Alkyl fumarate copolymers as pour point depressants of waxy crude oils

ELIAS MELLUSO; TAMARA G. OBERTI; FERNANDO AMARILLA; M. SUSANA CORTIZO; PABLO J. PERUZZO

Mar del Plata

Simposio; XVI Simposio lationamericano de polimeros; 2018

Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata

The pour point of a fuel or oil is the lowest temperature at which it will pour when cooled under defined conditions. In general, the pour point is indicative of the amount of wax in an oil. At low temperatures, the wax tends to separate, trapping a substantial amount of oil, inhibiting oil flow and hindering lubrication. So pour point depressants are added, allowing mineral oils to function efficiently at low temperatures. By altering the wax crystal size, theyinhibit lateral crystal growth and keep the bulk oil in a liquid state. Most pour point depressants are polymeric organic compounds containing a long aliphatic portion that co-crystallizes with the wax. This work presents the synthesis of new copolymers based on alkyl fumarates (AF) and vinyl benzoate (VB) or styrene (St)as comonomers to test as pour point depressants.