Microfluidic Models of Porous Media to Examine Asphaltene Deposition in the Presence of Chemical Dispersants

Microfluidic devices offer direct visualization of oil-flow processes. Here we utilize a porous media micro model to characterize how chemical dispersants alter the deposition of asphaltenes in porous media. The chemical dispersants alter the effective size and intermolecular interactions which allow asphaltenes aggregates to become “softer” , which in turn, affects how readily they can be sheared in porous media flows.