Modeling of Asphaltene Precipitation and Deposition

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dc.contributor.advisorChapman, Walter Gen_US
dc.creatorAl Hammadi, Ali AbdulKareemen_US
dc.date.accessioned2017-07-31T16:21:48Zen_US
dc.date.available2017-07-31T16:21:48Zen_US
dc.date.created2016-08en_US
dc.date.issued2016-06-06en_US
dc.date.submittedAugust 2016en_US
dc.date.updated2017-07-31T16:21:48Zen_US
dc.description.abstractThe tendency of Asphaltene to deposit and block tubing can potentially lead to production loss and significant cost of remediation. Unlike other deposits, the deposition behavior of Asphaltene is still not fully understood and is hindered by asphaltene complex nature. This thesis will provide insight into the mechanism of Asphaltene deposition through a better understanding of its thermodynamics and kinetics. Despite the contribution made by this thesis to better understand its behaviors, asphaltene still represents an ongoing challenge. Generally, a lengthy and time consuming characterization is required to obtain the optimum parameters before using EOS for crude oils. Therefore, an automatic characterization has been developed. In this thesis, a comparison between CPA and PC-SAFT EOSs is presented to illustrate their potential and limitations on the prediction of asphaltene phase behavior, and PVT properties over a range of pressure and temperature. With an optimized characterization, both EOSs give acceptable predictions of the asphaltene precipitation tendency. However, PC-SAFT is superior in the prediction of derivative properties especially at high pressures. As gas injection is crucial part of enhanced oil recovery, the effect of various gases on asphaltene phase behavior is presented. Nitrogen is shown to be the strongest precipitant while hydrogen sulfide stabilizes asphaltene. The addition of polystyrene to a mixture of asphaltene and toluene causes phase separation into two liquids due to depletion flocculation and is modeled using PC-SAFT EOS. The effects of temperature, pressure and polystyrene MW on the mixture phase behavior are investigated. The phase behavior was not sensitive to the range of pressures studied; however, increasing temperature or reducing polystyrene MW caused the one phase region to expand. The paper demonstrates that a solution model with rigorous physics can capture the depletion flocculation mechanism typically presented as colloidal behavior. This thesis also introduces Asphaltene Deposition Tool by incorporating both asphaltene kinetics and thermodynamics. The asphaltene phase behavior is described by PC-SAFT EOS while transport equations are coupled with kinetic rates of precipitation, aggregation and deposition. The transport model is simplified resulting in dramatic speed up of the simulator. Furthermore, this thesis presents a field case as well as the effects of different gases and GOR on asphaltene deposition.en_US
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen_US
dc.identifier.citationAl Hammadi, Ali AbdulKareem. "Modeling of Asphaltene Precipitation and Deposition." (2016) Diss., Rice University. <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1911/95574">https://hdl.handle.net/1911/95574</a>.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/95574en_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.subjectPC-SAFTen_US
dc.subjectPhase Behavioren_US
dc.subjectPVT propertiesen_US
dc.subjectCPAen_US
dc.subjectPolymer Depletionen_US
dc.subjectGas Injectionen_US
dc.subjectDepositionen_US
dc.subjectPrecipitationen_US
dc.subjectAggregationen_US
dc.titleModeling of Asphaltene Precipitation and Depositionen_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.levelDoctoralen_US
thesis.degree.majorAsphalteneen_US
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophyen_US
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