Extraction and Characterization (Compositional and Thermal) of Asphaltenes From Brazilian Vacuum Residues

Abstract

Due to the decrease in light oil reserves, the petroleum industry faces the challenge of developing technologies for processing raw materials and wastes from heavy crude oils, which contain large amounts of asphaltenes. Thus, there is an increasing need to use heavy fractions efficiently in the production of fuels and chemical raw materials. The search for means for removing asphaltenes are justified by the fact that these molecules increase the viscosity of the fractions submitted to distillation, contribute to the formation of coke, and deactivate catalysts used in refining processes. This paper presents an alternative technique for selective extraction of asphaltenes from two Brazilian vacuum residues and compares these results to the ones observed using the IP-143 standard methodology. The extracted fraction was characterized by hydrogen nuclear magnetic resonance ( 1 H-NMR) and thermogravimetry (TG/DTG), revealing that the chemical species extracted using different techniques exhibited very small differences in composition but similar thermal behavior.

Characterization of Vanadium and Sulfur Containing Compounds of Kazakhstan Petroleum Vacuum Residuum

“…The paper [16] presents an alternative technique for selective extraction of asphaltenes from two Brazilian vacuum residues and compares these results to the ones observed using the IP-143 standard methodology. The extracted fraction was characterized by 1 H NMR and TG/DTG, revealing that the chemical species extracted using different techniques exhibited very small differences in composition but similar thermal behavior.…”

Molecular structure characterization of asphaltene in the presence of inhibitors with nanoemulsions

“…The molecular structure of asphaltenes is the least understood among all petroleum fractions. 1 The asphaltene aggregation and the formation of colloidal particles in crude oil can be attributed to a range of intermolecular interactions such as hydrogen-bonding, 2 aromatic p-p stacking, 2,3 polar-polar interactions, 4 and electrostatic attractions between asphaltene molecules. [5][6][7][8] Analytical techniques have been used to characterize the asphaltenes and to determine their molecular structures.…”

Kinetic Study of Controlled Asphaltene Inhibitor Release from Nanoemulsions

“…Asphaltenes are macromolecules containing aromatic and naphthenic cores, aliphatic chains, and heteroatoms such as oxygen, nitrogen, or sulfur [1]. Even in low concentrations, asphaltene molecule is prone to aggregate and precipitate, causing plugging of pipelines and process equipment such as pumps, heat exchangers, or separator tanks [2][3][4][5][6][7].…”