The spontaneous ignition potential of a super-light crude oil

The spontaneous ignition potential of a super-light crude oil was investigated employing adiabatic, packed-bed reactors. Various process parameters such as initial reactor temperature, oxidant gas flux, oxygen concentration in the oxidant gas, initial oil and water saturations and reactor pressure were varied to determine the set of conditions that would cause the sand–oil mixture to ignite spontaneously. All attempts to ignite the oil failed even when very favorable ignition conditions were tested including 174°C initial temperature, 7340 kPa reactor pressure, 40% oxygen in the oxidant gas and 26 h of oxidation time. Failure of the super-light crude to self-ignite was thought to be due to its low content of unsaturates, mainly aromatics and asphaltenes.