• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.14-23
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• 2018

The effect of dodecylbenzene sulfonic acid (DBSA) with different addition amount of DBSA ($M_{DBSA}$), temperatures and solvent-to-oil ratio (SOR, v/v) on asphaltene aggregation in a solvent deasphalting system was investigated. Increasing the $M_{DBSA}$ at SOR 10 and $55^{\circ}C$ caused the asphaltene removal ratio (ARR) to increase first, then maximize at 1 wt% of $M_{DBSA}$ and then decrease continuously. Based on the SARA (saturate, aromatic, resin, asphaltene) composition, the adsorption amount of DBSA on the asphaltene surface and the self-aggregation of the DBSA, the reason for the change in ARR with $M_{DBSA}$ was found due to the adsorption mechanism. In addition, the asphaltene-resin-DBSA colloidal size confirmed the change of adsorption behavior between the asphaltene and DBSA. Based on the results of this study, a hypothetical adsorption mechanism of DBSA on asphaltene aggregation in the solvent deasphalting system was conceived of and proposed.