UPGRADING THE ENVIRONMENTAL
PROPERTIES OF KIRKUK KEROSENE USING
GLACIAL ACETIC ACID
Serwan Ibrahem Abdulkhader
Department of Chemical and Petrochemical Engineering, College of Engineering,
University of Salahaddin, Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq.
serwan.abdulkhader@su.edu.krd
Dr. Mohammed Jawdat Barzanjy
Department of Chemical and Petrochemical Engineering, College of Engineering,
University of Salahaddin, Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq.
Reception: 03/12/2022 Acceptance: 18/01/2023 Publication: 17/02/2023
Suggested citation:
I. A., Serwan and J. B., Mohammed. (2023). Upgrading The Environmental
Properties Of Kirkuk Kerosene Using Glacial Acetic Acid. 3C Empresa.
Investigación y pensamiento crÃtico, 12(1), 382-390. https://doi.org/
10.17993/3cemp.2023.120151.382-390
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Ed. 51 Iss.12 N.1 January - March, 2023
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ABSTRACT
Glacial acetic acid was used to improve Kirkuk kerosene samples and decrease their
aromatics contents. Two sets of experimental processes were performed: the first set
included more process steps (mixing by orbital shaker, heating, centrifugation, and
stabilization over many days). This set of experiments showed its maximum
improvement when 1 mL of glacial acetic acid was added to 10 mL of Kirkuk kerosene
sample to get a 42% improvement in the aniline point and a 12.5% improvement in
the smoke point. The smoke point test values gave confusing results when the
stabilization was increased to 4 days; the reason may be the chemical cracking of
single-ring aromatic components into polyromantic components like naphthalene,
which reduced the quality of the kerosene samples. The second set of experiments
included only mixing and leaving the processed kerosene sample with 2 mL mixtures
of glacial acetic acid and distilled water to set for 5 minutes. The greatest
improvement was obtained when 1.8 mL of water containing 0.2 mL of glacial acetic
acid was mixed with 10 mL of kerosene samples, resulting in a 19% improvement in
aniline point and a 45% improvement in smoke point. The total sulfur percent and
flashpoint tests revealed that the second set also had an acceptable chemical effect
on kerosene samples by reducing 4.8% for the total sulfur test and increasing 11.7%
for the flashpoint test. As a number, the first set of experiments showed better
improvements in comparison with the second set, but to scale up these experiments
and apply them industrially will be very difficult and expensive, and some steps are
difficult to apply like centrifugation because of its high cost and because the
stabilization step consumes a lot of time. Therefore, the second set of results will be
more acceptable from an engineering point of view.
KEYWORDS
Kirkuk kerosene, Aniline point, Smoke point, Aromatics content, and Glacial acetic
acid.
PAPER INDEX
ABSTRACT
KEYWORDS
1. INTRODUCTION
2. MATERIALS AND METHODS
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
4. CONCLUSIONS
REFERENCES
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1. INTRODUCTION
Kerosene, also known as kerosine, paraffin, or paraffin oil, varies in color
depending on its quality. It is a light yellow or colorless oily flammable liquid. It has an
odor and volatile in the range of gasoline and gasoline/diesel oil and distills between
125°C and 260°C (Speight, 2019). When burnt in a wide lamp, kerosene's flash point
of around 25°C makes it acceptable for use as an illuminant. The heat of combustion
of gasoline ranges between 11,000 and 11,500 calories per gram, whereas that of
kerosene (and diesel fuel) is between 10,500 and 11,200 calories per gram. Finally,
the heat of combustion for fuel oil ranges between 9500 and 11,200 calories per gram
(El-Gendy and Speight, 2015).
Kerosene is primarily utilized as a fuel for residential water heaters and air
conditioning systems equipped with kerosene engine heat pumps (KHPs), as well as it
used as a heating oil (Fuse et al., 2004).
On the other hand, domestic combustion is a significant cause of indoor air
pollution in poor nations, and has been highlighted as a significant health concern
influencing hundreds of millions of people, particularly women, children, and the
elderly. The smoke produced by household combustion instruments or devices has
been linked to respiratory disorders such as chronic bronchitis, emphysema,
expectorative coughing, and dyspnea. Exposure to unvented indoor cooking smoke
may result in the development of cancer, most notably lung cancer (Kim Oanh et al.,
2002).
To produce kerosene that burns cleanly, the aromatic content must be kept low.
This quality is defined by the smoke point standard. The flash point is used to provide
the front end of the distillation specification, whereas the freeze point is used to
specify the back end (Holbrook, 1996).
In the petroleum industry and petroleum products, polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons (PAHs) such as fluorene, anthracene, and fluoranthene are recognized
to be harmful by-products of combustion that are hazardous to human health. PAHs
are classified as persistent organic pollutants, which means they are able to stay in
the environment for an extended period of time (POPs). These are organic pollutants
that are resistant to degradation and can therefore persist in the environment for
extended periods of time if not properly managed (Wild and Jones, 1995, Sankoda et
al., 2013). Scientists have rarely questioned the concept that polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons (PAHs) are inert substances even at high temperatures (Necula and
Scott, 2000). PAHs are known to damage air, soil, and water resources at even low
concentrations, and they have a high thermal stability and persistence in soil and
groundwater, making them a significant threat to human health (Nelkenbaum et al.,
2007).
For further information, particulate matter (PM), carbon monoxide (CO), and
organic compounds are the primary contaminants in smoke from residential
combustion instruments or devices. The latter is composed of a diverse array of
components. Among the organic chemicals released, polycyclic organic matter (POM)
and formaldehyde are of particular importance. POM is a chemical group composed
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of at least two benzene rings. The polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are one class of
POM that have been identified as carcinogens or mutagens. The majority of PAH
found in the environment are a result of incomplete combustion of organic molecules.
PAH undergo changes in the environment, and the resulting derivatives are often
more hazardous than the original PAH, hence increasing the potential for adverse
health impacts (Kim Oanh et al., 2002).
The smoke point of aviation turbine fuels and kerosenes is a property that shows a
fuel's tendency to burn with a smoky flame. Increased aromatic content in a fuel
results in a smoky flame and energy loss owing to thermal radiation. The smoke point
(SP) of a fuel is the highest flame height at which it can be burned without smoking in
a standard wick-fed lamp. It is measured in millimeters, and a high smoke point
signifies a fuel with a low tendency for smoke production(Baird, 1981). The ASTM D
1322 technique are used to determine the smoke point (Riazi, 2005, Speight, 2015).
The term "aniline point" refers to the lowest temperature at which equal amounts of
aniline and oil are totally miscible. The procedure for determining the aniline point of
petroleum products is detailed in ASTM D 611. The aniline point reflects the fraction's
degree of aromaticity. The aniline point is inversely proportional to the aromatic
concentration. As a result, the aromatic concentration of kerosene and jet fuel can be
estimated using the aniline point(Jenkins and Walsh, 1968).
%A = 692.4 + 12.15(SG) (AP) - 794(SG) - 10.4(AP)
where % A denotes the aromatic content, SG denotes the specific gravity, and AP is
the aniline point in degrees Celsius (Riazi, 2005).
In general, the purpose of this research is to determine how adding GAA affects the
quality of kerosene samples by lowering the aromatic content. more specific,
improving the burning properties of local kerosene to meet Iraqi quality control
standards for kerosene oil used for heating by improving specifications such as the
smoke point and aniline point using simple processes and low-cost and safe
chemicals.
2. MATERIALS AND METHODS
This study used a local kerosene sample known commercially as Kirkuk kerosene
in the local market, which was of low grade and was sold as low-quality kerosene for
house heating purposes in the local market. In this study, two experimental sets of
processing were dependent. Four standard ASTM tests were used in both sets of
experiments, including the smoke point, aniline point, total sulfur content ratio, and
flash point, to compare the effects of the treatments, as explained in the following
section.
The first set of experiments consisted of the following steps:
1. Heidolph® Unimax 2010 orbital shaker was used to mix a 10-mL of the kerosene
sample with different milliliters of glacial acetic acid (0.5,0.75,1,2,3,4,5,and 6 mL)
for 3 minutes.
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2. By using a mental heater, heat the mixtures for 15 minutes at 35 degrees Celsius.
3. Centrifuging the mixtures at 2000 rpm for 15 minutes
4) The mixtures were allowed to stabilize for two time durations (2 days and 4 days).
The second set of experiments consisted of the following steps:
1. 2 mL of pure water with different amounts of glacial acetic acid (5, 10, 15, and 20%)
were prepared.
2.
The water with GAA mixtures manually were mixed with 10 mL of the kerosene
sample.
3. The final mixtures were mixed with Heidolph® Unimax 2010 orbital shakers for 20
minutes.
4. The treated kerosene samples were left for 5 minutes before analysis.
It is clear that the first set was more complicated than the second and consumed
more time. The aniline point (ASTM-D611) and smoke point (ASTM-D1322) standard
tests were used as main tests for both sets of experiments to compare the results of
kerosene samples before and after acetic acid treatment to determine the effect of
acetic acid treatment on the aromatic content of the kerosene samples. The total
sulfur weight percentage (ASTM-D4294) and flash point (ASTM-D93-20) tests were
used in the second set beside the main tests.
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The increasing aniline point (aniline mixing temperature in oC) and smoke point
(height of smokeless fire in millimeters) directly indicate a decrease in the aromatic
content of treated or processed kerosene samples. Table (1) and Figure (1) show
confusing results for the first set at most points. This unstable data may be due to the
existence of multiple steps as chemical influencers on the kerosene samples (high
centrifugation power, long stabilization time, and heating), in addition to the existence
of GAA. The maximum improvement of the first set was satisfied when 1mL added in
GAA was added to the kerosene samples with (29 oC of aniline point, (42%) of
improvement and in the smoke point, 5 mm (12.5%)). Adding more GAA affected the
results negatively for both 2 and 4 days duration of stabilization.
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3C Empresa. Investigación y pensamiento crÃtico. ISSN: 2254-3376
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