Abstract

With the implementation of the EU REACH regulations and China’s GB/T 33322-2016 standards, the content of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PCA) in rubber plasticizers is strictly limited (PCA≤3%) and traditional aromatic oil is gradually withdrawn from the market. The demand for environmentally friendly rubber oil continues to rise and is highly dependent on imports. The preparation of environmentally friendly rubber oil from solvent extract oil has become an important direction for the high-value utilization of refinery by-product oil. In this paper, the classification, application and market demand of rubber oils are reviewed and the environmental protection regulations and product index requirements at home and abroad are sorted out. The technical routes for the treatment of aromatic oil (TDAE), residual aromatic extract (RAE), naphthenic oil (NAP) and mild solvent extraction oil (MES) are mainly described. The advantages and disadvantages of solvent extraction, hydrotreating and hydrotreating-solvent extraction combined processes and their industrial application status are systematically compared. It is pointed out that there are some problems such as difficult to balance the yield and CA value, excessive hydrogenation and complex process flow. In the future, high-selectivity compound solvent extraction, mild and precise hydrogenation and coupling new processes should be developed to improve the resource utilization rate of solvent extract oil, so as to achieve high quality, low cost and domestic production of environmentally friendly rubber oils.