Flow-through cavitation-assisted rapid modification of crude oil

A process for modification of petroleum oil, comprising the steps of:

• combining petroleum oil with a catalyst and water, hydrogen, ozone, oxygen, nitrogen, and/or carbon dioxide to create a fluidic mixture;
• providing a multi-stage, flow-through, hydrodynamic cavitation device having a flowpath with a single inlet and a single outlet, the flowpath comprising a series of chambers with varying diameters and static elements, each chamber corresponding to one of a plurality of localized zones, each including a contraction of the flowpath;
• pumping the fluidic mixture through the contractions in the flowpath, wherein the fluidic mixture is pumped at a controlled inlet pressure;
• generating areas of reduced fluid pressure in the fluidic mixture as it is pumped through the contractions in each of the plurality of localized zones in the flowpath, such contractions resulting in increased flow velocity which causes a reduction in fluid pressure;
• creating cavitational vapor bubbles of volatile components in the fluidic mixture resulting from the areas of reduced fluid pressure, wherein the volatile components form vapors at the reduced fluid pressure;
• collapsing the cavitational vapor bubbles as the fluidic mixture leaves each of the plurality of localized zones exposing components of the fluidic mixture to sudden, localized increases in temperature and pressure;
• mixing vapors of the volatile components with adjacent layers of condensed fluidic mixture transiently enriched with less volatile components of the fluidic mixture upon collapse of the cavitational vapor bubbles;
• and
• inducing chemical reactions between the vapors of the volatile components and the less volatile components to promote molecular rearrangement of the components of the fluidic mixture and modify rheological parameters of the fluidic mixture.