Hydrogen donor visbreaking of Venezuelan vacuum residue

Hydrogen donor visbreaking and conventional visbreaking processes of vacuum residue of Venezuelan synthetic crude oil were investigated in an autoclave. Phase changes of the two reaction systems were observed by a microscope during the thermal conversion. The stabilities of two kinds of visbroken oil were characterized and their SARA group compositions were analyzed. The results show that amorphous micro-particles' formation, growth and aggregation can be observed clearly by the microscope with the increasing of time at 425°C. Resins and asphaltenes contents in two visbroken oils are both decrease. Compared to conventional visbreaking process, hydrogen donor in hydrogen donor visbreaking process can inhibit the growth of amorphous micro-particles to postpone the phase separation. Moreover, hydrogen donor can inhibit the coke formation and improve the stability of visbroken oil.