Thermogravimetric investigation of the influence of colloidal phase on theprocessing properties of crude oil residues

An atmospheric residue, a vacuum residue, a visbreaking residue the maltene fractions of the residues, mixtures of the atmospheric residue with the va cuum residue and the residue from the supercritical extraction of the vacuu m residue as well as residues mixed with dispersing agents were investigate d by thermogravimetry at three different heating rates. From that the activ ation energies of the weighs loss were estimated. Ar temperatures up to abo ut 400 degreesC the activation energy corresponds to the evaporation enthal py, above 400 degreesC to the cracking energy. Comparing the results the st renght of the interactions between colloid disperse phase and the component s of dispersion medium was evaluated It was found that besides the content of colloid disperse phase its stability has a significant influence on the properties of the residues, especially on the evaporation enthalpy. The sta bility of residues was investigated by the flocculation point determination The obtained dependencies of evaporation enthalpies fire also reflected in the yields of distillates and in the thermogravimetric residues at 500 deg reesC. Thermogravimetry proves to be an effective method for the determinat ion of important parameters of processing of crude oil residues considering the influence of the colloidal character of these complex mixtures.