A Study on the Catalytic Technology for Reduction of Naphthenic Acid Compound from Acidic Crude Oil

Abstract:

The existence of naphthenic acid (NA) in acidic crude oil tends to corrode the oil refinery equipment. In this study, a catalytic deacidification reaction involving the deacidifying agent and the synthesised catalyst was aimed to eliminate NA from acidic crude oil. Diethanolamine-polyethylene glycol (DEA-PEG) was introduced as a deacidifying agent. The wet impregnation method was applied for synthesizing the calcium oxide catalyst doped by copper supported on alumina (Cu/Ca/Al₂O₃). The potential catalyst was characterised utilising field emission scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray (FESEM-EDX), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), and X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD). The parameters include deacidifying agent dosing, loading dopant ratio and catalyst calcination temperature were performed to enhance the catalytic deacidification process in this study. Data showed that the total acidic number (TAN) value for crude B met the PETRONAS requirement for the TAN value below one using 1500 mg/L of DEA-PEG assisted by Cu/Ca (10:90)/Al₂O₃ catalyst.

• Periodical: Key Engineering Materials (Volume 908)
• Pages: 429-434
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/p-mwjz0x
• Online since: January 2022
• Authors: Nurasmat Mohd Shukri*, Wan Azelee Wan Abu Bakar, Muhammad Reezhuan Russman, Wan Nazwanie Wan Abdullah
• Keywords: Calcium Oxide Catalyst, Crude Oil, Diethanolamine-Polyethylene Glycol, Naphthenic Acid

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