Mehmet Ali Gürkaynak

The Structural Characterization of Saturate, Aromatic, Resin, and Asphaltene Fractions of Batiraman Crude Oil

Abstract The structural characterization of fractions of Batiraman crude oil, which is the heavy crude oil from a field in the southeastern part of Turkey, was investigated. Batiraman crude oil and its saturate, aromatic, resin, and asphaltene (SARA) fractions were seperated. Treatment of crude oil with n-heptane provided the separation of asphaltene. Maltene was collected by evaporating the n-heptane from the filtrate. Then, maltene was separeted into saturates, aromatics, and resins by SARA technique. Maltene was separated into saturate, aromatic, and resin fractions using column chromatography. SARA fractions were quantified on a weight percent basis. Fractions of Batiraman crude oil were characterized by elemental analysis, proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) analysis, electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy techniques.

Investigation of the Molecular Structure of Turkish Asphaltenes

Abstract Molecular structure of asphaltenes prepared from four Turkish crude oils with different origin were characterized by elemental analysis, proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR), gel permeation chromatography (GPC) by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The X-ray diffraction method was used to investigate the crystallite and aromaticity parameters of the asphaltenes. Average distance between the aromatic sheets, average distance between the aliphatic chains, average diameter of the cluster, and average number of aromatic sheets per stack parameters were calculated for the asphaltenes. The combined NMR, FTIR, molecular weight, elemental content, and XRD results have been used to calculate hypothetical structure of the Turkish asphaltenes.