Catalytic Decarboxylation of Petroleum Acids from High Acid Crude Oils over Solid Acid Catalysts

The presence of petroleum acids in crude oils is a key problem in refineries due to corrosion to industrial units. To economically and effectively remove the petroleum acids from high acid crude oils is an urgent project. A theoretical and experimental study to develop a catalytic decarboxylation process to remove petroleum acids from high acid crude oils was conducted. By using the molecular simulation technology, a solid acid catalyst was constructed for removing petroleum acids. The experimental results indicated that the acid removal rate of a high acid crude oil with a total acid number (TAN) of 12.52 over the solid acid catalyst of MLC500 was up to 97% at a volume space velocity of 8 h −1, ratio of catalyst to oil of 7.5, and temperature of 460 °C in the fixed fluid bed reactor.