Isolation and characterization of neutral, acid and basic fractions from a heavy crude oil and its natural surfactants

Abstract

Different fractions of a heavy crude oil supported in neutral, acid and basic alumina, were isolated by Soxhlet extraction using solvent such as acetonitrile, methanol, n-heptane, toluene and tetrahydrofuran. The natural surfactants (SN) of the neutral fractions were extracted using mixtures of oil and water at different pH. The extracted fractions and isolated SN were characterized using UV-VIS and IR spectroscopy, tensiometry and gel permeation chromatography. The results indicate that the largest SN amount is obtained at pH 8 with a water/oil 30:70 ratio. Using tetrahydrofuran it was possible to extract the SN retained in the acid and basic alumina with a recovery between 5 and 7%, i.e. values similar to those obtained by liquid-liquid extraction (between 3 and 4%).

Keywords

• heavy crude oil
• naturals surfactants
• soxhlet extraction
• liquid-liquid extraction