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Deasphaltization and demetalling of heavy crude oils and distillation residues with CO 2
Author(s) -
Eckermann Burkhard,
Vogelpohl Alfons
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
chemical engineering and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.403
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1521-4125
pISSN - 0930-7516
DOI - 10.1002/ceat.270130135
Subject(s) - asphaltene , supercritical fluid , distillation , chemistry , crude oil , flocculation , petroleum , viscosity , supercritical carbon dioxide , vacuum distillation , chemical engineering , pulp and paper industry , organic chemistry , materials science , petroleum engineering , engineering , composite material
Deasphaltization of heavy crude oils and distillation residues may reduce the metal content of these oils to such an extend that the upgrading of deasphaltized oil in a catalytic process becomes economically feasible. Experimental results of deasphaltization of Boscan crude from Venezuela, using subcritical and supercritical carbon dioxide as deasphaltizing agent, are presented. Deasphaltization and demetalling with CO 2 in the supercritical state is more effective. Under favorable conditions, the deasphaltized oil contains practically no asphaltenes and the metal content is reduced by 690 wt‐%. The influence of n ‐heptane or n ‐pentane addition to the crude, which lowers viscosity and promotes flocculation, is also discussed. Furthermore, a multistage deasphaltization process is more efficient than a single stage process.