Asphaltene Adsorption and Deposition Mechanisms Probed at the Local Scale Under Static and Dynamic Conditions: A New Opportunity of Neutron In-Situ Rheo-Reflectivity Measurements. (ABSTRACT)

摘要

Asphaltenes are the heaviest and most polar compounds of the crude oil in which they tend to aggregate to form nanometric fractal clusters [1]. Due to their surfactant properties, these aggregates can adsorb both at liquid-liquid interface [2] and solid-liquid interface [3]. From an industrial point of view, adsorption can have important effects such as wettability alteration in petroleum reservoirs. During oil production, the pressure decrease near the wellbore can also induce the flocculation of the asphaltene fractions resulting in reduction of the porous volume by pore blockage and/or multilayer formation. From a fundamental point of view, adsorption and deposition has been studied by global measurements such as surface excess [3] or core flood experiments [4], but less are the studies which have investigated the nanometer scale which is the characteristic size of the native asphaltene aggregates.