PETROLEUM SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Vol. 21, Nos. 3 & 4, pp. 461-489, 2003

The Role of Asphaltene Solubility and Chemical Composition on Asphaltene Aggregation

Keith L. Gawrys, P. Matthew Spiecker, and Peter K. Kilpatrick

Department of Chemical Engineering

North Carolina State University

Raleigh, North Carolina, USA

ABSTRACT

Asphaltenes from four different crude oils (Arab Heavy, B6, Canadon Seco, and Hondo) were fractionated in mixtures of heptane and toluene and analyzed by small angle neutron scattering (SANS). Fractionation appeared to concentrate the most polar species into the least soluble sub-fraction as indicated by elemental analysis. SANS results indicated a wide spectrum of asphaltene aggregate sizes and molecular weights; however, the less soluble (more polar) fraction contributed the majority of the species responsible for asphaltene aggregation in solution.

This more polar, less soluble fraction is likely the major cause for many petroleum production problems such as deposition and water-in-oil emulsion stabilization. A comparison of molecular weight and aggregate size indicated that asphaltenes formed fractal aggregates in solution with dimensions between 1.7 and 2.1. This was consistent with the "archipelago" model of asphaltene structure. Resins were shown to effectively solvate asphaltene aggregates as observed by an increase in asphaltene solubility, reduction in aggregate size and molecular weight, and an increase in the fractal dimension to - 3.