SCI和EI收录∣中国化工学会会刊

Chin.J.Chem.Eng. ›› 2018, Vol. 26 ›› Issue (2): 343-355.DOI: 10.1016/j.cjche.2017.07.001

• Catalysis, Kinetics and Reaction Engineering • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Kinetic studies on extra heavy crude oil upgrading using nanocatalysts by applying CFD techniques

Javad Aminian Dehkordi1, Arezou Jafari1, Seyyed Amir Sabet1, Fatemeh Karami2   

  1. 1 Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran;
    2 Islamic Azad University, Shahrood, Iran
  • Received:2017-01-01 Revised:2017-07-04 Online:2018-03-16 Published:2018-02-28
  • Contact: Arezou Jafari
  • Supported by:

    Supported by the Iranian National Science Foundation (INSF) under grant number 91042428.

Kinetic studies on extra heavy crude oil upgrading using nanocatalysts by applying CFD techniques

Javad Aminian Dehkordi1, Arezou Jafari1, Seyyed Amir Sabet1, Fatemeh Karami2   

  1. 1 Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran;
    2 Islamic Azad University, Shahrood, Iran
  • 通讯作者: Arezou Jafari
  • 基金资助:

    Supported by the Iranian National Science Foundation (INSF) under grant number 91042428.

Abstract: Regarding the growth of global energy consumption and the paucity of light crude oil, extracting and using heavy and extra heavy crude oil has received much more attention, but the application of this kind of oil is complicated due to its very high molecular weight. High viscosity and low flowability complicate the transportation of heavy and extra heavy crude oil. Accordingly, it is essential to reduce the viscosity of heavy and extra heavy crude oil through in-situ operations or immediate actions after extraction to reduce costs. Numerical simulations are influential methods, because they reduce calculation time and costs. In this study, the cracking of extra heavy crude oil using computational fluid dynamics is simulated, and a unique kinetic model is proposed based on experimental procedures to predict the behavior of extra heavy crude oil cracking reaction. Moreover, the hydrodynamics and heat transfer of the system and influence of nanocatalysts and temperature on the upgrading of crude oil are studied. The geometry of a reactor is produced using commercial software, and some experiments are performed to examine the validity and accuracy of the numerical results. The findings reveal that there is a good agreement between the numerical and experimental results. Furthermore, to investigate the main factors affecting the process, sensitivity analysis is adopted. Results show that type of catalyst and concentration of catalyst are the parameters that influence the viscosity reduction of extra heavy crude oil the most. The findings further revealed that when using a 25 nm SiO2 nanocatalyst, a maximum viscosity reduction of 98.67% is observed at 623 K. Also, a catalyst concentration of 2.28wt% is best for upgrading extra heavy crude oil. The results obtained through sensitivity analysis, simulation model, and experiments represent effectual information for the design and development of high performance upgrading processes for energy applications.

Key words: Upgrading, Extra heavy oil, Simulation, Nanocatalyst

摘要: Regarding the growth of global energy consumption and the paucity of light crude oil, extracting and using heavy and extra heavy crude oil has received much more attention, but the application of this kind of oil is complicated due to its very high molecular weight. High viscosity and low flowability complicate the transportation of heavy and extra heavy crude oil. Accordingly, it is essential to reduce the viscosity of heavy and extra heavy crude oil through in-situ operations or immediate actions after extraction to reduce costs. Numerical simulations are influential methods, because they reduce calculation time and costs. In this study, the cracking of extra heavy crude oil using computational fluid dynamics is simulated, and a unique kinetic model is proposed based on experimental procedures to predict the behavior of extra heavy crude oil cracking reaction. Moreover, the hydrodynamics and heat transfer of the system and influence of nanocatalysts and temperature on the upgrading of crude oil are studied. The geometry of a reactor is produced using commercial software, and some experiments are performed to examine the validity and accuracy of the numerical results. The findings reveal that there is a good agreement between the numerical and experimental results. Furthermore, to investigate the main factors affecting the process, sensitivity analysis is adopted. Results show that type of catalyst and concentration of catalyst are the parameters that influence the viscosity reduction of extra heavy crude oil the most. The findings further revealed that when using a 25 nm SiO2 nanocatalyst, a maximum viscosity reduction of 98.67% is observed at 623 K. Also, a catalyst concentration of 2.28wt% is best for upgrading extra heavy crude oil. The results obtained through sensitivity analysis, simulation model, and experiments represent effectual information for the design and development of high performance upgrading processes for energy applications.

关键词: Upgrading, Extra heavy oil, Simulation, Nanocatalyst