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Effect of miscible nitrogen injection on instability, particle size distribution, and fractal structure of asphaltene aggregates

Moradi, S ; Sharif University of Technology

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  1. Type of Document: Article
  2. DOI: 10.1080/01932691.2011.567878
  3. Abstract:
  4. Precipitation, aggregation, and breakup of asphaltene particles are studied under natural depletion and nitrogen injection processes by means of high pressure filtration and a photographic procedure coupled with image analysis. Filtration results show that nitrogen destabilizes asphaltenes extremely, and the problem is more severe for heavier crude samples. Bimodal histograms of particle size distribution show two agglomeration mechanisms: cluster aggregation dominant around bubble point pressure and diffusion limited far away. The fractal structure of aggregates is also altered by gas injection; it is observed that the flocculent masses grow in size and become more compact and organized when the cluster aggregation increases
  5. Keywords:
  6. Fractal dimensions ; High pressure filtration ; High pressure microscopy ; Asphaltene aggregates ; Asphaltene aggregation ; Bimodal histograms ; Bubble point pressure ; Cluster aggregation ; Diffusion limited ; Fractal structures ; Gas injection ; Heavier crude ; High-pressure microscopies ; Natural depletion ; Nitrogen injection ; Aggregates ; Asphaltenes ; Bottom hole pressure ; Fractal dimension ; Nitrogen ; Particle size analysis ; Precipitation (chemical) ; Agglomeration
  7. Source: Journal of Dispersion Science and Technology ; Volume 33, Issue 5 , 2012 , Pages 763-770 ; 01932691 (ISSN)
  8. URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01932691.2011.567878?journalCode=ldis20