Use of X-ray diffraction in assessing the aging pattern of asphalt fractions

The X-ray diffraction (XRD) method was employed to investigate and compare some of the crystallite parameters and aromaticity of asphaltenes obtained from fresh and aged Arabian asphalts, procured from Ras Tanura (RT) and Kuwait (KW) refineries. A few crystallite parameters in the polar aromatics, naphthene aromatics and saturate fractions of these Arabian asphalts were also determined. The results obtained by XRD method for both the types of asphaltenes and other fractions were evaluated and compared. Significant differences were observed between the structure and the aging patterns of fresh and aged asphaltenes of RT and KW asphalt. The results indicate that the source and chemistry of asphalt are responsible for the aging behavior of its components. The rolling thin-film oven and the pressurized aging vessel tests were used to simulate asphalt aging in this research.