EFFECT OF Zsm- 5 CATALYST ON HEAVY CRUDE OIL UPGRADING

There are some difficulties related to the recovery of heavy and extra heavy crude oils, and also theirtransport to downstream industries iscomplicate and expensive. So there must be some ways to upgrade the heavy crude oil. This study is focused on heavy crude oilupgradingusing ZSM-5 catalyst. An experimental setup has been prepared and the heavy crude oil in the presence of catalyst was heated to 450˚C. The feedviscosity after coolingwas measured, and experimental results showed that in catalyst concentration 1wt% the viscosity reduced about 78%. This catalyst amount is the optimum value and loading more/less than 1wt%, decreases the upgrading efficiency.