INFLUENCE OF TEMPERATURE AND SOLVENT ON THE PRECIPITATION OF ASPHALTENES

Asphaltenes has been precipitated from a Kuwait flash residue using different n-alkanes (n-C5 to n-C8) at various temperatures ranging from 4^°C to reflux temperatures of the used precipitants. Structures in the asphaltene fractions has been revealed using U.V. fluorescence spectroscopy, elemental analysis and to some extent 1H-nmr. These analysis shows that asphaltenes precipitated in the same amount but at different temperature and with different solvents have merely the same composition. For all n-alkanes the curves of precipitated amount versus temperature show maxima at about 25^°C, implying a shift in the solubility of the asphaltenes.The impact of alkane chain length on the aggregation of asphaltenes through hydrogen bonds is discussed using the alkane-alcohol system as a model. The asphaltene solubility is discussed with the help of the Scatchard-Hildebrand equation.