Evaluation of the Performance of Nanostructured Metal Oxides of Cobalt and Iron to Prevent the Deposition of Heavy Crude Oil’s Asphaltene

This study aims to investigate a new method of combining ultrasonic waves with different frequencies and magnetic nanoparticles in reducing the asphaltene content and kinematic viscosity of heavy oil. In the first section, in order to upgrade heavy oil, the oil was subjected to ultrasonic waves with different frequencies at constant temperature of 20 °C. In the next section, the temperature of experiment and the layout of 1.7 MHz piezoelectric transducers were optimized, in dual frequency radiation. In the final section, in presence of fixed magnetic field, the effect of combining of ultrasonic irradiation in dual-frequency mode with Co2O3 and magnetic γ-Fe2O3 nanoparticles on the kinematic viscosity and asphaltene content of the heavy crude oil was studied. The experimental optimizations cleared that in the presence of magnetic field and ultrasonic waves irradiation with dual frequency, the γ-Fe2O3 magnetic nanoparticle had a better performance than Co2O3 nanoparticle, so that at the optimum concentration (0.4 wt.%), the asphaltene content and kinematic viscosity were significantly declined to 5.01 wt.% and to 7.1 cSt  respectively.