A sphaltene M odeling by SARA test results, an i ntroduction of simple and a ccurate empirical model

Asphaltene precipitation problems cause millions $ of cost annually. Reservoir skin effect, Well inflow capacity decreasing, Oil flow decreasing, and well column blockage and production facilities break-out are examples of asphaltene related problems. The basic step to control and solve these problems is accurate prediction of asphaltene molecule precipitation. Asphaltene content oil is experience different thermodynamic conditions in the flow path from underground original reservoir zone to oil and gas separation facilities. It is obvious that thermodynamic instability of asphaltene is related to oil compo-sition and its fraction entities. Although the direct effect of different fraction of crude oil (Saturate, Aromatics, Resins and Asphaltene (SARA)) may be unclear but by increasing the experimental data of precipitation an empirical model can be developed. The developed empirical model is the first model to predict the weight percent of asphaltene in a wide range of temperature and pressure (130-2500F and 600-8600 Psi). The correlation is proposed based on 84 precipitation data point of 10 different crude oils. The least square of errors (R2) of correlation is more than 93% which is so accurate rather than common thermodynamic models of asphaltene precipitation

Asphaltene; Thermodynamic