A PILOT STUDY OF HYDRODYNAMIC CAVITATION TECHNIQUE FOR CRACKING OF HEAVY CRUDE AND PETROLEUM RESIDUE

Generally, cracking of the petroleum residue to valuable product is done through the catalytic and thermal cracking using very high temperature and pressure. In the present work a pilotstudy was conducted by Azar Energy Co. using the hydrodynamic cavitation technique for cracking of petroleum residue. Two case studies were conducted on residues and results were tabulated. Comparing results showed that cavitation method with mild operating condition, can be replaced with high energy consuming methods. Moreover significant reduction in the Sulfur content, heavy metals and acid number was observed.

Keywords:

Cavitation , Cracking , bubble , Experimental , pilot