Formulating Highway Paving Asphalts from the Vacuum Residue of a Paraffinic Crude

Many specifications of paving asphalts are closely related to their colloidal stability, which is, however, determined by their exact chemical compositions. The Yumen vacuum residue (YVR), the bottoms of a paraffinic crude oil is unfit for the production of highway paving asphalts directly, Neither are the de-oiled asphalts of the YVR. In this research a blending method and an optimal process of solvent de-asphalts are adopted to investigate the feasibility of formulating highway-paving asphalts from YVR. Results show that highway paving asphalts are formulated by blending solvent de-oiled asphalts with one or more of the materials including YVR, decanted oil from FCC process, and furfural extracts from lubricating base stocks. Further investigations indicate that adding oil decanted from FCC process to the solvent de-asphalting process can increase the de-asphalted oil production, improve the de-oiled asphalts quality, and thus optimize the refinery processes. The methodology of this research can be extended even to refineries processing non-paraffinic crude oils.

DEVELOPMENT OF EXPRESSION TYPE DECANTER AND ITS APPLICATION IN ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

The principle of intensified dewatering with expression-type decanter isanalyzed, the factors affecting dewatering of expression-type decanter are studied and thestructural features of expression-type decanter are introduced. It is proven through the sludgedewatering experiments in the municipal sewage treatment factories of different regions that thisexpression-type decanter developed can satisfy the technical requirements of sludge dewatering inmunicipal sewage treatment

Flocculation and magnetically-assisted sedimentation of size-sorted beidellite platelets mixed with maghemite nanoparticles

In this study,the flocculation and the subsequent decantation step of mixed suspensions of 10 nm-sizedγ-Fe_(2)O_(3) magnetic nanoparticles and 500 nm-sized beidellite clay platelets was investigated.This work may find application in the field of water treatment,specifically the flocculation processes with magnetically assisted sedimentation.After a short description of the preparation and characterization of the raw materials(nanoparticles and clays),the influence of several parameters(pH,concentrations of nanoparticles and clays etc.)on the amount of flocculated materials was examined,which gave information on the concentration ranges allowing a complete flocculation,together with a better understanding on the interactions between nanoparticles and clays responsible for flocculation.The optimal conditions for magnetically assisted settling were then determined by comparing for each sample sedimentation velocities under gravity and in the presence of a Nd-Fe-B magnet.Finally,the complex multiscale structure of the flocs in water was explored,through the measurement of several bulk properties(zeta-potential and volume measurements,laser granulometry),while the organization of the materials at a microscopic scale was investigated by cryo-transmission electron microscopy(cryo-TEM)and small-angle X-ray scattering(SAXS).