The Characteristics of Asphalt Modified With FCC Slurry Oil

Heavy oil fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) is one of the most important heavy oil upgrading, and FCC slurry oil with a high content of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon would be associated in this process. The effective utilization of FCC slurry oil is a realistic and meaningful subject. Here, FCC slurry oil modified asphalt (FCCMA) was prepared by blending FCC slurry oil, commercial road asphalt, and tackifier, and the performance of FCCMA has been investigated. The experimental results showed that the penetration decreased, the softening point increased, and the temperature sensitivity performance was improved with adding FCC slurry oil and tackifier to commodity base asphalt. Moreover, the rheological behavior and viscosity temperature relationship have been discussed. Finally, the surface microstructure of the FCCMA has been observed by atomic force microscopy (AFM). As can be seen from the AFM images, tackifier could increase the surface convex "bees" structure of FCCMA which improved the low-temperature viscosity, but the surface convex "bees" structure disappeared with the increasing of temperature because of the dilution of FCC slurry oil for the 70# base asphalt. Therefore, the viscosity of FCCMA was smaller with the comparison of corresponding base asphalt at higher temperature. So the FCCMA has the characteristics of warm mixed asphalt, which could be prepared by blending arbitrary base asphalt with FCC slurry oil through the formulation optimization.