Choline chloride/monoethylene glycol deep eutectic solvent as a new asphaltene precipitation inhibitor

In this research work, a family of green solvents named deep eutectic solvents (DES) was used as asphaltene precipitation inhibitor for the first time as per our knowledge, i.e., choline chloride:monoethylene glycol acid (1:1). Ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis) spectrometry was used to estimate the precipitation onset point of asphaltene and to evaluate the impact of the DES to increase their resistance against the precipitant effect. A microscopic method was used to monitor the agglomeration trend during titration. The distribution of asphaltene particles monitored by dynamic light scattering (DLS) showed a value of 1,419 nm for inhibitor-free sample, while for sample with the DES was 1,039 nm under similar conditions.