Investigation of Heavy Organics Precipitation from Nigerian Crude Oil Residue Using Binary Mixture of n-Alkane Solvents

Abstract

The effects of mixing two n-alkane solvents on the precipitation of heavy organics in crude oil were carried out. The crude oil sample sourced from a major operative in Nigeria was distilled at 240oC and used for the precipitation experiment. The binary mixture of n-alkane solvents (C6: C10, C6: C16, C10: C14, C10: C16, C14: C16) was carried out in the solvent ratio of 0:1, 1:2, 1:1, 2:1, and 1:0 respectively. From the results, C6: C10 mixture shows an abrupt decrease in heavy organics precipitated from 1:0 volume ratio of C6: C10 to 2:1 volume ratio of C6: C10 and a further steady decrease were observed. The percentage volume increment of C6 in the mixture of C6: C16, also shows steady and an abrupt decrease in heavy organics precipitated, which indicates phase transitions occurring at 1:1 and 2:1 volume ratio points. The additions of C10 to C14 and C10 to C16 results to decrease in the weight percentage of heavy organics precipitated. While a slight decrease in weight percentage of heavy organics occurs during the addition of C14 to C16. Precipitation experiment carried out using binary mixture shows a three-stage phase transition: solid-liquid, liquid-solid and solid-liquid in C6: C16 at different volume ratios of the mixtures. Keywords: Binary mixture, heavy organics, crude oil residue, n-alkane solvents, precipitates

Keywords

• Binary mixture
• heavy organics
• crude oil residue
• n-alkane solvents
• precipitates