NUMERICAL MODELING OF ASPHALTENE DEPOSITION

Asphaltene deposition on the wall of wellbore or pipeline during oil production and processing will cause dire consequences if left untreated. A better understanding of this phenomenon is required. This study presents a general modeling framework based either on the level-set approach or the total-concentration approach for modeling asphaltene deposition processes. Both the level-set approach and the total-concentration approach belong to the family of front-capturing methods. Therefore, the dynamics of the depositing front can be captured implicitly on fixed spatial mesh. The presented frameworks are validated against each other for general deposition process. Preliminary parametric studies are then performed to study the influences of various factors on the deposition process.