The Effect of Swelling Factor Vacuum Residue on Fuel Product Using Supercritical Gas CO2

Abstract

Vacuum residue is a by-product of the petroleum refining industry process that has low quality and low selling price under crude oil with hydrocarbon compound content consisting of carbon and hydrogen atoms. It can be utilized by improving the quality of vacuum residue from waste into commercial products is carried out through several stages of the process that become a new interest to convert this raw material into valuable fuel oil by using swelling process. The effect of the swelling process with supercritical gas CO2 is to weaken and break the long carbon chain vacuum residue to lower the process's energy consumption. It is swelling with supercritical CO2 gas results in the mixing of CO2 into the oil phase, increasing vacuum residue volume. This process takes place on a fixed bed reactor with temperature operating conditions (200ºC, 250ºC, 300ºC, and 350ºC), CO2 pressure (100Psi, 120Psi, 140Psi, 160Psi, and 180Psi) and reaction time (60 minutes and 90 minutes). The result of liquid product from swelling process with supercritical of CO2 gas is done by analysis method of Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrophotometer (GCMS) instrument using optimal time in pressure operating conditions 160Psi, the temperature of 350ºC and reaction time of 90 minutes resulted in a percent swelling factor of an excellent vacuum residue of 7.14%. Hydrocarbon compound content in the research products showed the dominance of aromatic compounds by 71.53%, saturates compound 35.79%, and olefin compound by 10.05%.