Asphaltenes from Ethylene Tar as a Potential Raw Material to Obtain High Value-Added Products

Abstract

Ethylene tar is the main byproduct of ethylene synthesis obtained via pyrolysis of hydrocarbon feedstock. With the growing demand for ethylene, the efficient use of ethylene tar is of great importance from both an economic and an ecological point of view. It contains significant amounts of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which can be designated as technogenic asphaltenes. Such polyaromatic structures can be isolated and used as a synthetic platform for modification and molecular engineering, similar to petroleum asphaltenes. In this study, the possibility of modifying technogenic asphaltenes by oxidizing reagents used previously for petroleum asphaltenes was shown for the first time. Technogenic asphaltenes contain significantly fewer heteroatomic structures and have a lower molecular weight compared to petroleum asphaltenes. The compositional features of technogenic asphaltenes ensure deeper oxidation with the formation of various O-containing products, whose properties can vary significantly depending on the reaction conditions. At the same time, the general patterns of oxidative modification of technogenic asphaltenes correspond to the oxidation processes of petroleum asphaltenes. The modification products obtained in this way can be used as sorbents, catalysts, fillers for polymers, adhesive additives for road bitumens, etc.

Preparation of Mesophase Pitch with Fine-Flow Texture from Ethylene Tar/Naphthalene by Catalytic Synthesis for High-Thermal-Conductivity Carbon Fibers

“…Ethylene tar (ET) is a by-product of the industrial production of ethylene from light distillates of petroleum crude oil, mainly composed of various alkanes, C 8 ~C15 aromatics, aromatic olefins, and heterocyclic compounds containing N, S, O, and other elements [18,19], and is one of the high-quality raw materials for pitch-based carbon fibers because of its wide range of sources, low content of metallic impurities, high content of aromatic hydrocarbons, etc. Mochida et al [20] prepared mesophase pitch with high solubility, a low softening point, and a well-developed anisotropic structure by catalytic polycondensation of ethylene tar using AlCl 3 as a catalyst.…”