Downloaded from https://iranpaper.

ir
https://www.tarjomano.com/order

Petroleum Science and Technology

ISSN: 1091-6466 (Print) 1532-2459 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/lpet20

Solvent deasphalting of Saudi residue to produce

#
30 hard asphalt

Yujun Tong, Benxian Shen, Jichang Liu & Aimin Ning

To cite this article: Yujun Tong, Benxian Shen, Jichang Liu & Aimin Ning (2016) Solvent
#
deasphalting of Saudi residue to produce 30 hard asphalt, Petroleum Science and Technology,
34:21, 1777-1782, DOI: 10.1080/10916466.2016.1193520

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10916466.2016.1193520

Published online: 06 Dec 2016.

Submit your article to this journal

Article views: 40

View related articles

View Crossmark data

Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at

http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=lpet20

Download by: [University of the Sunshine Coast] Date: 05 August 2017, At: 09:03
 Downloaded from https://iranpaper.ir
https://www.tarjomano.com/order

PETROLEUM SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

, VOL. , NO. , –
http://dx.doi.org/./..

Solvent deasphalting of Saudi residue to produce # hard asphalt

Yujun Tonga , Benxian Shena , Jichang Liua , and Aimin Ningb
a
State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, China;
b
Fushun Research Institute of Petroleum and Petrochemicals, SINOPEC, Fushun, China

ABSTRACT KEYWORDS
30# asphalts produced directly by de-oiled asphalt (DOA) showed poor ductility # hard asphalt; asphalt
Downloaded by [University of the Sunshine Coast] at 09:03 05 August 2017

at low temperature and deasphalted oil (DAO) yield was below 17.6%. Combina- mixture; blending
tion technology of solvent deasphalting and blending was investigated to pro- technology; Saudi residue;
solvent deasphalting
duce 30# asphalt and results demonstrated that the 30# blended asphalt with
Saudi residue and DOA prepared under conditions of temperature of 105°C,
pressure of 4.0 MPa, and solvent/VR ratio of 5 conformed to GB/T 15180–2010
and its asphalt mixture had excellent rutting resistance and water stability per-
formance; meanwhile, DAO yield reached 42.7% and good quality DAO satisfied
the feedstock requirement for catalytic cracking process.

1. Introduction
Along with the increasing traffic volume and axle load in recent years, serious early failures have occurred
frequently on the asphalt pavement and become the restraining factor of development of road transporta-
tion in China (Han et al., 2016). Rutting is the main early damage and decreasing asphalt penetration is
an effective measure to improve rutting resistance performance (Liu et al., 2010). 30# hard asphalt first
appeared in the 1980s and some European countries, especially France, have done some research for 30#
asphalt. However, on account of standardization issued later, the research, production, and application
of 30# asphalt are relatively less in China. Due to the low cost and relatively simple construction of 30#
hard asphalt, it is thoughtful that there exhibits a wide application prospect for 30# hard asphalt.
Solvent deasphalting (SDA) has been considered to be a dominating technology to process heavy
inferior residue in refinery and quality deasphalted oil (DAO) of high quality can be achieved as the
feedstock of catalytic cracking process. Previous studies on SDA mainly focused on extracting DAO
under various conditions, aiming at obtaining high yield of DAO (Cao et al., 2010; Ning et al., 2015).
High yield of DAO would lead to the producing of de-oiled asphalt (DOA) with low penetration and high
softening point, and the DOA was usually considered as feedstock of delayed coking in refinery. DOA has
the potential and prospects to produce hard asphalt, while there is little previous literature concerning
on the application of DOA to produce 30# asphalt. Meanwhile, it’s a big challenge to balance the high
and low temperature performances of 30# asphalt. Selection of available modifier for DOA to improve
performances of hard asphalt has important guiding significance to production and use of 30# asphalt.
In this research, Saudi vacuum residue (VR) was chosen as material and isobutene was employed in
SDA process. The effects of solvent/VR ratio and extraction temperature on SDA were investigated to
determine the relationship between DAO yield and properties of DAO and DOA. Combination tech-
nology of solvent deasphalting and blending was investigated to produce 30# asphalt. Nine kinds of 30#
asphalts were produced by DOA or adopting technology of blending DOA with VR and furfural extract

CONTACT Benxian Shen sbx@ecust.edu.cn State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, East China University of Science
and Technology, Shanghai, China.
Color versions of one or more of the figures in the article can be found online at www.tandfonline.com/lpet.
©  Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
 Downloaded from https://iranpaper.ir
https://www.tarjomano.com/order

1778 Y. TONG ET AL.

Table . Properties of Saudi VR and FEO.

Item Saudi VR FEO

Density (°C)/(g·cm− ) . .

Viscosity (°C)/(mm ·s− )  
Carbon residue/% . .
w (C)/% . .
w (H)/% . .
w (S)/% . .
w (N)/% . .
H/C atomic ratio . .
w (Ni)/(µg·g− ) . .
w (V)/(µg·g− ) . .
Group composition (w)/%
Saturate . .
Aromatics . .
Resin . .
Downloaded by [University of the Sunshine Coast] at 09:03 05 August 2017

Asphaltene . .

Softening point/°C . —
Penetration (°C)/(. mm)  —

oil (FEO). Furthermore, a series of tests of mixtures with 30# asphalt and 70# asphalt were carried out to
further evaluate the performance of 30# asphalt.

2. Experimental

2.1. Materials
Saudi VR and FEO were supplied by Sinopec Zhenhai and Jinmen Petrochemical Corporation, respec-
tively. Isobutane (HPLC, grade  95%) was purchased from Dalian Special Gases Co., LTD. The main
properties of Saudi VR and FEO are listed in Table 1.

2.2. Solvent deasphalting process

Figure 1 shows the flow diagram of SDA process. Saudi VR and solvent were fed into the upper and
lower parts of extraction tower, respectively. Compounds of VR were dissolved in extraction tower, then

Figure . Flow diagram of SDA process.  – Solvent tank;  – solvent pump;  – solvent heating furnace;  – feedstock tank;  – feedstock
pump;  – extractor;  – heating furnace;  – constant pressure valve;  – solvent separation tower  – heat exchanger.
 Downloaded from https://iranpaper.ir
https://www.tarjomano.com/order

PETROLEUM SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 1779

Table . Effects of solvent/VR ratio on the yield and properties of DAO and DOA.

Solvent ratio/v% . . . . .

DAO yield/% . . . . .

DAO properties
Density (°C)/(g·cm− ) . . . . .
Viscosity (°C)/(mm ·s− ) . . . . .
Carbon residue/% . . . . .
w (S)/% . . . . .
w (N)/% . . . . .
w (Ni)/(µg·g− ) . . . . .
w (V)/(µg·g− ) . . . . .
DOA properties
Penetration (°C)/(/ mm)     
Softening point/°C . . . . .
Downloaded by [University of the Sunshine Coast] at 09:03 05 August 2017

a mixture of DAO and solvent was obtained upstream and fed into the solvent separation tower where the
solvent was subsequently separated from the DAO under supercritical conditions, recycling in solvent
tank. DOA was expelled from the bottom of the extraction tower.

3. Results and discussion

3.1. SDA process of Saudi VR

... Effect of solvent/VR ratio on SDA process
Table 2 displays the effects of solvent/VR ratio on SDA process at extraction temperature of 120°C and
pressure of 4.0 MPa. As solvent/VR ratio increased, DAO yield increased; DOA penetration reduced and
softening point increased, content of CCR, S, N, metal (Ni and V) of DAO decreased with solvent/VR
ratio increasing from 3.0 to 4.0, then increased with solvent/VR ratio increasing from 4.0 to 7.0, indi-
cating effects of solvent/VR ratio on yield and properties of DAO and DOA was comparatively complex
rather than simple proportional relationship. With solvent/VR ratio ranging from 3.0 to 6.0, DAO yield
changed in the scope of 12.0–17.6% and DOA penetration ranged from 20 to 39 satisfying GB/T 15180–
2010; meanwhile, DAO met the feed requirement of catalytic cracking, content of carbon residue and
metal (Ni and V) below 8% and 30 µg•g−1 , respectively (Long et al., 2004).
Based on the above analysis, low solvent/VR ratio was not beneficial to qualities of DAO and surplus
solvent would increase cost for SDA process. Solvent/VR ratio ranging from 4.0 to 6.0 was feasible.

... Effect of extraction temperature on SDA process

Generally, extraction temperature has a vital influence on SDA process as a sensitive and convenient
method to balance the properties and yield of DAO and DOA. Table 3 shows the effects of extraction

Table . Effects of extraction temperature on the yield and properties of DAO and DOA.

Extraction temperature (°C)      

DAO yield/% . . . . . .

DAO properties
Density (°C)/(g·cm− ) . . . . . .
Viscosity (°C)/(mm ·s− ) . . . . . .
Carbon residue/% . . . . . .
w (S)/ . . . . . .
w (N)/% . . . . . .
w (Ni)/(µg·g− ) . . . . . .
w (V)/(µg·g− ) . . . . . .
DOA properties
Penetration (°C)/(. mm)      
Softening point/°C . . . . . .
 Downloaded from https://iranpaper.ir
https://www.tarjomano.com/order

1780 Y. TONG ET AL.

Downloaded by [University of the Sunshine Coast] at 09:03 05 August 2017

Figure . The relationship between DOA properties and DAO yield.

temperature on SDA process at 4.0 MPa and solvent/VR ratio of 5. As extraction temperature decreased
from 125°C to 100°C, DAO yield increased significantly from 9.6% to 51.0% and DAO quality became
degraded; meanwhile, DOA penetration at 25°C reduced from 55 to 0 and softening point raised from
47.6°C to 105.6°C.
DAO yield was 15.5% and DOA penetration decreased to 30 under extraction temperature of 120°C.
On the condition that DAO met feed requirement of catalytic cracking, DAO yield was less than 42.5%
and lowest extraction temperature was 105°C. With the objective of maximizing utilization of VR, the
feasible extraction temperature was ranged from 105°C to 120°C, where DAO can be used as feedstock
for catalytic cracking and 30# hard asphalt was potentially prepared by DOA or blending hard DOA with
soft components (VR, EFO).

3.2. Relationship between DOA properties and DAO yield

Figure 2 shows the relationship between DOA properties and DAO yield, including penetration at 25°C
and softening point. It can be seen that there had been a good linear relationship between DOA softening
point and DAO yield, while there was complex index relationship between DOA penetration and DAO
yield. The fitting equations for DOA penetration and softening point vs. DAO yield are as follows:
Pen = 81.6 × exp (−Y/16.89) + 2760 × exp (−Y/1.78) 4.32 (1)
SP = 34.56 + 1.33 × Y (2)
where Pen = DOA penetration at 25°C; SP = DOA softening point,°C; Y = DAO yield, %.

3.3. Blending technology of 30# hard asphalt

Table 4 displays three kinds of 30# asphalts produced directly by SDA process. Along with the increase in
DOA penetration from 20 to 39, the softening point decreased from 58.7°C to 50.4°C, viscosity at 60°C
declined from 1708 to 437 Pa·s, while ductility at 15°C increased from 12 to 67 and ductility at 10°C
of these 30# asphalts was from 0 to 2. These phenomena indicate that 30# asphalts produced directly by
DOA showed poor ductility at low temperature and SDA process was difficult to balance the performance
of 30# asphalt at high and low temperatures. Furthermore, as presented in Figure 2, DAO yield was below
17.6%. Low DAO yield would reduce processing depth and restrict SDA application in deep processing
for heavy residue.
Combination technology of solvent deasphalting and blending was investigated to produce 30#
asphalts. VR and FEO were often employed as soft components to blend asphalt. The properties of 30#
asphalts, produced by blending Saudi VR and FEO with different penetration DOA, were tested to figure
 Downloaded from https://iranpaper.ir
https://www.tarjomano.com/order

PETROLEUM SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 1781

Table . Properties of # asphalt prepared by SDA technology.

Item # - # - # - GB/T –

DAO yield/% . . .

Penetration (°C)/(/ mm)    –
PI . −. −. −. to .
Softening point/°C . . . –
Ductility (°C)/cm    —
Ductility (°C)/cm    —
Viscosity (°C)/Pa·s    >
Solubility/% . . . >.
Flashing point/°C > > > >
TFOT
Mass loss, % −. −. −. .
Penetration ratio, %    
Ductility (°C)/cm    —
Downloaded by [University of the Sunshine Coast] at 09:03 05 August 2017

out the optimum DOA and soft components and the results are shown in Table 5. Results indicated that
there had been some considerable differences in performances of 30# asphalts. The VR/DOA ratio was
apparently higher than FEO/DOA ratio. Compared with VR, FEO was beneficial in improving the ductil-
ity at 15°C and not improving the ductility at 10°C for blended asphalt; high FEO/DOA ratio would bring
out decrease in high temperature performance. 30# −8 blending asphalt did not satisfy GB/T 15180–2010
because its softening point was 49.2°C (below 50°C) and the mass loss was −0.66% beyond the limit of
0.5 after TFOT test, which indicated blending proportion of FEO should not be too high. The softening
point, viscosity, and ductility at 10°C of 30# asphalts blended with VR were higher than that blended with
FEO, which revealed that VR was the appropriate soft component for blending with DAO to produce 30#
hard asphalt. Meanwhile, all 30# asphalts blended with VR conformed to GB/T 15180–2010. Considering
some key indexes including softening point, viscosity, and ductility at 10°C and 15°C, 30# −5 blended
asphalts, produced by blending Saudi VR with DAO (penetration of 5), were optimum and possessed
relatively good performance at low and high temperatures.
In summary, blending hard DOA with VR was a potential technology to produce 30# asphalt and 30#
asphalt possessed satisfying high and low temperature performance.

Table . Properties of blended # asphalt with DAO and Saudi VR (FEO).

Item # - # - # - # - # - # - GB/T –

DOA properties
Penetration (°C)/(. mm)      
Softening point/°C . . . . . .
Blending proportion/w%
Saudi VR . . . . — —
FEO — — — — . .
DOA . . . . . .
Blended # asphalt properties
Penetration (°C)/(/ mm)       –
PI −. −. −. −. −. −. −. to .
Softening point/°C . . . . . . –
Ductility (°C)/cm       —
Ductility (°C)/cm     > > —
Viscosity (°C)/Pa·s       >
Solubility/% . . . . . . >.
Flashing point/°C > > > > > > >
TFOT
Mass loss/% −. −. −. −. −. −. .
Penetration ratio/%       
Ductility (°C)/cm       —
 Downloaded from https://iranpaper.ir
https://www.tarjomano.com/order

1782 Y. TONG ET AL.

Table . Performances of # asphalt mixture and # asphalt mixture.

Item # - # Requirement

Asphalt aggregate ratio/% . .

Volume of air voids/% . . –
Marshall stability/kN . . 
Flow value/mm . . .–
Dynamic stability/(times/mm)   
Retained Marshall stability/%   
Tensile strength ratio/%   

3.4. Performance of 30# asphalt mixtures

To validate the performance of 30# hard asphalt, AC-20 mixtures with 30# −5 and 70# asphalt were car-
ried out. The Marshall Mix design procedure was employed to design mixtures according to Standard
Downloaded by [University of the Sunshine Coast] at 09:03 05 August 2017

Methods of Asphalt and Asphalt Mixture for Highway Engineering (JTG E20-2011). Performances of 30#
asphalt and 70# asphalt mixtures are shown in Table 6. Results demonstrated that 30# asphalt mixtures
met the requirement of the specifications of Technical Specification for Construction of Highway Asphalt
Pavements (JTG F40-2004). Compared with 70# asphalt mixtures, 30# asphalt mixtures had higher Mar-
shall stability, dynamic stability, retained Marshall stability and tensile strength ratio, indicating better
rutting resistance and water stability performance of 30# asphalting mixture.

4. Conclusions
Based on the above analysis, it can be concluded that combination technology, solvent deasphalting with
blending process, is a potential process to produce 30# asphalt. Under the SDA conditions of temperature
of 105°C, pressure of 4.0 MPa, and solvent/VR ratio of 5, 30# asphalt produced by blending DOA with
Saudi VR conformed to GB/T 15180–2010 and possessed relatively good performance at low and high
temperatures; DAO yield reached the maximum about 42.7% and contents of carbon residue and metals
(Ni and V) in DAO were below 8% and 30 µg·g−1 and satisfied the feedstock requirement for catalytic
cracking process. Meanwhile, 30# asphalt mixture had excellent rutting resistance and water stability
performance.

References
Cao, F. H., Jiang, D., Li, W. D., Du, P. A., Yang, G. Z., and Ying, W. Y. (2010). Process analysis of the extract unit of vacuum
residue through mixed C4 solvent for deasphalting. Chem. Eng. Process. Process Intensif. 49(1):91–96.
Han, D. D., Wei, L. Y., and Zhang, J. X. (2016). Experimental study on performance of asphalt mixture designed by different
method. Procedia Eng. 137:407–414.
Liu, Y. C., Fan, X. H., and Zhang, H. Z. (2010). Development and evaluation of the hard-grade asphalt. J. Mater. Civil Eng.
22(8):800–805.
Long, J., Wang, Z. J., Huang, W. Q., Zu, D. G. (2004). Application of heavy solvent deasphalting in sulfur-containing
residuum processing. Pet. Process. Petrochem. 35(3):1–5.
Ning, A. M., Shen, B. X., Liu, J. C., Tong, Y. J. (2015). Refining Tahe heavy crude oil to increase light product yield. Pet. Sci.
Technol. 33(3):311–318.