The group composition of hydrocarbons (HC) and hetero compounds in the products of stepwise thermolysis of asphaltenes from crude oil of the Usa oilfield at temperatures of 120, 230, 370, 500 and 750°C has been studied. The volatile thermolysis products formed at each step of the process have been studied by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. It has been found that the main products of stepwise thermolysis of asphaltene molecules are alkylbenzenes (AB) and saturated aliphatic hydrocarbons (SAH), aromatic fragments obtained at 370°C are mainly separate structural blocks of asphaltene molecules, and benzothiophenes (BT) predominate over dibenzothiophenes (DBT) as structural units of asphaltene molecules. It has been shown that with an increase in the process temperature, the alkylbenzenes/saturated aliphatic hydrocarbons ratio (AB/SAH + Alkenes) increases by a factor of 6 to 7; the phenanthrene/alkylbenzenes (PN/AB) ratio and the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons/alkylbenzenes (PAH/AB) ratio decrease by ten- and twofold, respectively; and the naphthalenes/alkylbenzenes (NP/AB) ratio increases by two times.
