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Viscosity reduction of extra-heavy crude oil using nanocatalysts

  • Catalysis, Reaction Engineering
  • Published:
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Abstract

Exploiting extra-heavy crude oil and converting it to operational products is considered a challenging process in the industry due to the difficulty in processing this kind of crude oil. So, in the present study, viscosity reduction of extra-heavy crude oil is inquired using nanocatalysts. This is the first study that investigates and juxtaposes the results of viscosity reduction of extra-heavy crude oil based on direct heating and microwave radiation as the indirect heating source at the presence of ZSM-5 catalyst as well as silica, clay, and synthesized nickel oxide nanocatalysts in order to facilitate the process of extra-heavy crude oil upgrading. The results illustrate that nanocatalysts have a fundamental impact on the viscosity reduction of extra-heavy crude oil. According to the findings, nanosilica represents the best efficiency among others as it makes a 98.3% reduction in the extra-heavy crude oil viscosity Besides, the application of microwave radiation in the upgrading of extra-heavy crude oil leads to an incredible reaction duration reduction as approximately 60% of sample oil viscosity is reduced in just 90 seconds. Analysis of upgraded oil reveals that adding excess nanocatalyst to the extra-heavy crude oil actuates an efficiency reduction due to the agglomeration of nanoparticles. Finally, the findings offer appealing information for the enhancement of upgrading processes in the industry.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Iranian National Science Foundation (INSF) and Iranian Nanotechnology Initiative Council for the financial support of this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

    Seyed Amir Sabet, Mohammadreza Omidkhah & Arezou Jafari

Authors
  1. Seyed Amir Sabet
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  2. Mohammadreza Omidkhah
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  3. Arezou Jafari
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Mohammadreza Omidkhah or Arezou Jafari.

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Sabet, S.A., Omidkhah, M. & Jafari, A. Viscosity reduction of extra-heavy crude oil using nanocatalysts. Korean J. Chem. Eng. 39, 1207–1214 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11814-021-0898-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11814-021-0898-x

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