Thermolysis helps rid petroleum of viscous components

A President of Russia grant has been obtained by the In-Situ Combustion Lab.

The full title of the grant application is "Transformations of resinous-asphaltene substances of high-viscosity oils and natural bitumen in hydrothermal-catalytic processes."

Project head Irek Mukhamatdinov shares, "My project is dedicated to researching the transformations of high-molecular components of heavy oils under thermal catalysis. The use of catalysts in-situ gives way to the destruction of asphalt-resin compounds which influence the viscosity of oil the most. So, the fractioning of asphaltenes helps determine some mechanisms of catalytic activity to achieve efficiency and selectiveness in reactions with the destruction of high-molecular components of petroleum. Our current research aims to analyze the composition of hydrocarbon and heteroatomic structural elements in the molecules of resins and asphaltenes and to find the mechanisms of catalytic activity during in-situ refining of heavy oils."

Notably, the In-Situ Combustion Lab was already supported by the Grant Foundation of the President of Russia in 2018. Senior Research Associate Sergey Sitnov studied the in-situ use of colloid solutions of nanosized metal oxides.

Provided by Kazan Federal University