A Study of the Conversion Kinetics of High-Viscosity Oil Components During Ultrasonic Treatment in the Presence of Zeolite

In this work, the kinetics of the redistribution of oils, resins, and asphaltenes in high-viscosity oil from the Karazhanbas field (Republic of Kazakhstan) were investigated. This was achieved with an ultrasonic treatment (22 kHz, 50 W) in the presence of a zeolite catalyst (1.0 wt%). The parameters of the technological process were established as a temperature range from 30 to 70 °C and an exposure time of 3 to 11 min. This allowed us to increase the oil content by 14.8% and decrease the concentration of resins by 12.2% and asphaltenes by 2.6%. Conversion schemes (“oils ↔ resins” and “resins ↔ asphaltenes”) were developed, which made it possible to determine the main direction of the reaction processes. The most rapid process is the conversion of resins to oils (k2 = 0.1148–0.1860 min−1). The process of the cracking of asphaltenes with the formation of resins (k4 = 0.1023–0.1413 min−1) ranks second in rates. Condensation reactions, including the transition of oils to resins (k1 = 0.0175–0.0252 min−1) and resins to asphaltenes (k3 = 0.0139–0.0194 min−1), occur significantly more slowly. The calculated activation energies (7.0–10.4 kJ/mol) show that the cavitation treatment of high-viscosity oil in the presence of a catalyst effectuates the processing of heavy oil with minimal energy consumption. A group composition analysis of the light and middle oil fractions demonstrated an increase in paraffinic, naphthenic, benzenic, and olefinic hydrocarbons, with a simultaneous decrease in naphthalenes and heteroatomic compounds. The results obtained confirm the effectiveness of ultrasonic–catalytic treatment for the structural cracking of high-viscosity oil and the formation of lighter hydrocarbon fractions.