Fuel, Vol.252, 753-791, 2019
A comprehensive review of asphaltene deposition in petroleum reservoirs: Theory, challenges, and tips
Asphaltene is the heaviest and most polar fraction of crude oils, which is usually defined as a solubility class, soluble in light aromatics, benzene and toluene, and insoluble in paraffins. Asphaltene precipitation/deposition negatively affects a variety of oil and gas processes, including oil recovery, transportation, and petroleum processing as it exhibits some undesirable impacts such as an increase in the viscosity of crudes and stability of the emulsions, a decrease in the distillate yields, and unstable phase separation. Experimental and theoretical investigations have revealed that asphaltene precipitation/deposition is influenced by several parameters/variables, including pressure, temperature, characteristics of the involved mixtures, properties and amount of precipitants, and characteristics of porous media. Knowing the undeniable consequences of asphaltene precipitation/deposition such as reduction of well productivity and/or blockage of the surface facilities, the effective treatments or inhibition techniques have gained widespread attention in the petroleum industry so far. Hence, a comprehensive knowledge of previous findings and an adequate understanding of different aspects of asphaltene precipitation/deposition (e.g., mechanisms and characterization) seem to be pivotal. Various attempts have been made to investigate different aspects of this phenomenon including thermodynamics of precipitation, kinetics of flocculation, and deposition mechanisms. The previous studies and importance of asphaltene in the oil and gas industry inspired us to provide a comprehensive review of the asphaltene precipitation/deposition that helps to further understand the governing mechanisms, thermodynamic behaviors, and transport phenomena prospects in this area. In this review work, the theories and mechanisms of precipitation/deposition, experimental and modelling approaches, the effects of operational parameters, and treatment/inhibition techniques are reviewed. Moreover, the economic analysis of flow assurance and the most common theoretical and practical challenges in asphaltene precipitation/deposition are studied.
Keywords:Asphaltene precipitation/deposition;Experimental methods;Modeling approaches;Inhibition and treatment methods;Economic analysis