A de-asphalter is a unit in a crude
oil refinery
An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refined into useful products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, asphalt base, fuel oils, heating oil, kerosene, lique ...
or
bitumen upgrader that separates
asphalt
Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term ...
from
crude oil or
bitumen.
The de-asphalter unit is usually placed after the vacuum distillation tower. It is usually a solvent de-asphalter unit, SDA. The SDA separates the asphalt from the feedstock because light hydrocarbons will dissolve
aliphatic
In organic chemistry, hydrocarbons ( compounds composed solely of carbon and hydrogen) are divided into two classes: aromatic compounds and aliphatic compounds (; G. ''aleiphar'', fat, oil). Aliphatic compounds can be saturated, like hexane, ...
compounds but not
asphaltene
Asphaltenes are molecular substances that are found in crude oil, along with resins, aromatic hydrocarbons, and saturates (i.e. saturated hydrocarbons such as alkanes). The word "asphaltene" was coined by Boussingault in 1837 when he noticed tha ...
s. The output from the de-asphalter unit is de-asphalted oil ("DAO") and
asphalt
Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term ...
.
DAO from
propane de-asphalting has the highest quality but lowest yield, whereas using
pentane may double or triple the yield from a heavy feed, but at the expense of contamination by metals and carbon residues that shorten the life of downstream cracking catalysts.
If the
solvent
A solvent (s) (from the Latin '' solvÅ'', "loosen, untie, solve") is a substance that dissolves a solute, resulting in a solution. A solvent is usually a liquid but can also be a solid, a gas, or a supercritical fluid. Water is a solvent for ...
is
butane the unit will be referred to as a
butane de-asphalter ("BDA") and if the solvent is
propane, it will be called a
propane de-asphalter ("PDA") unit.
References
Study of selected petroleum refining residuals by US EPALubricants and Lubrication (Second Edition)
External links
Solvent de-asphaltingSolvent de-asphalting of vacuum residuumAsphalt used for gasification
{{Petroleum refining
Chemical equipment
Distillation
Petroleum technology