Application of carbon nanocatalysts in upgrading heavy crude oil assisted with microwave heating.

Heavy crude oil can be upgraded to lighter oil using several techniques. However, current methods usually require high temperatures, long reaction duration, and cause serious environmental pollution. This study shows that by using carbon nanocatalysts, heavy crude oil can be efficiently upgraded to lighter oil at a relatively low temperature of about 150 °C. The temperature of crude oil was increased by microwave heating. The technique proposed in this study has the following advantages: (1) great viscosity reduction ratio over 96%, (2) short reaction time (less than 1 h), (3) low required temperature, and (4) long viscosity regression time. Because of these advantages, upgrading heavy crude oil to light oil can be cheaper and more environment-friendly.