Characterisation of asphaltenes and modelling of flocculation - State of the art

Abstract

This document describes a state of the art concerning the flocculation of asphaltenes with two major sections: characterisation of asphaltenes in various environments and modelling of flocculation. This review starts with the characterisation of asphaltenes as such, then their characterisation in synthetic solvents or crudes. Emphasis is placed on molar mass determination and diffraction techniques. The impact of adding a good/poor solvent is also discussed. The second part of this review is dedicated to modelling. We first examine the various models in the literature before describing the Szewczyk and Béhar (1999) model and its integration in a reservoir simulator. The models available still require experimental data which is difficult to collect and further research is needed to improve this situation. Copyright © 2006, Institut français du pétrole.