Which devices are significantly affected by heavy metals in crude oil?

Heavy metals in crude oil generally do not have a significant impact on the equipment itself, but they can affect the catalysts used in the equipment, the products produced, and the processing conditions. The extent of this impact depends on the type of metal element; some have little effect, while others have a very significant impact. Additionally, arsenic is not a metal, but it has a severe toxic effect on catalysts containing precious metals. Some metal elements that are not very heavy can still have a severe impact on certain catalysts; for example, sodium and calcium have a significant effect on catalytic cracking catalysts. Elements such as sodium and calcium bind to the acidic active centers of these catalysts, causing them to lose their activity. This loss of activity cannot be reversed through regeneration, and it is necessary to replace the catalyst with new ones. There are also some metal elements, such as nickel, that have no significant effect on certain hydrogenation catalysts in the initial stage; however, as these metal impurities accumulate, they affect the surface structural properties of the active metals in the catalyst, and this can have an impact over time. Therefore, when processing some heavy oils, it is crucial to remove heavy metals as well as certain metal elements that may have an impact on the processing process from the crude oil.

It is very important to know in what form the heavy metals exist in crude oil

Same request. There are too many types of metals in crude oil; I hope experts can help answer this question.

There is actually a pattern to this. Common reactive metals, such as alkali and alkaline earth metals, exist in crude oil in the form of salts, including both inorganic salt forms and organic petroleum carboxylate forms. For some transition metals, a small portion exists in the form of carboxylates, while the majority exist as metal complexes, particularly those in the form of complexes with porphyrin rings. Such complexes are very stable and cannot be removed by ordinary desalination processes. Such as porphyrin iron, porphyrin vanadium, etc. Another category consists of compounds in the form of complex derivatives of hydrocarbons; such metal compounds are difficult to classify. Such as some compounds containing lead and arsenic. Due to its low content, it is difficult to separate and accurately identify.