Removal of petroleum asphaltenes by improved activity of NiO nanoparticles supported on green AlPO-5 zeolite: Process optimization and adsorption isotherm

Abstract Asphaltenes removal enhances the quality of the oil and facilitates the processing. In the present work, a NiO/AlPO-5 nanocomposite using green TMG was synthesized as a particular adsorbent for asphaltenes removal. NiO/AlPO-5 was characterized using FTIR, BET, TEM, and XRD techniques. The Response Surface Method was used to optimize three important independent operating parameters, including D/C 0 [(g) adsorbent /(mg/L) initial ] ( X 1 ), initial pH ( X 2 ) and temperature ( X 3 ), to remove asphaltenes by the NiO/AlPO-5 nanocomposites in a model oil solution. Applying a CCD, a quadratic mathematical model formula was obtained to calculate asphaltene removal. The results revealed that the model showed valid agreement with the experimental results, with R 2  = 0.94. The optimum values for D/C 0 , pH as well as temperature would be 0.08 [g/(mg/L)], 3.39 and 298 K, respectively. It was revealed that the optimal asphaltenes removal was 83.73% at the optimum point. The isothermal models of Langmuir and Freundlich represented the asphaltenes adsorption on the new adsorbent with acceptable accuracy.