Study on Atmospheric Distillation of Some Plain and Chemically Dispersed Crude Oils: Comparison of Yields and Fuel Quality of Distillate Fractions

Abstract

This paper discusses the distillation behavior of the plain (control) and chemically dispersed crude oils. The oils used were paraffinic (denoted as P-RCP-I), naphthenic (denoted as P-RCN-II), and aromatic (denoted as P-RCA-III) crudes. The chemical dispersants used were anionic, cationic, and neutral surfactants including sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), and Triton X-100 (a branched p-octylphenol with an average of 9–10 ethylene oxide units). The effect of Dispersant-to-Oil ratio on the yields of distillate fractions (gasoline and diesel) was investigated. Looking at the results, we conclude that using chemically dispersed crudes enabled us to obtain better yields of light distillate fractions (F1 and F2) in comparison with the control. Among the dispersants used, the SDS was more effective in RCA-III crude where the yield of F1 increased significantly to 58% and that of residue decreased to 6%. The CTAB was found to be more effective in RCN-II crude, which gave a significant increase in yields of F1 to 49% with corresponding decrease in R yield, while the Triton X-100 also proved to be more effective in RCN-II crude which gave 48% and 6% yields of F1 and R fractions, respectively. The fuel properties of the resultant fractions derived from chemically dispersed crudes did not disturb and remained within the ranges prescribed for petrofuels.

Effect of Crude Oil Quality on Properties of Hydrocracked Vacuum Residue and Its Blends with Cutter Stocks to Produce Fuel Oil

“…The published results suggest that the efficiency of the diverse FCC gas oils in the suppression of sediment formation in the hydrocracked residual oils can be different depending on the origin of the heavy oil, and the operating conditions in the hydrocracking unit. The immense diversity in the petroleum properties that can impact the whole performance of a petroleum refinery has been well documented in the references [22][23][24][25][26][27]. Moreover, crude oil blends instead of single crude oil are typically processed in the petroleum refineries which makes the evaluation of the effect of the crude origin on the specific interactions occurring in the heavy oil hydrocracking even more difficult [28].…”