Thermally stable high density polyethylene-asphaltene composite

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10844201-B2
Application number	US-201816193515-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 16, 2018
Priority date	Nov 16, 2018
Publication date	Nov 24, 2020
Grant date	Nov 24, 2020

Abstract

A high density polyethylene-asphaltene composite that includes 85 to 98 wt. % of a high density polyethylene (HDPE) polymer and 10 wt. % or less of a filler, wherein the filler is an asphaltene, the asphaltene is the only filler present, and the asphaltene is uniformly dispersed within a matrix of the HDPE polymer. The thermal stability of the high density polyethylene-asphaltene composite is improved compared to the high density polyethylene polymer.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A high density polyethylene-asphaltene composite, comprising:
a high density polyethylene (HDPE) polymer n an amount of 85 to 98 wt. %, based on a total weight of the high density polyethylene-asphaltene composite; and
a filler in an amount of 10 wt. % or less, based on a total weight of the high density polyethylene-asphaltene composite;
wherein:
the filler is an asphaltene,
the asphaltene is the only filler present, and
the asphaltene is uniformly dispersed within a matrix of the HDPE polymer.

2. The high density polyethylene-asphaltene composite of claim 1 , which consists essentially of the HDPE polymer and the asphaltene.

3. The high density polyethylene-asphaltene composite of claim 1 , which consists of the HDPE polymer and the asphaltene.

4. The high density polyethylene-asphaltene composite of claim 1 , wherein the HDPE polymer has a density of 0.941 to 0.965 g/cm 3 , and a weight average molecular weight of 200,000 to 500,000 g/mol.

5. The high density polyethylene-asphaltene composite of claim 1 , wherein the asphaltene is extracted from Arabian Heavy crude oil.

6. The high density polyethylene-asphaltene composite of claim 1 , wherein the asphaltene has a hydrogen-to-carbon atomic ratio of 1.1 to 1.2.

7. The high density polyethylene-asphaltene composite of claim 1 , wherein the asphaltene comprises 80 to 86 wt. % of carbon atoms, 6.2 to 10.0 wt. % of hydrogen atoms, 15 to 24 ppm of nickel, and 55 to 65 ppm of vanadium, each based on a total weight of the asphaltene.

8. The high density polyethylene-asphaltene composite of claim 7 , wherein the asphaltene has a ratio of aliphatic carbons to aromatic carbons of 1.5:1 to 3:1, and a ratio of aliphatic hydrogens to aromatic hydrogens of 8:1 to 14:1.

9. The high density polyethylene-asphaltene composite of claim 1 , wherein the asphaltene has a weight average molecular weight, determined by gel permeation chromatography, of 1,800 to 1,900 g/mol.

10. The high density polyethylene-asphaltene composite of claim 1 , wherein the asphaltene is present in an amount of 2 wt. % to 7.5 wt. % based on the total weight of the high density polyethylene-asphaltene composite.

11. The high density polyethylene-asphaltene composite of claim 1 , wherein the asphaltene is present in an amount ranging from 2 wt. % to 5 wt. % based on the total weight of the high density polyethylene-asphaltene composite.

12. The high density polyethylene-asphaltene composite of claim 1 , which has a crystallite size of 19 to 25 nm.

13. The high density polyethylene-asphaltene composite of claim 1 , which has a corrected degree of crystallinity, X c,cor , of 60.2 to 64.0%.

14. The high density polyethylene-asphaltene composite of claim 1 , which has at least two of the following properties:
a tensile strength of 32.5 to 35 MPa,
a yield strength of 18.5 to 19.0 MPa,
a max load of 189 to 200 N,
an elongation at break of 615 to 850%, and
a modulus of elasticity of 840 to 910 MPa, as determined by ASTM standard D638-02a.

15. The high density polyethylene-asphaltene composite of claim 1 , which has a thermal degradation at 50% conversion, T 50 %, of 450 to 470° C., an activation energy for thermal degradation, E, of 350 to 400 kJ/mol, or both, as determined by thermogravimetric analysis.

16. A method of preparing the high density polyethylene-asphaltene composite of claim 1 , comprising:
melting the HDPE polymer to obtain a molten polymer,
blending the molten polymer with the asphaltene to obtain a blended mixture, and
hot pressing the blended mixture to obtain the high density polyethylene-asphaltene composite.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the molten polymer is blended with the asphaltene at a rotor speed of 50 to 100 rpm and at a temperature of 180 to 210° C.

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein the blended mixture is hot pressed at a temperature of 180 to 210° C. under a pressure of 5 to 15 MPa.

19. The method of claim 16 , wherein the asphaltene is derived from Arabian Heavy crude oil, and the asphaltene comprises 80 to 86 wt. % of carbon atoms, 6.2 to 10.0 wt. % of hydrogen atoms, 15 to 24 ppm of nickel, and 55 to 65 ppm of vanadium, each based on a total weight of the asphaltene.

20. The method of claim 16 , wherein the asphaltene is present in an amount ranging from 2 wt. % to 5 wt. % based on the total weight of the high density polyethylene-asphaltene composite.

Assignees

• Univ King Fahd Pet & Minerals

Inventors

• Siddiqui Mohammad Nahid
• Redhwi Halim Hamid
• Younas Muhammad

Classifications

• C08J3/201

  Pre-melted polymers · CPC title

• C08L2207/062

  HDPE · CPC title

• C08J2323/06

  Polyethene · CPC title

• C08J2495/00

  Bituminous materials, e.g. asphalt, tar or pitch · CPC title

• C08J3/005 Primary

  Processes for mixing polymers · CPC title