Experimental Investigation of the Effects of Different Parameters on the Rate of Asphaltene Deposition in Laminar Flow and Its Prediction Using Heat Transfer Approach

In this study, asphaltene deposition from crude oil on the pipe surface has been studied experimentally using a novel designed test loop. Washing technique is used to quantitatively measure the rate of asphaltene deposition during laminar flow in the steel pipe. The effects of oil velocity, asphaltene content, and surface temperature on the thickness of asphaltene deposition are investigated. The results show that the asphaltene deposition rate increases with increasing surface temperature, results in asphaltene content reduction of the flowing crude oil. As the oil velocity increases, less deposition was noticed on the surface of the pipe. Besides, thermal approach was applied to the experimental procedure which shows good agreements between the predicted thickness and the measured value from the test loop.