Rheological Properties of Nanofiltered Athabasca Bitumen and Maya Crude Oil

Abstract

Complex viscosities of Athabasca bitumen (Alberta, Canada) and Maya crude oil (Mexico) samples, along with their permeates and retentates obtained by nanofiltration at 473 K through 5-, 10-, 20-, 50-, and 200-nm ceramic membranes, were investigated over the temperature interval of 298−373 K. The pentane−asphaltene content of the samples varied from 1.5 wt % to 57.2 wt %, whereas the asphaltene-free composition of the samples did not vary from the feed composition (within experimental error). At temperatures of <323 K, part of the maltenes of both of these hydrocarbon resources is solid. The solid maltene fraction is a function of temperature. If this additional solid is taken into account, the experimental relative viscosities for both Athabasca bitumen- and Maya crude-related samples fall on a single master curve, over the entire temperature interval, irrespective of the asphaltene content. The rheological behavior of all feed, permeate, and retentate samples is consistent with that of a slurry that is comprised of a Newtonian liquid plus a dispersed solid that is comprised of noninteracting hard spheres, where the solids fraction is the sum of the solid maltene plus asphaltene mass fractions. Failure to account for solid maltenes in the interpretation of rheological data for these hydrocarbon resources leads to misattributions related to the nature and importance of the role that asphaltenes play in the determination of the complex viscosity of these hydrocarbon resources.

Experimental and Theoretical Study on Supramolecular Ionic Liquid (IL)–Asphaltene Complex Interactions and Their Effects on the Flow Properties of Heavy Crude Oils

“…These authors proposed that ion−dipole forces act in the interaction of cationic surfactants with different aromatic molecules. Hassan et al 27 studied rheological properties of Athabasca bitumen and Maya crude oil by nanofiltration techniques at 473 K and showed a rheological behavior that is consistent with Newtonian behavior; this study proposed a noninteracting hard sphere model within the temperature range 298−373 K and included the role of solid maltenes. In addition, Rogel et al 28 studied the effect of inhibiting asphaltene aggregation using a molecular thermodynamic approach and found that some inhibitors attached to active sites of asphaltenic aggregates become part of the crown surrounding the polyaromatic core.…”

Rheological and Mechanical Behavior of Silk Fibroin Reinforced Waterborne Polyurethane

“…Steady shear and dynamic oscillatory tests [ 7 , 8 , 30 ] were performed for characterizing the rheological properties of the WPU dispersions with different solid contents as well as the WPU17-SF dispersions with different SF contents. An AR 2000ex rheometer (TA Instrument, New Castle, DE, USA) was used to perform all the tests.…”

“…While there are two types of polyurethane dispersions, namely solvent-borne and waterborne, the waterborne ones are particularly attractive due to their higher durability, better environment-friendliness and better tailoring capabilities. The rheological behavior [ 6 , 7 , 8 ] of WPU dispersions and the mechanical properties [ 9 , 10 , 11 ] of WPU films are of paramount importance for controlling their flow during applications in coating of textile fibers, sealants, and glass fiber sizing, as well as controlling the mechanical properties of solids prepared from these dispersions [ 12 ]. Polymer composites [ 13 , 14 ], particularly those made of WPU, have been subjects for rigorous investigations in the domains of industry and academia due to their simplicity and effectiveness in obtaining new materials [ 15 , 16 ].…”

Rheological properties and viscosity reduction of South China Sea crude oil

“…The properties of SCS crude oil are summarized in Table 1 , which strongly suggests that SCS crude oil is classified as heavy crude oil (API gravity of 11.4). Compared with several other types of crude oil including Maya crude oil [46] , Indian (Bombay High, Moran, and Geleki) crude oil [26,27] and Brazilian waxy crude oil [47] , SCS crude oil has lower wax content (1.6%) and higher resin 3%), which leads to its low freezing point and high viscosity, respectively. In our previous study, the structures of both resin and asphaltene in SCS crude oil were determined through integration of multiple analytical techniques [48] .…”