Upgrading of tatarstan heavy crude oil using cofe2o4-nanoparticles catalyst at 300^o c

Abstract

© 2019, International Multidisciplinary Scientific Geoconference. All rights reserved. At present, heavy oil and natural bitumen in supplying the world’s demand for fuels and petrochemical feedstock is increasing, because of the reduction of light traditional oil reserves. Heavy oil is characterized by its high viscosity, which creates difficulties in it’s productions as well as transportations to refineries. Currently there are several ways to reduce viscosity of heavy oil to facilitate the extraction process. One of the most important methods is steam injection, but with the passage of time, this method becomes ineffective and is need other ways to enhance the extraction of heavy oil. In this work, steam and CoFe2O4 catalyst co-injection at temperature 300°C and under pressure of 71 bar for 24h using a batch reactor was carried out.Viscosity, chemical composition (SARA analyses) and elemental analysis of heavy crude oil before and after upgrading was studied and compared. Generally, we can summarize that resin and asphalt content is decreased after catalytic upgrading process. While saturated and aromatic hydrocarbons increased due to the destruction of their high molecular weight components.