Experimental study on viscosity reduction of heavy oil with water content by synergistic effect of microwave and nano-catalyst

With the depleting of conventional oil and gas resources, viscosity reduction of heavy oil became more and more important as a research focus. As a new method of viscosity reduction, the mechanism of microwave-assisted with nano-catalysts is still unclear. In this paper, the viscosity reduction of nano-catalyst and microwave treatment of heavy oil in different water content was studied. The experimental results showed that the maximum viscosity reduction was 96.81 % when the water content was 50 wt% under the conditions of microwave heating power of 614w, microwave heating temperature of 68 degrees C and nickel nano-catalyst concentration of 0.8 wt%. The oil samples before and after three treatments were analyzed by infrared spectroscopy, element analysis, four-component separation, and two-dimensional gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. By analyzing the changes of functional group, element composition, and component content, the effects of microwave and nano-catalyst were studied. The results showed that the resin and asphaltene content decreased by 17.3 wt%, and the hydrogen to carbon ratio was 2.14 when the water content was 30 wt% under the conditions of microwave heating power of 666w, microwave heating temperature of 65 degrees C and nickel nano-catalyst concentration of 2.3 wt%, which proved that microwave treatment assisted with nano-catalysts could increase the cracking capacity of macromolecules and the production of coke.

Automated summary

This study demonstrated that microwave-assisted treatment with nano-catalysts could significantly reduce the viscosity of heavy oil and decrease the content of resins and asphaltenes. The experimental results showed that under specific conditions of microwave heating power and nano-catalyst concentration, the treatment could enhance the cracking capacity of macromolecules and increase the production of coke.