Descriptive accounts of thermodynamic and colloidal models of asphaltene flocculation
At the present the oil industry, basically, is combating the problem of asphaltene deposition through remedial rather than preventive techniques. Mechanical and chemical cleaning methods are being improvised to maintain production, transportation, and processing of petroleum at economical levels. There are a number of recent reports that indicate so. The research community, currently, is rather unfamiliar with the reasons and extent of the asphaltene deposition problem. This paper reviews the experiences of the oil industry with asphaltene precipitation and presents justifications and a descriptive account for the development of two different models for asphaltene flocculation. In one of the models the authors consider the asphaltenes to be dissolved in the oil in a true liquid state and dwell upon statistical thermodynamic techniques of multicomponent mixtures to predict their phase behavior. In the other model, they consider asphaltenes to exist in oil in a colloidal state, as minute suspended particles, and utilize colloidal science techniques to predict their colloidal behavior. Experimental work over the last 40 years suggests that asphaltenes possess a wide molecular weight distribution and they exist in both colloidal and dissolved states in the crude oil. Further pursue of the subject in this direction by both the industrial and research communities is warranted.
- OSTI ID:
- 6164775
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-870323-
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
023000* -- Petroleum-- Properties & Composition
ASPHALTENES
ASPHALTS
BITUMENS
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
COLLOIDS
DEPOSITION
DISPERSIONS
DISSOLUTION
ENERGY SOURCES
FLOCCULATION
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MOLECULAR WEIGHT
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OTHER ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PETROLEUM
PRECIPITATION
QUANTITATIVE CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SOLUTES
TAR
THERMODYNAMICS