Molecular Structure and Aggregation Dynamics of Asphaltene in Petroleum Vacuum Residue and Their Impact on Its Reactivities

Ryuzo Tanaka^1*, Shinya Sato², Toshimasa Takanohashi² and Haruo Kumagai³

¹Central Research Laboratories, Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd., Chiba, Japan, ²Institute for Energy Utilization, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Tsukuba, Japan, ³Reaction Engineering of Carbonaceous Resource Conversion, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan. * Current address: C-120, School of Engineering, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, 98 Brett Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854-8058

Molecular structure, aggregation dynamics and reactivities of petroleum asphaltenes were investigated extensively in an international joint research project for the development of advanced heavy oil upgrading process. The asphaltene aggregation had a certain impact for cracking and coking reactivity of heavy oil. The possibility of the performance improvement by the controlling the aggregation with thermal and solvent treatment was indicated. Various sophisticated analytical techniques including MS, NMR, SANS, SAXS, micro reactor testing, and molecular simulations etc., were used by the consortium constituted with Argonne National Laboratory, The Pennsylvania State University, University of Alberta, Hokkaido University, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, and Idemitsu Kosan Co. Several studies have been presented in some journals and meetings [1-8]. In the present paper, peculiar results are reviewed and the relationships among the asphaltene features are discussed.

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2. Tanaka, R.; Sato, E.; Hunt, J. E.; Winans, R. E.; Sato, S.; Takanohasi, T. Energy Fuels 2004, 18, 1118-1125.

3. Zhang, Y.; Takanohashi, T.; Sato, S.; Saito, I.; Tanaka, R. J. Jpn. Petrol. Inst. 2004, 47(1), 32-36.

4. Zhang, Y.; Takanohashi, T.; Sato, S.; Saito, I.; Tanaka, R. Energy Fuels 2004, 18(1), 283-284.

5. Takanohashi, T.; Sato, S.; Tanaka, R. Pet. Sci. Tech. 2003, 21(3/4), 491-505.

6. Takanohasi, T.; Sato, S.; Saito, I.; Tanaka, R. Energy Fuels 2003, 17, 135-139.

7. Tanaka, R.; Winans, R. E.; Hunt, J. E.; Thiyagarajan, P.; Sato, S.; Takanohasi, T. Energy Fuels 2003, 17, 127-134.

8. Zhang, Y.; Takanohasi, T.; Sato, S.; Kondo, T.; Saito, I.; Tanaka, R. Energy Fuels 2003, 17, 101-106.