Use of a Novel Natural Surfactant for Improving Flowability of Indian Heavy Crude Oil

摘要

Application of novel natural surfactant for enhancing rheological properties including pour point, viscosity, thixotropic behavior, yield stress, and interfacial tension of Indian heavy crude oil was investigated. The surfactant was prepared in the laboratory using extracts from Sapindus mukorossi (soapnut) plant. Viscosity reduced by 80%, thixotropic area by 94.64%, yield stress by 98%, and interfacial tension by 97%. The study also provides the possible mechanism behind improvement of the rheological properties through FTIR spectroscopic analyses. They showed lowering of concentration of C=O andC=C groups in surfactant-crude mixture indicating the effectiveness of the surfactant.