Aquathermolysis of Heavy Crude Oil with Ferric Oleate Catalyst
Li, Yun-Rui, et al. Petroleum Science, 2018, 15, 613-624.
Ferric oleate is an effective catalyst for the hydropyrolysis reaction of heavy oil. Compared with cobalt oleate and nickel oleate, iron oleate is more effective in cracking heavy oil and has better viscosity reduction effect on heavy oil, with a viscosity reduction rate of up to 86.1%. Research has found that iron oleate can significantly increase the content of light components and reduce the contents of resin, N, and S.
Aquathermolysis reaction of heavy crude oil
· First, ferric oleate is prepared by reacting iron (III) nitrate nonahydrate and oleic acid at a molar ratio of 1:1.8 with heating and stirring at 120°C.
· The heavy crude oil underwent aquathermolysis at 200 °C for 24 hours. Initially, 50 g of the heavy crude oil was combined with varying amounts of the ferric oleate catalyst in an autoclave. The mixture was heated to 200 °C and maintained at that temperature for 24 hours.
· The catalyst used in the reaction was devoid of water, while the heavy crude oil contained only 12.0 wt% water. Following the completion of the aquathermolysis reaction, the viscosity of the oil samples was determined at 50 °C using a viscometer. Each oil sample underwent the aquathermolysis process five times.