2019 Volume 62 Issue 4 Pages 181-187
A predictive methodology for the interaction parameters of binary heavy oil fractions was developed by measuring and correlating the high temperature vapor-liquid equilibria (VLE) of hydrocarbon-atmospheric pressure residual oil (AR) systems. The VLE measurements were carried out at temperatures of 573-653 K using a flow type apparatus, using toluene as a typical hydrocarbon for aromatics, n-decane and n-hexadecane for paraffins, and decalin for naphthenes. The AR was divided into five fractions by boiling temperatures, and the fraction compositions were determined by GPC analyses. The vapor-liquid equilibrium data were correlated with the Peng-Robinson equation of state and the van der Waals one fluid model mixing rules. The determined values of the binary interaction parameter, kij, showed large temperature dependence and indicated that the values for the hexadecane-AR fraction were larger than for the other hydrocarbon-fraction pairs. A predictive equation for kij was proposed as a function of the critical temperature ratio between component i and component j.
