Solvent desorption of asphaltenes from solid surfaces |
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Authors: | Lene Tapio Sreedhar Subramanian Johan Sjöblom |
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Affiliation: | Ugelstad Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway |
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Abstract: | The main goal of this paper is to compare the ability of different organic solvents to desorb asphaltenes from stainless steel surfaces. The asphaltenes were extracted from a North Sea crude oil by precipitation. The organic solvents are characterized based on their Hansen solubility parameters (HSPs). The adsorption of asphaltenes was followed by means of a Quartz Crystal Microbalance with Dissipation (QCM-D). The asphaltene desorption efficiency of the solvents tested varied between 20% and 70%, with pyridine as the most efficient solvent. Carbon disulfide was found to be a poor desorption solvent, indicating the importance of solvent polarity. A simple model based on the HSPs seemed to give a good quantitative explanation of experimental desorption experiments. |
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Keywords: | Adsorption asphaltenes desorption hansen solubility parameter QCM |
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