IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v17y2024i6p1299-d1353488.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Investigation of the Behavior of Hydrocarbons during Crude Oil Fouling by High-Resolution Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry

Author

Listed:
  • Aikaterini Kondyli

    (Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung, Kaiser-Wilhelm-Platz 1, 45470 Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany)

  • Wolfgang Schrader

    (Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung, Kaiser-Wilhelm-Platz 1, 45470 Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany)

Abstract

Crude oil is probably the most complex natural chemical mixture processed in various ways to make fuel and fine chemicals among a wide range of products in industrial processing. The conditions of those industrial processes often include high temperatures, which often cause undesired chemical reactions. One of those reaction sequences is crude oil fouling, which finally results in the formation of undesired solid deposits of carbon material, a calamity that costs millions of dollars worldwide each year and produces toxic waste. However, the compounds involved in fouling, let alone the underlying reaction mechanisms, are not understood to date. Here, in order to investigate chemical fouling, the process was simulated under laboratory conditions, focusing on hydrocarbons as the main constituents of crude oil. The results demonstrate large differences within the hydrocarbon class of compounds before and after thermal treatment, even for a very light crude oil fraction, which initially does not contain any bigger or heavier compounds. Here, the fouling reaction is simulated and studied on the molecular level using high-resolution mass spectrometry. After thermal treatment, new, higher molecular weight hydrocarbon compounds with high aromaticity were detected. Results indicate that a radical reaction leads to the formation of larger and more aromatic compounds. The findings were verified by the use of a model hydrocarbon compound to study the mechanism.

Suggested Citation

  • Aikaterini Kondyli & Wolfgang Schrader, 2024. "Investigation of the Behavior of Hydrocarbons during Crude Oil Fouling by High-Resolution Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(6), pages 1-12, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:6:p:1299-:d:1353488
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/6/1299/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/6/1299/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:6:p:1299-:d:1353488. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.