Naphthenic acids (NAs) are water soluble weak acids, with the general chemical formula CnH2n+zO2, where n is the carbon number, z is referred to as hydrogen deficiency, is a negative even integer and is the number of hydrogen atoms that are lost as the number of rings in naphthenic acid increases. More than one isomer will exist for a given z homolog and the molecular weights differ by 2 mass u...

Naphthenic acids and TAN are one of the ever-increasing crucial problems in oil, shale oil and sand oil industry and also environment protection. Furtherer, they increases the corrosion of some parts of a refinery and transport pipelines and also can create nanoemulsions and make complicated the refining process especially in desalters. To prevent these problems it is important to first obtain ...

Naphthenic acids are the most significant environmental contaminants resulting from petroleum extraction from oil sands deposits. In this study, a mixture of naphthenic acids isolated from Athabasca oil sands (AOS) tailings pond water was used in acute and subchronic toxicity tests with rodents, in order to assess potential risks posed to terrestrial wildlife. Dosages were chosen to bracket wor...

Cupriavidus sp. are generally heavy metal tolerant bacteria with the ability to degrade a variety of aromatic hydrocarbon compounds, although the degradation pathways and substrate versatilities remain largely unknown. Here we studied the bacterium Cupriavidus gilardii strain CR3, which was isolated from a natural asphalt deposit, and which was shown to utilize naphthenic acids as a sole carbon...

There is increasing international interest in naphthenic acids (NAs, classical formula C(n)H(2n+Z)O(2)) found in the oil sands from Alberta, Canada and in petroleum from around the world. The complexity of NAs poses major analytical challenges for their quantification and characterization. We used ultrahigh resolution electrospray ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectr...

Naphthenic acids (NAs) are natural constituents in many petroleum sources, including bitumen in the oil sands of Northern Alberta, Canada. Bitumen extraction processes produce tailings waters that cannot be discharged to the environment because NAs are acutely toxic to aquatic species. However, aerobic biodegradation reduces the toxic character of NAs. In this study, four commercial NAs and the...

The aim of this study is to explore the capability of subcritical methanol to reduce the acidity of naphthenic acids and to determine reaction kinetics for large-scale reactor design.The experiments were carried out in a 25 mL autoclave reactor (China) at temperatures of 70-120oC, Methanol Partial Pressures (MPPs) of 0.1-1.5 MPa, and reaction times of 0-60 min. The total...

The aim of this study is to explore the capability of subcritical methanol to reduce the acidity of naphthenic acids and to determine reaction kinetics for large-scale reactor design.The experiments were carried out in a 25 mL autoclave reactor (China) at temperatures of 70-120oC, Methanol Partial Pressures (MPPs) of 0.1-1.5 MPa, and reaction times of 0-60 min. The total...