分子レベルから見た重質油処理技術 : アスファルテン分子凝集構造と解離挙動(<総説特集>重質油-限りある石油資源の有効利用を目指して-)

概要

論文の詳細を見る
Asphaltene is the most heavy and polar fraction in petroleum, and the source of coke formed during heavy oil processing. The feature of asphaltene molecule has been agreed in the last decade. It suggests that asphaltene molecules usually form aggregates with other asphaltene and/or resin molecules, but the feature of aggregates are still under argument. Molecular simulation techniques, such as molecular dynamics, provide a fundamental knowledge on the feature and the behavior of aggregates at molecular level. The results from such simulations indicate that some primary aggregates, the smallest aggregates consisted of few molecules, may remain at high temperature above 400℃, and solvents having high polarity and high aromaticity can disaggregate such primary aggregates. Such aggregates will form coke preferentially regardless of the existence of any high-performance catalysts, because they can contact insufficiently with catalysts due to the steric hindrance of aggregates. Such difficulties will be able to solve by designing a proper reaction field to disaggregate asphaltene aggregates. The knowledge accumulated by molecular simulation techniques will be a great help in the design of such reaction field, and in the development a novel heavy oil upgrading process based on the knowledge of molecular science.
一般社団法人日本エネルギー学会の論文
2006-04-20