Synthesis of Alkyl Aliphatic Hydrazine and Application in Crude Oil as Flow Improvers

In this paper, alkyl aliphatic hydrazine, which is different from traditional polymer fluidity improver, was synthesized from aliphatic hydrazine and cetane bromide, and evaluated as a pour point and viscosity-reducer depressant for crude oil. The evaluation results showed that alkyl aliphatic hydrazone fully reduced the pour point and viscosity of crude oil with the increase of crude oil fluidity. The viscosity reduction rate of crude oil in Jinghe oilfield was 79.6%, and the pour point was reduced by about 11.3 °C. The viscosity reduction rate of crude oil in Xinjiang Oilfield was 74.7%, and the pour point was reduced by 8.0 °C. The long alkyl chain is beneficial to the eutectic of wax in crude oil, and the polar group inhibits the crystal growth, resulting in the decrease of pour point and viscosity. The waste oil is fully recycled into oilfield chemicals.

Review of Oilfield Chemicals Used in Oil and Gas Industry

The petroleum industry includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transportation and marketing of natural gas, crude oil and refined petroleum products. The oil industry demands more sophisticated methods for the exploitation of petroleum. As a result, the use of oil field chemicals is becoming increasingly important and has received much attention in recent years due to the vast role they play in the recovery of hydrocarbons which has enormous commercial benefits. The three main sectors of the petroleum industry are Upstream, Midstream and Downstream. The Upstream deals with exploration and the subsequent production (drilling of exploration wells to recover oil and gas). In the Midstream sector, petroleum produced is transported through pipelines as natural gas, crude oil, and natural gas liquids. Downstream sector is basically involved in the processing of the raw materials obtained from the Upstream sector. The operations comprises of refining of crude oil, processing and purifying of natural gas. Oil field chemicals offers exceptional applications in these sectors with wide range of applications in operations such as improved oil recovery, drilling optimization, corrosion protection, mud loss prevention, drilling fluid stabilization in high pressure and high temperature environment, and many others. Application of a wide range of oilfield chemicals is therefore essential to rectify issues and concerns which may arise from oil and gas operational activities. This review intends to highlight some of the oil field chemicals and their positive applications in the oil and gas Industries.

Determination of Organic Chloride Content in the Specialty Oilfield Chemicals Used in the Crude Oil Extraction, Transportation and Refining by X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry

The organic chloride content in crude oil being among the most crucial quality characteristics of the crude is strictly controlled. The presence of organic chlorides in crude oil greatly endangers the oil refineries since it causes a severe equipment corrosion. Specialty oilfield chemicals, which are widely used in the crude oil extraction, transportation, refining and storage, could be a source of the crude oil contamination with organic chlorides. As a consequence, the organic chloride content determination in the chemicals is required. It was demonstrated that the organic chloride content in the specialty oilfield chemicals can be determined by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF) using an appropriate specimen preparation procedure. Two specimen preparation procedures, i.e. the solvent extraction and the distillation of a specimen mixed with the crude oil or its model, were tested. It was established that an organic chloride content can be successfully determined in a broad range of the specialty oilfield chemicals by the XRF technique when applying these specimen preparation procedures. The investigation of four types of the specialty oilfield chemicals confirmed that the specimen preparation procedure, involving a solvent extraction of organic chlorides from the chemicals into isooctane, is more comprehensive than the distillation procedure since it is free from the limitations associated with the use of high temperatures.

Mitotic Studies and Genotoxic Assessment of Edible Nigerian Aroids to Selected Oilfield Chemicals

The genotoxic potentials of two water-based oilfield chemicals on edible aroids were investigated. Five accessions of Colocasia eculenta and three accessions of Xanthosoma maffafa were exposed to graded concentrations of sodium azide and potassium chromate; while the accessions without any chemical additive were used as controls. Results revealed that the peak periods of cell division were recorded between 12:00 noon to 4:00 pm in both the treated and control accessions. Metaphase cells increased after prophase cells and continued mostly between 10.00 am and 4.00 pm. Variations observed with the treatments included: shifts of metaphase peaks, high percentages of prophase cells, high intensity of cytoplasmic staining and induction of micronuclei among others. Sodium azide was observed to be a stronger genotoxic substance than potassium chromate. Accession NCe 001 had the highest survival rate while NCe 002 recorded the least rate of survival. Statistical evidence revealed that the difference in various mitotic stages and time of harvest between different accessions and treatments was significant at both 5% and 1%. The study provides useful information that would be used to promote cytogenetic researches as well as the exploitation and improvement of this neglected and underexploited economic plant.