Abstract
Size exclusion chromatography (SEC) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques for predicting asphalt yield and viscosity as functions of crude oil type and manufacturing conditions are detailed in this paper. SEC conditions were varied to yield crude oil component distributions to the asphalt phase that agreed with the thermodynamic requirements for distillation processes. Silanized-silica column packing and ultraviolet detection yielded better results than polystyrene packing and refractive index detection. Relatively standard NMR conditions were used to determine the ratio of aromatic protons to paraffinic protons. This ratio was used as a measure of the relative polarity of crude oil and asphalt components.(A).