Integrated one-dimensional modeling of asphaltene deposition in wellbores/pipelines

Abstract

Abstract-Asphaltene deposition in wellbores

Systematic Investigation of Asphaltene Deposition in the Wellbore and Near-Wellbore Region of a Deepwater Oil Reservoir under Gas Injection. Part 2: Computational Fluid Dynamics Modeling of Asphaltene Deposition

“…Ge et al presented a general framework for modeling the asphaltene deposition process, which focuses on a CFD-based transport model with an evolving depositing front coupled to the associated fluid, mass, and energy transport. Along similar lines, a one-dimensional model for asphaltene deposition in wellbores or pipelines was presented by Guan et al This model consisted of a thermodynamic module and a transport module. The thermodynamic module focused on the modeling of asphaltene precipitation using the Peng–Robinson (PR) EOS.…”

“…Turbulent fluid flow simulations have been performed while simultaneously considering the change of density and viscosity of the oil flowing up the wellbore as a function of the pressure and temperature. A surface deposition mechanism for asphaltenes has been introduced in this work, which is different from the pseudo-first-order or first-order reaction mechanisms used in previous models found in the literature. ,, Although the deposition model is based on the convection–diffusion–reaction mechanism, unlike the previous models, the asphaltene precipitation and deposition kinetic parameters are no longer a single value that is obtained from experiments and used along the entire length of the wellbore. Rather, the kinetic parameters obtained from the experiments are scaled as a function of the temperature, pressure, flow field, and driving force for precipitation.…”