Structural Transformations of Heavy Oil Resins and Asphaltenes upon Thermal Cracking

Abstract—Structural changes in resins and asphaltenes in the course of their separate and combined cracking were studied. Cracking was carried out in a batch reactor at 450°C for 2 h. Data on the mass balance of the cracking process and the composition of liquid products were obtained, and the structural-group analysis of resins and asphaltenes was carried out. It was found that condensation reactions dominated on the cracking of both resins and asphaltenes and their mixture; this was reflected in a high yield of solid condensation products. It was established that the direction of thermal transformations changed in the combined cracking of resins and asphaltenes, as evidenced by a lower yield of solid products and structural changes in the molecules of newly formed resins and asphaltenes.