A combination of steady-state fluorescence, fluorescence lifetime measurements and the determination of time-resolved emission spectra were employed to characterize asphaltene toluene solutions. Lifetime measurements were shown to be insensitive to the source of asphaltene or the alkane solvent from which asphaltene was precipitated. This insensitivity suggests that either the composition of At...

The adsorption of asphaltenes onto flat solid surfaces modified with mixed self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of aliphatic and aromatic trichlorosilanes with varying wettabilities, aromaticities, and thicknesses is tested. The mixed SAMs are characterized by means of contact angle to assess hydrophobicity and molecular and chemical uniformity, spectroscopic ellipsometry to measure the thickness o...

The aggregation and solubility of asphaltenes are studied by classical molecular dynamics simulations. Average three-dimensional atomistic models are built on the basis of experimental data for the asphaltenes from a series of crude oil samples. The simulation of two such asphaltene models in four different solvents puts into evidence the formation of oligomeric clusters and gives clues to the ...

We apply a cubic-plus-association equation of state to study the asphaltene precipitation from n-alkane diluted model solutions (asphalteneþtoluene), and heavy oils and bitumens. Heavy oils and bitumens are characterized in terms of saturates, aromatics/resins, and asphaltenes; n-alkanes are treated independently. The asphaltene precipitation is modeled as liquid-liquid phase equilibrium. The s...

The scaling and modeling of the viscosity of suspensions of asphaltene nanoaggregates is carried out successfully taking into consideration the solvation and clustering of nanoaggragates, and the jamming of the suspension at the glass transition volume fraction of asphaltene nanoaggregates. The nanoaggregates of asphaltenes are modeled as solvated disk-shaped “core–shell” particles taking into ...

The precipitation of asphaltene, one of the components of oil, in reservoirs, transfer lines, and equipment causes many problems. Accordingly, researchers are prompted to determine the factors affecting asphaltene precipitation and methods of avoiding its formation. Predicting precipitation and examining the simultaneous effect of operational variables on asphaltene precipitation are difficult ...