The molecular nature of petroleum asphaltenes

Abstract EN

The limitations and challenges of processing the heavier feedstocks (which include the naturally-occurring heavy oils and nonvolatile residua) depend upon several factors, not the least of which is the amount of higher molecular weight constituents (asphaltenes) present in the feedstock.

Different asphaltene contents lead to variations in the amount of thermal coke and also in the relative rates of catalytic reactions as well as differing tendencies for catalyst deterioration and, hence, in the methods chosen for refining different feedstocks.

Thus, the aim of this review is to present some detail of the types of molecular species that have been identified and modeled as part of the asphaltene matrix.

The evolution of the modeling efforts will be presented.

And, although considerable debate still exists about the type of molecular models that should be used, new thoughts will be presented which illustrate more novel structural designs for these species.