CRYSTALLIZATION CHARACTERISTICS OF WAXES FROM UNDOPED DOPED CRUDE-OIL- X-RAY-DIFFRACTION STUDY

Waxes from the Bombay-High crude oil have been separated by solvent de waxing, in the form of deposition in the Esso Assembly and from the ce ntrifugation on a Beckman Centrifuge as sediments and decanted oil, in order to study their structural changes using a Rigaku x-ray diffract ometer. Characteristic x-ray diffraction patterns are observed for the oil agglomerates and crystallites and their relative concentration in a wax sample estimated. The x-ray diffraction patterns of waxes with a pour point depressant additive remarkably differed from those withou t additive, leading to the measurement of the effectiveness of the add itive. The additive action is seen in the conversion of three dimensio nal lattice of highly interacting wax crystals into agglomerates of lo w interaction.