Abstract
Low-molecular flow improvers for crude oil are becoming increasingly important chemical agents for crude oil production in oil fields. In this work, three alkyl benzene sulfonates were synthesized and evaluated as flow improvers for crude oil. The results show that the three flow improvers have an effect on L8401 crude oil (heavy oil). Among them, aluminium dodecylbenzene sulfonate (AlDBS) has the best effect as it reduces the viscosity rate by more than 80%. After adding 900 mg/L AlDBS, the freezing point is lowered by 15 °C. The crude oil flow improvement was proven with microphotographs. The co-crystallization behavior after addition of the agent interacts with the saturated hydrocarbons in the crude oil, which is the reason for lowering the freezing point of crude oil. Moreover, infrared spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry analysis (DSC) were used to illustrate the interaction mechanism between low-molecular flow improvers for crude oil and the components in crude oil.
Funding source: Youth Innovation Team of Shaanxi University
Funding source: National Natural Science Foundation of China
Award Identifier / Grant number: 51974252
Funding source: Natural Science Basic Research Plan in Shaanxi Province of China
Award Identifier / Grant number: 2020JQ-775
Funding source: Xi’an Shiyou University
Award Identifier / Grant number: YC19113078
About the authors
Zhichao Zhou: Master student of applied chemistry at the Xi’an Shiyou University and has published 3 papers.
Wangyuan Zhang: Master student of applied chemistry at the Xi’an Shiyou University and has published 1 paper.
Sanbao Dong: He is Ph.D. of applied chemistry at the Xi’an Shiyou University. He has published 7 papers and completed 2 research projects.
Jie Zhang: He is professor of applied chemistry at the Xi’an Shiyou University, has published 66 papers, and has completed 12 research projects.
Gang Chen: He is professor at the Xi’an Shiyou University. His main research areas are oilfield chemistry and petroleum chemistry. He is member of Chinese Chemical Society and Chemical Industry and Engineering Society of China. He has finished 20 research projects; published more than 40 research papers; and is reviewer of 15 academic journals.
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Author contributions: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.
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Research funding: The work was supported financially by the Youth Innovation Team of Shaanxi University, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51974252), the Natural Science Basic Research Plan in Shaanxi Province of China (2020JQ-775), and Postgraduate Innovation Fund Project of Xi’an Shiyou University (YC19113078). We also thank for the work of Modern Analysis and Testing Center of Xi’an Shiyou University.
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Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest regarding this article.
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