Synthesis of polymeric additives based on itaconic acid and their evaluation as pour point depressants for lube oil in relation to rheological flow properties

Modification of the wax crystal habit practical interest during transportation processing of lube oil at low temperature. Various pour point depressant (PPD) additives can facilitate this modification by different mechanisms. Comb shaped polymer additives are known to depress the pour point of lube oil by providing different nucleation sites for the precipitation of wax. This paper describes performance based design, synthesis, characterization and evaluation of comb shaped polymeric additives. Alkyl itaconates were prepared by the esterification of itaconic acid with different saturated alcohols C16/C18/NAFOL 20+A (Cav = 20)/NAFOL 1822 B (Cav = 22). The four synthesized monomers were characterized and copolymerized with styrene in different molar ratios. All the products were characterized by infra-red (FTIR), Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Spectroscopy and Gel permeation chromatography (GPC). Rheological properties of lube oil (with and without additives) were studied by Brookfield viscometer. In this study the additives based on itaconic acid were evaluated as good PPD and rheology modifiers

Synthesis of phthalimide and succinimide copolymers and their evaluation as flow improvers for an Egyptian waxy crude oil

This paper describes the synthesis, characterization and performance evaluation of three phthalimide and three succinimide copolymers of vinyl acetate, styrene and methyl methacrylate as flow improvers for waxy crude oil. The prepared copolymers were named as; (VA)Ph; (St)Ph; (MMA)Ph; (VA)S; (St)S and (MMA)S. These copolymers were characterized by FTIR and 1H NMR spectroscopy. The molecular weights and nitrogen content of these copolymers were determined by using the GPC technique and the Kjeldhal method, respectively. The rheological properties of crude oil (with and without additives) were studied. From the obtained results, it was remarked that the styrene phthalimide copolymer (St)Ph exhibited the maximum pour point depression (ΔPP500 ppm = 30). The results of the rheological flow properties showed that the Bingham yield values (τβ) for crude oil without additives at 15, 27 and 39 °C were 0.286, 0.131 and 0.075 Pa respectively, whereas the τβ for the treated crude oil by the styrene phthalimide (St)Ph copolymer were 0.021, 0.0164 and 0.0081 Pa at 500 ppm at the same temperatures