ACID REMOVAL FROM CRUDE OILS BY CATALYTIC ESTERIFICATION NAPHTHENIC ACID CATALIZE BY Mg/Al HYDROTALCITE

Publication date: Available online 6 October 2019Source: Catalysis TodayAuthor(s): Nicolás Redondo, Maria L. Dieuzeide, Norma AmadeoAbstractThe presence of relatively high levels of naphthenic acids in crude oil may cause serious corrosion problem at temperature between 200 °C and 400 °C. One of the viable processes for decreasing acidity is the esterification of the present acids using an alcohol such as methanol. Therefore, the aim of this work is to develop a solid catalyst for the esterification reaction of 3-cyclopentylpropionic acid representative of the naphthenic acids.The esterification reaction is carried out at 80 °C, 3.5 kg/cm2 of pressure in a mechanically stirred batch reactor, using Mg-Al hydrotalcite (Mg/Al = 4) with different activation treatments as catalyst. These solids are characterized by N2 sorptometry and X ray diffraction. The higher concentration of Bronsted basic sites present in uncalcined hydrotalcite would explain the satisfactory performance obtained. TAN decreased 90% by operating at a temperature as low as 80 °C after 60 minutes of reaction. The catalytic activity is evaluated at different reaction conditions such as, mass of catalyst, stirring speed and reaction temperature. A kinetic study for heterogeneous esterification of 3-cyclopentylpropionic acid with methanol was performed.Graphical abstract
Source: Catalysis Today - Category: Chemistry Source Type: research
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