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Colloidal Properties of Asphaltenes in Organic Solvents

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Asphaltenes

Abstract

Asphaltene is a component of the petroleum liquids defined operationally. It represents the most refractory (or the heaviest) fraction. A generally accepted definition of asphaltenes is by their solvent solubility. The fraction insoluble in heptane (or pentane) but soluble in toluene is called asphaltene [1]. This fraction usually has high apparent molecular weight (often measured by vapor pressure osmometry, VPO). Because it is very refractory, asphaltenes cannot be refined with currently technology. Thus, in many vacuum residua, asphaltene is the main component. In addition to the non-refinerable nature, asphaltene has been known to initiate wellbore plugging, pipeline deposition; hinder the refining yields, and initiate coking, et cetera. Such hinderance on production and processing have made asphaltene one of the most focused materials in petroleum research. The ultimate goal is to either separate asphaltene from the petroleum liquids before entering the refining processes or “upgrade” it to a less refractory (or lighter) fraction. For both cases, one needs to understand the fundamental chemistry of asphaltene.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Texaco Research and Development, P.O. Box 509, Beacon, New York, 12508, USA

    Eric Y. Sheu & David A. Storm

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  1. Eric Y. Sheu
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  2. David A. Storm
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Texaco Research and Development Center, Beacon, New York, USA

    Eric Y. Sheu

  2. Schlumberger-Doll Research, Ridgefield, Connecticut, USA

    Oliver C. Mullins

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© 1995 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Sheu, E.Y., Storm, D.A. (1995). Colloidal Properties of Asphaltenes in Organic Solvents. In: Sheu, E.Y., Mullins, O.C. (eds) Asphaltenes. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9293-5_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9293-5_1

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4757-9295-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-9293-5

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