Chemical speciation of petroleum and bio-oil coprocessing products: Investigating the introduction of renewable molecules in refining processes

The pentane solvent deasphalting (SDA) process was carried out with petroleum vacuum residue (VR) blend with a bio-oil (BO) and solely with the bio-oil as a raw material. Two fractions each were produced: deasphalted oil (DAO) and asphaltic residue (AR). This study deals with the chemical speciation of the fractions and investigation of the insertion of renewable molecules in the VR. Chemical characterization was performed by two high resolution techniques: GC x GC-TOFMS and ESI(+/-)-Orbitrap HRMS. The GC x GC-TOFMS data showed that all fractions are mixtures of hydrocarbons and heteroatomic midpolar to polar compounds containing a wide variety of chemical functions. Aliphatic hydrocarbons were detected only in DAO fractions, showing that in the SDA process, the extraction of these compounds constituents of the VR was not affected by bio-oil inclusion. The ESI (+/-)-Orbitrap HRMS results allowed for the identification of nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur, and mixed heteroatomic classes. The chemical speciation obtained by the use of both techniques allowed the evaluation of effect of the SDA process on the fractions and assisted in the investigation of the degree of insertion of renewable molecules in SDA fractions, making them attractive in the application of refining processes, such as catalytic cracking. The DAO from the blend raw material was inserted in a bench-scale catalytic cracking load obtaining satisfactory results, and the AR fraction was introduced as an asphalt cement additive with promising results achieved in asphalt aging tests.

Automated summary

The study focused on the pentane solvent deasphalting (SDA) process using a blend of petroleum vacuum residue (VR) and bio-oil (BO) or solely bio-oil as raw material to produce deasphalted oil (DAO) and asphaltic residue (AR). Chemical speciation of the fractions was analyzed using GC x GC-TOFMS and ESI (+/-)-Orbitrap HRMS techniques. The results showed successful insertion of renewable molecules into the SDA fractions for potential application in refining processes like catalytic cracking. Additionally, satisfactory outcomes were achieved in bench-scale catalytic cracking and promising results were obtained in asphalt aging tests with the AR fraction used as an asphalt cement additive.