STUDY OF THE THERMAL CRACKING DURING THE VACUUM DISTILLATION OF ATMOSPHERIC RESIDUE OF CRUDE OIL
JAOUAD ELAYANE *, RAHMA BCHITOU, AHMED BOUHAOUSS University Mohammed V, Faculty of Sciences, Department of Chemistry, Nanostructures Laboratory, Process Engineering and Environment, 4 Avenue Ibn Battuta B.P. 1014 RP, Rabat, Morocco
*Corresponding author: jawadely@gmail.com
This article concerns the study of the thermal cracking as undesirable phenomenon in the vacuum distillation of atmospheric residue of crude oil. In this point, we have sought to identify and characterize the effect of the increase in the temperature of vacuum distillation on the separation and the modification of the constituents of atmospheric residue of crude oil whose origin is Arabian Light. This study has been carried out by several techniques of analysis such as the density (ASTM D4052), distillation (ASTM D1160), determination of heavy metals nickel and vanadium (IFP9422), dosing of Conradson Carbon (ASTM D189), dosing of asphaltenes (ASTM D2549) and dosage of PCI (polycyclic aromatics) (ASTM D 5186). The results showed a clear idea on the decomposition of the atmospheric residue and their influence on the performance of the vacuum distillation unit.
