Electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometric method for the determination of vanadium in diesel and asphaltene prepared as detergentless microemulsions

A method based on electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry for the determination of vanadium in diesel and asphalthene fractions is proposed. In order to avoid analyte losses observed at the microgram per liter range for metal traces in organic solutions, diesel samples were stabilized as detergentless microemulsions by mixing with propan-1-ol and nitric acid solution. The solid asphaltene oil fraction was separated and dissolved in dichloromethane before mixing these solution with propan-1-ol and nitric acid solution. Wall atomization as well as no modifier was used. For diesel, aqueous analytical solutions could be used for calibration. For asphaltene, calibration was performed with analytical solutions prepared at the dichloromethane+propan-1-ol+nitric acid medium, spiked with inorganic standard solution. Linear ranges up to 200 μg l⁻¹ were observed, as well as limit of detection of 5 μg l⁻¹ and 4 μg g⁻¹ for diesel and asphaltene, respectively. Good recoveries were obtained for V-cyclohexanebutyrates spiked diesel samples, as well as coherent results for the asphaltene fraction of the NIST 1634c (trace elements in fuel oil) certified reference material.     

Effect of Asphaltenes and Resins on Asphaltene Aggregation Inhibition,Rheological Behaviour and Waterflood Oil-Recovery

This study presents an investigation about the influence of resins and asphaltenes, extracted from two Mexican crude oils (light and heavy oil samples), on the asphaltene aggregation inhibition, rheological behavior, and waterflood oil-recovery. Resins and asphaltenes were characterized by means of elemental analysis, metals analysis by atomic absorption, ¹H and ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) in order to evaluate the effect of their structural parameters on the phenomena studied. Efficiency of the resins fraction as natural inhibitors of asphaltene aggregation was evaluated trough ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis) spectroscopy. Results showed better efficiencies of resins on asphaltene aggregation inhibition at resin/asphaltene (R/A) ratios close to unity and at high temperature. In addition, efficiencies were influenced by structural characteristics of the asphaltene–resin system. Rheological behavior of the heavy crude oil sample was significantly influenced by the presence of asphaltenes and resins. Finally, asphaltenes and resins played an important role on wettability and waterflood oil-recovery.     

High-Q ultrasonic determination of the critical nanoaggregate concentration of asphaltenes and the critical micelle concentration of standard surfactants

Asphaltenes are known to be interfacially active in many circumstances such as at toluene-water interfaces. Furthermore, the term micelle has been used to describe the primary aggregation of asphaltenes in good solvents such as toluene. Nevertheless, there has been significant uncertainty regarding the critical micelle concentration (CMC) of asphaltenes and even whether the micelle concept is appropriate for asphaltenes. To avoid semantic debates we introduce the terminology critical nanoaggregate concentration (CNAC) for asphaltenes. In this report, we investigate asphaltenes and standard surfactants using high-Q, ultrasonic spectroscopy in both aqueous and organic solvents. As expected, standard surfactants are shown to exhibit a sharp break in sonic velocity versus concentration at known CMCs. To prove our methods, we measured known surfactants with CMCs in the range from 0.010 g/L to 2.3 g/L in agreement with the literature. Using density determinations, we obtain micelle compressibilities consistent with previous literature reports. Asphaltenes are also shown to exhibit behavior similar to that of ultrasonic velocity versus concentration as standard surfactants; asphaltene CNACs in toluene occur at roughly 0.1 g/L, although the exact concentration depends on the specific (crude oil) asphaltene. Furthermore, using asphaltene solution densities, we show that asphaltene nanoaggregate compressibilities are similar to micellar compressibilities obtained with standard nonionic surfactants in toluene. These results strongly support the contention that asphaltenes in toluene can be treated roughly within the micelle framework, although asphaltenes may exhibit small levels of aggregation (dimers, etc.) below their CNAC. Furthermore, our extensive results on known surfactants agree with the literature while the asphaltene CNACs reported here are one to two orders of magnitude lower than most previously published results. (Previous work utilized the terminology "micelle" and "CMC" for asphaltenes.) We believe that the previously reported high concentrations for asphaltene CMCs do not correspond to primary aggregation; perhaps they refer to higher levels of aggregation or perhaps to a particular surface structure.     

Diffusivity of asphaltene molecules by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy

Using fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) we measure the translational diffusion coefficient of asphaltene molecules in toluene at extremely low concentrations (0.03-3.0 mg/L): where aggregation does not occur. We find that the translational diffusion coefficient of asphaltene molecules in toluene is about 0.35 x 10(-5) cm(2)/s at room temperature. This diffusion coefficient corresponds to a hydrodynamic radius of approximately 1 nm. These data confirm previously estimated size from rotational diffusion studied using fluorescence depolarization. The implication of this concurrence is that asphaltene molecular structures are monomeric, not polymeric.     

Single molecule force spectroscopy of asphaltene aggregates

Asphaltene aggregation and deposition cause severe problems in nearly all phases of petroleum processing. To resolve those problems, understanding the aggregation mechanisms is a prerequisite and has attracted the interest of a great number of investigators. However, to date, the nature and extent of asphaltene aggregation remain widely debated. In the present study, we attempt to investigate asphaltene aggregation from a completely new perspective. The technique of single molecule force spectroscopy (SMFS) was used to investigate the response of single asphaltene aggregates under an external pulling force. Force curves representing the stretching of single asphaltene aggregates were obtained in simple electrolyte solutions (KCl and calcium) and organic solvents (toluene and heptane). These force curves were well-fitted by the modified worm-like chain model, indicating that those asphaltene aggregates acted like long-chain polymers under pulling by an external force. It was found that lower solution pH values and the presence of divalent cations resulted in a lower bending rigidity of the formed aggregates. The information retrieved from the force curves suggests that asphaltene molecules with a structure featuring small aromatic clusters connected by aliphatic chains do exist and that asphaltene aggregation could occur through a linear polymerization mechanism. The current study extends the application scope of SMFS.     

Molecular representation of coal-derived asphaltene based on high resolution mass spectrometry

The asphaltene separated by solubility in small molecular alkanes and toluene is the most structurally diverse and complex components in heavy oil, such as vacuum residue and coal tar. The coal-derived asphaltene is always regard as a succession of maltene fraction from small molecules to large molecules, and also a continuum of island- and archipelago-type structures, which is difficult to be identified accurately through current characterization methods. This limits the further study of molecular dynamics and reaction dynamics simulation of asphaltenes. In this work, a representation model of molecular composition and structure for coal-derived asphaltene is developed mainly based on Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) coupled with collision induced dissociation (CID) and traditional methods of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹³C NMR), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Island- and archipelago-type structures are considered qualitatively in the representation of asphaltene. The asphaltene molecules are systematic assembled using stochastic algorithms and optimized by simulated annealing algorithm according to the group contribution method. The bulk properties for simulating asphaltenes are in good agreement with the experimental results giving acceptable predictions for the composition and structure of the asphaltenes. Moreover, the representative average structure asphaltene molecules are obtained using the developed molecular similarity function, which could be applied in the further study of molecular aggregation simulation and reaction kinetics simulation.     

Experimental study of asphaltene deposition in transparent microchannels using the light absorption method

This study focuses on an experimental investigation of asphaltene deposition in a vertical transparent microchannel. Heptane-induced asphaltene precipitation is utilized to precipitate dissolved asphaltene in crude oil into asphaltene particles at ambient temperature and standard atmospheric pressure. These asphaltene particles deposit gradually on the surface of microchannels. The key parameters that influence the mechanism of asphaltene deposition are the ratio of crude oil to n-heptane and experimental elapsed time. At a constant flowrate, the amount of asphaltene deposited on a transparent channel wall is quantified using a new flow visualization technique based on reflected light intensity and image analysis. Asphaltene precipitation and deposition strongly affect the reflected light intensity through the change of mixture color in the recorded images. Experimental results show that asphaltene deposition process follows three stages, (i) slow asphaltene particle deposition at the beginning of the experiment, (ii) a rapid and continuous deposition occurring after few hours and (iii) a slower deposition (decreasing deposition rate) at the end of the experimentation. The experimental results for different crude oil to n-heptane ratios illustrate that deposition increases with this ratio, i.e. increasing concentration of n-heptane. An empirical equation is developed to correlate the intensity of the light absorption to the thickness of the deposited asphaltene in a transparent microchannel. Non-uniform deposition along the longitudinal direction of the microchannel is characterized. Deposits decrease with increasing longitudinal distance from the inlet. This non-uniform deposition distribution is due to local mass transport limitations and asphaltene aggregation size effect.     

Photocatalytic degradation of hydrocarbons by bentonite and TiO2 in aqueous suspensions containing surfactants

Organic substances (toluene, asphaltene dissolved in toluene) poorly soluble in water were solubilized by sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS) and the organic pollutants were mineralized together with the surfactants in diluted TiO₂ suspension by UV light. In concentrated aqueous suspension, crude oil was photodegraded on the surface of Na-bentonite and the photocatalyst TiO₂. Experiments have been carried out with Na-bentonite contaminated with crude oil mixed in a ratio of 1:1 with TiO₂ as well. The photooxidation processes were followed by total organic carbon content (TOC) and diffuse reflection infrared spectroscopy (DRIFT) measurements.     

Experimental Study of Asphaltenes Flocculation Onset in Crude Oils Using the Densitometry Measurement Technique

The asphaltenes flocculation proceeds with changes of oil composition and causes significant losses in petroleum industry operations. The main objective of this work is to evaluate the reliability of the densitometry technique in studying experimentally the mechanism of aggregation and flocculation of asphaltenes occurring in crude oils. As asphaltene flocculation threshold in crude oils or mixture can be achieved by addition of n-heptane, various n-heptane concentrations were added to crude oil, and their effects have been investigated trough density measurements. Thereby, measurements were based on mixture of crude oil + toluene and cyclohexane + n-heptane, respectively. While asphaltene aggregates form clusters and flocculate, the mixture volumetric mass change and the reduced density of non-Newtonian fluids under investigation have been pointed out as one of appropriate measures of flocculation process. In particular, the curve representing the reduced density as function of the ratio between n-heptane concentration and concentration of crude oil under study featured a break point that well characterizes the flocculation threshold. Besides the quantity needed to initiate and to aggregate asphaltenes within crude oils, the amount required to completely achieve deposition of asphaltenes has also been identified. A quantity of 4 and 20 g of n-heptane per gram of crude oil was found necessary.     

Langmuir films of asphaltene model compounds and their fluorescent properties

The relationship between the physicochemical properties of asphaltenes and asphaltene structure is an issue of increasing focus. Surface pressure-area isotherms of asphaltene model compounds have been investigated to gain more knowledge of their arrangement at an aqueous surface. Variations in interfacial activity have been correlated to proposed arrangements. The presence of a carboxylic acid has shown to be crucial for their interfacial activity and film properties. The acid group directs the molecules normal to the surface, forming a stable monolayer film. The high stability was absent when no acidic groups were present. Fluorescence spectra of deposited Langmuir-Blodgett films showed only the presence of the excimer emission for thin films of acidic model compounds, indicating a close face-to-face arrangement of the molecules. Time-correlated single photon counting (TCSPC) of the model compounds in toluene indicated the presence of aggregates for two of four compounds at low concentrations. However, a sudden drop of interfacial tension observed could not be correlated to the aggregation. Instead, aggregation induced by addition of a "poor" solvent showed decreased interfacial activity when aggregated due to decrease of monomers in bulk. The findings regarding these asphaltene model compounds and their structural differences show the great effect an acidic group has on their physicochemical properties.     

Experimental and modeling studies on the asphaltene precipitation in degassed and gas-injected reservoir oils

The asphaltene precipitation in a Chinese crude oil has been studied experimentally under normal-pressure and high-pressure conditions. The onset of asphaltene precipitation was detected by using light transmission method. Normal pentane and hexane were used as precipitating agents for studying the onset of asphaltene deposition in (asphaltene+toluene) and (degassed crude oil+toluene) mixtures under normal pressure. A total of eighteen sets of normal pressure data have been measured. For high-pressure gas-injected reservoir oil systems, the effects of injection-gas concentration, temperature, pressure, and the presence of a coexisting aqueous electrolyte (brine) phase on the amount of asphaltene deposition were studied and a total of seven sets of data have been measured. In the modeling part, a modified Hirschberg solubility model and a new solubility parameter correlation were proposed. The model parameters determined from low-pressure precipitation data have been successfully extended to high-pressure systems. Extensive tests vs. the data measured in this work and literature data show that the proposed model is capable of giving reasonable calculation results for most cases.     

Investigation of Asphaltene Aggregate Size Distribution Under Aggregation and Breakage Phenomena Using Monte Carlo Simulation

In this article, the aggregation and breakage processes are simulated through Monte Carlo method for asphaltene aggregates under shear-induced petroleum mixtures. The simulation results are verified by the aggregate size distributions of two types of asphaltenes having different fractal dimensions extracted from Iranian crude oil types. The obtained aggregate size distributions are affected by shear rate, toluene to heptane ratios and the oil type. The dynamic evolution of asphaltene aggregates shows an ascendant trend with time until they reach a maximum average diameter and then descent to a steady-state size. The asphaltene fractal dimension affects the aggregation process.     

Mechanisms of molecular polarization of bithiophenesilane dendrimers in solutions

A number of consecutive generations of bithiophenesilane dendrimers and their precursors are studied by the methods of the equilibrium electro-optical Kerr effect, dielectric polarization, and absorption spectroscopy in dilute toluene solutions. It is shown that the molecules of hybrid dendrimers containing bithiophene fragments covalently linked via silicon atoms are not kinetically rigid and feature the small-scale mechanism of interaction with external electric fields. A tris(bithiophene)methylsilane fragment is found to be the subunit responsible for the electro-optical and optical spectral properties of the above hybrid dendrimers. It is revealed that the polarization of bithiophensilane dendrimers predominantly shows the deformation pattern.     

Thermodynamic characterization of asphaltene-resin interaction by microcalorimetry

This paper collects the work performed by isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) to characterize the interaction between petroleum asphaltenes and resins. The interaction between these two fractions is of great interest in order to understand the mechanism of stabilization ofasphaltenes in crude oil. To simplify the approach, this preliminary study focuses on toluene solutions of both fractions. This paper reports the experimental determination of the average number of sites in asphaltene molecules and the enthalpy of interaction between asphaltenes and resins. Two models have been used to fit the experimental data. The enthalpies calculated by ITC are in the order of -2 to -4 kJ/mol. These values are in the limit of hydrogen bonding and permanent dipole energies. Similar values have been obtained by using the enthalpy as a fitting parameter in the SAFT equation.     

Determination of the Onset of Asphaltene Precipitation by Visible Ultraviolet Spectrometry and Spectrofluorimetry

Abstract

Asphaltene deposition is a problem for the petroleum industry, affecting the production, transport, and storage of crude oil. The aim of this work is to develop and compare different methods to determine asphaltene precipitation. Two asphaltene fractions, one extracted from a Brazilian crude oil sample and the other from petroleum distillation residue, were evaluated by using model systems constituted of toluene/n-heptane in different compositions, using visible ultraviolet spectrometry and spectrofluorimetry. The results of the precipitation tests carried out by these two methods agreed, indicating they are effective to analyze asphaltene deposition and the performance of chemicals as asphaltene stabilizers.     

Two-step laser mass spectrometry of asphaltenes

Defined by their solubility in toluene and insolubility in n-heptane, asphaltenes are a highly aromatic, polydisperse mixture consisting of the heaviest and most polar fraction of crude oil. Although asphaltenes are critically important to the exploitation of conventional oil and are poised to rise in significance along with the exploitation of heavy oil, even as fundamental a quantity as their molecular weight distribution is unknown to within an order of magnitude. Laser desorption/ionization (LDI) mass spectra vary greatly with experimental parameters so are difficult to interpret: some groups favor high laser pulse energy measurements (yielding heavy molecular weights), arguing that high pulse energy is required to detect the heaviest components of this mixture; other groups favor low pulse energy measurements (yielding light molecular weights), arguing that low pulse energy is required to avoid aggregation in the plasma plume. Here we report asphaltene mass spectra recorded with two-step laser mass spectrometry (L2MS), in which desorption and ionization are decoupled and no plasma is produced. L2MS mass spectra of asphaltenes are insensitive to laser pulse energy and other parameters, demonstrating that the asphaltene molecular weight distribution can be measured without limitation from insufficient laser pulse energy or plasma-phase aggregation. These data resolve the controversy from LDI, showing that the asphaltene molecular weight distribution peaks near 600 Da and previous measurements reporting much heavier species suffered from aggregation effects.     

Effect of Crude Oil Fractions on Interfacial Tensions of Novel Sulfobetaine Solutions

The dynamic interfacial tensions (IFTs) of two novel zwitterionic surfactants with different hydrophobic groups, alkyl sulfobetaine (ASB), and xylyl substituted alkyl sulfobetaine (XSB), against kerosene, crude oil, and model oils containing crude oil fractions, such as resins, asphaltenes, saturates, aromatics, and acidic fractions, have been investigated by a spinning drop interfacial tensiometer. The experimental results show that XSB solutions show higher interfacial activity than ASB against kerosene because of the larger size of the hydrophobic part of the XSB molecule. The petroleum acids have high interfacial activity and can adsorb onto the interface. For ASB solutions, the synergism mixed adsorption of betaine and acid molecules lowers IFT values. On the one hand, the partly displacement of XSB molecules by petroleum acid at the interface results in the increase of IFTs. Therefore, resins, aromatics, and acidic fractions show strong effects on IFTs of betaine solutions. On the other hand, asphaltenes and saturates have little effect on interfacial properties. Moreover, the hydrophilic part of the betaine molecule at the interface may vary its orientation from vertical to flat with aging time. Therefore, the dynamic IFT curves of ASB solutions against model oils show “V” shape for resins, aromatics, and acidic fractions.     

沥青质分散剂对沥青质的稳定及缔合的影响

采用紫外－可见光谱法研究了沥青质分散剂对甲苯－正庚烷－沥青质体系中沥青质的稳定作用,通过黏度法考察了沥青质分散剂对沥青质溶液中胶束缔合度的影响。结果表明,十二醇（DAL）、十二烷基苯磺酸（DBSA）、十二烷基苯酚（DP）对沥青质都有一定的稳定作用。三种沥青质分散剂的稳定作用顺序为DBSA>DP>DAL。DAL、DP及DBSA浓度较低时（1%）对沥青质甲苯溶液黏度的影响规律相似,推迟了黏度迅速增加的拐点,即可以抑制沥青质胶束的缔合。DBSA浓度较大时,沥青质胶束没有明显的聚并,同时使得沥青质溶液的相对黏度增加明显。三种沥青质分散剂都能显著降低胶束的聚集数;三种沥青质分散剂抑制沥青质胶团聚并强弱顺序为：DBSA>DP>DAL。这与其头部官能团的酸性顺序一致。     

Effects of petroleum resins on asphaltene aggregation and water-in-oil emulsion formation

Asphaltenes from four crude oils were fractionated by precipitation in mixtures of heptane and toluene. Solubility profiles generated in the presence of resins (1:1 mass ratio) indicated the onset of asphaltene precipitation occurred at lower toluene volume fractions (0.1–0.2) than without resins. Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) was performed on solutions of asphaltene fractions in mixtures of heptane and toluene with added resins to determine aggregate sizes. Water-in-oil emulsions of asphaltene–resin solutions were prepared and separated by a centrifuge method to determine the vol.% water resolved. In general, the addition of resins to asphaltenes reduced the aggregate size by disrupting the π–π and polar bonding interactions between asphaltene monomers. Interaction of resins with asphaltenic aggregates rendered the aggregates less interfacially active and thus reduced emulsion stability. The smallest aggregate sizes observed and the weakest emulsion stability at high resin to asphaltene (R/A) ratios presumably corresponded to asphaltenic monomers or small oligomers strongly interacting with resin molecules. It was often observed that, in the absence of resins, the more polar or higher molecular weight asphaltenes were insoluble in solutions of heptane and toluene. The addition of resins dissolved these insolubles and aggregate size by SANS increased until the solubility limit was reached. This corresponded approximately to the point of maximum emulsion stability. Asphaltene chemistry plays a vital role in dictating emulsion stability. The most polar species typically required significantly higher resin concentrations to disrupt asphaltene interactions and completely destabilize emulsions. Aggregation and film formation are likely driven by polar heteroatom interactions, such as hydrogen bonding, which allow asphaltenes to absorb, consolidate, and form cohesive films at the oil–water interface.     

Model molecules mimicking asphaltenes

Asphalthenes are typically defined as the fraction of petroleum insoluble in n-alkanes (typically heptane, but also hexane or pentane) but soluble in toluene. This fraction causes problems of emulsion formation and deposition/precipitation during crude oil production, processing and transport. From the definition it follows that asphaltenes are not a homogeneous fraction but is composed of molecules polydisperse in molecular weight, structure and functionalities. Their complexity makes the understanding of their properties difficult. Proper model molecules with well-defined structures which can resemble the properties of real asphaltenes can help to improve this understanding. Over the last ten years different research groups have proposed different asphaltene model molecules and studied them to determine how well they can mimic the properties of asphaltenes and determine the mechanisms behind the properties of asphaltenes.