Kinetic study on the nonisothermal pyrolysis of oil sand bitumen and its maltene and asphaltene fractions

• Published in: Journal of analytical and applied pyrolysis Vol. 124; pp. 658 - 665
• Main Authors: Shin, Sangcheol, Im, Soo Ik, Kwon, Eun Hee, Na, Jeong-Geol, Nho, Nam Sun, Lee, Ki Bong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.03.2017
• Subjects: Activation energy; Distributed activation energy model; Kinetic analysis; Oil sand bitumen; Pyrolysis; Thermogravimetric analysis; Oil sand bitumen; Pyrolysis; Kinetic analysis; Thermogravimetric analysis; Distributed activation energy model; Activation energy
• ISSN: 0165-2370; 1873-250X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jaap.2016.12.016

•Nonisothermal pyrolysis of oil sand bitumen and its maltene and asphaltene fractions.•Determination of activation energies by model-free isoconversional Friedman analysis.•Prediction of pyrolysis behavior of oil sand bitumen using kinetic parameters. Pyrolysis is an important conversion process which can produce high value-added light oils from unconventional oils such as oil sand bitumen and extra heavy oil, thus it is important to understand the characteristics and kinetics of pyrolysis for unconventional oils. In this study, the nonisothermal pyrolysis of Athabasca oil sand bitumen and its maltene and asphaltene fractions was analyzed using a thermogravimetric analyzer, and activation energies for pyrolysis were determined by the model-free isoconversional Friedman analysis. The analysis suggests that the pyrolysis of oil sand bitumen consists of reactions for volatilization of maltene fraction and cracking of maltene and asphaltene fractions. The pyrolysis behavior of oil sand bitumen was well described based on the kinetic parameters estimated by the distributed activation energy model for maltene and asphaltene fractions, which is beneficial to effective utilization and development of pyrolysis processes of oil sand bitumen.