Powder bed coating of bitumen with asphaltenes to obtain solid prills for midstream transportation

•Challenging rheological properties, high asphaltene content, and paraffin depositions in heavy oils.•Mitigate the transportation constraints inherent to pipelines and the disastrous effects of oil spills.•Solid-phase transportation of bitumen without the need for extraneous chemical additives.•Cross-linking of asphaltenes around lighter fraction of bitumen.