Energy & Fuels, Vol.21, No.3, 1243-1247, 2007
Simplifying the thermodynamic modeling of asphaltenes in upstream operations
The development of a thermodynamic model to predict the onset of asphaltene precipitation is usually hindered by the complexity of the mixture under consideration. In an attempt to simplify asphaltene modeling, a model related to the Flory-Huggins theory had been previously proposed. The model is based on the fact that asphaltene stability depends upon the quality of the surrounding medium, expressed in terms of the solubility parameter. Moreover, the model only takes into account the first asphaltenes that come out of the solution. This allows the theoretical determination of one of the parameters starting from the concept of infinite dilution, as described in this work. This paper also presents a discussion about the optimal way of determining the parameters of the proposed model.