770
Energy & Fuels 2004, 18, 770-777
Investigation of Subfractions of Athabasca Asphaltenes and Their Role in Emulsion Stability Xiaoli Yang,†,‡ Hassan Hamza,† and Jan Czarnecki*,§ Natural Resources Canada, CANMET Western Research Centre, 1 Oil Patch Drive, Devon, Alberta T9G 1A8, Canada, and Syncrude Canada, Limited, Edmonton Research Centre, 9421-17 Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta T6N 1H4, Canada Received October 6, 2003
The ability to stabilize water-in-oil (W/O) emulsions for six studied asphaltene subfractions is dependent on their solubility rather than on their concentration, polarity, molecular weight, or other parameters. Paraffinic froth treatment technology recently introduced in the oil sand industry yields a clean bitumen product (
