Asphaltene Stability in Crude Oils

Asphaltenes are the most heavy and polar components in crude oil.  They ca precipitate upon a change in temperature, pressure or composition. Asphaltene flocculation can plug reservoirs, foul production facilities, poison refinery catalysts and alter wettability.  Chemical additives prevent the flocculation and increase the stability of the crude oil.  A fast and reliable method is required to choose the appropriate substance and dosage. The conventional visual determination by "spot test" is very subjective. The widely accepted "P-value" is a very time consuming method. Optical methods include the measurement of the refractive index, or reflection or transmission degree.  These laborious methods do not support the use with a fast, comprehensive and reliable optimization of the chemical additive. With the multi-channel separation analyzer LUMiReader you can determine asphaltene stabilities of 3 samples simultaneously in 10 minutes. ..........

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