Simplification of Heavy Matrices by Liquid–Solid Extraction: Part II—How to Separate the LMW, MMW, and HMW Compounds in Asphaltene Fractions for V, Ni, and S Compounds

A method of sequential liquid–solid extraction (leaching) has been developed to extract the V, Ni, and S compounds present in asphaltenes (n-C7) according to their molecular weight distribution. For the high-molecular-weight (HMW) compounds, two new families of compounds were extracted, labeled as HMW1 and HMW2, where the latter was smaller than HMW1, and together represented approximately 85% of the asphaltene mass according to the mass balance obtained after the extractions. The compounds associated with HMW1 were asphaltenes that were insoluble in hot dimethylformamide (DMF), while the compounds associated with HMW2 were soluble in DMF but insoluble in the second leaching step based on hot acetone. The third family of obtained compounds was the medium-molecular-weight (MMW) compounds, which were soluble in hot acetone but insoluble in acetonitrile (ACN). The last fraction to be obtained was the low-molecular-weight compounds, which were soluble in ACN. The results reported here represent a new method that allows the extraction of different types of aggregated asphaltenes according to their molecular weights. With respect to the temperature and number of extraction steps, it was observed that an increase in both parameters increased the extraction efficiency.