Studies on Naturally Extracted Surfactant to Enhance Flow Properties of Crude Oil

Abstract

Indian heavy crude oil sample from Gujarat was studied for improvement of properties such as pour point, wax crystal structure, particle size analysis and viscosity by addition of a novel surfactant extracted from a tropical Indian plant Sapindus mukorossi. Characterization was done to find the effect of surfactant addition on individual components of the crude oil such as saturates, asphaltenes, resins and aromatics. The objective was to increase the flowability of the oil and determine which components of the surfactant interact with the crude oil to improve its flow behavior. Heavy crude oil sample was mixed with 4% w/w of Sapindus followed by stirring the samples for one hour and proceeding for tests. The results showed that pour point decreased by a significant amount after adding Sapindus to it and that decrease in pour point was due to reduction in the amount of saturates, aromatics, resins and asphaltenes present in the crude oil. There was a profound reduction in size of wax crystals when investigated under microscopic and particle size analysis. Surfactant addition had a tremendous effect on viscosity. The viscosity of crude oil at 30°C after addition of surfactant, was even less than that of heavy crude without surfactant at 50°C.

Cite this Article

Shirsendu Banerjee, Manoj Kumar, Irshad Ansari, Ajay Mandal, Tarun Kumar Naiya. Studies on Naturally Extracted Surfactant to Enhance Flow Properties of Crude Oil. Journal of Modern Chemistry & Chemical Technology. 2016; 7(1): 42–49p.