Both isoprene and isobutylene are usually obtained by the thermal cracking of natural gas or the lighter fractions of petroleum.
In modern production it is obtained principally from propylene, a compound refined from the lighter fractions of crude oil.
One advantage of the process is that only the heaviest hydrocarbons in the bitumen burn, leaving the higher-quality lighter fractions to drain into the production well, said David McLellan, Petrobank's manager of intellectual property.
Both isobutylene (C[CH3]2=CH2) and isoprene (CH2=C[CH3]-CH=CH2) are usually obtained by the thermal cracking of natural gas or of the lighter fractions of crude oil.
The recovered product has a low boiling point and must be distilled to remove the lighter fractions and then be treated to remove hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, and water.
Simultaneously, enhanced water dissociation enhances cracking to lighter fractions.
This implied, that during gas injection, the process by which lighter fractions were vaporized was more pronounced in lighter crude.
The feedstock consisted of a blend of four model compounds representing the lighter fractions of a bio-oil.
It was shown that more sulfur can be removed from heavier fractions of petroleum than the total crude and the lighter fractions.
