EFFECTS OF THE BITUMEN POLAR FRACTIONS ON THE STABILITY OF BITUMEN AQUEOUS DISPERSIONS

• Published in: Petroleum science and technology Vol. 19; no. 1-2; pp. 119 - 127
• Main Authors: Jada, A., Salou, M., Siffert, B.
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Colchester Taylor & Francis Group 26.03.2001; Taylor & Francis
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Asphaltenes; Bitumens; Crude oil, natural gas and petroleum products; Dispersions; Droplets; Energy; Exact sciences and technology; Fuels; Petroleum products, gas and fuels. Motor fuels, lubricants and asphalts; Polymers; Pyridines; Resins; Stability; Asphaltene; Interface properties; Stability; Electrical properties; Flocculation; Polar compound; Resins; Transport; Aqueous dispersion; Bitumen
• ISSN: 1091-6466; 1532-2459
• DOI: 10.1081/LFT-100001229

The flocculation of aqueous bitumen emulsion during transportation and processing depends mostly on the electrical properties of bitumen-water interface. The aim of this study is to show how such interface is affected by the resins/asphaltenes ratio (r/a) of the bitumen. Our results indicate that the r/a controls the interfacial composition and the stability of the bitumen droplets in a water-continuous medium. Moreover, it is shown that the r/a is primarily responsible for maintaining diffusion of polar components inside the bitumen droplet. Such non-equilibrium behavior of various bitumen polar components takes place during the dispersion manufacturing and/or maturation phase. In this work, the asphaltenes and resins contents of a bitumen series were determined. In addition, the acid-base properties of the same bitumen series were studied by non-aqueous potentiometric titration method. The nature and the amount of acidic and basic functionaliti present in the bitumen were evaluated by comparison with the acid-base model compounds such as carboxylic acid, benzoic acid and pyridine. Furthermore, the interfacial properties of the acidic aqueous bitumen dispersions were studied by contact-angle and zeta potential measurements. The overall results indicate that stable bitumens dispersions are obtained with bitumens having high values of the resins/asphaltenes ratios.