Modified Asphaltene Capillary Deposition Unit: A Novel Approach to Inhibitor Screening

Gon, Saugata; Fouchard, David M. D.

doi:10.1021/acs.energyfuels.5b02185

Cited by 11 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…[13][14][15][16][17] Numerous studies have been done on asphaltene aggregation, precipitation and deposition by coreflooding experiments, batch process, capillary tests and simulation. [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29] For instance, Jafari Behbahani et al investigated asphaltene adsorption in a sandstone core sample during CO 2 injection and reported significant reduction of porosity and permeability due to deposited asphaltene in core sample. 18 Boek's group studied the aggregation and deposition of colloidal asphaltene in capillary flow and estimated deposit thickness by experiments and simulations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[24][25][26] Gon and Fouchard used a custom-built asphaltene capillary deposition unit to evaluate the amount of asphaltene deposit inside the stainless-steel capillary unit under high temperature and pressure. 27 However, in most of these works, asphaltene destabilization and aggregation behaviors were only investigated by several macroscopic parameters, such as pressure drop, porosity and permeability. They did not give direct visualization and analysis on asphaltene aggregation and precipitation behavior.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Experimental Study on Kinetics of Asphaltene Aggregation in a Microcapillary

Guo

Boek

et al. 2017

Energy Fuels

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental Study on Kinetics of Asphaltene Aggregation in a Microcapillary

Guo

Boek

et al. 2017

Energy Fuels

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“…In other studies, it was shown that the addition of asphaltene inhibitors did not necessarily prevent or reduce the deposition. However, in some cases, it worsened the problem. ,,− …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An alternative approach was recommended by Gon et al 58 to cut the capillary into segments before solvent wash and quantification. This approach was also used in the study by Kuang et al 86 After the deposition experiment, the capillary tube was cut into 10 similarly sized (1 ft) segments, and the amount of asphaltene was quantified for each section.…”

Section: Test Methods For Asphaltene Inhibitorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review of the Current Laboratory Methods To Select Asphaltene Inhibitors

Enayat¹,

Tavakkoli²,

Yen³

et al. 2020

Energy Fuels

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Asphaltene deposition is a long-standing problem that threatens the uninterrupted production of crude oil. Unlike other flow assurance problems, downhole asphaltene deposition is not well-understood partly as a result of the complexity and diversity of the asphaltene chemical structure. Continuous downhole asphaltene inhibitor injection is one of the preventive strategies used to mitigate the asphaltene deposition problem. Such chemicals that are injected in low dosage are screened in the laboratory before field implementation. Over the last 20 years, various asphaltene testing methods have been proposed for product selection and research and development. Still, the lack of lab to field correlation remains a challenge for the operators, service providers, and chemical companies. Therefore, the search for robust, rapid, and reproducible lab screening methods for asphaltene inhibitors is ongoing. This review summarizes lab evaluation techniques adopted by different researchers, their governing principles, and the pros and cons. It may serve as a guide for adopting appropriate strategies and pursuing further investigations on the lessons learned. The hope is that, with a more in-depth understanding of the current methodologies, a better workflow can be designed to select the proper asphaltene control products for field implementation.

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“…Trials of asphaltene inhibitors in the field are costly and time-consuming. Hence, it is necessary to find simple laboratory-based techniques that may provide information on the mechanism of action of asphaltene inhibitors and their performance (Gon and Fouchard, 2016;Lin et al, 2017;Marcano et al, 2015). Such techniques would enable facile pre-screening of inhibitors prior to field trials.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mechanism of an asphaltene inhibitor in different depositing environments: Influence of colloid stability

Campen

Moorhouse

Wong

2020

Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering

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Additives are used to reduce unwanted carbonaceous deposits of asphaltenes on surfaces during petroleum production from natural oil and gas reservoirs. The working mechanism of formulated additive packages can be multifaceted. Additives may be effective in the bulk fluid by preventing asphaltenes aggregation, as well as at the surface by preventing asphaltenes adhesion. In this paper, we investigate the numerous different mechanisms by which an asphaltene inhibitor can interfere with the formation of carbonaceous deposits using a combination of techniques including dynamic light scattering to determine particle size distribution, quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring to examine deposition behaviour and atomic force microscopy to probe deposit morphology. The tested inhibitor prevents deposition of asphaltenes in toluene, where asphaltenes exist as a stable colloidal dispersion of nanoaggregates, by forming barrier-type films that inhibit asphaltenes adhesion and displacing adsorbed thin films of asphaltenes. However, inhibitor performance in heptane-toluene, where asphaltenes are destabilised, depends on the degree of destabilisation. At low heptane volume fraction, inhibitor slows the rate of deposition and deposition rate decreases with increasing inhibitor concentration. However, at high heptane volume fraction, inhibitor can increase the deposition rate, particularly when used in high concentration. At high heptane volume fraction, inhibitor addition alters the morphology of the deposit from that consisting of large flocculent aggregates to that consisting of smaller, submicrometer aggregates. This is consistent with the finding that inhibitor acts as an anti-agglomerant and prevents the formation of large aggregates in the bulk liquid. This paper shows that the impact of inhibitor addition depends on the environmental conditions encountered and the degree of destabilisation of the asphaltenes. Where inhibitor addition alters the nature of depositing species from large flocculent aggregates to smaller submicrometer aggregates, an increase in deposition rate may be observed.

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Modified Asphaltene Capillary Deposition Unit: A Novel Approach to Inhibitor Screening

Cited by 11 publications

References 22 publications

Experimental Study on Kinetics of Asphaltene Aggregation in a Microcapillary

Experimental Study on Kinetics of Asphaltene Aggregation in a Microcapillary

Review of the Current Laboratory Methods To Select Asphaltene Inhibitors

Mechanism of an asphaltene inhibitor in different depositing environments: Influence of colloid stability

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