Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A name originally given by Boussingault to a residue left on distilling asphalt from an oil-bath.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun organic chemistry Any of the dark organic constituents of crude oils and bitumen that are soluble in aromatic solvents but not in aliphatic ones; they are polycyclic aromatic compounds (composed of fused benzene rings) with aliphatic side chains

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word asphaltene.

Examples

  • Asphalts normally contain between 5 and 25% by weight of asphaltenes and may be regarded as colloids of asphaltene micelles dispersed in maltenes.

    Asphalt 2008

  • The volumes set out above refer to potentially recoverable volumes of asphaltene reduced bitumen resources and were calculated at the outlet of the proposed extraction plant.

    The Earth Times Online Newspaper 2010

  • Atmospheric Administration, said the oil has an unusually high amount of asphaltene -- heavy ingredients that make it more suitable for paving roads than powering cars.

    t r u t h o u t 2010

  • The aggregation of the asphaltene (a.k.a. diesel sludge) which leads to the lowering of viscosity lasts for several hours, according to the abstract I linked above, which is plenty of time for the fuel to make it from this device attached to the common rail out to the injector.

    Latest Articles 2009

  • The method does not change the temperature of the crude oil; instead, it temporary aggregates paraffin particles or asphaltene particles inside the crude oil into large ones.

    Latest Articles 2009

  • (compounds of nitrogen and sulphur) and asphaltene or tar.

    The Times of India 2010

  • "If we look at it from a refiner´s perspective, you´re increasing the saturates content, slightly reducing the aromatics, but significantly reducing the asphaltene content and the resin content.

    The Emirates Economist 2008

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.