An innovative graphene- supercapacitor for the treatment of crude oil viscosity at low temperatures

The key idea is to reduce the Iraqi crude oil viscosity, and enhance its rheological properties during its pipeline transportation at low temperatures. To achieve this objective, four different graphene supercapacitor designs are tested, by the application of various electric field intensities as: 14 V cm(-1), 18 V cm(-1), and 22 V cm(-1), and the addition of three different graphene concentrations as: 0 wt%, 25 wt%, and 50 wt%, at temperatures: 1.5 degrees C, 0 degrees C, and -3 degrees C performed on 31 degrees API crude oil. The optimum conditions are found using Statistica software as: 22 V cm(-1) for electric field intensity and 36.9 wt% for graphene addition. The results at these optimum conditions showed a dynamic viscosity reduction by 54.6%, 64.8%, and 73.7%, at 1.5 degrees C, 0 degrees C, and -3 degrees C respectively. While causes mass flow rate improvement by 26.7%, 37.5%, and 55.3%, at 1.5 degrees C, 0 degrees C, and -3 degrees C respectively. The viscosity reduction lasts for about 11 h before the viscosity builds up again.

Automated summary

The key idea of this study is to reduce the viscosity of Iraqi crude oil at low temperatures and enhance its rheological properties by adding graphene. The results show that under the optimal conditions, the dynamic viscosity of the crude oil can be significantly reduced and the mass flow rate can be improved.