Reducing the viscosity of missan heavy crude oil using combinations of low molecular weight hydrocarbon compounds

Abstract

This work studied the facilitation of the transportation of Missan heavy crude oil characterized with high viscosity 84.61 cp at 15 °C, low API 23.1, by reducing its viscosity from break down asphaltene agglomerates using five solvents with some novel combinations of chemical additives were used for this study (naphtha & toluene, naphtha & xylene, naphtha & kerosene, toluene & kerosene, and xylene & kerosene).The viscosity of crude oil was measured after being treated with these chemicals at different concentrations (4, 8, and 12 weight%) and temperatures 15, 25, 35, and 45 °C. It has been found that increasing the concentration of naphtha with xylene from 4% to 12% causes a decrease in viscosity, from 48.62 cp at 15°C to 30.11 cp. The viscosity of a mixture of naphtha and kerosene drops from 50.15 cp at 15°C to 31.70 cp when the concentration is raised from 4% to 12%. The addition of toluene to kerosene causes the viscosity to drop from 51.76 cp at 15°C to 33.67 cp when the concentration of toluene is raised from 4% to 12%. Increasing the xylene concentration from 4% to 12% in kerosene led to a decrease in viscosity from 53.65 cp at 15°C to 34.88 cp at the same temperature. The findings of the present work could be applied to the petroleum industry for the purpose of transporting heavy oil of Missan or any other heavy crude.