Low-temperature isothermal oxidation of crude oil

In this work, the low-temperature oxidation (LTO) characteristics of different API gravity crude oils, involving one light, one medium, and one heavy, are studied comprehensively from the aspects of effluent gas, oxidized oil, and pressure drop. The results reveal that heavy oil exhibits faster LTO reaction rate and stronger O₂ consumption capability compared with lighter ones. There are a certain amount of carbonaceous deposits in oxidized oils and the carbonation progress of heavy oil is brought to a deeper degree. The pressure drop rule of oil samples is speculated to be the consequence of “skin effect” and crude oil with more heavy species shows higher oxidation activity, which contributes to an improved understanding about the LTO mechanism from the molecular perspective and needs further research.