Abstract
Bitumen and heavy oils produced in Alberta frequently contain asphaltenes. These asphaltenes may play a significant role in the primary upgrading or visbreaking of the bitumen and heavy oils. This paper describes an experimental study of the effect of asphaltene content on the viscosity of bitumen. Rheological studies were carried out using virgin bitumen as well as using mixtures of deasphalted bitumen and asphaltenes. The viscosity of the mixture was found to be a strong function of asphaltene content. However, it was not possible to ascertain the exact nature of this functionality. In order to obtain further insight into this, processed samples were also included in the study. Since, the aggregate nature of the asphaltene is subject to change when subjected to the high severity conditions of upgrading reactors, the use of processed sample was expected to provide some additional information on the asphaltene content-viscosity relationship. It was found that asphaltenes with higher molecular weight resulted in higher viscosity of the mixture than those with lower molecular weights.
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© 1994 Springer Science+Business Media New York
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Chakma, A., Islam, M.R., Berruti, F. (1994). Asphaltene — Viscosity Relationship Of Processed And Unprocessed Bitumen. In: Sharma, M.K., Yen, T.F. (eds) Asphaltene Particles in Fossil Fuel Exploration, Recovery, Refining, and Production Processes. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-2456-4_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-2456-4_1
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
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