Review on solvent extraction of bitumen from asbuton as raw material for non-conventional oil.

Buton tar sand or commonly known as asbuton is a natural tar sand deposit found in Buton Island, Southeast Sulawesi. The reserve of asbuton is approximately 179.1 million tons with a hypothetical resource of oil amounting to 10,577,646,000 liters. Asbuton is potentially used as an alternative raw material for non-conventional oil. Non-conventional oil from asbuton could be used as a substitute to the depleted resources of conventional oil in Indonesia. Asbuton non-conventional oil could be prepared by extracted bitumen, a heavy hydrocarbon material in asbuton tar sand, from its mineral. The bitumen then could be further processed to produced non-conventional oil. Various studies have been conducted to extract bitumen with various methods. This paper reviews a bitumen extraction technique using cold and hot water extraction as well as solvent extraction techniques. The solvents used in the solvent extractions are n-hexane, kerosene, ethyl acetate, acetone, and 3-methoxy butyl acetate. The information gathered from this paper will give insight on the choice of suitable solvent and technique in extracting bitumen from asbuton so that the production of non-conventional oil could be realized [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]