A pyromellitamide or benzamide, previously disclosed for use as a gelling agent in a downhole fluid, is added to a hydrocarbon fluid for use as a friction reducing agent, for example in a motor or pipeline. An example pyromellitamide friction reducing agent may have the general formula of:

##STR00001##

with R.sub.1, R.sub.2, R.sub.3, and R.sub.4 each being an organic group. A further use as a viscosity reducing agent in diluted bitumen is also disclosed.

Fouling in a hydrocarbon refining process is reduced by adding to a crude hydrocarbon for a refining process, an additive combination including: (A) a polyalkenyl-substituted carboxylic acid or anhydride, and (B) an overbased metal hydrocarbyl-substituted hydroxybenzoate detergent,
where the mass:mass ratio of (A) to (B) is in the range of 10:1 to 1:10, and the treat rate of the additive combination is in the range of 5 to 1000 ppm by mass.

The invention relates to a polymer composition that can be obtained by means of the free radical polymerisation of A) 95-40 wt. % of alkyl (meth)acrylate containing Ai) 20-95 wt. % of at least one alkyl (meth)acrylate with 16 to 40 C-atoms in the alcohol group, and Aii) 5-80 wt. % of at least one (meth)acrylic acid ester of a C.sub.8-C.sub.22 alcohol carrying a C.sub.6-C.sub.20 alkyl group in the 2-position relative to the hydroxyl group, in the presence of B) 5-60 wt. % ethylene copolymer. The invention also relates to a method for producing same and to the use of same as a flow improver for mineral oils and mineral oil distillates.

Disclosed are pour point depressants used in compositions and methods for achieving the cold flow properties of synthetic feedstock derived from plastic. A method of obtaining the synthetic feedstock is also disclosed, which includes heating plastic under substantially oxygen free conditions at a temperature of from about 400? C. to about 850? C. to produce a pyrolysis effluent, condensing the heated a pyrolysis effluent to obtain a synthetic feedstock, recovering the synthetic feedstock, and adding a pour point depressant to the synthetic feedstock to lower the pour point.

A composition including a pyrolysis oil and, as an additive, one or more of: (a) an aldehyde-alkylphenol copolymer and/or an aldehyde-alkylphenol-polyamine copolymer, wherein the alkylphenol of the copolymer comprises an alkyl group having at least 30 carbon atoms; and (b) the reaction product of an alcohol and/or amine with a copolymer of an alpha-olefin and an ethylenically unsaturated carboxylate compound, wherein the alpha-olefin and/or the alcohol and/or amine has at least 30 carbon atoms. A method of reducing the pour point of a composition including a pyrolysis oil and a use of the aforementioned additives for reducing the pour point of a composition comprising a pyrolysis oil, are also disclosed.

A method for treating a waste plastic based on a persulfate system is provided. The method includes the following steps: mixing the waste plastic, sulfuric acid, sulfate, peroxymonosulfate, and water, and reacting at 80-140? C. for 3-15 h to complete the treatment; where the waste plastic is polyethylene or polyethylene terephthalate; and the sulfate is copper sulfate or ferrous sulfate. The present invention reasonably regulates and controls each parameter in the reaction process while constructing a homogeneous catalysis system of transition metal activated peroxymonosulfate, and finally directionally converts the waste plastic into C.sub.7H.sub.12 and C.sub.10H.sub.12 fuels, which realizes high-efficiency recycling of the waste plastic, has a simple and convenient working procedure, and has a wide application prospect.

A process and system for recovering natural gas liquids (NGL) using a combination of J-T cooling and membrane separation. The process involves compressing, separating, and cooling a flare gas stream comprising at least methane and C.sub.3+ hydrocarbons prior to being introduced to a J-T valve. The cooled stream exiting the J-T valve is further separated, producing a NGL product stream and an uncondensed gas stream. The uncondensed gas stream is directed to a membrane separation step, which results in a C.sub.3+ hydrocarbon enriched stream and a C.sub.3+ hydrocarbon depleted stream. The C.sub.3+ hydrocarbon enriched stream may be recycled back to the process to recover more NGL.

Provided is a fuel composition prepared by adding gas-to-liquid oil and water to light cycle oil to conduct emulsification. The fuel composition is used as a fuel for a diesel engine (12) in a ship (10). The ship (10) includes a fresh water tank (15), an LCO tank (13), and a GTL tank (14) configured to store water, light cycle oil, and gas-to-liquid oil, respectively, and a mixer (16) configured to mix the water, the light cycle oil, and the gas-to-liquid oil fed from the respective tanks to produce the fuel composition.

A process and system for recovering natural gas liquids (NGL) using a combination of J-T cooling and membrane separation. The process involves compressing, separating, and cooling a flare gas stream comprising at least methane and C.sub.3+ hydrocarbons prior to being introduced to a J-T valve. The cooled stream exiting the J-T valve is further separated, producing a NGL product stream and an uncondensed gas stream. The uncondensed gas stream is directed to a membrane separation step, which results in a C.sub.3+ hydrocarbon enriched stream and a C.sub.3+ hydrocarbon depleted stream. The C.sub.3+ hydrocarbon enriched stream may be recycled back to the process to recover more NGL.

Large scale exploitation of Solar energy is proposed by using floating devices which use solar energy to produce compressed hydrogen by electrolysis of deep sea water. Natural ocean currents are used to allow the devices to gather solar energy in the form of compressed hydrogen from over a large area with minimum energy transportation cost. The proposal uses a combination of well understood technologies, and a preliminary cost analysis shows that the hydrogen produced in this manner would satisfy the ultimate cost targets for hydrogen production and pave the way for carbon free energy economy.