Dispersing Properties of Heavy Crude Oil according to Dispersant Structures

Heavy oil production is receiving significant attention because of increased demands for thermal power generation systems of the diesel engine and boilers. However, asphaltene, which is a heavy oil components (6-8 wt%), reduces the heat efficiency of the fuels owing to its agglomerated sludge of asphaltene during the burning process. Therefore, for hassle-free operation, we should develop asphaltene dispersants to suppress the formation of the sludge. We prepare variable salt-type polymeric dispersants using poly(isobutenyl succinic anhydride) and poly(amine) through both condensation esterification and acid-base neutralization reactions, which we subsequently evaluate for dispersing performance, using Turbiscan measurement. Total acid number (TAN) and total base number (TBN) of 75Lec-25SynDis.2 composed of lecithin and the prepared polymeric salt having the ratio of 3 : 1 are 18.9 and 33.7 mg KOH/g, respectively, which are comparable to those of the commercial dispersants (15.8 and 26.5 mg KOH/g). We determine the initial turbidity observed for 15 min of the polymeric dispersant was determined with transmittance (%), which can be calculated to separability number (SN). The SN value of 75Lec-25SynDis.2 is close to zero, which is superior to that of commercial dispersants and lecithin (0.015 and 0.017).