• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.497-504
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• 2015

Apart from hydrates, asphaltenes, and inorganic minerals, paraffinic waxes are also very important in flow assurance area. Evaluation of wax gel behavior has been important as off-shore oil recovery becomes more popular in oil production. Restart after either planned or emergency shutdown requires pump operation in high pressure since a waxy oil forms troublesome gel. In this paper, vane method is introduced to determine wax gel strength by determining yield stress. Prediction of gel strength are discussed in qualitative and quantitative manners.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.468-473
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• 2018

In this study, the reforming reaction of vacuum residues (VR), high viscosity oil residues produced from vacuum distillation process of petroleum oil, was carried out using catalytic aquathermolysis reaction. VR showed a prone to decrease the amount of resins and asphaltenes in the constituents, and to increase saturates and aromatics when reacting with steam at 30 bar and above $300^{\circ}C$ for 24 h. When the amount of steam is not enough at this reaction, the asphaltene content in the products was rather increased after the reaction. As a result of the catalytic aquathermolysis using the metal oxide-zeolite catalyst with the decaline as a hydrogen donor, a 10% decrease in resin and asphaltene as well as a 10% increase in the aromatic hydrocarbon were observed. Consequently, the viscosity of VR decreased by 70% after the reaction. GC-Mass spectroscopy showed that the aquathermolysis of VR resulted in the decomposition of the resins and asphaltens into a low molecular weight material.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.251-257
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• 2015

Heavy oil production is receiving significant attention because of increased demands for thermal power generation systems of the diesel engine and boilers. However, asphaltene, which is a heavy oil components (6-8 wt%), reduces the heat efficiency of the fuels owing to its agglomerated sludge of asphaltene during the burning process. Therefore, for hassle-free operation, we should develop asphaltene dispersants to suppress the formation of the sludge. We prepare variable salt-type polymeric dispersants using poly(isobutenyl succinic anhydride) and poly(amine) through both condensation esterification and acid-base neutralization reactions, which we subsequently evaluate for dispersing performance, using Turbiscan measurement. Total acid number (TAN) and total base number (TBN) of 75Lec-25SynDis.2 composed of lecithin and the prepared polymeric salt having the ratio of 3 : 1 are 18.9 and 33.7 mg KOH/g, respectively, which are comparable to those of the commercial dispersants (15.8 and 26.5 mg KOH/g). We determine the initial turbidity observed for 15 min of the polymeric dispersant was determined with transmittance (%), which can be calculated to separability number (SN). The SN value of 75Lec-25SynDis.2 is close to zero, which is superior to that of commercial dispersants and lecithin (0.015 and 0.017).

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.97-104
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• 2016

OBJECTIVES : The objective of this research is to develop additives for the modification of Solvent DeAsphalting Residue (SDAR) to be used as pavement materials, and evaluate the performance of asphalt mixture manufactured using the SDAR modified by developed additives. METHODS : The SDAR generally consists of more asphaltenes and less oil components compared to the conventional asphalt binder, and hence, the chemical/physical properties of SDAR are different from that of conventional asphalt binder. In this research, the additives are developed using the low molecular oil-based plasticizer to improve the properties of SDAR. First, the chemical property of two SDARs is analyzed using SARA (saturate, aromatic, resin, and asphaltene) method. The physical/rheological properties of SDARs and SDARs containing additives are also evaluated based on PG-grade method and dynamic shear-modulus master curve. Second, various laboratory tests are conducted for the asphalt mixture manufactured using the SDAR modified with additives. The laboratory tests conducted in this study include the mix design, compactibility analysis, indirect tensile test for moisture susceptibility, dynamic modulus test for rheological property, wheel-tracking test for rutting performance, and direct tension fatigue test for cracking performance. RESULTS : The PG-grade of SDARs is higher than PG 76 in high temperature grades and immeasurable in low temperature grades. The dynamic shear modulus of SDARs is much higher than that of conventional asphalt, but the modified SDARs with additives show similar modulus compared to that of conventional asphalt. The moisture susceptibility of asphalt mixture with modified SDARs is good if, the anti-stripping agent is included. The performance (dynamic modulus, rutting resistance, and fatigue resistance) of asphalt mixture with modified SDARs is comparable to that of conventional asphalt mixture when appropriate amount of additives is added. CONCLUSIONS : The saturate component of SDARs is much less than that of conventional asphalt, and hence, it is too hard and brittle to be used as pavement materials. However, the modified SDARs with developed additives show comparable or better rheological/physical properties compared to that of conventional asphalt depending on the type of SDAR and the amount of additives used.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.343-352
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• 2016

It has been estimated that the Earth has nearly 1.688 trillion barrels of crude oil, which will last 53.3 years at current extraction rates. The organization of petroleum exporting countries (OPEC) group forecasted that the oil prices will not jump to triple-digit territory within a decade, but it can quickly increase as the political issue for reducing oil production appears. With the potential of serious shortage of conventional hydrocarbon resources, the heavy oil, one of unconventional hydrocarbon resources including oil sand and natural bitumen has attracted worldwide interest. The heavy oil contains heavy hydrocarbon compounds, commonly called as resins and asphaltenes, with long carbon chains more than sixty carbon atoms. The high content of heavier fraction corresponds with the high molecular weight, viscosity, and boiling point. Physicochemical properties of residues from vacuum distillation of conventional oil, referred to as vacuum residues (VR) were similar to those of heavy oil. For the development of heavy oil reserves, reducing the heavy oil viscosity is the most important. In this article, commercially employed aquathermolysis processes and their application to VR upgrading are discussed. VR contains transition metals such as Ni and V, but these metals should be eliminated in advance for further refining. Recent studies on demetallization technologies for VR are also reviewed.