Effect of Thermal and Hydro-Catalytic Treatment on the Molecular chemistry of Narrow Fractions of Athabasca Bitumen Pitch

摘要

As much as 50 w/w /100 of bitumen derived from Athabasca oil sands consists of a residuum that cannot be easily upgraded. A better understanding of the chemistry of this material is the key to achieving optimal yields of commercially useful products. In recent years, the application of supercritical fluid extraction (SCFE) with pentane has been successful in separating the residuum into a number of narrow fractions based on their solubility parameters.