Study of the thermal stability of jojoba oil used as antifoaming agent in petroleum industry

• Published in: Journal of thermal analysis and calorimetry Vol. 128; no. 1; pp. 357 - 367
• Main Authors: Cevada, Enrique, Flores, César A., López, Alfonso, Álvarez, Fernando, Vázquez, Flavio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.04.2017; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Analytical Chemistry; Calorimetry; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Infrared spectroscopy; Inorganic Chemistry; Measurement Science and Instrumentation; Molecular dynamics; Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy; Petroleum industry; Physical Chemistry; Polymer Sciences; Thermal stability; Crude oil; Jojoba oil; Antifoaming
• ISSN: 1388-6150; 1588-2926
• DOI: 10.1007/s10973-016-5911-y

Jojoba oil is a naturally occurring vegetal oil, used widely in cosmetic, pharmaceutical, dietetic foods, animal feeding and as a constituent of bio-diesel. In addition, its use in petroleum conditioning has been reported. In this research, four samples of jojoba oil were carefully characterized and their performance as antifoaming agents in light crude oil was studied. A derivative of Simmondsia chinensis was characterized by different techniques such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance and size exclusion chromatography. Thermal degradation of jojoba oil was followed by thermogravimetry analysis (TG), differential scanning calorimetry and, primarily, TG coupled to Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy. Furthermore, a molecular dynamic simulation was carried out in order to investigate the behavior of this compound when subject to thermal degradation. Assessments in light crude oil determined said vegetal oil to have a good performance level as a foam inhibitor at a low temperature (20 °C). Its high degree of thermal stability was also established through calorimetric techniques.