Asphaltene precipitation from heavy oil mixed with binary and ternary solvent blends

Javier A. Rivero-Sanchez; Francisco Ramos-Pallares; Florian F. Schoeggl; Harvey W. Yarranton

doi:10.1515/cppm-2020-0090

Abstract

Models are required to predict the onset and precipitation of asphaltenes from mixtures of heavy oil and solvents for a variety of heavy oil applications. The regular solution approach is well suited for this objective but has not yet been tested on solvent mixtures. To do so, the onset and amount of asphaltene precipitation were measured and modeled for mixtures of heavy oil with solvent blends made up from n-alkanes, cyclohexane, and toluene at temperatures of 21 and 180 °C and pressures of 0.1 and 10 MPa. Temperature dependent binary interaction parameters (BIP) between the cyclohexane/asphaltene and toluene/asphaltene pseudo-component pairs were proposed to match the data. All other BIP were set to zero. The model with BIP determined from asphaltene precipitation in heavy oil and binary solvents predicted asphaltene precipitation from heavy oil and ternary solvent blends, generally to within the experimental error.

Keywords: asphaltene precipitation; heavy oil; regular solution theory; solvent mixtures

Corresponding author: Harvey W. Yarranton, Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, University of Calgary, 2500 University Dr. NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada, E-mail: hyarrant@ucalgary.ca

Author contributions: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.
Research funding: This work was supported by the sponsors of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Industrial Research Chair in Heavy Oil Properties and Processing: NSERC, Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., CNOOC, Ecopetrol, Schlumberger, Suncor Energy Inc., Petrobras, and Virtual Materials Group Inc.
Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest regarding this article.

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Supplementary Material

The online version of this article offers supplementary material (https://doi.org/10.1515/cppm-2020-0090).

Received: 2020-09-23

Accepted: 2021-03-15

Published Online: 2021-04-20

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Supplementary Material

Asphaltene precipitation from heavy oil mixed with binary and ternary solvent blends

Abstract

References

Supplementary Material

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