Uinta Basin bitumens

Previous analysis of Uinta Basin bitumens (6,10) have shown that the predominant nitrogen types are pyrollic, amide, and aromatic nitrogen. Predominant sulfur types are sulfide, sulfoxide, and thiophenic sulfur predominant oxygen types are ketones, phenols, carboxylic acids, and possibly appreciable concentrations of furans. The aromatic (basic) nitrogen is expected to participate in irreversible adsorption on acidcracking catalysts (13) and it could require an increased cat-to-oil ratio. Previous analyses (10) have indicated also that Uinta Basin bitumen is high in naphthenic hydrocarbon and low in free paraffins. This is illustrated by the results given in Table II in which over 60% of the saturates... 

The virgin bitumen and fractions were characterized by 13C NMR. Results shown in Figure 1 show that the spectra of the maltenes and the virgin bitumen are virtually superimposable. The high resolution spectra reveal several resolved peaks in the saturates region attributable to n-alkyl species, some of which are of notably lower intensity in the maltenes spectrum, but in general, the vast majority of the saturates carbon (>80%) is found under the envelope and is probably due to complex alicyclic and/or isoparaffin structures. These results are consistent with an earlier observation (1) that saturated hydrocarbons from Uinta Basin bitumen are high in naphthenes and low in free paraffins. 

Feedstock Source. Three feedstocks were used in this study. All were derived from Uinta Basin, Utah Tar Sand deposits. A Sunnyside bitumen was solvent extracted by procedures previously reported (6) from a freshly mined sample obtained from the old Asphalt Quarry northeast of Sunnyside, Utah. An Asphalt Ridge bitumen was extracted similarly from a sample freshly mined from... 

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