Evaluation of the influence of hydrodynamic cavitation treatment of dark petroleum products on the yield of fractions with boiling points up to 400°C

Objectives. The reduction of the anthropogenic burden on the environment is generally associated with the transition to alternative energy sources. However, some of these have only regional significance, while the effectiveness of others remains doubtful. On this point, innovative processes aimed at increasing the depth of oil refining may be equally important for reducing the carbon footprint. Wave-based technologies such as cavitation may also be included in these processes. Among the various methods for inducing such cavitation phenomena in oil refining, hydrodynamic approaches are especially promising. It has been shown that the treatment effectiveness increases with greater pressure or when augmenting the number of cavitation processing cycles. The aim of this work is to identify the factor (i.e., pressure gradient or number of treatment cycles) having the greatest influence on the change of the characteristics of the oil product.

Methods. Cavitation phenomena were created by pumping dark oil products through a diffuser. The pressure gradient ranged from 20 to 50 MPa, while the number of cavitation processing cycles varied from 1 to 10. The influence of cavitation conditions on the change of fractional composition of petroleum products was analyzed. Target fractions are those having a boiling point up to 400°C.

Results. It is shown that increased pressure generated in the diffuser leads to a linear increase in the yield of desired cuts. The dependence of the yield of these fractions on the number of processing cycles is described by the growth model with saturation. A proposed equation describes the influence of pressure and number of cycles on the yield of the fractions from initial boiling point temperature (T_IBP) to 400°C following cavitation processing of dark oil products. Some of the coefficients of this equation have been associated with the physicochemical characteristics of the feedstock.

Conclusions. An equation for predicting the maximum possible yield of the T_JBP-400°C fraction as a result of cavitation processing under different conditions of the process is proposed according to the physicochemical characteristics of the feedstock. The prediction error did not exceed 12%. The equation analysis and comparison of energy consumption between different process regimes shows that a higher yield of the target product is achieved by increasing pressure gradient rather than the number of processing cycles.

1. Kapustin V. M . Tekhnologiya pererabotki nefti. V 4 ch. Ch. 1. Pervichnaya pererabotka nefti (Oil Refining Technology. In 4 v. V. 1. Primary oil refining). Moscow: KolosS; 2013. 334 p. (in Russ.). ISBN 978-5-9532-0825-3

2. Chebotova V.I., Ulanov V.V. Oil refining depth in Russia. Delovoi zhurnal NEFTEGAZ. RU = Business magazine Neftegaz. RU. 2021;(109):14-17 (in Russ.).

3. Artemov A.V., Pereslavtsev A.V., Krutyakov Yu.A., Voshchinin S.A., Kudrinskii A.A., Bul'ba V.A., Ostryi I.I. Plasma technologies for processing hydrocarbon raw and waste materials. Ekologiya i promyshlennost Rossii = Ecology and Industry of Russia. 2011;(10):18-23 (in Russ.).

4. Ganieva G.R., Timerkaev B.A. Plasmachemical method of exposure to heavy hydrocarbons. Neftekhimiya. 2016;56(6):651-654 (in Russ.). https://doi.org/10.7868/S0028242116060046

5. Pivovarova N.A. Use of wave effect in processing of the hydrocarbonic raw material (Review). Pet. Chem. 2019;59(6):559-569. https://doi.org/10.1134/S0965544119060148 [Original Russian Text: Pivovarova N.A. Use of wave effect in processing of the hydrocarbonic raw material (Review). Neftekhimiya. 2019;59(7):727-738 (in Russ.). https://doi.org/10.1134/S002824211907013X ]

6. Ivanov S.V., Vorobyev S.I., Torhovsky V.N., Gerzeliev I.M. The application of hydrodynamic cavitation to increase the efficiency of the catalytic cracking of vacuum gas oil. Tonk. Khim. Tekhnol. = Fine Chem. Technol. (Vestnik MITHT). 2013;8(3):67-69 (in Russ.).

7. Balpanova N.Zh.,TusipkhanA., Gyul'malievA.M., Ma F., Kyzkenova A.Zh., Aitbekova D.E., Khalikova Z.S., Baikenova G.G., Baikenov M.I. Kinetics of cavitation of an intermediate fraction of coal tar. Solid Fuel Chem. 2020;54(4):208-213. https://doi.org/10.3103/S0361521920040023 [Original Russian Text: Balpanova N.Zh., Tusipkhan A., Gulmaliev A.M., Ma F., Kyzkenova A.Zh., Aitbekova D.E., Khalikova Z.S., Baykenova G.G., Baykenov M.I. Kinetics of cavitation of an intermediate fraction of coal tar. Khimiya Tverdogo Topliva. 2020;(4):21-27 (in Russ.). https://doi.org/10.31857/S0023117720040027 ]

8. Ivanitskiy G.K. Numerical simulation of bubble cloud behavior in hydrodynamic cavitation. Sovremennaya nauka: issledovaniya, idei, rezul'taty, tekhnologii = Modern science: Researches, Ideas, Results, Technologies. 2011;(7):52-58 (in Russ.).

9. Bhangu S.K., Ashokkumar М. Theory of Sonochemistry. Top. Curr. Chem. 2016;374(4):56. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41061-016-0054-y

10. Avvaru B., Venkateswaran N., Uppara P., Iyengar S.B., Katti S.S. Current knowledge and potential applications of cavitation technologies for the petroleum industry. Ultrason. Sonochem. 2018;42:493-507. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ult-sonch.2017.12.010

11. Askarian M., Vatani A., Edalat M. Heavy oil upgrading via hydrodynamic cavitation in the presence of an appropriate hydrogen donor. J. Petr. Sci. Eng. 2017;151:55-61. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2017.01.037

12. Promtov М.А. Change in fractional composition of oil in hydro-pulse cavitation processing. Vestnik TGTU = Transactions TSTU. 2017;23(3):412-419 (in Russ.). https://doi.org/10.17277/vestnik.2017.03.pp.412-419

13. Tao R., Xu. X. Reducing the viscosity of crude oil by pulsed electric or magnetic field. Energy & Fuels. 2006;20(5):2046-2051. https://doi.org/10.1021/ef060072x

14. Besov A.S., Koltunov K.Yu. Brulev S.O., Kirilenko V.N., Kuz'menkov S.I., Pal'chikov E.I. Destruction of hydrocarbons in the cavitation region activated by aqueous electrolyte solutions in the presence of electric field. Tech. Phys. Lett. 2003;29(3):207-209. https://doi.org/10.1134/1.1565635 [Original Russian Text: Besov A.S., Koltunov K.Yu., Brulev S.O., Kirilenko V.N., Kuz'menkov S.I., Pal'chikov E.I. Destruction of hydrocarbons in the cavitation region activated by aqueous electrolyte solutions in the presence of electric field. Pis'ma v Zhurnal Tekhnicheskoi Fiziki. 2003;29(5):71-77 (in R

15. Torhovsky V.N., Vorobyev S.I., Egorova E.V., Antonyuk S.N., Gorodsky S.N., Ivanov S.V. Transformation of alkanes under treatment of single impulse of hydrodynamic cavitation. Behaviour of medium-chain alkanes С21-С38. Tonk. Khim. Tekhnol. = Fine Chem. Technol. (Vestnik MITHT). 2014;9(4):59-69 (in Russ.).

16. Torhovskij V.N., Vorob'ev S.I., Antonjuk S.N., Egorova E.V., Ivanov S.V., Kravchenko V.V., Gorodskij S.N. Intensification of petroleum feedstock processing by multicycle cavitation. Tekhnologii nefti i gaza = Oil and Gas Technologies. 2015;97(2):9-17 (in Russ.).

17. Skryabov G.Ya. Models of mass transfer and population with saturation mechanism. Matematicheskoe modelirovanie = Mathematical Models and Computer Simulations. 2007;19(4):27-36 (in Russ.).

18. Bertalanffy L. Basic concepts in quantitative biology of metabolism. Helgolander Wissenschaftliche Meeresuntersuchungen. 1964;9(1-4):5-37. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01610024

19. Peshnev B.V., Nikolaev A.I., Terent'eva V.B., Nikishin D.V. Mechanochemical activation of crude oil. In: Aktual'nye problemy neftehimii (Actual Problems of Petrochemistry): Collection of Abstracts of Reports of the 12th Russian Conference. Moscow: INHS RAN; 2021. P. 153-157. (in Russ.). ISBN 978-5-990-389-144

20. Ainshtein V.G., Zakharov M.K., Nosov G.A. Protsessy i apparaty khimicheskoi tekhnologii. Obshchii kurs. (Processes and Apparatuses of Chemical Technology. General Course). Moscow: BINOM. Laboratoriya znanii; 2014. 1758 p. (in Russ.). ISBN 978-5-9963-2214-5