This paper presents the feasibility of the removal of asphaltenes from aqueous solutions by using low- cost natural adsorbents such as light expanded clay aggregate (LECA), perlite and bentonite. The structure of adsorbents was characterized by XRD, FTIR, and SEM before and after the adsorption of asphaltenes. The effect of the adsorbent type, initial asphaltene concentration, particle size of ...

The heavy crude oil consists of thousands of compounds and much of them have large molecular weights and complex structures. Studying the aggregation and diffusion behavior of asphaltenes can facilitate the understanding of the heavy crude oil. In previous studies, the fused aromatic rings were treated as rigid bodies so that dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) integrated with the quaternion me...

The samples of DaGang atmospheric residue (DG-AR), Middle East atmospheric residue (ME-AR), TaHe atmospheric residue (TH-AR), and their thermal reaction samples were chosen for study. All the samples were fractioned into six components separately, including saturates plus light aromatics, heavy aromatics, light resins, middle resins, heavy resins, and asphaltenes. The dielectric permittivity of...

Asphaltene precipitation/deposition is considered a problem of formation damage, which can reduce the oil recovery factor. In addition, asphaltenes be deposited in pipelines and surface installations, causing serious complications guaranteeing runoff, decreasing production wells. The precipitation minimized by reducing flowrate or using chemical inhibitors. Analyzing stability trend petroleum v...

The effect of wax molecular weight distribution on the efficacy two alpha olefin-maleic anhydride paraffin inhibitors (PIs) having different densities alkyl side-chains were examined in light West Texas crude absence and presence asphaltenes. Interpretation data was aided by cross-polarization microscopy. Primary differences crystal morphology appear to be driven composition wax, with secondary...

As a physiochemical property, asphaltenes are known to be one the most surface active compounds in crude oil. Due to such property, their behavior is most probably influenced by fluid-fluid interactions at the contact surface (interface). Potentially and naturally, in most cases, water is in contact with crude oil and is co-produced with it as well. Considering that asphaltene molecules are pol...

Large amount of drilling waste associated with the expansion of the Orinoco Oil Belt (OOB), the biggest proven reserve of extra-heavy crude oil (EHCO) worldwide, is usually impregnated with EHCO and highly salinized water-based drilling fluids. Oxidative exoenzymes (OE) of the lignin-degrading enzyme system (LDS) of fungi catalyse the oxidation of a wide range of toxic pollutants. However, very...

The SAFT equation of state was used to model asphaltene phase behavior in a model live oil and a recombined oil under reservoir conditions. The equation of state parameters for the asphaltenes were fit to precipitation data from oil titrations with n-alkanes at ambient conditions. The SAFT model was then used to predict the asphaltene stability boundaries in the live oils. A lumping scheme that...

asphaltenes are the n-pentane or n-heptane insoluble fractions of crude oil that remain in solution under reservoir temperature and pressure conditions. they are destabilized and start to precipitate when the pressure, temperature and/or composition changes occur during primary production. the precipitated asphaltene particles will then grow in size and may start to deposit onto the production ...