# Retrofittable Flexible Fabric Liners with Surface-Functionalized Electroless Nickel Coatings for Midstream Transportation of Bitumen

## TL;DR

This paper introduces a new fabric coating that helps transport heavy oil more efficiently by reducing the need for diluents and thermal systems.

## Contribution

A retrofittable fabric liner with electroless nickel coatings is developed to glide bitumen in midstream transportation.

## Key findings

- The coating achieves superhydrophobic and superoleophobic properties with high contact angles for water and heavy oil.
- The fabric shows thermal stability up to 250 °C and increased mechanical strength after coating.
- The coated fabric can be shaped into various configurations for use in transportation vessels.

## Abstract

Increasing global
energy demands have heightened reliance on unconventional
fossil fuels such as heavy oil and bitumen. However, the rheological
properties of these liquids make them challenging to handle and transport.
Midstream transportation methods for heavy oil and bitumen encompassing
rail cars, trucks, tankers, and pipelines, require extensive dilution
with lighter oils and thermal jacketing to facilitate fluid flow.
Designing surfaces that readily glide heavy oil would allow for much
more efficient midstream transportation by reducing reliance on diluents,
decreasing product loss, substantially diminishing maintenance from
surface fouling, and alleviating the need for expensive thermal infrastructure.
Surfaces that form plastronic air pockets based on reentrant curvature
and appropriate surface functionalization show promise for heavy oil
drag reduction. Here, we present the design of a superhydrophobic
and superoleophobic coating integrated directly onto cotton fabric
substrates that can be used to retrofit current midstream infrastructure
to glide bitumen. A multiscale hierarchically textured surface is
achieved by embedding polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) nanobeads within
an electroless nickel alloy coating whose surface energy is further
reduced by surface functionalization with 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorooctanephoshonic
acid (PFOPA). The wettability of the coated fabric has been examined
as a function of coating thickness and surface functionalization for
water, light oil, and bitumen. Robust superhydrophobic and superoleophobic
behavior is observed with contact angles approaching 162 ± 5°
for water and 153 ± 5° for heavy oil. Furthermore, beyond
droplet behavior on surfaces, these substrates readily glide bitumen
upon immersion. The coated fabric is also thermally and mechanically
robust, exhibiting an increase in break force by approximately 20
kN upon addition of the coating and thermal stability up to 250 °C.
The surface-functionalized ultrathin electroless nickel coatings integrated
onto fabric can be fashioned into different geometric configurations
and used as liners in midstream transportation vessels for facile
handling and transport of heavy oil. The results demonstrate a promising
approach to alleviating some of the most challenging aspects of heavy
oil use in the fuel mixes of modern economies.