Mechanistic Investigation of Fouling of Heat Exchangers Caused by Asphaltene Deposition in Oil Refineries

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dc.contributor.advisorVargas, Francisco M.en_US
dc.creatorAl-Shamlan, Yousef Easaen_US
dc.date.accessioned2019-05-17T19:24:48Zen_US
dc.date.available2020-05-01T05:01:09Zen_US
dc.date.created2019-05en_US
dc.date.issued2019-04-19en_US
dc.date.submittedMay 2019en_US
dc.date.updated2019-05-17T19:24:49Zen_US
dc.description.abstractAsphaltene precipitation and subsequent deposition is a growing problem for the oil and gas industry. The so-called “cholesterol of the oil” is the heaviest and the most polar fraction of the oil that is well-known to cause flow assurance problems in the near-wellbore region and production tubing. It is also responsible for water-in-oil emulsion stabilization and problems in surface facilities, such as catalyst poisoning and heat exchanger fouling. Extensive research has been conducted over the last few decades to better understand and predict the precipitation and deposition of asphaltenes in the wellbore. However, the knowledge and tools to forecast and mitigate the fouling caused by asphaltenes in downstream facilities are somewhat limited. Refineries all over the world suffer from this problem that has been declared inherent to the heating process itself, which causes a loss of approximately $ 5 million per year on average. In this work, I provide a comprehensive analysis of the general mechanisms by which asphaltenes precipitate and deposit and analyze the variables that govern this multi-step process. A comparison is made between the phase behavior of asphaltenes in upstream and downstream facilities. Moreover, a novel mechanism of inhibition for asphaltene deposition is proposed and validated experimentally. Furthermore, a modeling method has been adapted for the precipitation and deposition of asphaltenes at high temperatures based on the combination of the Perturbed Chain version of the Statistical Associating Fluid Theory Equation of State (PC-SAFT EOS) and a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model. New insights into the effect of temperature on the asphaltene precipitation and deposition tendencies have been drawn from the experimental and the modeling work performed in this thesis. Unlike the well-known asphaltene precipitation phenomenon driven by pressure depletion in the wellbore, in the case of the heat exchangers, where the temperature is much higher, asphaltene precipitation and subsequent deposition is driven by a temperature gradient. It has been confirmed, that as the temperature increases above a certain range, the solubility of asphaltenes in oil decrease, resulting in a higher accumulation of asphaltene deposits on the tube surface. The simulation results are consistent with field observations. The proposed methods can enable both the manipulation of the process variables to minimize fouling in heat exchangers and the development of alternative methods that have the potential to remove asphaltenes and increase the temperature of the oil to the desired conditions. With this work, I aim to contribute to the understanding and ultimate solution to a long-standing problem that threatens the cost-effective production and refining of crude oils.en_US
dc.embargo.terms2020-05-01en_US
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen_US
dc.identifier.citationAl-Shamlan, Yousef Easa. "Mechanistic Investigation of Fouling of Heat Exchangers Caused by Asphaltene Deposition in Oil Refineries." (2019) Master’s Thesis, Rice University. <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1911/106025">https://hdl.handle.net/1911/106025</a>.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/106025en_US
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.rightsCopyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.en_US
dc.subjectAsphalteneen_US
dc.subjectFoulingen_US
dc.subjectHeat Exchangersen_US
dc.subjectUpstreamen_US
dc.subjectDownstreamen_US
dc.titleMechanistic Investigation of Fouling of Heat Exchangers Caused by Asphaltene Deposition in Oil Refineriesen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
dc.type.materialTexten_US
thesis.degree.departmentChemical and Biomolecular Engineeringen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineEngineeringen_US
thesis.degree.grantorRice Universityen_US
thesis.degree.levelMastersen_US
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Scienceen_US
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