Correlation between rate of deposition and temperature of asphaltene particles

Deposition of asphaltene in wellbore, pipelines and processing equipment can lead to serious problems to oil and gas industries and has remained a critical issue for years. In this study, the effect of dilution ratio and temperature on the rate of deposition of asphaltene particles was investigated using Malaysia light crude oil. A standard direct experimental method was employed on 1:5, 1:10, 1:15, 1:20, 1:25, 1:30, 1:35 and 1:40 of crude oil-to-n-pentane ratio. Results revealed that the rate of deposition of asphaltene particles increased with the crude oil-to-diluent ratio. However, the rate of deposition decreased with increasing temperature. Results also showed that the particle size of the deposited asphaltene has the same trend as the total volume. The higher the dilution ratio, the larger the size distribution as the flocculation phase was extended. In this study, asphaltene mean particle size was between 34 and 113 μm. A correlation for the rate of asphaltene deposition was developed to represent the overall relationship of asphaltene deposition under different compositions.