Pour Point Reduction Research Articles

Experimental investigation into the development and evaluation of ionic liquid and its graphene oxide nanocomposite as novel pour point depressants for waxy crude oil

Wax deposition in pipelines transporting crude oil is a serious problem as wax tends to precipitate under low temperature conditions observed during pipeline flow. The current research work embarks on the development of novel nanocomposite pour point depressant (PPD) for waxy crude oils. Two additives were synthesized in the laboratory: 1-octyl 3-methylimidazolium chloride [(OMIM)Cl], and a novel class of nanocomposite PPD: PPDR-GO. These additives were tested on an Indian waxy crude oil and proved to be acting as PPDs and flow improvers. Pour point reduction occurred from 39 °C to 21 °C with [(OMIM)Cl], while the depression occurred from 39 °C up to 9 °C with nanocomposite PPDR-1%GO, suggesting significant improvement in the flow ability of the crude oil. The PPDs also induced reduction in the apparent viscosities of crude oil significantly from 7 Pa s down to 0.04 Pa s by (OMIM)Cl and 0.02 Pa s (at higher shear rates and temperatures) by PPDR-1%GO respectively. Apart from the pour point and viscosity tests, the effectiveness of the additives were tested by cold finger, gelation point and aging tests and they produced encouraging set of results. The characterization of the two PPDs performed using spectroscopic analytical techniques FTIR, Proton NMR, XRD and Raman helped identifying the presence of different components and confirm their structure. The purpose of this work is to develop new pour point depressants which are highly effective for providing flow assurance of waxy crude oils. This research also aimed at improving the synthesized PPDs in important areas such as improving dispersion of VGO nanosheets in nanocomposite matrix, enhanced pour point depression ability, low dosage requirement of PPDs, eliminating the need of solvent for PPDs. The action mechanism of the PPDs develops theoretical insights on interactions of ionic liquids, graphene oxide sheets and asphaltenes with the wax structures, which would be highly beneficial for future research.

Wax inhibitor performance comparison for waxy crude oil from Fang oilfield

In petroleum chemistry, waxy oil from paraffins can cause operating problems for oil production. The chemical method is used to remove by using chemicals or additives to prevent the wax problem. In this study, the performance of wax inhibitor are evaluated by the measurement of pour-point reduction and wax deposition of crude oil from Mae Soon area, Fang oilfield. Wax deposition is determined by cold finger technique. Wax inhibitors, hexane, Poly(maleic anhydride-alt-1-octadecene) (PMAO) and monoethanolamine (MEA) are mixed in oil sample at various concentrations. From the experiment, it is presented that hexane is used to reduce pour-point temperature up to 19.55 % and to reduce wax deposit up to 92.56 %. Moreover, MEA and PMAO have less effect on pour-point reduction. However, they have high efficiency to prevent wax deposition. PMAO provide the better wax deposition performance than MEA. The amount of wax deposit is lower at the same conditions. The percentage of wax deposit is from 39.19 % to 83.02 % for MEA and from 58.54 % to 88.51 % for PMAO. Furthermore, from the results, the preferred concentration of hexane can be at 10 % and PMAO can be 7500 ppm at low temperature or 5000 ppm for higher temperature. The results of this research can be applied to the practical way for wax deposition prevention operation in Mae Soon area in Fang oilfield to reduce the wax problem in the future.

Impact of ultrasonic treatment process on pour point of vegetable oils based liquid insulation

This study presents an application of ultrasonic technology in the high voltage liquid insulation domain towards the reduction of pour point of vegetable oil samples for the utilization of vegetable oils as liquid insulation in cold climate areas on power transformers. Pour point reduction has been achieved by processing the vegetable oil samples by using ultrasonic treatment process with 100 W and 30 kHz ultrasonic waves for various exposure times of 15, 30, 45 and 60 min. Edible vegetable oils such as sunflower oil, palm oil, sesame oil and non edible vegetable oils such as honge oil, neem oil and punna oil are considered as two categories of vegetable oils for this experimental investigation. Ultrasonic treatment process results in the reduction of pour point of vegetable oils to meet out the standard value of pour point for liquid insulation as per IEEE Standard C57.147, 2018. A significant reduction in pour point temperature of vegetable oil samples have been obtained with an increased exposure time. The obtained variations in pour point after exposure with ultrasonic waves may be due to the possible changes in crystallization kinetics of fatty acids components of vegetable oil samples due to energy input of ultrasonic waves. The experimental results have given a way towards the positive encouragement and development with ultrasonic treatment for achieving low pour point vegetable oils as liquid insulation in power transformers for applications on cold climatic areas.

Comparative study of wax inhibitor performance for pour-point reduction of oil from Sirikit Oilfield in Thailand

In petroleum industries, waxy crude oil is normally found in petroleum production. Wax formation and precipitation during pipeline transport of waxy crude oils can cause several challenges, including wax deposition and flow reduction which adversely impacts pipeline performance in oil and gas production. To overcome the wax deposition problem, the small amount of chemicals like wax inhibitors can provide an effective preventative measure. One of this mechanism is to reduce the pour point temperature. In this work, oil from Sirikit Oilfield in Thailand is selected for this study. The wax inhibitors are selected and studied the performance for pour-point reduction. These chemicals are Polyalkyl methacrylate (PAMA), Poly(maleic anhydride-alt-1-octadecane) (PMAO), Polyalkyl methacrylate-co-ethylene glycol (PAMAEG) and Copolymers of maleic anhydride (CPMA) with the concentration ranging from 100 to 1000 ppm. Also, n-pentane with the concentration of 5-20 % by weight is used as a solvent for wax inhibitors. The results from this study show that n-pentane can reduce the pour point to 39.41 % compared to the original oil. Furthermore, among the polymer group, PMAO can reduce the lowest pour point to 52.82 %. In addition, the mixed solvents of polymer with n-pentane can provide relatively less effect on pour-point reduction. The mixture of n-pentane with PMAO can lower the pour point to a certain level of 54.96 % compared to the original oil. This study can be applied to use in the real field to prevent wax deposition in the pipeline transportation for oil production.

Pour Point Reduction of Waxy Crude Oil by Pyrolysis in Supercritical Methanol

The reduction of pour point of waxy crude oil by pyrolysis under high pressure N2 or supercritical methanol (SCMeOH) environment was experimentally studied at the temperatures ranging from 370 to 400 °C. During the pyrolysis under N2 environment, only a poor pour point reduction less than 5 °C, which is at the cost of the substantial condensation of saturates and aromatics to resins and asphaltenes, could be achieved. When the pyrolysis is transferred into the SCMeOH phase, the reaction consists primarily of the preferential cracking of wax fraction to gas. Benefiting from improved diffusivity, the cracking of wax fraction following the Fabuss-Satterfield-Smith mechanism is remarkably accelerated. Being the secondary reaction of the cracking of oil fractions at the moderate temperatures applied, the condensation of oil fractions is suppressed. Accordingly, an effective pour point reduction up to 22 °C could be obtained in 15 min of pyrolysis without sacrificing the quality of pyrolysis products.

New Additives for the Pour Point Reduction of Petroleum Middle Distillates

Petroleum, as well as its middle distillate fractions (boiling between 150−400 °C), shows a tendency to crystallize paraffin molecules whenever the temperature is lowered below the cloud point. Paraffin deposition may occur in storage tanks, pipelines, or conduits, this leading to the impairing of fluid pumping, with even filter plugging of diesel engines. Such a drawback may be overcome by the addition of chemical compound.

Catalytic Pour Point Reduction and Viscosity Improvement of Lubricating Oil Fractions using Sulfided Nickel-Tungsten Catalysts

Catalytic Pour Point Reduction and Viscosity Improvement of Lubricating Oil Fractions using Sulfided Nickel-Tungsten Catalysts