Effect of precipitating environment on asphaltene precipitation: Precipitant, concentration, and temperature

Yang, Zihao; Chen, Shiyao; Hao, Peng; Li, Mingyuan; Lin, Meiqin; Dong, Zhaoxia; Zhang, Juan; Ji, Yaping

doi:10.1016/j.colsurfa.2016.03.023

Cited by 28 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Nitrogen can be found in pyrolic (5member ring) or pyridinic (6-member ring) form. Whereas sulfur mostly exists as thiophene (5member ring), sulfide type groups (RSR), or sulfoxide (RS (= O) R) [26]. Infrared (IFR) spectroscopy, which shows characteristic peaks that correspond to the modes of functional groups, is one of the most-well known tools for assessing the structure and functional groups for asphaltene.…”

Section: Analysis Of Asphaltenementioning

confidence: 99%

Controlled releases of asphaltene inhibitors by nanoemulsions

Alhreez

Wen

2018

Fuel

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Asphaltene precipitation is usually responsible for many flow assurance problems such as wettability changes and pore clogging in reservoirs, fouling in wellbore tubings and production surface facilities. This study develops a novel approach by using nanoemulsions (NE) for controlled delivery and release of asphaltene inhibitors (AI) to minimize asphaltene precipitation with reduced AI amount. LUMiSizer was utilised to study the effectiveness and performance of controlled release by three cases on asphaltene sedimentation: i) strong organic acids (dodecyl benzene sulfonic acid, DBSA), ii) nanoemulsions (blank NEs), and iii) nanoemulsions loaded with DBSA (DBSA NEs). The experiments suggested that the optimum inhibitor concentration for completely stabilizing asphaltene were 4 vol. % for DBSA. This amount of inhibitor can be significantly reduced by ~ 20 times by using the DBSA NEs, and the release time can be greatly extended. A mechanistic understanding of the controlled release effect is proposed based on interfacial properties and electron microscopic studies, which is related to the hydrophilicity of DBSA and the strong intermolecular interactions among all DBSA NE's components and the asphaltene molecules.

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Section: Analysis Of Asphaltenementioning

confidence: 99%

Controlled releases of asphaltene inhibitors by nanoemulsions

Alhreez

Wen

2018

Fuel

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“…The influence of asphaltenes has been explained contradictorily. Some researchers noted no significant interactions between wax and asphaltenes, but that asphaltenes may result in smaller interspersed wax crystals. , Others have claimed that asphaltenes worsen the paraffin wax associated flow assurance problems. , On the other hand, asphaltene solubility in various light n -paraffin solvents has been studied using optical microscopy, light scattering, refractive index, and UV–vis spectrophotometry and has been widely reported in the literature. Some asphaltene properties, such as molecular mass distribution, density, and solubility parameters, are fitted and adjusted using the aforementioned experimental data of asphaltene precipitation yield curves. , Fitted curves can be utilized to determine the asphaltene phase behavior in other chemical compositions (changing precipitant agents) or different pressure and temperature conditions. , On the other hand, some studies are reported in the literature for the role of light n -alkane precipitants on the precipitation behavior of asphaltenes. − At high n -alkane contents, the yield of asphaltene precipitates was shown to increase with reduced n -alkane chain length .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…32,33 Others have claimed that asphaltenes worsen the paraffin wax associated flow assurance problems. 4,34 On the other hand, asphaltene solubility in various light n-paraffin solvents has been studied using optical microscopy, 35 light scattering, 36 refractive index, 37 and UV−vis spectrophotometry 38 and has been widely reported in the literature. Some asphaltene properties, such as molecular mass distribution, density, and solubility parameters, are fitted and adjusted using the aforementioned experimental data of asphaltene precipitation yield curves.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Waxes and the Related Chemicals on Asphaltene Aggregation and Deposition Phenomena: Experimental and Modeling Studies

et al. 2020

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Solid deposition during production, transport, and storage of crude oils leads to significant technical problems and economic losses for the oil and gas industry. The thermodynamic equilibrium between high-molecular-weight components of crude oil, such as asphaltenes, resins, and waxes, is an important parameter for the stability of crude oil. Once the equilibrium is disturbed due to variations in temperature, pressure, and oil composition during production, the solubility of high-molecular-weight waxes decreases. This results in a decrease in the wax appearance temperature (WAT) and the deposit of wax onto solid surfaces. On the other hand, under these conditions, asphaltenes do not interact sufficiently with the resins/waxes and tend to flocculate among themselves and form asphaltene nanoaggregates. The role of waxes during the asphaltene aggregation and deposition has not been appropriately explained yet. The objective of this research study is to describe the interaction of asphaltenes and waxes and subsequently address the specific example of an asphaltenic oil commingled with a wax inhibitor-containing oil during the combination of different oil streams. It is a crucial building block for the development of a suitable and cost-effective strategy for the handling of wax/asphaltene associated flow assurance problems. In this work, the quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) technique has been used for the first time to investigate the effect of waxes and related chemicals, which are used to mitigate wax deposition, on asphaltene aggregation and deposition phenomena. Asphaltene onset point and asphaltene deposition rate have been monitored using QCM at high pressure–high temperature (HPHT) conditions. This study confirms that the different wax inhibitor chemistries result in significant differences in the pour point decrease and viscosity profiles in crude oil. Different wax inhibitors also showed different outcomes regarding the asphaltene deposition tendency. A comprehensive modeling study has also been conducted for mechanistic investigation of experimental results. In this regard, the perturbed chain statistical associating fluid theory equation of state (PC-SAFT EoS) was utilized to model the systems.

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“…Generally, asphaltene precipitation procedure is done by the addition of a paraffinic precipitant (nC5, nC6, and nC7) to crude oil samples to induce the asphaltenes flocculation. However, it has been reported in the literature that precipitant physicochemical properties could affect the asphaltenes precipitation yield as follows: at high concentrations of paraffins, short-chain n -alkanes behave as stronger precipitants than long ones, while at low precipitant concentrations, longer chain length alkanes (ranging from 7 to 10 carbon molecules) increase the asphaltene precipitation onset to a maximum . The precipitation onset, or flocculation point, , could be defined as the minimum amount of precipitant that is responsible for asphaltenes aggregation and destabilization start point.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recently, Yang et al proposed that one subfraction of asphaltene (the heavy part of asphaltenes) became more insoluble with the increase in temperature, increasing the precipitation. On the contrary, a second subfraction (the light part, which contains lower average molecular weights, less aromatic, and a lesser content of heteroatoms than the heavy one) became more soluble and precipitated less at higher temperatures . This suggests that the determination of the asphaltene properties is crucial to the understanding of the influence of temperature on their precipitation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Temperature on Asphaltenes Precipitation: Direct and Indirect Analyses and Phase Equilibrium Study

et al. 2019

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Asphaltenes precipitation is still a challenge for the petroleum industry during crude oil production and processing. Pressure, composition, and temperature variation can induce asphaltenes destabilization and aggregation, leading to fouling and flow blocking in pipelines and wellbore pores. The present work aims to investigate the effect of temperature on asphaltene precipitation using n-heptane as the precipitant alkane. Three different Brazilian crude oils, here named BR1, BR2, and BR3, were studied at temperatures of 5, 25, and 50 °C, using two different asphaltene yield and precipitation onset analyses, defined as direct and indirect methods. It has been found that when temperature rises, there is a decrease in the asphaltenes precipitation yield, together with an increase in the precipitation onset, which could be related to the increase in the asphaltenes solubility. Temperature effects on the onset seem to be influenced by crude oil properties, being less significant for more stable asphaltenes. Asphaltenes precipitation phenomenon was properly modeled by the intermediate of the Regular Solution Model, showing a low molecular weight asphaltene distribution when temperature rises. When indirect method is used, it has been seen that new fractions of heavy compounds aggregate and precipitate at a second precipitation stage under an n-heptane excess.

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Effect of precipitating environment on asphaltene precipitation: Precipitant, concentration, and temperature

Cited by 28 publications

References 30 publications

Controlled releases of asphaltene inhibitors by nanoemulsions

Controlled releases of asphaltene inhibitors by nanoemulsions

Effects of Waxes and the Related Chemicals on Asphaltene Aggregation and Deposition Phenomena: Experimental and Modeling Studies

Effect of Temperature on Asphaltenes Precipitation: Direct and Indirect Analyses and Phase Equilibrium Study

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