Title: Designing an environmentally friendly nano-chemical dispersant/inhibitor for asphaltene in Iraqi oil-field crudes

Authors: Dana Mohammad; Hiwa Sidiq

Addresses: Department of Petroleum Engineering, College of Engineering, Knowledge University, Erbil 44001, Iraq ' Department of Petroleum Engineering, Komar University of Science and Technology, Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan Region, Iraq

Abstract: Asphaltenes, a diverse family of molecules, pose significant challenges in the oil and gas industry. The use of nano inhibitors has emerged as an effective method for controlling asphaltene deposition, offering several advantages over traditional inhibitors. The presence of asphaltene can lead to flow assurance issues throughout the crude oil production life cycle. This research paper introduces the synthesis of a novel environmentally friendly nano chemical inhibitor as a potential solution to address these challenges. Promising results have been observed with the use of green-zinc oxide nanoparticles (NPs) and green copper oxide NPs. The findings indicate that employing ZnO and CuO NPs can significantly enhance asphaltene dispersion in crude oil by approximately 23% compared to commercially available inhibitors using ADT. The study will further evaluate and compare two synthesised nanofluids with a commercial chemical. [Received: July 19, 2022; Accepted: February 13, 2024]

Keywords: asphaltene; asphaltene dispersant test; ADT; nanoparticle; inhibitors.

DOI: 10.1504/IJOGCT.2024.142073

International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Technology, 2024 Vol.36 No.4, pp.429 - 448

Accepted: 13 Feb 2024
Published online: 07 Oct 2024 *

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