Deep-Vacuum Fractionation of Heavy Oil and Bitumen, Part I: Apparatus and Standardized Procedure

Distillation assays provide the most widely used characterization data for modeling crude oils in refinery processes but can only define a relatively small fraction of the boiling curve for heavy oils. One way to extend the distillation range for heavy oils is to lower the distillation pressure while still avoiding thermal cracking temperatures. A vacuum distillation apparatus (DVFA-I) that was previously used to measure the vapor pressure of...