Process for predicting the stability of crude oil and employing same in transporting and/or refining the crude oil

摘要

A process for refining crude oil can be controlled to mitigate fouling by deploying a refractive index probe at a location suitable for making a crude oil stability determination, wherein the crude oil stability determination is relevant to controlling the refining process; making a measurement of crude oil stability; and then controlling the process for refining crude oil by maintaining the process or implementing a change to the process, based upon the determination of crude oil stability. This concept can also be applied to transporting, blending, and storing crude oil.