Asphalten aggregation and polymerization during electrochemical conversion of mazut by silver (II) mediator

Improvement of physical and chemical characteristics of heavy petroleum residues requires polymerization of asphalten molecules. In this work, electrochemical conversion of heavy residues, mazut, by silver (II) was investigated. The results revealed that aabout 10 percent of mazut turned into a porous solid material. Its melting point was comparable to that of the bitumen. Agglomerate and polymerized asphalten particles were clearly observed in SEM micrographs. EDX analysis was also used to determine weight percent of different elements. The average molecular weight identified by GPC supports the idea that the solid product is a low-molecular weight polymer which is formed due to the aggregation of asphaltenes

Asphalten aggregation and polymerization during electrochemical conversion of mazut by silver (II) mediator Keywords:

Mazut , electrochemical conversion , silver (II) , asphalten , polymerization