Removal of petroleum asphaltenes by improved activity of NiO nanoparticles supported on green AlPO-5 zeolite: Process optimization and adsorption isotherm

Abstract

Asphaltenes removal enhances the quality of the oil and facilitates the processing. In the present work, a NiO/AlPO-5 nanocomposite using green TMG was synthesized as a particular adsorbent for asphaltenes removal. NiO/AlPO-5 was characterized using FTIR, BET, TEM, and XRD techniques. The Response Surface Method was used to optimize three important independent operating parameters, including D/C₀ [(g)_adsorbent/(mg/L)_initial] (X₁), initial pH (X₂) and temperature (X₃), to remove asphaltenes by the NiO/AlPO-5 nanocomposites in a model oil solution. Applying a CCD, a quadratic mathematical model formula was obtained to calculate asphaltene removal. The results revealed that the model showed valid agreement with the experimental results, with R² = 0.94. The optimum values for D/C₀, pH as well as temperature would be 0.08 [g/(mg/L)], 3.39 and 298 K, respectively. It was revealed that the optimal asphaltenes removal was 83.73% at the optimum point. The isothermal models of Langmuir and Freundlich represented the asphaltenes adsorption on the new adsorbent with acceptable accuracy.

Keywords

Asphaltene / Removal / Nanocomposite / Optimization / Adsorption

References

[1] M. Safari, M. Mohammadi, M. Sedighi, Effect of neglecting geothermal gradient on calculated oil recovery, J. Appl. Geophys. 138 (2017) 33-39.

[2] M. Mohammadi, M. Sedighi, H. Hashemi Kiasari, S.M. Hosseini, Genetic algorithm development for prediction of modified Langmuir isotherm parameters of asphaltene adsorption onto metal surfaces: using novel quartz crystal nanobalance, J. Dispersion Sci. Technol. 36 (3) (2015) 384-392.

[3] M. Mohammadi, M. Sedighi, Modification of Langmuir isotherm for the adsorption of asphaltene or resin onto calcite mineral surface: comparison of linear and nonlinear methods, Protect. Met. Phys. Chem. Surface 49 (4) (2013) 460-470.

[4] H. Lei, S. Pingping, J. Ying, Y. Jigen, L. Shi, B. Aifang, Prediction of asphaltene precipitation during CO₂ injection, Petrol. Explor. Dev. 37 (3) (2010) 349-353.

[5] M. Madhi, R. Kharrat, T. Hamoule, Screening of inhibitors for remediation of asphaltene deposits: experimental and modeling study, Petroleum 4 (2) (2018) 168-177.

[6] M.M. Shadman, A.H.S. Dehaghani, M.H. Badizad, How much do you know about the methods for determining onset of asphaltene precipitation? Petroleum 3 (3) (2017) 287-291.

[7] K. Xie, K. Karan, Kinetics and thermodynamics of asphaltene adsorption on metal surfaces: a preliminary study, Energy Fuel. 19 (4) (2005) 1252-1260.

[8] W. Abdallah, S. Taylor,Surface characterization of adsorbed asphaltene on a stainless steel surface, Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. Sect. B Beam Interact. Mater. Atoms 258 (1) (2007) 213-217.

[9] M. Mohammadi, M.J. Ameri Shahrabi, M. Sedighi, Comparative study of linearized and non-linearized modified Langmuir isotherm models on adsorption of asphaltene onto mineral surfaces, Surf. Eng. Appl. Electrochem. 48 (3) (2012) 234-243.

[10] M. Mohammadi, M. Dadvar, B. Dabir, TiO 2/SiO 2 nanofluids as novel inhibitors for the stability of asphaltene particles in crude oil: mechanistic understanding, screening, modeling, and optimization, J. Mol. Liq. 238 (2017) 326-340.

[11] M. Mohammadi, M. Dadvar, B. Dabir, Application of response surface methodology for optimization of the stability of asphaltene particles in crude oil by TiO₂/SiO2 nanofluids under static and dynamic conditions, J. Dispersion Sci. Technol. 39 (3) (2018) 431-442.

[12] N.N. Nassar, A. Hassan, P. Pereira-Almao, Application of nanotechnology for heavy oil upgrading: catalytic steam gasification/cracking of asphaltenes, Energy Fuel. 25 (4) (2011) 1566-1570.

[13] S. Betancur, J.C. Carmona, N.N. Nassar, C.A. Franco, F.B. Cortés, Role of particle size and surface acidity of silica gel nanoparticles in inhibition of formation damage by asphaltene in oil reservoirs, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 55 (21) (2016) 6122-6132.

[14] H. Alboudwarej, D. Pole, W.Y. Svrcek, H.W. Yarranton, Adsorption of asphaltenes on metals, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 44 (15) (2005) 5585-5592.

[15] D. Dudášová, A. Silset, J. Sjöblom, Quartz crystal microbalance monitoring of asphaltene adsorption/deposition, J. Dispersion Sci. Technol. 29 (1) (2008) 139-146.

[16] B.J.A. Tarboush, M.M. Husein, Dispersed Fe2O3 nanoparticles preparation in heavy oil and their uptake of asphaltenes, Fuel Process. Technol. 133 (2015) 120-127.

[17] R. Hasannejada, P. Pourafshary, A. Vatani, A. Sameni, Application of silica nanofluid to control initiation of fines migration, Petrol. Explor. Dev. 44 (5) (2017) 850-859.

[18] M. Mohammadi, M. Safari, M. Ghasemi, A. Daryasafar, M. Sedighi, Asphaltene adsorption using green nanocomposites: experimental study and adaptive neurofuzzy interference system modeling, J. Pet. Sci. Eng. 177 (2019) 1103-1113.

[19] C. Negin, S. Ali, Q. Xie, Application of nanotechnology for enhancing oil recovery-A review, Petroleum 2 (4) (2016) 324-333.

[20] N.N. Nassar, A. Hassan, P. Pereira-Almao, Metal oxide nanoparticles for asphaltene adsorption and oxidation, Energy Fuel. 25 (3) (2011) 1017-1023.

[21] N.N. Marei, N.N. Nassar, G. Vitale, A. Hassan, M.J.P. Zurita, Effects of the size of NiO nanoparticles on the catalytic oxidation of Quinolin-65 as an asphaltene model compound, Fuel 207 (2017) 423-437.

[22] G. Cai, C. Gu, J. Zhang, P. Liu, X. Wang, Y. You, J. Tu, Ultra fast electrochromic switching of nanostructured NiO films electrodeposited from choline chloride-based ionic liquid, Electrochim. Acta 87 (2013) 341-347.

[23] A. Tahmasian, A. Morsali, Ultrasonic synthesis of a 3D Ni (II) Metal-organic framework at ambient temperature and pressure: new precursor for synthesis of nickel (II) oxide nano-particles, Inorg. Chim. Acta 387 (2012) 327-331.

[24] Z. Zhu, Y. Zhang, Y. Zhang, H. Liu, C. Zhu, Y. Wu, PEG-directed microwave-assisted hydrothermal synthesis of spherical α-Ni (OH) 2 and NiO architectures, Ceram. Int. 39 (3) (2013) 2567-2573.

[25] M. Ghasemi, W.R.W. Daud, M. Rahimnejad, M. Rezayi, A. Fatemi, Y. Jafari, M.R. Somalu, A. Manzour, Copper-phthalocyanine and nickel nanoparticles as novel cathode catalysts in microbial fuel cells, Int. J. Hydrogen Energy 38 (22) (2013) 9533-9540.

[26] M. Sedighi, M. Ghasemi, M. Sadeqzadeh, M. Hadi, Thorough study of the effect of metal-incorporated SAPO-34 molecular sieves on catalytic performances in MTO process, Powder Technol. 291 (2016) 131-139.

[27] X. Yang, T. Lu, C. Chen, L. Zhou, F. Wang, Y. Su, J. Xu, Synthesis of hierarchical AlPO-n molecular sieves templated by saccharides, Microporous Mesoporous Mater. 144 (1) (2011) 176-182.

[28] D.-g. Cheng, X. Zhao, F. Chen, X. Zhan, Effect of preparation method on iron-containing AlPO-5 for selective catalytic reduction of N 2 O with methane in the presence of steam, Catal. Commun. 10 (10) (2009) 1450-1453.

[29] B. Feng, J. Li, X. Zhu, Q. Guo, W. Zhang, G. Wen, Z. Zhang, L. Gu, Z. Yang, Q. Zhang,The state of iron sites in the calcined FeAlPO 4-5 and its tuning to the property of microporous AlPO 4-5 molecular sieve, Catal. Today 263 (2016) 91-97.

[30] A. Huang, J. Caro, Highly oriented, neutral and cation-free AlPO 4 LTA: from a seed crystal monolayer to a molecular sieve membrane, Chem. Commun. 47 (14) (2011) 4201-4203.

[31] F. Marlow, D. Demuth, G. Stucky, F. Schüth, Polarized IR spectra of p-nitroanilineloaded AlPO4-5 single crystals, J. Phys. Chem. 99 (4) (1995) 1306-1310.

[32] S. Mintova, S. Mo, T. Bein, Nanosized AlPO4-5 molecular sieves and ultrathin films prepared by microwave synthesis, Chem. Mater. 10 (12) (1998) 4030-4036.

[33] G. Majano, K. Raltchev, A. Vicente, S. Mintova,High-yield nanosized (Si) AlPO-41 using ethanol polarity equalization and co-templating synthesis approach, Nanoscal-7 (13) (2015) 5787-5793.

[34] M. Sedighi, H. Bahrami, J.T. Darian, Thorough investigation of varying template combinations on SAPO-34 synthesis, catalytic activity and stability in the methanol conversion to light olefin, RSC Adv. 4 (91) (2014) 49762-49769.

[35] M. Sedighi, J. Towfighi, Methanol conversion over SAPO-34 catalysts; Systematic study of temperature, space-time, and initial gel composition on product distribution and stability, Fuel 153 (2015) 382-392.

[36] J.T. Wong, E.P. Ng, F. Adam, Microscopic investigation of nanocrystalline zeolite L synthesized from rice husk ash, J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 95 (2) (2012) 805-808.

[37] X. Xu, J. Zhai, Y. Chen, I. Li, H. Chen, S. Ruan, Z. Tang, Synthesis of large single crystals of AlPO-LTA by using n-Propylamine as structure directing agent, J. Cryst. Growth 407 (2014) 1-5.

[38] M. Sedighi, M. Ghasemi, A. Jahangiri, Catalytic performance of CeAPSO-34 molecular sieve with various cerium content for methanol conversion to olefin, Korean J. Chem. Eng. 34 (4) (2017) 997-1003.

[39] H. Lee, S.I. Zones, M.E. Davis, A combustion-free methodology for synthesizing zeolites and zeolite-like materials, Nature 425 (6956) (2003) 385.

[40] J. Wang, J. Song, C. Yin, Y. Ji, Y. Zou, F.-S. Xiao, Tetramethylguanidine-templated synthesis of aluminophosphate-based microporous crystals with AFI-type structure, Microporous Mesoporous Mater. 117 (3) (2009) 561-569.

[41] A International, Standard Test Method for Determination of Asphaltenes (Heptane Insolubles) in Crude Petroleum and Petroleum Products IP143/01 ASTM D6560, ASTM International West, Conshohocken, PA, 2005.

[42] A.W. Marczewski, M. Szymula, Adsorption of asphaltenes from toluene on mineral surface, Colloid. Surf. Physicochem. Eng. Asp. 208 (1) (2002) 259-266.

[43] M.M. Lakouraj, R.-S. Norouzian, S. Balo, Preparation and cationic dye adsorption of novel Fe3O4 supermagnetic/thiacalix [4] arene tetrasulfonate self-doped/polyaniline nanocomposite: kinetics, isotherms, and thermodynamic study, J. Chem. Eng. Data 60 (8) (2015) 2262-2272.

[44] M. Sedighi, M. Mohammadi, Application of green novel NiO/ZSM-5 for removal of lead and mercury ions from aqueous solution: investigation of adsorption parameters, J. Water Environ. Nanotechnol. 3 (4) (2018) 301-310.

[45] M. Sedighi, M. Mohammadi, M. Sedighi, Green SAPO-5 supported NiO nanoparticles as a novel adsorbent for removal of petroleum asphaltenes: financial assessment, J. Pet. Sci. Eng. 171 (2018) 1433-1442.

[46] N. Wayne, The Chemistry of Guanidine, American Cyanamid Co, 1950, pp. 1-36.

[47] E.M. FLANIGEN, R.W. GROSE, Phosphorus Substitution in Zeolite Frameworks, ACS Publications 1971, Chapter 6, pp 76-101.

[48] M. Nouri, M. Sedighi, M. Ghasemi, M. Mohammadi, Evaluation of solvent dearomatization effect in heavy feedstock thermal cracking to light olefin: an optimization study, Korean J. Chem. Eng. 30 (9) (2013) 1700-1709.

[49] M. Sedighi, M. Ghasemi, M. Mohammadi, S.H. Hassan, A novel application of a neuro-fuzzy computational technique in modeling of thermal cracking of heavy feedstock to light olefin, RSC Adv. 4 (54) (2014) 28390-28399.

[50] M. Sedighi, S.A. Aljlil, M.D. Alsubei, M. Ghasemi, M. Mohammadi, Performance optimisation of microbial fuel cell for wastewater treatment and sustainable clean energy generation using response surface methodology, Alexandria Eng. J. 57 (4) (2018) 4243-4253.

[51] M. Sedighi, M. Mohammadi, M. Sedighi, M. Ghasemi, Biobased cadaverine as a green template in the synthesis of NiO/ZSM-5 nanocomposites for removal of petroleum asphaltenes: financial analysis, isotherms, and kinetics study, Energy Fuel. 32 (7) (2018) 7412-7422.

[52] A. Vattani, M. Mohammadi, M. Sedighi, M. Ghasemi, Modeling of Steam Pyrolysis of Heavy Liquid Hydrocarbon to Light Olefin, Using Neuro-Fuzzy Computational Technique, The 8th International Chemical Engineering Congress & Exhibition (IChEC 2014), Kish, Iran, 2014.

[53] H. Ilbeygi, A. Mayahi, A. Ismail, M. Nasef, J. Jaafar, M. Ghasemi, T. Matsuura, S. Zaidi, Transport properties of SPEEK nanocomposite proton conducting membranes: optimization of additives content by response surface methodology, J. Taiwan Inst. Chem. Eng. 45 (5) (2014) 2265-2279.

[54] H.W. Yarranton, H. Alboudwarej, R. Jakher, Investigation of asphaltene association with vapor pressure osmometry and interfacial tension measurements, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 39 (8) (2000) 2916-2924.

[55] N.N. Nassar, Asphaltene adsorption onto alumina nanoparticles: kinetics and thermodynamic studies, Energy Fuel. 24 (8) (2010) 4116-4122.

[56] M. Mohammadi, S.A. Mousavi-Dehghani, M.J.A. Shahrabi, Experimental investigation of asphaltene adsorption on different mineral surfaces and effect of various parameters on the adsorption rate:study of adsorption with UV spectroscopy, Abstracts of Papers of the American Chemical Society, American Chemical Soc., Washington DC, 20122012.

[57] S.A. Mousavi-Dehghani, M. Mohammadi, A study of asphaltene adsorption manner on reservoir rock surfaces with application of Langmuir isotherm modification, Petrol. Res. 23 (76) (2014) 154-167.

[58] V. Alimohammadi, M. Sedighi, E. Jabbari, Experimental study on efficient removal of total iron from wastewater using magnetic-modified multi-walled carbon nanotubes, Ecol. Eng. 102 (2017) 90-97.

[59] M. Mohammadi, M. Sedighi, V. Alimohammadi, Modeling and optimization of Nitrate and total Iron removal from wastewater by TiO₂/SiO2 nanocomposites, Int. J. Nano Dimens. (IJND) 10 (2) (2019) 195-208.

[60] D.R. Legates, G.J. McCabe, Evaluating the use of “goodness‐of‐fit” measures in hydrologic and hydroclimatic model validation, Water Resour. Res. 35 (1) (1999) 233-241.