Variation of oxidation reactivity of straight run and H-Oil hydrocracked vacuum residual oils in the process of road asphalt production

Abstract

Four straight run vacuum residual oils (SRVRO) and five H-Oil hydrocracked vacuum residual oils (H-Oil VTB) and their blends were oxidized in a laboratory autoclave reactor. It was found that the addition of H-Oil VTB to the SRVRO increases the oxidation rate of the SRVRO, which leads to a higher rate of asphaltenes formation, and subsequently higher rate of softening point increasing. The oxidation rate expressed by the rate of softening point increasing with oxidation time prolonging of the blends SRVRO/H-Oil VTB linearly correlates with the colloidal instability index (CII) of the H-Oil VTB. The oxidation rate of the SRVRO was also found to correlate with the CII of the SRVRO. Inhibiting the oxidation process for the road asphalt containing H-Oil VTB by improvement the colloidal stability and compatibility of the blend can allow increasing the share of the H-Oil VTB in the feed for production of road asphalt.