Chemical composition (saturate fraction) of western Iraq natural bitumen

Abstract

This study aims to explore the main components of bitumen in western Iraq as a natural resource of heavy oil. The raw bitumen studied was fractionated into asphaltene and maltene, and then the maltene was separated into saturated, aromatic and polar fractions. Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR), 13 C NMR, Scanning Electron Microscopy–Energy Dispersive (SEM–EDX) and Gas Chromatography (GC) were used to characterize the organic components of the bitumen. Hypothetical average molecules have been diagnosed including bitumen, asphaltene and aromatic according to 13 C NMR methods. The results indicate that the saturated, aromatic and polar compounds in bitumen are 8.24%, 55.67% and 9.93% respectively, while the asphaltene is 26.56%. The bitumen studied contains a relatively high amount of asphaltenes and aromatics fractions, potentially due to a thermal maturation of organic material in the well. However, it may be modified as crude oil derivatives because it contains certain aliphatic hydrocarbons.