A stochastic model for the fractal dimension estimation of asphaltenes aggregation

Abstract

Some of the problems associated with the transportation of crude oils are due to the presence of heavy compounds as asphaltene molecules. This work developed a stochastic model that predicts the fractal dimension of the asphaltene aggregates. It was found that the maximum value of the fractal dimension is 1.71, which corresponds to the reported experimental results. The model can be applied as a universal growing behavior for the analysis of surface roughness when solids deposition is observed in the production systems involving crude oils.