Fractionation and Characterization of Petroleum Asphaltene: Focus on Metalopetroleomics

Fang Zheng (1, 2) , Quan Shi (2) , Germain Vallverdu (1) , Pierre Giusti (3) , Brice Bouyssière (1)

1 IPREM - Institut des sciences analytiques et de physico-chimie pour l'environnement et les materiaux
2 China University of Petroleum
3 TRTG - TOTAL Research & Technology Gonfreville

Asphaltenes, as the heaviest and most polar fraction of petroleum, have been characterized by various analytical techniques. A variety of fractionation methods have been carried out to separate asphaltenes into multiple subfractions for further investigation, and some of them have important reference significance. The goal of the current review article is to offer insight into the multitudinous analytical techniques and fractionation methods of asphaltene analysis, following an introduction with regard to the morphologies of metals and heteroatoms in asphaltenes, as well their functions on asphaltene aggregation. Learned lessons and suggestions on possible future work conclude the present review article.

Mots clés: asphaltene; analytical techniques; fractionation methods; heteroatoms; metals; aggregation Content

Domaines: Chimie analytique

Fang Zheng, Quan Shi, Germain Vallverdu, Pierre Giusti, Brice Bouyssière. Fractionation and Characterization of Petroleum Asphaltene: Focus on Metalopetroleomics. Processes, 2020, ⟨10.3390/pr8111504⟩. ⟨hal-03016944⟩