MXPA97010262A - Composition and process for the treatment and recovery of petro sediments - Google Patents

Abstract

A chemical composition is described for use in the treatment and dissolution of petroleum sediment. The composition includes an anionic surfactant and a nonionic surfactant. In addition, a wetting agent is included together with an aromatic hydrocarbon carrier. Finally, an effective amount of a catalyzed activator is included

Description

COMPOSITION AND PROCESS FOR THE TREATMENT AND RECOVERY OF PETROLEUM SEDIMENTS DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION This invention relates, generally, to techniques for cleaning sediment deposits from oil storage tanks and, more particularly, to a chemical formulation and process to achieve the same. Specifically, the present invention relates to a chemical formulation for breaking interfacial bonds between the various components of petroleum sediments and a process for using same. In general, sediments containing oil, hereinafter referred to as petroleum sediments, are composed of three main constituents, which is water, oil and sediment solids. Such sediment solids include wax, tar, resins, biological material, metals and the like. The fuel oils currently used differ from those used a few years ago in which the current refining processes demand the reprocessing of what were the final products previously. Petroleum products are now fractionated at very high temperatures or pressures to obtain higher yields of light distillates. The final residues or fuel oils, as the result of this treatment, contain compounds which are unstable. They are separated as tar, rubber, and the like combined with condensates to form sediments. Such petroleum sediments are present in oil production, as well as residual sediment from tanker that transports crude oil, as well as in waste when crude oil is stored, and in the production of crude oil. The accumulation of petroleum sediment is a problem since the referred impurities from the petroleum sediment interfere with the free flow of oil and clog fuel lines, filters and burner nozzles. The sediment accumulates with each load of oil placed in the tank and, if allowed to leave without a check, will result in poor atomization of the fuel, reduction of the storage capacity of the tank and eventual blockage of the tank discharge lines. Such petroleum sediment wastes fuel, causes unnecessary stopping and reduces the efficiency of the boiler. As a result of this, the oil tanks are periodically cleaned to repair spills on the tank floor, steam coils, and roof sumps. They are also cleaned to facilitate the removal or repair of sunken roofs as well as to recover the storage capacity and eliminate spills from the crude oil tank unit. Spills from the crude oil unit are usually caused by the clogging of the suction lines for the crude cargo pumps, swallows of water due to clogging of the water line of the tank, or swallows of solids due to high sediment levels in the tank. Additionally, clean storage tanks can be inspected and maintained to prevent any environmental damage. Currently, there are two main ways to clean tanks. The first is a mechanical cleaning program where agitation, movement and physical separation are typical components of the process. U.S. Patent No. 2,065,462 describes a technique. Usually, the sediment must be removed from the tank before implementing a hydrocarbon recovery method. The removal presents a bit of an obstacle if the sediment is asphaltic, very compact or not fluid. On the other hand, once the sediment is removed, it must still be treated to recover the hydrocarbons. External recovery systems include pressure belts, hot pits, centrifuges and portable storage tanks which allow separation. These techniques, however, are generally not very efficient and do not recover all hydrocarbons, leaving residual amounts in the solids which can still classify them as dangerous. In this way, the residual waste disposal is reduced, but it is not eliminated. Mechanical methods can also impact the integrity of the tank, increasing the risk of odor damage, vapor release and soil contamination. A second technique to clean oil tanks involves a chemical method. Currently, federal environmental laws regulating waste disposal provide incentives for efficient chemical methods to clean the storage tank. U.S. Patents No. 4,233,174, No. 4,417,976, No. 5, 039, 450. and No. 5,085,710 all describe such techniques, while US Patents No. 4,293,348 and No. 5,031,648 relate to the chemical treatment of petroleum materials. Many standard tank cleaning methods, however, are ineffective in minimizing waste to meet federal standards. These methods include manual removal of the sediment by the workers inside the tank, mechanical removal by the loader at the front end which needs to cut a hole in the side of the tank to enter, removal by remote control dredging devices, removal by nozzles of electric spraying and removal circulating hot oil through the tank. In addition, as indicated above, none of these methods in and of itself recover clean hydrocarbons from the sediment. On the contrary, the sediment, after it is removed, must be taken somewhere for such recovery of hydrocarbons.

In this way, while cleaning methods that comply with Federal environmental regulations for the treatment of petroleum sediments have been created, there is still a need for a chemical method which treats petroleum sediment in situ by separating it into its component parts principal, which is water, hydrocarbons and solid sediment waste, which in turn can be directed to their own separate storage tanks and used. While such techniques may exist as indicated in the referenced patents, it is desirable to accomplish this in a relatively short period of time to eliminate false readings, and such prior techniques require large tank standstill times to carry out cleaning. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a chemical composition useful in the treatment and dissolution of petroleum sediment. It is another object of the present invention to provide a chemical composition having a catalyst activator to improve the breakage of interfacial bonds between the components of the petroleum sediment. Still another object of the present invention is to provide a process for the treatment and removal of petroleum sediment deposits in petroleum tanks that utilize an improved chemical composition while significantly shortening the time required for such tank cleaning. In order to achieve the aforementioned and other objects and in accordance with the purposes of the present invention, as exemplified and broadly described herein, a chemical composition for use in the treatment and dissolution of petroleum sediment is described. The composition includes an anionic surfactant and a nonionic surfactant. In addition, a wetting agent is included together with an aromatic hydrocarbon carrier. Finally, an effective amount of an organic catalyst activating compound is included. This composition is used in a process for the treatment and dissolution of the petroleum sediment deposited in an oil storage tank. First, the level of oil in the tank is decreased to the level of the petroleum sediment, and then a hydrocarbon solvent is added to the tank in an amount approximately equal to the oil pellet. The chemical composition described above is then injected to the tank to break the interfacial tension between the sediment components. The chemical composition, the sediment and the hydrocarbon solvent are then circulated through the tank to form a sediment mixture while heat is applied to completely mix the chemical composition with the sediment to remove the sediment from the internal surfaces of the tank. The circulation of the sediment mixture is then terminated, and the sediment mixture is allowed to settle and form a hydrocarbon layer, a water layer and a solids layer. The hydrocarbon layer and the water layer are transferred separately to separate tanks, while the remaining solids are removed from the tank. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The attached drawings which are incorporated in and form part of the specification illustrate the modalities Preferred of the present invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. In the drawings: Fig. 1 is a diagram of an oil storage tank illustrating the flow of circulation of the process of the present invention as well as illustrating constituents of the tank before and after treatment with the chemical composition of the present invention; Fig. 2 is a top diagram of a tank circulation arrangement used to adapt the tank to the process of the present invention; Fig. 3 is a diagram illustrating the step of injecting the chemical composition of the process of the present invention; Fig. 4 is a side diagram of the arrangement illustrated in Fig. 2 for the circulation stage of the process of the present invention; Fig. 5 is a diagram illustrating the arrangement for sampling the tank in a test of the composition and process of the present invention. The chemical compositions of the present invention dissolve the sediment of crude oil in oil refineries and oil storage tanks, oil tankers, as well as oil tankers, and converts the petroleum sediment into crude oil, water and sludge and waste sludge. It is a liquid additive that disperses the sediment, decreasing the interfacial tension between the sediment and the oil, resulting in a homogeneous mixture through which, in effect, it converts the sediment into useful fuel. The composition of the present invention is environmentally friendly and eliminates manual cleaning of the sediment from such tanks. The total volume of sediment is dissolved in these tanks, and the residual sludge is easily removed from the tank so the tank is allowed to be ready to return to service and use within 15 days or less. To better understand the invention, reference is made to Figures 1-3. In these figures, a typical oil storage or refinery tank 10 includes a reservoir 12 which stores crude oil 14. Over time the sediment 16 is deposited in the lower part of tank 10. Sediment 16 is formed, in part, by the presence of tar, gums, resins, asphaltenes, biological growth and water present in the fuel oil 14. As discussed previously, these impurities can interfere with the free flow of oil and clog fuel lines, filters and heater nozzles. If the sediment accumulation 16 is allowed to go without a check, it will result in a decrease in the storage capacity of the tank in the eventual blockage of the discharge line. On the other hand, the sediment 16 will accumulate if it is in the tank 10 or in the lower part of the tanker, or a storage lagoon and the like. To dissolve the pellet 16 using the chemical composition of the present invention, a pump 18 is provided to circulate the chemical composition through the venturi 20 within the reservoir 12 at the inlet connection 22. The composition is mixed with the pellet 16 to be mixed Totally with it. The sediment and chemical composition are circulated to the pump 18 by directing the sediment mixture to an outlet valve 24, back through the pump 18 and then reintroduced through the inlet valve 22, as discussed in more detail down. Once the sediment 16 has been treated with the chemical composition of the present invention, the resulting components of the tank include an upper hydrocarbon layer 26 which floats on an intermediate layer of water 28. Thus, the oil components of The hydrocarbons from the sediment 16 are separated from the particulate sludge material 30 and made available as well as additional fuel products. Once the layers 26, 28, and 30 have been formed, the subsequent cleaning of the reservoir 12 becomes relatively easy as discussed below. As indicated previously, there are several chemical treatment processes currently available in the art, and the objectives of such chemical cleaning processes are generally the same as the process and composition of the present invention, i.e., recovering hydrocarbon materials from the sediment , and then separating such hydrocarbons and water resulting from the residual solids. On the other hand, it is highly desirable to remove a sufficient amount of hydrocarbons from the solids 30 such that the layer 30 of residual solids is not considered environmentally hazardous for disposal purposes. Typical prior art chemical cleaning compositions usually take between three and four weeks to carry out the cleaning of an oil tank, whereas the present invention takes only about 8-15 days for the reasons discussed below. In preferred form, the composition of the present invention includes an anionic surfactant, nonionic surfactants, a wetting agent, an aromatic hydrocarbon solvent carrier, and. an activator consisting of an organic catalyst. The key factor which allows the present invention to be very effective in dissolving the petroleum sediment by decreasing the interfacial tension between the components of the sediment and hydrocarbons therein is the incorporation of a catalyst into activator as a part of the chemical composition. It is not clear how the catalyst works within the chemical composition of the present invention. However, preferably the catalyst of the present invention is an organic transition metal preferably selected from cadmium, cobalt and organic manganese. More preferably, the catalyst of the composition is organic manganese preferably present in the composition at about 5-10 ppm. Preferably, the anionic surfactant is selected from oxyalkylates and, more preferably, is sodium diodyl sulfosuccinate. However, any of the sulfur-containing anionic surfactants known in the art can be used with the present composition. In addition, the nonionic surfactant of the composition of the present invention is preferably an ethylene oxide derivative and, more preferably, is selected from any of the ethoxylated nonylphenols. In addition to the surfactants discussed above, the chemical composition of the present invention also preferably includes a wetting agent. The preferred wetting agent includes the naphthatates and, more preferably, is tridecyl alcohol. The catalysts together with the surfactants and the wetting agent need to be carried or in some form transported to the petroleum sediment. To accomplish this, a hydrocarbon carrier is preferably used as part of the composition. Preferably, the hydrocarbon carrier includes heavy aromatic distillates as well as benzene compounds. However, any aromatic hydrocarbon solvent capable of dissolving the remaining components of the composition can be used in the composition of the present invention. Preferably, the individual surfactants and wetting agent of the composition of the present invention can each vary from 5-25 weight percent of the composition according to the quality and amount of the pellet. This variability in percentages of weight of each of these constituents is due to the fact that the oil produced from different locations around the world have different components such as wax or rubber, tar (asphalate), resins, biological growth, metals, water and Similar. These crude oil components can vary dramatically from location to location around the globe. For example, some have more wax while some have more coal tar, and successively. Specifically, the amount of tar and wax in the particular crude oil is especially important in order to determine the amount of chemical components needed to loosen the interfacial bonds between the various components of the oil. In this way, depending on the amount of tar and wax in the particular crude oil, the amount of the anionic and nonionic surfactants and the wetting agent can be increased or decreased relative to the amount of the hydrocarbon carrier. The preferred chemical composition of the subject matter of the subject invention is as follows: anionic surfactant oxyalkylatos trace amounts nonionic surfactant derivatives of 1-5% ethylene oxide wetting agent naphthatates 10-15% carrier of aromatic distillates 80-90% heavy hydrocarbon carrier of benzene compounds 10-15% hydrocarbon catalyst transition metal 5-10 ppm organic Referring again to Figures 1-4, the method of the present invention for dissolving petroleum sediment in its storage tanks and lagoons includes injecting the chemical composition of the present invention into the tank 12 of the petroleum pellet and then circulating to Thoroughly mix the composition with the sediment to remove sediment from the tank surfaces. In a preferred form as illustrated in Fig. 2, a reservoir 12 may have two recirculation systems 32 and 33 each of which includes a pump 18 and venturi 20 for injecting the chemical composition into the recirculation lines 34. In this way, the sediment inside the tank 12 is continuously mixing and moving through the tank 12 through the recirculation systems 32 and 33. Fig. 3 illustrates an example of a venturi 20 used to inject the composition of the present invention from a reservoir 36 maintaining such a composition within the recirculation line 34. In another view of this embodiment of the present invention, illustrated in Fig. 4, the tank 12 includes an upper outer intake pipe 38 which is connected back to the tank 12. The composition of the present invention is directed to the pipe 34 from the tank 36 by the shape of a venturi line. Preferably, the method of the present invention starts by removing the crude oil 14 from the tank 12 at the level 42 of the sediment 16. Then, a non-expensive hydrocarbon solvent is preferably added to the tank 12 in a volume approximately equal to the volume of the sediment 16. This particular hydrocarbon solvent can be selected from any type of non-expensive aromatic including kerosene, diesel oil, heating oil, lighting oil and the like. The purpose of this solvent is to provide sufficient liquid volume to allow circulation of the sediment 16 together with the chemical composition of the present invention injected into the reservoir 12. Once the non-expensive solvent has been added to the reservoir 12, it is then injected a sufficient amount of the chemical composition of the present invention to the tank 12 to mix with the sediment 16. Preferably, about 0.4-0.5 percent by weight of the chemical composition is used in relation to the weight of the sediment in the tank 12 As previously described, the various percentages by weight of the chemical constituents of the composition of the present invention will vary depending on the amount of crude oil 14 which, in turn, varies depending on the location of the crude oil extraction from worldwide. Regardless of the mechanical pumping system used for successful circulation of the sediment mixture and chemical composition, the recirculation system and the pumps are started. As the sediment and the hydrocarbon solvent originally added begin to circulate through the tank 12 and the recirculation system, the chemical composition of the present invention is injected through the venturies to disperse and activate the separation of the oil from the sediment. . On the other hand, it will act to remove sediment from tank surfaces. The released hydrocarbons will be brought to the top of the liquid within the tank 12 with the added solvent. Furthermore, if required, water for washing effect can be added and also the level of hydrocarbon inside the tank 12 can be rinsed. Preferably, the material inside the tank 12 can be heated in order to liquefy the remaining sediment in the lower part of tank 12. Unlike the prior techniques, however, the maximum heat required in the present invention is only about 60-70 ° C, which can be achieved using any conventional heating technique available. The recirculation of the sediment, hydrocarbon solvent and the mixture of the chemical composition is preferably maintained for up to a maximum of approximately fifteen hours, or until the sediment is completely removed from the surfaces of the reservoir 12, or whichever comes first. After inspection, once it is found that the tank surfaces are free of sediment, circulation is stopped, and the mixture in tank 12 is allowed to settle for approximately 12 hours. Once sedimentation has occurred, three distinct layers are formed as illustrated in FIG. 1, this is the hydrocarbon layer in the upper part, the water in the intermediate layer and a layer of solid or mud in the lower part. However, the sludge layer is generally and substantially free of oil and therefore does not adhere or stick to the surface of the reservoir 12. On the other hand, it complies with environmental standards as a non-hazardous material for eventual disposal. The layer 26 of hydrocarbons is then transferred to the crude unit for continued use in the refining. Once the hydrocarbon layer 26 has been removed, the water layer 28 is gradually discharged, preferably to an API system. In preferred form, the water sample is tested for TLC, NH, and COD and other contaminants as required. The solids 30 of the residual sludge can be simply removed from the tank 12 by flowing it with a water jet, vacuum suction or manually removing it. When comparing the previous manual removal of the sediment, which is a frequently used technique, with dissolution of the sediment and removal using the chemical composition and process of the present invention, the present invention has many advantages. First, the manual removal technique takes an oil storage tank out of operation for many months and requires approximately 40-60 days using 30-50 manual workers in a hazardous area of prohibition in an oil facility for which they are taken. out special checks. The present invention can special checks. The present invention can be used to clean the tank in 15 days or less using no more than 5 individuals. Using the manual technique to remove the sediment, crude oil is not recovered from the sediment stored in tanks and lagoons, and instead is often sold. There are also evaporation losses of hydrocarbons. Using the composition and process of the present invention, however, a minimum of 85% up to 99% of the crude oil is recovered from the pellet. On the other hand, sediment ponds are no longer necessary using the process and composition of the present invention, thereby providing significant environmental improvements. Finally, when the manual process for cleaning sediments is used, the bottom, side plates and drainage outlets of such tanks are frequently corroded for the duration of the period of time the tank is stopped, therefore requiring frequent repairs and maintenance for tanks. In this way, the tanks can be out of operation for approximately 4-8 months using previous manual techniques, while the composition and process of the present invention allows to dissolve and remove the total sediment in the oil tank in no more than 15 days . This avoids the problem of corrosion and loss of operation of the oil tank for significant periods of time.

EXAMPLE I In this test test example, a 65,000 kl crude oil tank is used as illustrated in Figures 2 and 4 to test the composition and process of the present invention. This tank includes approximately 1,000 tons of waxy asphalt dry sediment in the bottom of the tank. The machinery used to carry out the recirculation of the mixture includes 20 horsepower electric motors and a 6"screw pump with necessary pipe lines as illustrated in Fig. 2 and 4. This tank is initially filled with Black crude oil carrying a level to the 24"pipeline to saturate the sediment for 15 days before the test. After this initial saturation, black crude is decreased to the sediment level, and diesel is added as the initial non-expensive solvent. Then, approximately 4,000 kg of the preferred chemical composition of the present invention is injected into the tank, and circulation is provided using the system illustrated in Fig. 2 and 4 as discussed above. This recirculation with the chemical composition of the present invention is carried out for approximately 28 hours. Intermittently, the position of the sediment is checked to determine the progress of the chemical on the sediment. Once the circulation period of 28 hours has been completed, the amount of sediment is measured at six different positions, points 1-6 illustrated in Fig. 5. In each of these six different positions in the tank, it remains less of 1 mm of sediment. In this way, it is determined that the total amount of sediment in the tank has been dissolved. The mixture is then allowed to settle, and the various levels are removed. Approximately $ 120,000.00 of residual hydrocarbon oil is recovered from the sediment in this tank. EXAMPLE II With reference to Fig. 6, a 5,000 kl capacity tank is used in this particular test procedure. The initial sediment in the tank is estimated at about 500 metric tons. Such a volume is first measured before the addition of the chemical composition of the present invention to seven different points along the tank 12 and are designated as AG points in Fig. 6. The results of these samples are given in Table I .

These samples are taken after the initial addition of diesel solvent in a quantity substantially equal to the sediment. -TABLE--! Temp. ° C Grav. Bathroom bath level of specific total sediment water A 41 0.825 43 26 zero B 41 0.819 43 26 zero C 41 0.805 46 25 zero D 41 0.809 48 26 zero E 32 32 zero F 42 35 zero G 49 26 zero TABLE II Temp. ° C Grav. Bath Specification level of total water sediment A 37 0.910 59 0 24 B 37 815 65 10 32 C 35 865 57 0 35 D 36 868 69 0 33 E 35.5 879 75 0 - F - - 70 0 - G 36.5 880 65 5 Then, the preferred chemical composition of the present invention is injected into tank 12 using the previously described guidelines. Recirculation of the composition / sediment mixture is carried out for approximately nine hours a day for six consecutive days. After day six, circulation is stopped, and samples of the sediment mixture are collected. The results of these collections are illustrated in Table II. As can be seen from Table II, virtually all the sediment has been removed from the tank 12.

EXAMPLE III A tank of 20,000 cubic meters is used in this particular test. The tank record is opened, and an initial sediment volume of 22-25 cm is determined in the lower part of the tank. This represents approximately 300 metric tons of sediment. The diesel oil is then added to the tank to approximately 130 cm, and the temperature is raised to approximately 76 ° C. It is started for two days circulation. Once these two days are over, a sample of the sediment is taken, and the sediment sample in the bottom of the tank is 37 cm. In this union, 1,200 kg of the preferred chemical composition is added to the tank and the circulation is continued without raising the temperature. Circulation is continued with the preferred chemical composition of the present invention for three days, with the temperature being maintained at about 69 ° C. Once the circulation has stopped, the layers are allowed to settle. The final depth of the sediment is 2-5 cm opposed to the initial sediment depth of 22-25 cm. On the other hand, 273 metric tons of the 300 ton hydrocarbon material are recovered. initial sediment metric, leaving only 27 ton. solid metrics. This results in a 99% recovery of hydrocarbons from the petroleum pellet in this tank using the preferred chemical composition and process of the present invention.

As can be seen from the foregoing, the preferred chemical composition and process of the present invention is an environmentally friendly composition and process which eliminates manual cleaning of sediment from oil tanks. The many advantages of the present invention include in fact that no sediment gap is required, and this avoids a stopping period of any significance for the storage tanks. On the other hand, there are no harmful effects on the environment, and in fact the present invention allows to recover substantially up to 99% of the hydrocarbons in the petroleum sediment. This also provides a significant financial advantage. It avoids the spillage of sediment in roads as well as eliminates danger of igniting and human accidents commonly found in the manual removal of the sediment. On the other hand, the components of the chemical composition of the present invention are relatively inexpensive, and can certainly be recovered from the benefits realized due to the recovery of hydrocarbon oil from the petroleum sediment. The present invention is a significant financial and environmental improvement for the recovery of petroleum sediment from oil tankers and oil deposits compared to existing systems or processes. The aforementioned description and the illustrated embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail in various modifications and alternate embodiments. It should be understood, however, that the aforementioned description of the present invention is exemplary only, and that the scope of the present invention is limited to the claims as interpreted in view of the prior art. On the other hand, the invention described illustratively here can be practiced properly in the absence of any element which is not specifically described herein.

Claims (33)

1. CLAIMS 1. A chemical composition for use in the treatment and dissolution of petroleum sediment characterized in that it comprises: an anionic surfactant; a surfactant derived from nonionic ethylene oxide; a wetting agent; a solvent aromatic hydrocarbon carrier; and an activator consisting of an organic catalyst.
2. 2. The composition in accordance with the claim 1, characterized in that the organic catalyst is a transition metal.
3. 3. The composition in accordance with the claim 2, characterized in that the organic transition metal catalyst is selected from the group consisting of cadmium, cobalt and manganese.
4. 4. The composition in accordance with the claim 3, characterized in that the transition metal catalyst comprises organic manganese.
5. 5. The composition in accordance with the claim 1, characterized in that the anionic surfactant comprises an oxyalkylate.
6. 6. The composition according to claim 1, characterized in that the nonionic surfactant is selected from ethoxylated nonylphenols.
7. 7. A chemical composition for use in the treatment and dissolution of petroleum sediment characterized in that it comprises: an anionic surfactant; a nonionic surfactant; a wetting agent; an aromatic hydrocarbon carrier; and an effective amount of a catalyst activator comprising an organic transition metal compound.
8. 8. The composition in accordance with the claim 7, characterized in that the transition metal compound is selected from the group consisting of cobalt, cadmium and manganese.
9. 9. The composition according to claim 8, characterized in that the catalyst comprises organic manganese.
10. 10. The composition according to claim 7, characterized in that the anionic surfactant comprises an oxyalkylate.
11. 11. The composition according to claim 10, characterized in that the anionic surfactant is sodium diodyl sulfosuccinate.
12. 12. The composition according to claim 7, characterized in that the nonionic surfactant comprises an ethylene oxide derivative.
13. 13. The composition according to claim 12, characterized in that the nonionic surfactant comprises an ethoxylated nonylphenol. 1 .
14. The composition according to claim 7, characterized in that the wetting agent comprises naphthana.
15. 15. The composition according to claim 14, characterized in that the wetting agent is tridecyl alcohol.
16. 16. The composition according to claim 7, characterized in that the aromatic hydrocarbon solvent includes heavy aromatic distillates and benzene compounds.
17. 17. A chemical formulation for using interfacial tensions between the various components of the petroleum sediment for the treatment and dissolution of the petroleum sediment in the break, the formulation being characterized in that it comprises: an anionic oxyalkylate surfactant; a nonionic surfactant derived from ethylene oxide; a naphtanate wetting agent; a solvent carrying aromatic hydrocarbons; and an organic transition metal catalyst to activate the formulation.
18. 18. The formulation according to claim 17, characterized in that the carrier solvent comprises heavy aromatic distillates.
19. 19. The formulation according to claim 18, characterized in that the carrier solvent further comprises benzene compounds.
20. 20. The formulation according to claim 17, characterized in that the catalyst comprises organic manganese.
21. The formulation according to claim 17, characterized in that the anionic surfactant, the nonionic surfactant and the wetting agent are each present in the composition in an amount of 5-25% by weight.
22. 22. The formulation according to claim 21, characterized in that the aromatic hydrocarbon carrier solvent is present in about 80-90% by weight.
23. 23. The formulation according to claim 17, characterized in that the concentration of the catalyst is 5-10 ppm.
24. 24. A chemical composition for use in dissolving the petroleum sediment and includes anionic and nonionic surfactants, a wetting agent, and a hydrocarbon carrier, the improvement characterized in that the composition further includes an activating catalyst.
25. 25. The improvement according to claim 24, characterized in that the catalyst is present in the composition at about 5-10 ppm.
26. 26. The improvement according to claim 24, characterized in that the catalyst comprises an organic transition metal compound.
27. 27. The improvement according to claim 26, characterized in that the catalyst is selected from the group consisting of cobalt, cadmium and manganese.
28. 28. The improvement according to claim 27, characterized in that the catalyst comprises organic manganese.
29. 29. A process for the treatment and dissolution of petroleum sediment deposited in an oil storage tank characterized in that it comprises the steps of: reducing any level of oil in the tank to the level of the sediment; add a hydrocarbon solvent to the tank in an amount approximately equal to the sediment; injecting a chemical composition into the tank to break the interfacial tension between the components of the sediment, the chemical composition including anionic and nonionic surfactants, a wetting agent, an aromatic hydrocarbon carrier and a catalyst for activating the composition; circulate the chemical composition, sediment and hydrocarbon solvent through the tanks to form a sediment mixture while applying heat to fully mix the chemical composition with the sediment to remove sediment from the tank's internal surfaces; finish the circulation and allow the sediment mixture to sediment and form a hydrocarbon layer, a layer of water and a layer of solids. transfer separately the hydrocarbon layer and the water layer to separate tanks; and remove the remaining solids from the tank.
30. 30. The process according to claim 29, characterized in that the sediment mixture is heated to approximately 60-70 ° C during the circulation of the sediment mixture.
31. 31. The process according to claim 29, characterized in that the amount of the chemical composition injected into the tank is approximately 0.4-0.5 percent by weight relative to the weight of the sediment.
32. 32. The process according to claim 29, characterized in that the sediment is circulated while being heated for up to 24 hours until the surfaces of the tank are free of sediment.
33. 33. The process in accordance with the claim 32, characterized in that once the circulation of the sediment mixture is finished, the sediment mixture is allowed to settle for approximately 12 hours to form the separated layers.