Transformation of petroleum asphaltenes in supercritical alcoholsA tool to change H/C ratio and remove S and N atoms from refined products

Transformation of petroleum asphaltenes in supercritical alcoholsA tool to change H/C ratio and remove S and N atoms from refined products

Asphaltenes

Petroleum refining

Gasoline

Ethanol

Desulfurization

Chemical analysis

Hexane

The aliphatic alcohols (methanol, ethanol, 1- and 2-propanol) were used for the upgrading of petroleum asphaltenes. The process was performed under supercritical (sc) conditions at 350 C. CHNSO analysis and GC methods were used to characterize the elemental and chemical composition of the products preliminarily divided into three fractions: hexane-soluble (HSF), benzene-soluble (BSF), and insoluble residue (IR). It was shown that the sc alcohols leads to the decrease of total content of sulfur and nitrogen in the products (HSF + BSF + IR) by 1823 and 3133 wt%, correspondingly, as compared with the initial asphaltenes (IA). The highest yield of the soluble fractions (HSF and BSF) was observed for 1-propanol and ethanol. It appeared that the alcohols used as a reaction media are partially consumed by incorporating in the product molecules as alkoxy substituents. The H and O content of HSF and BSF for all alcohols was significantly higher than that for IA. The composition of hexane-soluble fraction obtained after sc upgrading is quite similar to chemical composition of the diesel fraction, specifically to straight-run gas oil. The efficiency of each supercritical alcohol used for the upgrading of asphaltenes is analyzed and discussed. 2018 Elsevier B.V.

177-186

329

Catalysis Today

2019

Chibiryaev, A.M.

Kozhevnikov, I.V.

Martyanov, O.N.

journalArticle

9205861

10.1016/j.cattod.2018.10.066