Materials and Equipment

Materials and Equipment

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Methodology

Materials and Equipment

Equipment:

  1. Varian GC-3800 simulated distillation gas chromatograph (Sim-Dist GC)
  2. Stanhope-Seta pour point apparatus
  3. PerkinElmer differential scanning calorimeter
  4. Water bath

Software:

  1. XXXX-90
  2. YYY

Chemicals:

Polymer Chemicals

  • Poly(methyl methacrylate), or PMMA (VH and MD grades, 99.5% purity)
  • Poly(ethylene-co-vinyl acetate) (EVA) with a vinyl acetate content of 18%, 25%,33%, and 40%
  • poly(ethylene-co-butyl acrylate -co-maleic anhydride), or PEBAMA (99.9% purity)
  • poly(ethylene-co-vinyl acetate)-graft-maleic anhydride, or EVAGMA (99.9% purity)
  • poly(maleic anhydride-alt-1-octadecane), or PMAO (99.9% purity)
  • poly(lauryl methacrylate-co-ethylene glycol), or PLEGMA (99.9% purity)
  • Poly(octadecyl methacrylate), or POMA (99.9% purity)

Solvents

  • n-pentane 99.5% purity
  • n-hexane 99.5% purity
  • n-heptane 99.5% purity
  • Toluene, AR, 2.5 L
  • Methanol, AR, 2.5 L
  • Acetone, AR, 2.5 L
  • Carbon disulphide, synthesis, 1 L

Experimental Procedures

  1. Analysis of crude oil composition
  1. Crude oil composition: The hydrocarbons of the crude oil will be identified by using a varian GC-3800 simulation distillation gas chromatograph (Sim-Dist GC).
  2. Fractionation of crude oil: The crude oil will be separated into four major fractions: saturates, asphaltenes, resins, and aromatics. The separation procedure flow diagram is shown below.

Figure 1 Separation procedure flow diagram.

  1. Characteristics of crude oil
  1. Pour point testing: The pour point of crude oil will be tested following ASTM D97 by using Stanhope-Seta pour-point apparatus.
  2. Density testing: The density of the crude oil will be measured by using ASTM D1298-85.
  3. Wax Appearance Temperature (WAT) and wax dissolution temperature (WDT): (WAT during cooling) and WDT (during heating) will be measured by using a PerkinElmer differential scanning calorimeter and indium as the standard reference.
  1. Effect of wax inhibitor

The influence of wax inhibitor on pour point of Thai crude oil will be studied by varying concentrations and types of additive.

Procedure

  1. A desired amount of additive and small amount of crude oil are added to a pour point test tube.
  2. The mixture is heated by an oil bath to a certain temperature to dissolve the additive into the crude oil.
  3. More crude oil is added to the mixture until the total weight is 25.0 g
  4. The mixture is heated again to obtain an homogeneous solution.
  5. The pour point of the homogeneous solution is then measured.
  1. Stability studies

The stability of the selected additive in the crude oil will be tested by storing at room temperature for 1 month. The pour point will be tested daily.

Notes:

Again, for this section, it is an extremely good idea to make a detailed outline before you start writing, especially for the procedures section.

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