normal to the layers (L001) is the result from lower energy costs of delamination and disintegration the crystallites along this direction, in comparison with others. Thus, using of SAGD technology at exploitation of Ashalchinskoye bitumen saturated reservoir will be followed by acidification of the pore fluid, activation processes of dissolution calcite cement and transformation of mixed-layers clays minerals.

Numerical Simulation of a Kinetic Cell for in-situ Combustion. A Parametric Study and History Matching Aspects

Abstract The in-situ combustion method is an enhanced oil recovery technique based on the injection of air in petroleum reservoirs with the aim to burn a portion of hydrocarbons. This reduces the oil viscosity improving substantially the oil mobility. Simultaneously other phenomena take place as: distillation, segregation, oil upgrading, among others. In this work, a mathematical model to simulate oil combustion for kinetic cell experiments is presented. The model includes four-phases, nine components and four chemical reactions: coke formation, heavy oil fraction combustion, light oil fraction combustion and coke combustion. This formulation is commonly used to simulate in-situ combustion projects at combustion tubes- and petroleum reservoir-scales. The mass and energy balances were formulated leading to one set of highly coupled ordinary differential equations, which was numerically solved. The predictive model capabilities were tested by comparison with lab data, and it was found that CO and CO2 productions, oxygen uptake and cell temperature evolution agree well with experimental results. At one preliminary stage, the parameters fitting experimental results were inferred by individual manipulation until the best results were found. These parameters were perturbed in order to identify those parameters dominating the global dynamic of process. We found that energy activations and the mass density of oil components are the dominant parameters. We suggest that history matching processes must be focused over these parameters, and for this end, the implementation of advanced computational routines to solve multivariable inverse problems is recommended. In this work, we developed two automatic history matching techniques: one process based on Newton’s method and the second one based on evolutionary algorithms. The Newton’s method showed problems to find the minimum error, meanwhile the evolutionary algorithm was able to optimize the dominant parameters, but at the expense of slow convergence.

Discharge creeping along the surface in the process for producing nanomaterials

In this paper, we propose a new principle of assembling carbon nanoparticles in the plasma of a glow discharge creeping along the surface. In this paper, it is shown that carbon nanoparticles (fullerenes and nanotubes), as well as light fractions of oil, can be produced by means of a glow discharge on the surface of the fuel oil. Single-walled carbon nanotubes of about 10 μm in length were obtained.

Upgrading Asphaltenes by Oil Droplets Striking a Charged TiO2-Immobilized Paper Surface

The conversion of heavy oil fractions into lighter oil fractions is highly essential for meeting the growing demand for fuels in continuous depletion of oil reserves and for environmental remediation. We demonstrate an oil degradation approach where oil microdroplets are sprayed in air at room temperature onto untreated TiO2 nanoparticles-coated filter paper to which we apply an electrical potential. Two model polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons as well as a crude oil sample show degradation on the microsecond time scale. Heterogeneous catalysis of a biphasic (organic/aqueous) reaction occurs at the interface of microdroplets and the charged TiO2 surface. The fragmentation yield is increased by cycling the process. The relative fragmentation yield of a model compound (rubrene) increased from 16.9% in the first cycle to 32.6% in the third cycle. This convenient and efficient method suggests possible future industrial applications.

Ozone-assisted oxidative desulfurization of light oil fractions

A catalytic system for oxidative desulfurization has been created, which is a transition metal salt bearing an organic ligand and capable of forming an active oxidative complex in the interaction with ozone and further oxidizing sulfur compounds present in fuel followed by the adsorption of the oxidation products on silica gel. In this case, a direct contact of ozone with the fuel is avoided, making the process safer. The effect of the reaction and ozonation conditions on the desulfurization process has been studied. Total sulfur content was decreased to 180 ppm for the straight-run gasoline fraction and to 900 ppm for the diesel fraction.

Effect of ash on hydrothermal liquefaction of high-ash content algal biomass

Previous studies demonstrate that the high ash contents appeared to inhibit the formation of biocrude oil in the hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) processes. In order to investigate the effect of ash contents on the HTL reaction, mixed-culture algal biomass from wastewater systems (AW) was separated into two fractions (AW-41.8 and AW-38.5) and converted into biocrude oil via HTL at 300°C for a 60min reaction time (the previously determined optimum condition). Compared to AW biomass before screen pretreatments, the ash contents of AW-41.8 and AW-38.5 were respectively decreased from 53.3wt% to 41.8wt% and 38.5wt%. Moreover, the higher heating value (HHV) of resulting biocrude oil was increased from 27.5MJ/kg to 32.3MJ/kg, and the fraction of light oil (boiling point of 110–300°C) was increased from 31wt% to 49wt%. The above results indicate that algal biomass with certain amounts of ash contents can be converted into biocrude oil with reasonable quality and quantity. To explore the range of concentrations of ash where it may present a positive effect on the biocrude oil yield or quality, further HTL conversions with pure algal feedstock and representative ash contents were conducted. The HHV and boiling point distribution of the algal biocrude oil was hardly affected when the ash contents in the algal feedstock was below 40wt%. This fact substantiates the feasibility of using high-ash algae from wastewater treatment systems for HTL feedstocks and diminishes the necessity of multi-step pretreatments and modifications of high-ash algal biomass for biofuel application.

PHYTOTOXICITY OF SOIL POLLUTED BY DIESEL FUEL

Oil pollution leads to profound changes of soil properties resulting in disturbing its fertility. Loss of soil fertility is related to the direct influence of herbicide light oil fractions and with the deterioration agrochemical, agrophysical and biological properties of soils. Hydrophobic components by covering the plant roots sharply worsen getting water, causing their death. The primary criterion for soil toxicity is the evaluation of seed germination and the number of sprouted seeds. Therefore the study aims at defining toxic effect of diesel fuel polluted soils of different granulometric composition in laboratory conditions. To investigate the problem the authors have chosen gray and brown forest soils of Lviv region. The soil for research was collected from the root layer of natural areas at depths up to 20 cm. Cress-salad was chosen as test plant. In the course of study toxicity diesel fuel polluted brown and gray forest soils in laboratory conditions have been researched. Based on the results graphics depending exposure of concentrations of diesel fuel in the soil on the growth characteristics of cress-salad were constructed. It is ascertained that diesel fuel pollution of soils has a negative impact on growth of cress-salad stems. One percent of soil pollution accompanied by decrease of stem height for gray forest soil by 4 times as compared with the control. Further increasing the concentration of diesel fuel in the studied soils is accompanied by increased levels of toxicity. Thus we may conclude that diesel fuel pollution of brown and gray forest soils inhibits the growth of root length and stem height of cress-salad. The authors have evaluated that for identical pollution concentrations of diesel fuel in soil, greater toxic effect on the root length and height of the stem cress-salad in gray forest soils is revealed. Increase of the concentration of diesel fuel pollution in gray forest soils causes a significant decrease in stem height and root length of cress-salad. For the similar concentration of pollution, phytotoxic effect of action diesel fuel at stem height of cress-salad in gray forest soil is 20-60 % higher, than in brown forest soil. These phytotoxicity indicators can be used to substantiate the safe level of petroleum products in the soil.

Sulfur compounds in the fuel range fractions from different crude oils

ABSTRACTA gas chromatograph coupled with sulfur chemiluminscence detector (GC-SCD) has been used for the speciation of individual sulfur compounds in fractions of different crude oils. The crude oil fractions characterized were light naphtha (C5-90°C), heavy naphtha (90–140°C), kerosene (140–240°C), and gas oil (240–370°C) fractions obtained from true boiling point distillation process. Low boiling fractions (up to 140°C) were analyzed by existing ASTM D5623 (American Society for Testing and Materials, 2009a) method for sulfur compound speciation. As there is no standard method for the distribution of sulfur compounds in high boiling samples (up to 370°C), therefore, a methodology has been developed for the diesel range samples. The identification of individual sulfur compounds were carried out by using reference sulfur compounds. The results show that type of sulfur compounds depends upon the boiling range of the fraction and source of crude oil. The major changes in the sulfur compounds profiles of different fractions are discussed. The results of this study can be used to predict the suitability of crude oil for the production of Euro-IV and V gasoline and diesel fuels.

GEOKIMIA ORGANIK FRAKSI AROMATIK LIGHT OIL PRODUK PENCAIRAN BATUBARA AREA (PIT) BINTANG SANGATTA KALIMANTAN TIMUR

Character geochemical of Coal in area (pit) Stars Sangatta, East Kalimantan shows that the coal is classified as steam coal with thermal maturity and have low calories (5768 kcal/kg). The coal is melted in the 1L autoclave for 60 minutes at a temperature of 450oC and a pressure of 12 MPa to obtain a product slurry. Fractionation of slurry product based on boiling point using a vacum distillation apparatus 10 mmHg. Fractions obtained include naphtha, light oil, middle oil, heavy oil and coal liquid bottom. Data show that the weight percentage of the product melting fraction is dominated by heavy oil and coal liquid bottom with percentage of total> 50%. Fraction of light oil in the fractionation further by TLC and the eluent n-hexane in order to obtain an aromatic fraction. The composition of the aromatic hydrocarbon fraction light oil products were characterized using gas chromatography mass spectrophotometer (GC-MS). The identification shows that derivative of kadalen compounds, that is compounds norkadalen (C14H16) which is the fraction of oil that can be potentially as diesel fuel.

Prédiction de l'enthalpie et de l'entropie de vaporisation normale par la méthode de contribution de groupes avec interactions des hydrocarbures purs, mélanges simples et fractions pétrolières

AbstractThe objective of this study is the establishment of new correlations based on the principle of contribution of groups with intramolecular interactions for the prediction of the enthalpy of normal vaporization, and the entropy of normal vaporization of pure hydrocarbons belonging to various families : n‐paraffins, iso‐paraffins, alkenes, aromatics, and naphthenes. We compared our correlation to the other methods in the literature and obtained a good reliability.We tested these new correlations on mixtures of pure substances of known compositions. We have also tried our correlation with light, average, and heavy oil fractions. The results obtained are acceptable compared to the literature.