Energy & Fuels, Vol.31, No.10, 10699-10705, 2017
Coarse-Grained Model and Boiling Point Prediction for Asphaltene Model Compounds via HMC-WL Simulations
The determination of vapor liquid equilibrium data is a key parameter for the conditions of stability or precipitation of asphaltenes. In this work, using molecular simulation, we parametrize a coarse-grained force field for a series of alkyldipyrene compounds, that are often used as model compounds for asphaltenes, and predict their thermodynamic properties at coexistence. To achieve this, we combine a Wang Landau approach with hybrid Monte Carlo simulations in the isothermal isobaric ensemble to sample extensively the configurations of the system over a wide range of densities. This allows us to obtain the conditions of coexistence and to shed light on the impact of the alkyl chain on the thermodynamic properties. Most notably, we identify a quasi-linear relationship between the boiling temperature of these compounds and the length of the alkyl chain.