Polycardanol and Poly(cardanol‐co‐styrene): Synthesis, Characterization, and Performance as Asphaltene Flocculant

The destabilization of asphaltenes in crude oil mainly happens due to variations in pressure, temperature, and oil composition; causing significant losses. Polymers containing specific groups can be used as asphaltene stabilizers, thus avoiding their precipitation, or as asphaltene flocculants in a particular type of unconventional oil, for example, assisting in further destabilization of the model system to enable removal of suspended fine solids, such as kaolinite. Asphaltene precipitation is usually evaluated by tests with variation in stability of asphaltenes in function of adding a flocculant solvent. In this work, two molecules with different amounts of cardanol and styrene are synthesized and structurally characterized by FTIR and 1H NMR. Their molar mass is also determined by SEC and their thermal stability is measured by TGA. In addition, the efficiency of these synthesized molecules as asphaltene dispersants or flocculants is analyzed. The stability of asphaltenes is monitored by precipitation tests induced by a flocculant agent (n‐heptane), using an ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis) spectrometer. The synthesis results indicated formation of an oligomer instead of a polymer. The asphaltene stability results indicate that the synthesized molecules can act as asphaltene flocculants, decreasing the onset of precipitation to smaller volumes of n‐heptane. Furthermore, the increase in concentration of these synthesized molecules in the model systems containing asphaltenes dispersed in mixtures of toluene and n‐heptane in different concentrations promote greater flocculant action of the asphaltenes.