| abstract |
Certain high boiling (e.g. above 600 DEG F) fuel oils, such as atmospheric residua fuel oils, and vacuum distillate fuels, e.g., flash distillate oils, vacuum bottoms, and various fuel blends containing said oils, which are deficient in an asphaltene component can be made more responsive to polymeric flow improvers by treating them with certain asphaltene materials. These asphaltene materials may be added either directly to the oil or first combined with the flow improver and the combination added to the oil. The polymeric flow improvers are polymers having long linear side chains. The asphaltene materials added to the oil, will generally have a heptane precipitatable asphaltene content of 5 to 100% by weight and can either be asphaltenes per se, or an oil fraction high in asphaltenes. |