Asphaltenes Precipitation Onset: Influence of the Addition of a Second Crude Oil or Its Asphaltenes Fractions (C3I and C5I)

Predicting the asphaltene stability in crude oils from different production streams is very useful in the petroleum industry because it allows avoiding serious problems caused by formation of solid deposits during oil flow. That prediction can be carried out by applying the solubility parameter (6) of each oil, as calculated by the asphaltene precipitation onset value, obtained by titration with n-heptane. However, many crude oils do not have a well-defined precipitation onset point, which can be overcome by adding a crude oil assumed as the standard. This article analyzes the influence of a crude oil (called APS) on the precipitation onset of two other petroleum samples (called APA and APB). For this purpose, the asphaltene fractions C3I and C5I were extracted from APS, and the influence of the addition of this crude oil as well as its asphaltenes fractions in samples of oils APA and APB was evaluated by tests involving titration of n-heptane with detection by near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR). The calculation of the solubility parameters of the oils without well-defined precipitation onset, by adding the oil with well-defined precipitation onset, led to varied errors in function of the type of oil in question. The smallest errors were obtained when using, as the solubility parameter of the mixture (delta(M)), the solubility parameter of the solvent system at the precipitation onset of the asphaltene C3I fraction (extracted from the crude oil assumed as the standard) in toluene, determined by titration with n-heptane.