Saudi Aramco awarded U.S. Patent for Process Improvement

DHAHRAN, October 27, SPA -- Saudi Aramco was recently granted patent No. 7,566,394
from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for a process improvement called
“Enhanced Solvent De-asphalting Process for Heavy Hydrocarbon Feedstocks
Utilizing Solid Adsorbent.”

The new process was invented by Dr. Omer Refa Koseoglu, a research science
consultant at the Research and Development Center who leads the Clean Fuels Project
Team.


Removing asphalt, or de-asphalting, with solvent is a conventional refining process
that has been employed for more than 50 years. The process uses a hydrocarbon
solvent at high temperatures and pressure to eliminate as much asphalt as possible.
The oil is refined further into transportation fuels and a small amount of asphalt,
which is further processed to produce road asphalt. Solvent de-asphalting units
are present in many refineries, including the Riyadh Refinery. But Koseoglu took a
commonly known fact and turned it into an innovation, according to a report carried
by Saudi Aramco Web-site.

--SPA