Asphaltenes Stability Decision

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Track Code: TAMU 4505 Tags   Asphaltenes, heavy oil, Polarity, stability, Dielectric constant Overview Precipitation of asphaltenes may cause severe problems by blocking the reservoir pores or plugging the production pipelines. It is known that stability of asphaltenes is affected by the pressure, temperature, the composition of other crude oil fractions (deasphalted oil), and the type of reservoir rock, reservoir brine, and injected enhanced oil recovery fluids. However, it is difficult to estimate the mutual contribution of each factor on destabilization of asphaltenes. Technology The precipitation tendency of asphaltenes through dielectric constant measurements is determined in this invention. A cylindrical capacitor was designed to measure the dielectric constant of crude oil and its components which play an important role on asphaltenes stability. The capacitor comprises of two co-axial cylinders made of aluminum that are attached on a non-conductive Teflon base using RTV 102 white adhesive. Advantages This is a cost and time effective method This method provides easy and straight-forward estimation of asphaltenes precipitation before the onset of asphaltenes precipitation Measurement of parameters does not require specialized expertise Dielectric constant measurements can be added to the regular production testing schedule to each well and will not require any additional downtime Asphaltenes precipitation which may occur in the reservoir and in the production wells can easily be estimated in advance. Also, asphaltenes precipitation which may occur in surface facilities of an oil field such as seperators or in an oil refinery can easily be estimated. This way oil production can be increased by taking precautions to inhibit asphaltenes precipitation before it takes place Stage of Development Completed Patent Status Patent Pending Publications Punase, A., Prakoso, A.A., Hascakir, B. “The Polarity of Crude Oil Fractions Affects the Asphaltenes Stability.” SPE Western Regional Meeting, 23-26 May 2016, Anchorage, Alaska, USA, SPE-180423-MS. Punase, A., Hascakir, B. “Multi-objective optimization of the DC-DC stage of a module=integrated inverter based on an efficiency usage model.” IEEE Photovoltaic Specialist Conference (PVSC), 16-20/06/2013. H. Zhu, Z. Wang, and R. S. Balog, “Stability Determination of Asphaltenes through Dielectric Constant Measurements of Polar Oil Fractions.” Submitted to Energy and Fuels on 1st May 2016.