Evaluation of Analytical Procedures in the Determination of Trace Metals in Heavy Crude Oils by Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry

In the present work, four trace metals, V, Ni, Cu and Fe, have been determined in five crude oil samples of Eastern Baghdad area, Iraq by flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The crude oils are characterized with API gravity values in the range, 25 15. The V/Ni ratios for the studied crudes were in the range 3.7 to 5.4 and indicated a typical of the sapropelic-type organic matter. The Ni and V contents were correlated with API gravity where an increase of metal contents with the decrease in the API values could be observed. The plots of V and Ni versus sulfur indicated linear correlation. This is attributed to the increase of porphyrinic structures of the metals. The method of direct dilution (DD) with organic solvent and the standard addition (SA) were evaluated as compared with standard dry ashing-acid dissolution (DA). In most cases the DD method gave V and Ni concentrations that are higher than DA and for the heavier crude oil (API = 15) the DD results were significantly smaller than those of the DA method. The SA method can be a good solution to determine the trace metals in heavy crude oils provided that the addition must not exceed the levels of the metal concentration in the diluted samples.