Enabling Crude Recovery through Inhibition of Asphaltenes

As light, sweet crude oils become depleted and heavy crude oils become more prevalent in the fuel landscape, practical solutions to the problems of asphaltene precipitation and deposition become increasingly important. We test a series of dispersing chemicals on crude mixtures in heptane, using index of refraction and dynamic light scattering measurements to quantify the effectiveness of the dispersants. We furthermore present insights into the mechanism of action of the dispersants as enabling an increase in the surface area of colloidal scale asphaltene particles. These insights may guide future selection of dispersants with appropriate chemical and material properties.