School of Energy Resources, China University of Geosciences , Beijing 100083, China.
Nano Lett. 2014 Jun 11;14(6):3002-8. doi: 10.1021/nl500484d. Epub 2014 May 7.
Heavy crude oil can be upgraded to lighter oil using several techniques. However, current methods usually require high temperatures, long reaction duration, and cause serious environmental pollution. This study shows that by using carbon nanocatalysts, heavy crude oil can be efficiently upgraded to lighter oil at a relatively low temperature of about 150 °C. The temperature of crude oil was increased by microwave heating. The technique proposed in this study has the following advantages: (1) great viscosity reduction ratio over 96%, (2) short reaction time (less than 1 h), (3) low required temperature, and (4) long viscosity regression time. Because of these advantages, upgrading heavy crude oil to light oil can be cheaper and more environment-friendly.
重油可以通过多种技术升级为轻质油。然而，目前的方法通常需要高温、长反应时间，并会造成严重的环境污染。本研究表明，通过使用碳纳米催化剂，可以在相对较低的温度（约 150°C）下将重油高效地升级为轻质油。通过微波加热来提高原油温度。本研究提出的技术具有以下优点：（1）降黏率高达 96%以上，（2）反应时间短（小于 1 小时），（3）所需温度低，（4）黏度恢复时间长。由于这些优点，将重油升级为轻质油可以更便宜、更环保。
