Cu-BDC and Cu₂O Derived from Cu-BDC for the Removal and Oxidation of Asphaltenes: A Comparative Study

Asphaltenes have been associated with a number of problems in the petroleum industry with regard to the storage, exploration, and transportation of petroleum crude. In the current work, Copper-BenzeneDiCarboxylic acid (Cu-BDC) and Cu-BDC derived metal oxide has been used in the removal and oxidation of the asphaltenes. The MOF derived metal oxide was confirmed to be Cu₂O. Though adsorption of asphaltenes followed a Langmuir adsorption isotherm in both cases, Cu-BDC was superior to Cu₂O with an adsorption capacity four times that of the adsorption capacity of Cu₂O. Also, the kinetic studies showed that the adsorption kinetics followed pseudo second order adsorption kinetics in both cases. From the oxidation studies, it was found that Cu-BDC was unstable beyond 350 °C and had no role in catalyzing the oxidation reaction. The Cu₂O, however, was successful at catalyzing the asphaltene oxidation reaction and a reduction of 50 °C in oxidation temperature was observed. Hence comparing Cu-BDC with Cu₂O, MOF was successful in the adsorption reaction but the MOF derived metal oxide had the upper hand in the oxidation reaction.