Effect of a rapeseed oil derived pour point depressant on the flow properties of the waxy oil from Changqing Oilfield

Abstract

In this paper, rapeseed oil was modified with diethylenetriamine to obtain a vegetable oil-derived pour point depressant (PPD), which was used to reduce the pour point and improve the flowability of the crude oil (from Changqing Oilfield), which has a high content of paraffin. Various instruments such as differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), polarized optical microscopy (POM), and a viscometer were used to investigate the performance of the PPD. The results showed that with the introduction of PPD into the waxy oil sample, the pour point of which could be significantly lowered from 20.0 °C to 13.2 °C. At 23 °C, the viscosity reduction rate of the oil sample was 68% in the presence of 500 mg/kg PPD. The wax morphology observation also confirmed that the formation and growth of the wax crystals could be significantly delayed and restrained. The results supported that the PPD synthesized in this paper could effectively improve the flowability of the waxy oil from Changqing Oilfield.

Keywords

• waxy oil
• pour point depressant
• vegetable oil
• wax crystal