Poly(octadecyl acrylate-co-vinyl neodecanoate)/Oleic Acid-Modified Nano-graphene Oxide as a Pour Point Depressant and an Enhancer of Waxy Oil Transportation

Abstract

Development and the required availability of energy resources, especially oil, drew attention to developing methods for transporting high-viscosity and high-pour-point petroleum crude efficiently at a reasonable cost. For this purpose, graphite was oxidized and reacted with oleic acid to alter the GO’s surface hydrophobically. Poly­(octadecyl acrylate-co-vinyl neodecanoate) (PODA-co-VND) was prepared at different molar ratios of monomers and used as a waxy oil pour point depressant. The OL-GO had been incorporated in various proportions within the monomers, ranging from 0.1 to 0.5%, to produce polymer nanohybrids. The polymers and polymer nanohybrids were characterized using FTIR, XRD, Raman spectroscopy, SEM, TEM, and TGA instruments. XRD confirmed the increase in the d-spacing between the GO layers after the polymerization process. By testing the prepared polymers as depressors of the oil pour point, it was found that the polymer with the monomers’ molar ratio of 1:1 was the most efficient, as it achieved a reduction of 12 °C, while the polymer hybrid with the same molar ratio attained a reduction of more than 30 °C. This decrease in the oil pour point results in a massive improvement in the viscosity as it is reduced by approximately 86% using the hybrid polymer. The optical microscope showed very tiny crystals after treatment with the hybrid polymer compared to the polymer. The results also showed that on increasing the GO percentage in the polymer, the crude oil’s pour point and viscosity improved.

Chemical Additives as Flow Improvers for Waxy Crude Oil and Model Oil: A Critical Review Analyzing Structure–Efficacy Relationships

“…Researchers have prepared graphene oxide-based nanocomposites to be utilized as flow improvers. Mahmoud and Betiha modified graphene oxide with oleic acid because of its similarity with wax molecules (long alkyl chain) and to assist in covalent grafting (through double bond) with the chosen polymers. They chose vinyl neodecanoate (VND) and octadecyl acrylate (ODA) as monomers in the nanocomposite preparation to increase oil solubility and molecular volume, respectively.…”

“…Such nanocomposites could give substantial depression in pour point/flow improvement of waxy oils. The probable reason could be better compatibility between the polymer and nanoparticle at this mass ratio. A very low 0.5–1 wt %, graphene-based nanosheets , were used to prepare nanocomposites that significantly depressed pour points of waxy oil in ppm concentration. Noticeably, graphene-based two-dimensional nanosheets have very high surface areas that favors their adsorption to polymers that interact with wax molecules. There is a need of monitoring the effect of different pendants of comb polymers, alkyl chain lengths of pendants, and polar contents (wt %) when comb polymers are being used to prepare nanocomposites.…”

“…The probable reason could be better compatibility between the polymer and nanoparticle at this mass ratio. • A very low 0.5−1 wt %, graphene-based nanosheets 92,107 were used to prepare nanocomposites that significantly depressed pour points of waxy oil in ppm concentration. Noticeably, graphene-based two-dimensional nanosheets have very high surface areas that favors their adsorption to polymers that interact with wax molecules.…”

Advances in and Perspectives on Strategies for Improving the Flowability of Waxy Oils

“…The authors also developed grafted graphene-based ionic liquid nanocomposites, which were able to lower the experimental crude oil pour point by 30 °C. 288 Mahmoud and Betiha 284 used oleic acid to treat the graphene oxide surface to obtain hydrophobic graphene oxide and then prepared a composite pour point depressant by polymerizing the olefin fraction of oleic acid with two monomers, which further reduced the pour point by 18 °C over the same dose of polymerized pour point depressant (Figure 27). Liu et al 287 used alkali-catalyzed alcoholysis of EVA to obtain the product ethylene−vinyl alcohol copolymer (EVAL) and prepared the graft product poly(ethylene−vinyl alcohol)− graphene oxide (EVAL-GO).…”

A minireview on Applications of the metal-organic framework and carbon dots in dye photodegradation to protect the aquatic environment from organic pollutants

“…There are many types of research, in addition to those concerned with water purification using nanomaterials, which are receiving high attention, especially in the field of energy such as hydrogen [15][16][17], biodiesel production [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25], and also our groups have published the use of nanometric materials in the production of production and transportation of heavy oil [26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34] and others [35,36] to secure the human race's needs of clean and renewable energy. Here, this review will discuss two nanocomposites, namely metal-organic framework and carbon dots, and their role in removing pollutants from water.…”