Asphaltene
deposition is crucial for the production and refining
of crude oil. Numerous studies have been carried out to prevent asphaltene
deposition using inhibitors which not only show great effectiveness
in suppressing asphaltene precipitation but are also environmentally
friendly. In accordance with this objective, the effect of NiO/ZSM-5
nanocomposites as an innovative green adsorbent was experimentally
tested to eliminate asphaltene from a model oil solution. This adsorbent
is synthesized via an eco-friendly template. The morphological nanocomposite
was detected using Fourier transform infrared analysis, X-ray diffraction,
transmission electron microscopy, as well as Brunauer–Emmett–Teller
analysis. The batch experiments were developed using central composite
design (CCD), which can optimize the most important parameters to
maximize the removal percentage. An R
2 value of 0.95 was obtained from the regression analysis of the experiments,
which showed close accordance between the experimental and the model
data. On the basis of RSM, the removal efficiency of asphaltene was
90.35% with an predicted optimum of D/C = 0.072 [(g)adsorbent/(mg/L)initial], pH =
4.80, and temperature = 298 K. Isotherms were identified and verified
using the factor R
L. The double exponential
model was employed to evaluate the kinetics process. Additionally,
the importance of asphaltene removal and financial analysis is appraised
in regard to stock returns of oil and petrochemical companies after
asphaltene removal.