LAUSR

The highly viscous property of heavy oil often causes problems in its transportation in pipelines. Mixing heavy oil with light oil as well as ultrasound treatment are viable solutions to this problem. In this study, extra heavy crude oil samples were first diluted with 0, 0.05, 0.1, and 0.15 mL/mL (0, 5, 10, and 15 vol. %) of a light crude oil; then the mixture was irradiated by ultrasonic waves for 0, 5, 10, 15, and 20 minutes; finally the viscous shear functions of all mixtures was measured at different values of shear rate at different temperature levels. The results revealed that the minimum viscosity of the diluted extra heavy crude oil samples was obtained at 10 minutes of ultrasonic irradiation. Moreover, the viscosity reduction rate in relation totemperature decreases as temperature increases. In better words, the maximum viscosity reduction rate occurred at 0.05 mL/mL (5 vol. %) of light crude oil. Using the experimental data, the parameters of common rheological models wereobtained and a new modified Power Law model was presentedto calculate the effect of shear rate and temperature simultaneously. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved