An efficient treatment of ultra-heavy asphaltic crude oil using electron beam technology

Alfi, Masoud; Barrufet, María A.; Moreira, Rosana G.; Silva, Paulo F. Da; Mullins, Oliver C.

doi:10.1016/j.fuel.2015.03.040

Cited by 10 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 27 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The reformation of fuels has garnered increased interest as the world is looking to move toward cleaner forms of energy. Conventional methods of thermal reforming are energy-intensive with high CO 2 emissions and are often accompanied by catalysts. , Emerging substitutes include radiation processing, , biochemical conversion, and photochemical conversion, but their high temperature/dosage requirement with low power density limits their industrial implementation. Therefore, the need for a more economical and environmentally friendly alternative has brought non-thermal plasma (NTP) technology to the forefront of ongoing research efforts.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plasma Chemical Synthesis of Valuable Fuels and Chemicals from n-Hexane and Its Mixture with Methanol and Ethanol

Banerjee

Golsztajn

Girard‐Lauriault

2022

ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Among several emerging technologies that are focused on finding sustainable routes for reforming heavy oils and/or alcohols into valuable fuels and complex chemicals, nonthermal plasma shows promise both due to its non-equilibrium nature and its ability to use intermittent renewable electricity. In this work, we investigate its interaction with organic compounds as a "green" process for simultaneously synthesizing hydrogen, cracking heavy oils, and producing more valuable, complex chemicals. A pin-to-plate microsecond-pulsed argon plasma was used at temperatures of 20, 0, and −20 °C. Using 390 kJ/kg of specific energy input, we were able to achieve a conversion efficiency of 771.4 mmol/kW h for the treatment of the hexane− ethanol mixture at 0 °C. It is concluded that the production of H 2 and other lower fuels (gas hydrocarbons) can be increased by the addition of alcohols in our reforming processes. At 0 °C, the production efficiency and selectivity of gas products were found to be higher compared to other temperatures. A low temperature of −20 °C showed the highest production efficiency for liquid products. Product formation was observed to mainly undergo dissociation and dehydrogenation, whose reaction pathway is also discussed.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plasma Chemical Synthesis of Valuable Fuels and Chemicals from n-Hexane and Its Mixture with Methanol and Ethanol

Banerjee

Golsztajn

Girard‐Lauriault

2022

ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…A high dose rate results in a very high concentration of reactive species inside each spur. They dominate the subsequent chemical reactions by pairing with each other or with neutral molecules and generate high yields of products. , Scheme shows all possible bond rupture mechanisms to produce radicals due to electron–molecule collision.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electrical Oligomerization of Small Hydrocarbons Activated by Collision with High Energy Electrons at Ambient Conditions

Wang

Staack

2020

ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Isomerization and polymerization are two essential chemical processes that produce valuable chemicals and high quality fuels. However, they hardly occur at ambient conditions due to the activation energy barrier of multiple chemical reactions. Thermal activation of those reactions by catalysts or high temperature and pressure or both are very costly and emits a vast amount of greenhouse gases (GHG). Here, we show a greener method that uses electricity and high energy electrons to efficiently activate small molecules at ambient conditions. Activated fragments and radicals cross-link and produce larger and more valuable compounds without use of any catalysts. One small hydrocarbon (C5H12) was irradiated by a high energy electron beam at the liquid state. About 5% conversion, iso-paraffin (85%) and n-paraffin (15%), in a C6–C15 range was observed using 400 kJ/kg energy input (0.8% of pentane’s energy content). We propose that collisions between high energy electrons and small molecules at the liquid state create radicals very efficiently by nonselective cleavage of carbon–carbon and carbon–hydrogen bonds. Radicals then undergo random pairing reactions and selectively produce large branched species. The energy cost of this method is comparable with thermal methods. This method is electrical and easily adaptable to renewable energy sources with potentially zero GHG emissions.

show abstract

“…Consequently, their utilization as binders for asphalt mixtures becomes limited. Similar to waste asphalt concrete or recycled aggregates, these by-products exhibit brittleness [15]. Moreover, the ongoing advancements in crude oil refining technologies contribute to the further degradation of the quality of asphalt binders [16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, with the advancement of crude oil refining technologies, there is a growing concern about the potential decline in the quality of road pavement materials [19]. Thus, there is a need to address this issue and find innovative solutions to preserve the performance and integrity of asphalt for sustainable road construction [15,16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Feasibility of Carnauba Wax Rejuvenators for Asphalt Concrete with Vacuum Tower Bottom Binder

Kim,

Haeng

et al. 2023

Coatings

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study addresses the need for effective rejuvenators in asphalt concrete mixtures containing Vacuum Tower Bottom (VB) binder, a by-product of petroleum refining. We investigated the use of a softening rejuvenator, comprising Carnauba (5.5%), Soybean oil (3%), water (81%), surfactant (1.5%), and additive (3%) from a Korean refining company, to mitigate the brittleness of VB binder. Laboratory experiments were conducted to compare the performance of the modified binder with the original hardened binder. The results showed that adding the rejuvenator improved the properties of the VB binder. Optimal asphalt grades were achieved with a 2% content of the softening additive in the VB binder. The rejuvenator enhanced moisture resistance, leading to settlements comparable to the control asphalt. Settlements after 20,000 load repetitions were 11.49 mm for the modified mixture, which were slightly better than the control material at 12.44 mm. Moisture stripping points occurred at around 16,000 cycles for the modified mixture, while the control material experienced them at approximately 13,000 cycles. Under freeze-thaw cycles, the modified mixture exhibited enhanced durability compared to the control mixture. The control mixture experienced a significant increase in rutting value of approximately 59.7% (from 12.4 mm to 19.7 mm), while the modified mixture showed a relatively lower increase of approximately 37.4% (from 11.5 mm to 15.8 mm). Additionally, the modified VB mixture demonstrated approximately 7.8% higher dynamic modulus at lower temperatures, indicating improved mechanical properties. It also displayed superior fatigue crack resistance, with a fatigue life of 18,385 cycles compared to 15,775 cycles for the control asphalt. Field results confirmed that the VB asphalt mixture with the rejuvenator achieved comparable site compactness to the control mixture, indicating successful compaction performance. These findings highlight the rejuvenator’s efficacy in mitigating binder stiffening and restoring the original state of aged asphalt binders.

show abstract

An efficient treatment of ultra-heavy asphaltic crude oil using electron beam technology

Cited by 10 publications

References 27 publications

Plasma Chemical Synthesis of Valuable Fuels and Chemicals from n-Hexane and Its Mixture with Methanol and Ethanol

Plasma Chemical Synthesis of Valuable Fuels and Chemicals from n-Hexane and Its Mixture with Methanol and Ethanol

Electrical Oligomerization of Small Hydrocarbons Activated by Collision with High Energy Electrons at Ambient Conditions

Feasibility of Carnauba Wax Rejuvenators for Asphalt Concrete with Vacuum Tower Bottom Binder

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About