Effects of temperature and pressure on asphaltene particle size distributions in crude oils diluted with n-pentane

Journal Article · Sun May 01 00:00:00 EDT 1994 · Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/ie00029a031· OSTI ID:7040958

Nielsen, B B; Svrcek, W Y; Mehrotra, A K ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Calgary, Alberta (Canada). Dept. of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering

The effects of temperature (0--150 C) and pressure (0--5.6 MPa) on the size distribution of asphaltene particles (or agglomerates), formed as a result of diluting the crude oils with n-pentane, were studied using a modified laser particle analyzer. Four crude oils, ranging from an asphaltic condensate to a heavy oil-sand bitumen, were tested in this investigation. The average size of asphaltene agglomerates ranged from 266 to 495 Am. The results suggest that the mean asphaltene particle size increases with pressure and decreases slightly with temperature; however, no trends were evident with the molar mass of crude oils. Although the particle size distributions in most cases were unimodal and described adequately by the log-normal distribution function, bimodal distributions were also identified in certain cases.

• OSTI ID: 7040958
• Journal Information: Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research; (United States), Vol. 33:5; ISSN 0888-5885
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
04 OIL SHALES AND TAR SANDS
ASPHALTENES
PARTICLE SIZE
BITUMENS
DILUTION
PETROLEUM
AGGLOMERATION
PRESSURE DEPENDENCE
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
VISCOSITY
ASPHALTS
ENERGY SOURCES
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OTHER ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
SIZE
TAR
023000* - Petroleum- Properties & Composition
040500 - Oil Shales & Tar Sands- Properties & Composition