Dataset Information

Use of Nickel Oxide Catalysts (Bunsenites) for In-Situ Hydrothermal Upgrading Process of Heavy Oil.

ABSTRACT: In this study, Nickel oxide-based catalysts (Ni_xO_x) were synthesized and used for the in-situ upgrading process of heavy crude oil (viscosity 2157 mPa·s, and API gravity of 14.1° at 25 °C) in aquathermolysis conditions for viscosity reduction and heavy oil recovery. All characterizations of the obtained nanoparticles catalysts (Ni_xO_x) were performed through Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), X-Ray and Diffraction (XRD), and ASAP 2400 analyzer from Micromeritics (USA), methods. Experiments of catalytic and non-catalytic upgrading processes were carried out in a discontinuous reactor at a temperature of 300 °C and 72 bars for 24 h and 2% of catalyst ratio to the total weight of heavy crude oil. XRD analysis revealed that the use of nanoparticles of NiO significantly participated in the upgrading processes (by desulfurization) where different activated form catalysts were observed, such as α-NiS, β-NiS, Ni₃S₄, Ni₉S₈, and NiO. The results of viscosity analysis, elemental analysis, and ¹³C NMR analysis revealed that the viscosity of heavy crude oil decreased from 2157 to 800 mPa·s, heteroatoms removal from heavy oil ranged from S-4.28% to 3.32% and N-0.40% to 0.37%, and total content of fractions (ΣC₈-C₂₅) increased from 59.56% to a maximum of 72.21%, with catalyst-3 thank to isomerization of normal and cyclo-alkanes and dealkylation of lateral chains of aromatics structures, respectively. Moreover, the obtained nanoparticles showed good selectivity, promoting in-situ hydrogenation-dehydrogenation reactions, and hydrogen redistribution over carbons (H/C) is improved, ranging from 1.48 to a maximum of 1.77 in sample catalyst-3. On the other hand, the use of nanoparticle catalysts have also impacted the hydrogen production, where the H₂/CO provided from the water gas shift reaction has increased. Nickel oxide catalysts have the potential for in-situ hydrothermal upgrading of heavy crude oil because of their great potential to catalyze the aquathermolysis reactions in the presence of steam.

SUBMITTER: Alonso JPP

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10143493 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Use of Nickel Oxide Catalysts (Bunsenites) for In-Situ Hydrothermal Upgrading Process of Heavy Oil.

Alonso Jiménez Padilla Pedro JPP Djimasbe Richard R Zairov Rustem R Yuan Chengdong C Al-Muntaser Ameen A AA Stepanov Alexey A Nizameeva Guliya G Dovzhenko Alexey A Suwaid Muneer A MA Varfolomeev Mikhail A MA Zinnatullin Almaz L AL

Nanomaterials (Basel, Switzerland) 20230412 8

In this study, Nickel oxide-based catalysts (NixOx) were synthesized and used for the in-situ upgrading process of heavy crude oil (viscosity 2157 mPa·s, and API gravity of 14.1° at 25 °C) in aquathermolysis conditions for viscosity reduction and heavy oil recovery. All characterizations of the obtained nanoparticles catalysts (NixOx) were performed through Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Atomic Force Microsc ...[more]

PMID: 37110936

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Project description:Unconventional resources, such as heavy oil, are increasingly being explored and exploited due to the declining availability of conventional petroleum resources. Heavy crude oil poses challenges in production, transportation, and refining, due to its high viscosity, low API gravity, and elevated sulfur and metal content. Improving the quality of heavy oil can be achieved through the application of steam injection, which lowers the oil's viscosity and enhances its flow. However, steam injection alone falls short of meeting the growing demand for higher-quality petroleum products. Catalytic upgrading is therefore being investigated as a viable solution to improve heavy oil quality. This study experimentally investigates the application of two novel catalysts, namely copper-substituted zinc ferrite (ZCFO) synthesized via the sol-gel combustion method and a graphene oxide-based nanocomposite (GO-ZCFO) with different ratios, for catalyzing aquathermolysis reactions in the steam injection process, with the aim of enhancing the in-situ upgrading of heavy oil. These catalysts underwent characterization using X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). Their catalytic performance was assessed utilizing a high-pressure/high-temperature reactor (300 ml), with a comprehensive analysis of the changes in the physical and chemical properties of the heavy oil before and after upgrading. This analysis included measurements of sulfur content, SARA fractions, viscosity, API gravity, and Gas Chromatography (GC) of saturated hydrocarbons and evolved gases. All upgrading experiments, including both catalytic and non-catalytic aquathermolysis processes, were conducted under a reaction time of 6 h, a reaction temperature of 320 °C, and high pressure (86-112 bar). The results indicated that the introduction of the proposed catalysts as additives into the upgrading system resulted in a significant reduction in sulfur content. This, in turn, led to a decrease in resin and asphaltene content, an increase in the content of saturated hydrocarbon, particularly low-molecular-weight alkanes, and ultimately, a reduction in viscosity along with higher API gravity of the crude oil. GO-ZCFO with a weight ratio (50:50) exhibited the best catalytic performance. The heavy crude oil, upgraded with this 50:50 ratio, exhibited significant enhancements, including a 29.26% reduction in sulfur content, a 21.27% decrease in resin content, a 37.60% decrease in asphaltene content, a 46.92% increase in saturated hydrocarbon content, a 66.48% reduction in viscosity, and a 25.49% increase in API gravity. In comparison, the oil upgraded through non-catalytic aquathermolysis showed only marginal improvements, with slight reductions in sulfur content by 5.41%, resin content by 3.60%, asphaltene content by 11.36%, viscosity by 17.89%, and inconsiderable increases in saturated hydrocarbon content by 9.9% and API gravity by 3.02%. The GO-ZCFO, with its high catalytic activity, stands as a promising catalyst that contributes to improving the in-situ upgrading and thermal conversion of heavy crude oil.

Project description:While simulating toe-to-heel air injection (THAI), which is a variant of conventional in situ combustion that uses a horizontal producer well to recover mobilized partially upgraded heavy oil, the chemical kinetics is one of the main sources of uncertainty because the hydrocarbon must be represented by the use of oil pseudo-components. There is, however, no study comparing the predictive capability of the different kinetics schemes used to simulate the THAI process. From the literature, it was determined that the thermal cracking kinetics schemes can be broadly divided into two: split and direct conversion schemes. Unlike the former, the latter does not depend on the selected stoichiometric coefficients of the products. It is concluded that by using a direct conversion scheme, the extent of uncertainty imposed by the kinetics is reduced as the stoichiometric coefficients of the products are known with certainty. Three models, P, G, and B, each with their own different kinetics schemes, were successfully validated against a three-dimensional combustion cell experiment. In models P and G, which do not take low-temperature oxidation (LTO) into account, the effect of oil pseudo-component combustion reactions is insignificant. For model B, which included LTO reactions, LTO was also found to be insignificant because only a small fraction of oxygen bypassed the combustion front and the combustion zone was maintained at temperatures of over 600°C. Therefore, in all the models, it is observed that coke deposition was due to the thermal cracking taking place ahead of the combustion zone. During the first phase of the combustion, peak temperature curves of models P, G, and B closely matched the experimental curve, albeit with some deviations by up to 100°C between 90 and 120 min. After the increase in the air injection flux, only the model P curve overlapped the experimental curve. The model P cumulative oil production curve deviated from the experimental one by only a relative error of 4.0% compared to deviations in models G and B by relative errors of 6.0 and 8.3%, respectively. Consequently, it follows that model P provided better predictions of the peak temperature and cumulative oil production. The same conclusion can be drawn with regard to the produced oxygen concentration and combustion front velocity. With regard to American Petroleum Institute (API) gravity, it is found that all the three models predicted very similar trends to the experiment, just like in the case of the oil production rate curves, and therefore, no model, in these two cases, can be singled out as the best. Also, all the models' predictions of the produced CO X concentration prior to the increase in the air flux closely match the experimental curve. There are, however, serious differences, especially by model P, from the reported experimental curve by up to 15% after the increase in the air flux.

Dataset Information

Use of Nickel Oxide Catalysts (Bunsenites) for In-Situ Hydrothermal Upgrading Process of Heavy Oil.

Publications

Use of Nickel Oxide Catalysts (Bunsenites) for In-Situ Hydrothermal Upgrading Process of Heavy Oil.

Similar Datasets

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