SEPARATION OF FRACTIONS FROM VACUUM RESIDUE BY SUPERCRITICAL EXTRACION

the instituto colombiano del petróleo (icp), has implemented a methodology for separating vacuum residue fractions using the technique of supercritical fluid extraction at the pilot scale. the present study evaluates the efficiency of extraction of fractions of a typical vacuum residue in the barrancabermeja refinery. the extraction test was carried out with n-hexane under supercritical conditions of temperature and pressure of the 265°c in the range from 450 to 1250 psi, respectively. finally, each of the fractions were analyzed for their density, viscosity, sulfur content, conradson carbon residue (ccr) content, sara compositional analysis, and metals.