Characterization of various bitumen samples from tar sands
Bitumen is a complex mixture of a large of number of organic molecules. The composition of bitumen and the nature of their various individual components has been the subject of considerable research during the past two decades. Various modes of extraction of bitumen from oil sands such as heat, extreme mechanical force, chemical agents and solvents could significantly affect some properties of bitumen. Variations in the composition of the oil sands feed stock could also affect the properties of the extracted bitumen. However, the most commonly used analytical techniques such as elemental analyses, density and viscosity cannot detect small compositional differences in the various samples of bitumen. With developments in instrumentation and techniques the structural characterization of complex petroleum fractions employing high resolution proton and 13/sub C/ nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is becoming more popular. The parameters describe structural features, such as the fraction of carbon that is aromatic, the number and length of alkyl substituents in an average molecule, the percentage of aromatic carbons that are substituted and the number of aromatic rings per molecule. Given sufficient data these parameters can provide useful characterization of a hydrocarbon mixture. In the authors' laboratories, the authors have collected a number of bitumen samples obtained from different feedstocks employing a variety of extraction techniques. It was of interest to investigate any differences between these samples from different sources. This paper reports a detailed investigation of average structural parameters by the combined use of elemental analyses, molecular weight determinations and proton and 13/sub C/NMR spectroscopy. A total of twenty three butimen samples have been studied.
- Research Organization:
- Div. of Chemistry, National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0R9 (CA)
- OSTI ID:
- 6636025
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-880659-
- Journal Information:
- Am. Chem. Soc., Div. Pet. Chem., Prepr.; (United States), Vol. 33:2; Conference: ACS symposium on advances in oil field chemistry, Toronto, Canada, 5 Jun 1988
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Characteristics of tar sand bitumen asphaltenes and the effect of asphaltenes on conversion of bitumen by hydropyrolysis
Characterization of Nickel and Vanadium compounds in tar sand bitumen by petroporphyrin quantitation and size exclusion chromatography coupled with element specific detection
Related Subjects
BITUMENS
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
OIL SANDS
CARBON 13
NMR SPECTRA
PROTON SPECTRA
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
SAMPLING
SOLVENT EXTRACTION
STRUCTURAL CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
BITUMINOUS MATERIALS
CARBON ISOTOPES
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
ENERGY SOURCES
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
EXTRACTION
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
ISOTOPES
LIGHT NUCLEI
MATERIALS
NUCLEI
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OTHER ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SPECTRA
STABLE ISOTOPES
TAR
040500* - Oil Shales & Tar Sands- Properties & Composition