Isolation and characterization of neutral, acid and basic fractions from a heavy crude oil and its natural surfactants

Isolation and characterization of neutral, acid and basic fractions from a heavy crude oil and its natural surfactants

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Different fractions of a heavy crude oil supported in neutral, acid and basic alumina, were isolated by Soxhlet extraction using solvent such as Bosch HRG6769S6B Serie 8 Single Built-in Electric Oven With Pyrolytic acetonitrile, methanol, n-heptane, toluene and tetrahydrofuran.The natural surfactants (SN) of the neutral fractions were extracted using mixtures of oil and water at different pH.The extracted fractions and isolated SN were characterized using UV-VIS and IR spectroscopy, tensiometry and gel permeation King Panel Headboard chromatography.The results indicate that the largest SN amount is obtained at pH 8 with a water/oil 30:70 ratio.

Using tetrahydrofuran it was possible to extract the SN retained in the acid and basic alumina with a recovery between 5 and 7%, i.e.values similar to those obtained by liquid-liquid extraction (between 3 and 4%).